Electronic communication and new organizational forms: A coordination theory approach

This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data

Electronic communication and new organizational forms: A coordination theory approach

Author Info

Kevin Crowston

Abstract

Describing and categorizing organizational forms remains a central problem in organization theory. Unfortunately defining organizational form poses numerous difficulties. Rather than attempting to categorize entire organizations, researchers have instead suggested focusing on how particular tasks are performed, i.e., adopting the process as the unit of analysis. An important practical problem then is to identify processes that would be suitable for performing a desired task, especially processes that are enabled by the use of new electronic media and other forms of information technology. Coordination theory provides an approach to the study of processes. In this view, the form a process takes depends on the coordination mechanisms chosen to manage dependences among tasks and resources involved in the process. These mechanisms are primarily information-processing and so the use of new media will particularly affect their cost, perhaps changing which are preferred.

In this paper, I use coordination theory to analyze the software change process of a large mini-computer manufacturer and suggest alternative ways the dependences involved could be managed and thus alternative forms the process could take. Mechanisms analyzed include those for task assignment, resource sharing and managing dependences between modules of code. The organization studied assigned problem reports to engineers based on the module which appeared to be in error; engineers specialized in particular modules. The framework suggests alternative mechanisms including assignment to generalists based on workload or based on market-like bids. Modules of code were not shared, but rather "owned" by one engineer, thus reducing the need for coordination; a more elaborate code management system would be required if multiple engineers needed to work on the same modules. Finally, engineers managed dependences between modules informally, based on their personal knowledge of which other engineers used their code; alternatives include formally defining the interfaces between modules and tracking their users.

Software bug fixing provides a microcosm of coordination problems and solutions. Similar coordination problems arise in most processes and are managed by a similar range of mechanisms. For example, diagnosing but reports and assigning them to engineers may have interesting parallels to diagnosing patients and assigning them to specialists.

While the case presented does not formally test coordination theory, it does illustrate the potential of the coordination theory for exploring the space of organizational forms. Future work includes developing more rigorous techniques for such analyses, applying the techniques to a broader range of processes, identifying additional coordination problems and mechanisms and developing tools for collecting and comparing processes and perhaps automatically suggesting potential alternatives.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

Publisher Info
Paper provided by MIT Center for Coordination Science in its series Working Paper Series with number 175.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Aug 1994
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wop:mitccs:175

Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://ccs.mit.edu/wpmenu.html

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Thomas Krichel).

Related research
Keywords:

Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? IDEAS is not the only service displaying RePEc data. Choose on RePEc which service fits your needs best.

This page was last updated on 2009-12-28.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.