Organization design implications of computer-integrated technologies

There is a growing realization that the benefits promised by integrated technology are not being delivered. One of the main reasons put forward for this is the failure to design an adequate form of manufacturing organization to support exploitation. The project described in this article set out to investigate the organizational designs supporting a wide variety of 46 applications of integrated technology in 28 companies. The companies were selected on the basis of appearing as exemplars of successful implementation. The findings showed overwhelming evidence of wide ranging organizational change at all levels. This article presents two contrasting case studies from the research sample giving anecdotal evidence for the key organizational design changes at the workplace, managerial, and interorganizational levels. It also presents a brief study of changes in the way in which work is coordinated in these companies. The examples provide some interesting insights into the shifts taking place in “best practice” manufacturing organizations as they exploit the benefits of integrated technologies in the 1990s.