Learning Objectives

This chapter focuses on technology and examines how organizations use it to build competences and create value. Then it discusses why certain forms of organizational structures are suitable for different types of technology, just as earlier chapters used a similar contingency approach to exam-ine why certain environments or strategies typically require the use of certain forms of structure.

After studying this chapter you should be able to:

1. Identify what technology is and how it relates to organizational effectiveness.

2. Differentiate among three different kinds of technology that create different competences.

3. Understand how each type of technology needs to be matched to a certain kind of organizational structure if an organization is to be effective.

4. Understand how technology affects organizational culture.

5. Appreciate how advances in technology, and new techniques for managing technology, are helping increase organizational effectiveness.