IS and Organisation Theory

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1. Organisational Behaviour

Ellis and Dick (2003) quote a number of previous definitions of organisations:

"people working together in a co-ordinated and structured fashion to achieve one or more goals"
(Barney & Griffin, 1992)

"social arrangements for the controlled performance of collective goals"
(Huczynski & Buchanan, 1991)

"consciously created arrangements to achieve goals by collective means"
(Thompson & McHugh, 1995)

As pointed out by Ellis and Dick (2003), no two organisations will be identical but certain common features can be identified and categorised. Some useful set of criteria (for example: culture, size, age, stakeholders, location, management styles, industry sector, technology, and future plans) to use in order to assess the factors that might determine the behaviour of an organisation, as depicted in figure 9:

Since it is only individuals who can consciously 'behave', what meaning can be attached to the phrase 'organisational behaviour'?

• individual members of organisations tend to conform to the organisation's formal and informal rules and the 'company culture' - or else leave
• the behaviour of an organisation is determined by the relationships within it and by its purpose and by the environment in which it operates

List of 8 determinants of organisational behaviour:

1. the culture of an organisation can be a major factor in the success of failure of a newly introduced strategy or technology
2. the size and age of organisations can provide clues as to the stability and appropriate structure for an organisation
3. the 'stakeholders' of an organisation can influence its behaviour
4. the location or locations of an organisation put constraints on how it can act
5. the management style of an organisation is another feature that can result in major distinctions in the way it operates
6. the industry sector often determines many aspects of the organisation's structure
7. the distribution and the technology used within an organisation
8. its future orientation are further determinants of organisational behaviour

Brief definitions of the term 'Organisation':

• people working together in a co-ordinated and structured fashion to achieve one or more goals
• social arrangements for the controlled performance of collective goals
• consciously created arrangements to achieve goals by collective means

2. Organisational Stakeholders

An organisation's stakeholders include all individuals and groups who have a relationship with the organisation and who are directly and significantly influenced or can influence the activities of the organisation.

The significant stakeholders will vary from one organisation to another. Typical examples include employees, shareholders and customers. However, in a context such as education, parents and business sponsors of students and business partners or regulators of institutions could be significant stakeholders.

3. Organisational Culture

The introductory section above identified culture as one of the key determinants of organisational behaviour. In addressing this issue, Thompson and Strickland (2003) describe how company culture develops over time from the start of the company:

1. The elements of company culture originate with a founder or other early influential leaders who articulate the values, beliefs, and principles to which the  company should adhere
2. These ideas get incorporated into company policies, a creed or values statement, strategies, and operating practices
3. Over time, these values and practices become accepted and are shared by company employees and managers.
4. Cultures are perpetuated as new leaders act to reinforce them, as new employees are encouraged to adopt and follow them
5. Events create further reinforcement as stories of successful episodes and their participants illustrating core values and practices are told and retold
6. Finally, organisation members are honoured and rewarded for displaying cultural norms, leading to further documentation and entrenchment of the policies indicated at step 1 and a further cycle of reinforcements

Figure 10 illustrates the life-cycle of an organisational culture:

An important point to note about organisational cultures is that once they are established they will tend to persist even when the original conditions that made them appropriate have disappeared (unless purposeful attempts are made to intervene from within). However, it is also important to recognise that organisational cultures vary widely in strength and in makeup. These points lead to the following observations by Thompson and Strickland (2003):

1. An organisation's culture is either an important contributor or an obstacle to successful strategy execution
2. A deeply rooted culture well matched to strategy is a powerful lever for successful strategy execution
3. A strong culture is a valuable asset when it matches strategy and a serious liability when it doesn't
4. A 'weak' culture may prove to be an organisational opportunity since it can more easily be encouraged to be adaptive
5. The work climate in adaptive-culture companies is receptive to new ideas, experimentation, innovation, new strategies, and new operating practices provided such changes are compatible with core values and beliefs
6. Adaptive cultures are a valuable competitive asset in rapidly changing environments
7. Today's successful dot-com companies are classic examples of adaptive cultures

A 'weak' culture may prove to be an organisational opportunity since it can more easily be encouraged to be adaptive. Adaptive cultures are a valuable competitive asset in rapidly changing environments.

4. Organisational Variables

Using a framework developed by Pearlson & Saunders (2003) further describe cultural variables as one of three sets of variables that determine the behaviour of an organisation. These organisational design variables are:

• Organisational Variables
  • Decision Rights (distribution) - these provide the authority to initiate, approve, implement and control various types of decisions necessary to plan and run the business
  • Business Process (organisation) - the set of ordered tasks needed to complete key objectives of the business
  • Formal Reporting (relationships) - the structure set up to ensure coordination among all units within the organisation
  • Informal Networks (communication) - mechanism, such as ad hoc groups, which work to coordinate and transfer information outside formal reporting relationships
• Control Variables
  • Data - operational details collected, stored and used by the organisation
  • Planning - processes by which future direction is established, communicated and implemented
  • Performance Measurement (and evaluation) - set of measures that are used to assess success in the execution of plans and the processes by which such measures are used to improve the quality of work
  • Incentives - monetary and non-monetary devices used to motivate behaviour within an organisation
• Control Variables

4. Organisation Power than affects the Conduct of an IS Project?

Some key features of power in a business organisation relate to authority and the control of organisational resources. It is not difficult to see that the authority to take decisions including those concerning the appropriation of project resources would be a crucial factor in determining the conduct and outcome of a project. Starving the project of the required resources or using authority to implement inappropriate decisions will almost certainly lead to project failure.

5. Organisation Theory & IS Strategy

Organisational theory supports the concept that alignment should reflect the type of environment in which an organisation operates. This is the contingency approach to alignment. The contingency approach considers the following factors when trying to align IS solutions with business needs: whether the organisation operates in a stable or non-stable environment, whether there is a high or low requirement for interaction between business units, departments or individuals, and whether core tasks are routine or ad hoc.

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Reference(s)
	Book		Barney, J. B. & Griffin, R. W. (1992) The Management of Organizations: Strategy, Structure, Behavior. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: United States of America (USA), Massachusetts (MA), Suffolk, Boston. [ISBN: 9780395574270]. [Available on: Amazon: https://amzn.to/3U1ZQHO].
	Book		Buchanan, D. A. & Huczynski, A. (2003) Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text. 5th Edition. Financial Times Prentice Hall: United Kingdom (UK), England, Essex, Harlow. [ISBN: 9780273682226]. [Available on: Amazon: https://amzn.to/3VLkGwO].
	Book		Johnson, G., Scholes, K. & Whittington, R. (2007) Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text & Cases with Companion Website Student Access Card: Text and Cases. 8th Edition. Financial Times Prentice Hall: United Kingdom (UK), England, Essex, Harlow. [ISBN: 9780273711926]. [Available on: Amazon: https://amzn.to/3f7sg4u].
	Book		Laudon, K. C. & Laudon, J. P. (2007) Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm. 10th Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall: United States of America (USA), New Jersey (NJ), Bergen, Upper Saddle River. [ISBN: 9780132415798]. [Available on: Amazon: https://amzn.to/3UhgqDH].
	Book		Pearlson, K. E. & Saunders, C. S. (2004) Managing and Using Information Systems: A Strategic Approach. 5th Edition. John Wiley & Sons: United States of America (USA), New York (NY). [ISBN: 9781118281734]. [Available on: Amazon: https://amzn.to/3TMqOTZ].
	Book		Robson, W. (1997) Strategic Management and Information Systems: An Integrated Approach. 2nd Edition. Pitman: United Kingdom (UK), England, London. [ISBN: 9780273615910]. [Available on: Amazon: https://amzn.to/3EZNmvZ].
	Book		Thompson, A. A. & Strickland, A. J. (2003) Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases. 13th Edition. Mcgraw-Hill: United Kingdom (UK), England, London. [ISBN: 9780072443714]. [Available on: Amazon: https://amzn.to/3f6Foa7].
	Book		Thompson, P. & McHugh, D. (1995) Work Organisations: A Critical Introduction. 2nd Edition. Palgrave Macmillan: United Kingdom (UK), England, Hampshire, Basingstoke. [ISBN: 9780333641613]. [Available on: Amazon: https://amzn.to/3f4UoFt].
	Book		Ward, J. & Peppard, J. (2002) Strategic Planning for Information Systems. 3rd Edition. John Wiley & Sons: United Kingdom (UK), England, West Sussex, Chichester. [ISBN: 9780470841471]. [Available on: Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NgTQZB].

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Reference (or cite) Article
	Kahlon, R. S. (2013) IS & Organisation Theory [Online]. dkode: United Kingdom, England, London. [Published on: 2013-01-03]. [Article ID: RSK666-0000061]. [Available on: dkode | Ravi - https://ravi.dkode.co/2013/01/is-organisation-theory.html].

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