INFORMATION AND THE MECHANISTIC METAPHOR - THE PLACE OF INFORMATION IN ORGANIZATIONAL THOUGHT

The purpose of this paper is to examine the possibilities for extendin g organisational metaphors into the area of information systems. The m echanistic metaphor is used as a relevant example because analysing th e assumptions behind it offers a particularly revealing insight into c ommon assumptions in the field of management studies and information s ystems. These assumptions were developed in a specific historical cont ext, that of the development of bureaucratic forms in a government and industry and the acceptance of what Weber described as ''instrumental rationality.'' Three elements of a characteristically mechanistic vie w of information management are identified: corporate ownership of inf ormation, a formal division of information work and a definition of th e nature of information as data whose meaning is noncontroversial. It is argued that this view of information is too restricted to allow for creative development of information use, but that the corporate owner ship of information continues to be relevant because of the notion of formal rights which has been developed from it.