Technology use and accessibility largely determines the structure of any organization. Different technologies necessitate different forms of organization. Certain technologies make specific forms of organization more possible. The general history of organizations directly correlates with the history of technology. The interaction of these two elements has determined the shape of much of human society throughout time.
Centralization
Throughout the history of the Industrial Revolution, advances in technology required and aided a greater centralization in organization form. Large and expensive machines required a concentration of resources. The expertise necessary to operate industrial endeavors required top-down management. The large gains in wealth made through machinery allowed independent firms to grow and absorb others. This created a level of centralization previously unseen in human history so important was the new technology.
Decentralization
Many had assumed during the course of the industrial revolution that new technology would always aid and necessitate greater centralization. The new technologies that followed the industrial revolution, however, resulted in a process of decentralization. As communications and transportation technology improved, it became possible for large decentralized organizations to function at an international level. Many of the skills apt for new technologies such as computers required a certain level of individual initiative and self-direction.
Innovation
In a competitive market, those organizations that tend to succeed are those that best learn ways to use the latest technology. There has tended to develop in many industries a technology arms race. Innovation used in this way is not merely a matter of using the latest technology, but in finding new applications for the technology that is already at hand. Organizations must be flexible in their structure to adapt to innovation from technology.
Organization
Many theorists have come to understand the organization as a form of technology. For instance, systems theory has made great use of the computer as a metaphor for understanding the functioning of an organization and its many systems. The interchange of information within an organization follows many of the same patterns as that found in other communications technology. Given this understanding, the organization is an evolving technological tool.
