Dimensions of Organizational Technology and Structure: An Exploratory Study

Based on a review of the literature on organization structure and technology, a model is developed for describing process technology along two dimensions: (1) the degree of use of mass-production technology, and (2) the degree of technical change. Results of a field study indicate that neither dimension of technology is very strongly related to structure. Rather the two dimensions of technology appear to interact in their relationship to structure-especially with respect to the degree of centralization. Among manufacturing firms using relatively low degrees of mass production, centralization is strongly and positively related to the degree of technical change, but among relatively mass-production-oriented firms this relationship is nil. These results are interpreted to suggest that the extent to which a manufacturing organization can or will change its internal structure in response to technological changes may well be contingent on the degree to which it is already committed to using mass-production techniques.

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