Book Description
"A major contribution to the field..." ." Gordon B. Davis, Honeywell Professor of Management Information Systems, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, USA
" "This book is required reading for anyone who wants to understand how and why computers influence organization structure. It established a conceptual foundation for the field, and examines the particular characteristics of the tools computer systems provide and what organizational impacts they can be expected to have. The conclusions are sometimes counter-intuitive, but always convincingly argued." Lee L. Gremillion, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, USA
"This is a superb source for people seeking to learn about organizational structure. Groth gives remarkable reasoning and interesting examples throughout the book. An exciting contribution" Kamar Singh, Project Manager, GE Aircraft Engines, Ohio, USA
Lars Groth addresses a subject of key importance and takes a fresh and innovative look at the ways to build and develop organizations with the assistance of information technology. Five major examples are used to point out the road ahead for those aiming to improve existing organizations with the help of new technology, as well as explaining some significant properties inherent in organizations and information technology. For the first time, the interplay between organization structure and information technology is thoroughly analysed in the context of established organization theory.
Through examination of existing models and taking into account the new possibilities offered by IT, this book will enable practising managers and consultants to look at their organizations and decide where the greatest, and least, opportunities lie. The book will also be highly relevant to MBA, MIS and Executive courses concerned with the relationship between organizations and IT.

Book Info
Discusses the basic human limitations in organization-building, the use of pre-computer technology, the nature of the resulting organizations, and what we can learn when searching for the possible contributions of IT.

From the Inside Flap
This groundbreaking work:employs a well-known and widely accepted body of theory—Henry Mintzberg’s organizational configurations—as a frame of reference throughout, explores possible transformations of his original five configurations, and proposes two new ones,discusses the basic human limitations in organization-building, the use of pre-computer technology, the nature of the resulting organizations, and what we can learn from this when searching for the possible contributions of IT,analyses the strengths and weaknesses of information technology, what it contributes over and above previous technology, and explains why many of its most touted properties are really among its weakest,provides in-depth understanding of the interplay between IT and organization structure and of why opportunities vary among different types of organizations,avoids general prescriptions to afford the real understanding necessary to stake out the most advantageous path into the future for your organization.

Back Cover Copy
""A major contribution to the field..." …" Gordon B. Davis, Honeywell Professor of Management Information Systems, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, USA " "This book is required reading for anyone who wants to understand how and why computers influence organization structure. It established a conceptual foundation for the field, and examines the particular characteristics of the tools computer systems provide and what organizational impacts they can be expected to have. The conclusions are sometimes counter-intuitive, but always convincingly argued."" Lee L. Gremillion, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, USA ""This is a superb source for people seeking to learn about organizational structure. Groth gives remarkable reasoning and interesting examples throughout the book. An exciting contribution"" Kamar Singh, Project Manager, GE Aircraft Engines, Ohio, USA Lars Groth addresses a subject of key importance and takes a fresh and innovative look at the ways to build and develop organizations with the assistance of information technology. Five major examples are used to point out the road ahead for those aiming to improve existing organizations with the help of new technology, as well as explaining some significant properties inherent in organizations and information technology. For the first time, the interplay between organization structure and information technology is thoroughly analysed in the context of established organization theory. Through examination of existing models and taking into account the new possibilities offered by IT, this book will enable practising managers and consultants to look at their organizations and decide where the greatest, and least, opportunities lie. The book will also be highly relevant to MBA, MIS and Executive courses concerned with the relationship between organizations and IT.

About the Author
Lars Groth is a founding partner of the Oslo-based consulting firm Pharos, and specializes in information technology-based organization, organization-oriented information technology projects, strategic planning and management of information technology. Prior to founding Pharos, Lars served as a consultant with Scandinavian IT consulting firms ISI, Enator and Avenir, working on projects including strategic planning, systems and vendor evaluations, contract negotiations and evaluation of information technology development trends. Lars earned his MA in sociology from the University of Oslo and his doctorate from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration in Bergen

FROM THE PUBLISHER