Article Abstract:
This article presents a framework for explaining the technology-strategy-structure relationship in the context of the current trends toward flexible automation. By linking technology choices directly to a firms's external environment and by invoking the concept of "fit," the framework places technology and strategy in a reciprocal relationship. The framework is used as a basis for examining the specific linkages arising from flexible automation and the posited relationship of this automation with strategy and structure. A set of research propositions is offered suggesting that superior performance can result when strategy and structure are congruent with the competencies and constraints of the firm's technological choice. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
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Article Abstract:
Collective strategies, or the ways collaborating organizations manage change in their collective environments, can have dysfunctional results, including: the reduction of policy flexibility, the enhancement of exogenous influences, the curtailment of adaptability, and the attraction of new competition. The muting of these dysfunctional effects can produce short-term solutions; however, long-term stability can best be realized by judiciously alternating competitive and collaborative strategies.
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Article Abstract:
Organizational structure significantly influences the strategic decision-making process. Centralization constrains the strategic process initiation to a few players, orients action toward positive goals, accentuates material choices and is impeded by top management's cognitive limitations. The degree of formalization and complexity characterizing an organization will have similar effects upon strategic decision-making.
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