The Comparative Analysis of Structure and Technology: A Critical Appraisal

The comparative analysis of organizational structure and technology has become one of the most important means of analyzing organizational phenomena. It is therefore necessary to inquire into its limitations. This investigation, based on a critical review of the pertinent literature, identifies and discusses four key problem areas, including (a) finding structural and technological patterns instead of developing theories to explain the patterns, (b) trying to understand social entities without reference to their components, (c) the assumption that structure and technology are independent concepts, and (d) the lack of a design orientation. Where possible, suggestions are made on how to overcome these problems and illustrative solutions from other organizational paradigms are furnished.