1INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Lars
Groth
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Master in organizationalsociology, UiO
Dr. oecon., NHH Norwegian School of Economics
Nylands Verksted
Prosjekt-styring
Morgen-bladet
Information System
International
Media Vision
Enator
Avenir
Pharos
NTNUDepartment ofSociology and
Political Science
UiO Department
of Informatics
Prof. II
2INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
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The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systemsLars Groth
3INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
The fundamental cause
behind any organization –
and its main challenge
Tasks too big for one person must be
divided into smaller tasks suitable for
one individual
Since a number of people now need to
cooperate, we need coordination to
make the work of each one fit into the
larger picture
Here you will find the root of most
organizational challenges!
4INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
“Every organized human activity - from the making ofpots to the placing of a man on the moon - gives rise to two fundamental and opposing requirements: thedivision of labor into various tasks to be performed and the coordination of these tasks to accomplish theactivity.
The structure of an organization can be defined simply as the sum total of the waysin which it divides its labor into distincttasks and then achieves coordinationamong them."
Henry Mintzberg in "The Structuring of Organizations”
What is an organization? The essence - 1
Henry Mintzberg
5INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Jay R. Galbraith, ”Organization Design”, p. 2:”As a beginning, it can be said thatorganization is that ”something” whichdistinguishes any collection of 50 individuals in Kennedy International Airport from the 50 individuals comprising av football team in theNational Football League. ”
“Organization is what distiguishes Rosenborg’s first team from 11 unaquainted young men on Elgeseter bridge.”
Jay R. Galbraith in ”Organization Design”, page 2 (adapted to a Norwegian context)
What is an organization? The essence - 2
6INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
7INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
8INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Organisation and systems
are intervowen – indeed, they
are one and the same!
9INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
But why do we really
need organizations?
Oliver Williamson
Asset specificity
Transaction uncertainty
Transaction frequency
10INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Modern car manufacturingExtended value chain
11INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2010
Max WeberTheory of Bureaucracy
Frederick TaylorScientific Management
Henri FayolAdministrative theory
Luther Gulickand Lyndall Urwick
“Papers on the Science of Administration”
Elton MayoHuman Relations
Chester Barnard“The Functions of the
Executive”
Herbert A. Simon
Bounded Rationality
Philip SelznickThe organization as social arena
Eric Trist, Kenneth Bramforth, Fred Emery
Sosiotechnics
Herbert A. Simon and James March
”Organizations”
William G. OuchiCulture and team
(theory Z)
John W. Meyer andBrian Rowan
” Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony”
Ludwig von Bertalanffy
General systems theory
Daniel Katz andRobert L. Kahn
The enterprise as an open system
Burns and Stalker”The Management of
Innovation”
W. Ross AshbySystems theory: Self-regulation and law of
requisite variety
Paul R. Lawrence and Jay W. Lorsch”Organization and
Environment”
Henry Mintzberg” The Structuring of
Organizations”
Charles D. Perrow”A Framework for
Comparative Analysis of Organizations”
James D. Thompson
” Organizations in Action”
Joan Woodward”Management and
Technology”
Harry BravermanMarxist organisation
theory
Jeffrey Pfeffer and Gerald D.Salancik
Resource-based theory
Michael T. Hannanand John H. Freeman
Population ecology
Erving GoffmanSymbolic
interactionsm
Oliver E. WilliamsonTransaction cost
Ronald CoaseTransaction cost
Jean BaudrillardPoststructuralism,epistemologicalpostmodernism
Jean-François Lyotard
Epistemologicalpostmodernism
Jaques DerridaEpistemologicalpostmodernism
Karl E. WeickOrganisation
culture
David SilvermanAction perspective
Stewart R. CleggOntological
postmodernism
Paul J. DiMaggio and Walter W. Powell
Institutional isomorphism
2000
Wanda Orlikowski and
Susan ScottSociomateriality
Back to
Basics
Tor HernesThe organisation
as processOrganization theory –
a timeline
Classical theory
Neoclassical and institutional theory
Systems theory
Contingency theory
Other theories
Postmodern approaches
Interactionism
12INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
SosiotechnicsEric Trist, British social psychologist (1909-93) – published in 1951 together with Kenneth Bamforth, a former coal
miner, ”Some Social and Psychological Consequences of the Longwall Method of Coal Getting“ in Human Relations
– Director of The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London for more than 20 years
– Designed a theory about the interaction between people and technology in work places, basedon a study of technology change in British coal mines during the transition from the “shortwall” to the “longwall” method for coal mining.
13INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Contingency theory
Joan Woodward (1916-1971
– ”Management and Technology”, 1958, ”Industrial Organization”, 1965
– Studied a large number of firms (100) in the South Essex area of England in the 1950s
– Found that organizational form varied, and correlated with production technology
– Concluded that there was not ”one best way” to organize – the nature of the production processwould determine which form that would be most suitable
Tom Burns (1913-2001) and G. M. Stalker
– ”The Management of Innovation” (1961)
– Studied the introduction of electronics in Scottish industry
– Described two ideal types of organization on each side of a continuum – the mechanistic and theorganismic (organic) organization
– Viewed the organization as a result of the simultaneous working of (at least) three different socialsystems:
• Formal authority: aims, technology, relations with the environment
• Cooperative systems of people with different aspirations
• The political system – the competition and cooperation for power
14INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Contingency theoryHenry Mintzberg – ”The Structuring of Organizations” (1979)
– Synthesized large parts of the organizational research up to ca. 1975
– Proposed five basic organizational configurations (forms), each based on one main coordinating mechanism and one key part of the organization:
• The Simple Structure (Entrepreneurial Form) – based on Direct supervision, Strategic Apex key
• The Machine Bureaucracy – based on Standardization of work, Technostructure key
• Professional Bureaucracy – based on Standardization of skills, Operating core key
• The Adhocracy (Innovative Organization) – based on Mutual adjustment, Support staff (R&D) key
• The Divisionalized Form (Diversified Organization) – based on Standardization of output, Middle line key
– Has later suggested two new configurations:
• The Missionary Organization – based on Standardization of norms, Ideology key
• The Political Organization – no prime coordinating mechanism, no key part
Simple StructureDirect supervision Divisionalized Form
Standardization of output
AdhocracyMutual coordination
Professional BureaucracyStandardization of skills
Machine BureaucracyStandardization of work
15INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Interactionism
Karl E. Weick – ”The Social Psychology of Organizing” (1969)
– Enactment: Organizations are enacted, they are created by being talked about
– Sensemaking: Organizations are primarely “sensemaking systems”, incessantly create and recreate conceptions about themselves
– Loose coupling: The lack of firmness in the coupling among some of the parts of the organization – changes can take place locally with little consequence elswhere
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Institutional theoryPaul J. DiMaggio and Walter W. Powell
– Institutional isomorfism
• The question is not why organizations differ, but why there is such an overwhelming degree of homogeneity – why bureaucracy has become the common organizational form
• Organizations within the same business may have displayed considerable diversity when first set up, but converge over time toward bureaucracy
• They do so not because bureaucracy is the most efficient, but because it furnishes legitimacy in the eyes of outside stakeholders
– Three kinds of isomorfism:
• Coercive isomorfism – by political influence
• Mimetic isomorfism – a response to uncertainty
• Normative isomorfism – a result of professional managers
John W. Meyer and Brian Rowan
– Organization is more about conforming to institutionalized rules than about coordinating and controlling activities
– The myth of organizational rationality is necessary to obtain legitimacy in a society with rationality as the central norm
– However, the formal structure – comprised of authority structures, plans and rules – is only loosely coupled to what is actually done in the organization
– Thus, you have two organizational structures – one formal, which can be shaped according to the normative expectations in the environment, and one informal that is actually used for getting things done
– The advantages conferred by the myths are stability, legitimity and resources – exactly what is needed to survive
17INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Postmodern approaches
There are two branches of postmodern theory:
– Epistemological theory (episteme = reason, knowledge): No unequivocal relations between forms of representation (symbols, like words and images) and an objective, external world is possible – we cannot get behind the words
– Ontological theory (ontos = being, existence): The society is moving into a new era, which differ from the previous “modern” age in significant ways – which can be understood, but not with the old theories
• The core of modernity is differentiation – in organizations, especially the rational, increasingly fine-grained and rigid division of labor
• The core of postmodernity is de-differentiation – the gradual integration of jobs, the blurring of areas of responsibility, the increasing overlap of functions, the increasing flexibility, the team attitudes
Stewart Clegg, “Modern Organizations” (1990)
– Rationality is subjective, and relative to context
– “Agents” (persons, organizations or parts of organizations) all act under a subjective rationality: they attempt to accomplish projects “which make sense in terms of the calculation which agents have available to them”
– Subjective rationalities can differ widely, as any agent will be heavily influenced by the cultural and institutional values of their national frameworks
– Therefore, organizational forms and practices cannot be universal
– “Organizations are human fabrications. They are made out of whatever materials come to hand and can be modified or adopted. Organizations are concocted out of whatever recipe-knowledge is locally available.”
18INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Sociomateriality
Wanda J. Orlikowski and Susan V. Scott
– Technology is an integrated part of work, and how it appears to the world
– “Work practices are constituted by an array of sociomaterial agencies, for example, space, devices, standards, categories, algorithms, expert judgements, physical mechanisms, and so on.”
– “Sociomateriality is so much part of our everyday organizational experience that it becomes taken-for-granted.”
– “Work in itself is sociomaterial, so to understand work we have to understand its sociomaterial forms.”
– “Different forms of sociomateriality in practice not only increase the capacity for transactions to be disembedded from time and space, but also disappear from the attentions of users and observers.”
“We see the physical hub of a person’s work practices composed of an array of materiality imbued with multiple logics and capabilities (programs, reminders, sources, and connections) all poised to form part of the pattern of her work flow, ready to be actively configured into a situated work performance.”
19INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
20INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Processor
powerProcessing power for Intel processors
1971-2016
Intel 40042300 transistors
200 dollar
Intel Xeon E5-26997 200 000 000 transistors
4100 dollar
Equals ca. 5 800 000 4004s
21INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
22INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Our physiological constraints
We can, by and large, only tackle one task at any
one time, and have limited capacity for physical
work
Our active, conscious memory is very limited
Our ability to consciously process information is
limited
Our communication capacity is very limited
Our natural means for communicaction have very
limited reach
23INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Pre-literate age
Explicit knowledge
Tacit knowledge
Assigned behavior
RulesData
Communication
Asyncronous
Syncronous
24INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Tacit knowledge
Assigned behavior
RulesData
Communication
Industrial age
Explicit knowledge
Asyncronous
Syncronous
25INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Processing
Storage and retrievalAutomatic data
acquisition Digital age
Assigned behavior
Explicit knowledge
Tacit knowledge
RulesData
Communication
Asyncronous
Syncronous
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What IT basically contributes
Information can be processed by machines– Provides incalculable possibilities for automation and elimination of work (including self service)
– Provides extremely improved possibilities for understanding and controlling complexity
Qualitative quantum leap in information storage (structured and unstructured)
– Provides a revolution in information retrieval and analysis
– Makes automatic coordination possible at so far unknown scales
Automatic data acquisition
Much increased bandwidth for remote communication (many orders of magnitude)
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Coordination of Work
Coordinationby feedback
Coordinationby program
MutualAdjustment
DirectSupervision
Standardizationof Work
Standardizationof Skills
TacitSkills
ExplicitSkills
Taxonomy of Coordinating Mechanisms: Level 1
(Standardization of output)
28INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Coordination of Work
Coordinationby feedback
Coordinationby program
MutualAdjustment
DirectSupervision
Standardizationof Work
Standardizationof Skills
TacitSkills
ExplicitSkills
ImplicitCoordination
Technology Dependence
Computer Dependence
ImplicitCoordination
(by Database)
Taxonomy of Coordinating Mechanisms
29INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Booking for (2015):
484 airlines (flightinformation for 693)421.000 hotels43 car rentals50 shipping companies233 tour operators90 railroads16 insurance groups
(2012)
Up to 39 000 Customertransactions per second
47 billions SQL-executions per day
37 petabyte data storage
16.500 infrastructuralunits
30INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
CEOTravis Kalanick
Policy & Community
Recruiting Americas
Asia Operations
International Growth
Community Operations
Legal
Policy, EMEA
Policy & Communicat
ions
HR
Global Talent
CTO Security
Operations
Strategic Initiatives
Belgium Western Europe
France Hong Kong
EMEA & APAC
UK, Ireland & Nordics
Product
Maps Advanced Technologies
Center
Design Mobile
Communication
31INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Coordination of Work
Coordinationby feedback
Coordinationby program
MutualAdjustment
DirectSupervision
Standardizationof Work
Standardizationof Skills
TacitSkills
ExplicitSkills
ImplicitCoordination
Technology Dependence
Computer Dependence
System-Supported
Supervision
ImplicitCoordination
(by Database)
Taxonomy of Coordinating Mechanisms
32INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Bennetton
33INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Coordination of Work
Coordinationby feedback
Coordinationby program
MutualAdjustment
DirectSupervision
Standardizationof Work
Standardizationof Skills
TacitSkills
ExplicitSkills
ImplicitCoordination
ExplicitRoutines
Automation
Technology Dependence
Computer Dependence
System-Supported
Supervision
ImplicitCoordination
(by Database)Programmed
RoutinesHyper-
Automation
Taxonomy of Coordinating Mechanisms
34INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
35INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
36INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
37INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
3D printing
38INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
39INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Coordination of Work
Coordinationby feedback
Coordinationby program
MutualAdjustment
DirectSupervision
Standardizationof Work
Standardizationof Skills
TacitSkills
ExplicitSkills
ImplicitCoordination
ExplicitRoutines
Automation
Technology Dependence
Computer Dependence
System-Supported
Supervision
ImplicitCoordination
(by Database)Programmed
Routines
System-Supported
Skills
Hyper-Automation
Taxonomy of Coordinating Mechanisms
40INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Paging Dr. Watson: IBM and Cleveland Clinic Collaborate to Train Watson in Medicine
8. februar 2013: De første kommersielle produktene lansert for kreftbehandling (http://www-03.ibm.com/innovation/us/watson/)
In February 2013, IBM announced that Watson software system's first commercial application would be for utilization management decisions in lung cancer treatment at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in conjunction with health insurance company WellPoint. IBM Watson’s business chief Manoj Saxena says that 90% of nurses in the field who use Watson now follow its guidance.
41INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Coordination of Work
Coordinationby feedback
Coordinationby program
MutualAdjustment
DirectSupervision
Standardizationof Work
Standardizationof Skills
TacitSkills
ExplicitSkills
ImplicitCoordination
ExplicitRoutines
Automation
Technology Dependence
Computer Dependence
System-Supported
Supervision
ImplicitCoordination
(by Database)Programmed
Routines
System-Supported
Skills
Hyper-Automation
Regulating Model AssistingModel
MediatingModel
Taxonomy of Coordinating Mechanisms
42INF5210 The turbulent symbiosis between organizations and information systems Lars Groth
Main parameters when analyzing an organization
The coordination needs are decisive for structure – Mintzberg
Organisations are patterns of actions that is «performed» every day – Weick,
Silverman, Galbraith and others
The connections between the various parts of an organization are often quite
loose – Weick
Technology and actors affect each other mutually in the design of
organizations – Trist, Orlikowski
Institutional isomorphism – DiMaggio og Powell, Meyer og Rowan
All actors act in accordance with their subjective rationality – Clegg