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- Title
Multiple Faces of Codification: Organizational Redesign in an IT Organization.
- Authors
Vaast, Emmanuelle; Levina, Natalia
- Abstract
This paper details a longitudinal interpretative field study of an information technology (IT) organization in which a new chief information officer (CIO) implemented a major organizational redesign. The redesign increased the degree of codification in activities of the IT organization so as to control, coordinate, and deliver services more cost effectively to its business clients. We examine different stakeholders' views of the change, the implementation processes, and the consequences of the redesign. The case analysis emphasizes specific challenges that designers of support organizations face when increasing the degree of codification. Key implications include the need for these designers to (1) pay as much, if not more, attention to the local organizational context as they do to the external environmental conditions; (2) communicate and negotiate constantly with various stakeholders concerning the appropriate degree of codification and control; (3) be wary of how a strict alignment of all design elements can blind the designer to important, unrecognized issues; and (4) consider that increased codification may help support organizations compete more efficiently with external vendors, but may also ease the process of outsourcing.
- Subjects
INFORMATION technology management; CHANGE management; KNOWLEDGE management; COST effectiveness; ORGANIZATIONAL structure; INVESTOR relations (Corporations); SPAN of control; ORGANIZATIONAL communication; INFORMATION resources management; SYSTEMS design; DESIGN -- Social aspects
- Publication
Organization Science, 2006, Vol 17, Issue 2, p190
- ISSN
1047-7039
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1287/orsc.1050.0171