A Broadened Approach to Understanding IT Organizational Structure

With the increasingly influential impact of the information systems/technology (IT) organization on most firms, it is important to understand the implications of alternative structures of the IT organization. With limited exceptions, literature in this area has focused on the locus of decision rights in the IT organization. This research uses broader dimensions found in the general organization structure literature to characterize IT organizational structure. Our analysis suggests that IT organizations aimed at promoting innovation emphasize standardization and flexibility while deemphasizing specialization, IT organizations aimed at integration emphasize standardization, and IT organizations aimed at scalability through sourcing emphasize standardization while deemphasizing specialization. IT managers seeking to match their organization to the values of their firm may utilize the IT organization structure survey instrument exhibited here to do so.

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