I.T. as a Means of Reinforcing Organizational Structure
by Christine Beckman and Taryn Stanko

The popular press suggests that organizational structures are being dramatically transformed by Information Technology, but CRITO researchers Christine Beckman and Taryn Stanko have found that it might just as well reinforce these structures. They studied the relationship between IT and organizational structure using interviews with officers in the United States Navy who recently returned from duty.

The Navy was an excellent example to study because it deploys sailors to live onboard a ship for many months at a time, where they work, sleep and play in the same place. The shipboard content is an encapsulate setting which is usually free from extensive external communication and influence. Thus, it was ideal for studying the role of IT in making the organizational boundaries more permeable and making the consequences more visible.

The Navy is also built around strong organizational goals and may be able to absorb technology such that it supports existing organizational goals and processes. Thus IT adoption per se does not necessarily transform the organization, but rather it is the use of technology that matters.

Some interesting research findings include:

Information technology often reinforces existing structures. The ability to use the internet and e-mail, in particular, will not necessarily lead to less hierarchy and formalization in the organization. It is important to remember that technology is a tool used by people in organizations, and its impact is thus shaped by use, rather than the technology alone. IT adoption does not necessarily transform the organizational form. It is the use of technology that matters.

In general they found that the strong organizational structure of the Navy is reinforced by the use of e-mail. For example, sailors use e-mail and access to technology to reinforce, not to go around, the existing hierarchy. This is consistent with more general organizational research, which finds that managers tend to rely on hierarchical communication, and it is the technical workers who use lateral communication. Also, interviewees described using IT to build relationships and a sense of camaraderie with other members of the Navy.

E-mail and the Internet allow for more permeable organizational boundaries. This in turn may allow employees to reduce stress and diffuse work place conflict. E-mail reduces the separation between individual’s personal and professional lives, thus creating a weakening in the boundary between home and work. The internet is used to connect deployed sailors with those on shore, and sailors report feeling much more involved in their shore life. Feelings of physical isolation and separation are reduced by being involved in the discipline of children, joint decision making with a spouse, and the daily details of home life. Several Navy personnel noted that the closer connection to the outside world made them more committed and focused on their Navy work because they did not have to worry about what was happening at home.

Although this is often seen as a negative and a cost for the organization (work time being spent on personal issues), it also means that organizations infiltrate into employees’ home lives (personal time being spent on work). In fact, e-mail and the internet allow employees to have multiple identities simultaneously. Although some might conclude that this reduces commitment to the organization, the researchers found it allows stress and conflict to leak out in small ways. E-mail allows employees to vent about organizational issues off-line and maintain their connection with the outside world in a way that allows them to feel more connected with the Navy.

Organizations with strong cultures are better able to shape technology absorption. The Navy wielded strong control in how technology was absorbed. Rules were established that limited how technology was used, and these rules were rigorously enforced. The Navy’s strong culture made it easier for sailors to accept the rules and limitations set forth by the Navy regarding technology use. For example, because tight control over individual schedules is the norm, monitoring and surveillance that might have been problematic in other organizations were seen as legitimate. Naval personnel by and large expressed the belief that e-mail is a privilege, not an entitlement. Organizations where the culture is less strong may have less control over whether and how technology is absorbed.

IT access can assist in successful relocations and short-term transfers. Deployed Navy personnel have much in common with civilian employees who are temporarily relocated to work on domestic or international projects. Beckman and Stanko suggest that by providing consistent high quality access to IT, this will help employees survive the challenges of short-term transfers by allowing them to continue to meet responsibilities of both work and home. Additionally, offering IT training and support to temporarily relocated employees will give these employees critical skills they need to use technology to mitigate the problems associated with extended separation from home. IT allows workers to coordinate and work across boundaries, whether that be working from home or working across national borders. IT can help to exert one’s unique identity. As one officer stated, “it’s like somebody realizes I’m still out here. Just to get e-mail validates my existence.”

However, at the extreme, heavy technology use can reduce engagement in the organization. Although in general, e-mail and Internet use was a positive predictor of employee satisfaction, at the extreme this was not the case. There were several interviewees who spent all of their free time connecting with home and as a result never developed relationships on-board the ship.

Overall, Beckman and Stanko found that e-mail is used in the Navy to reinforce the organizational hierarchy and goals. The research team was struck by how effectively the Navy has absorbed IT and used it to strengthen the existing system of privileges. Rather than threaten the system, the Navy uses IT as a critical tool to maintain and strengthen it. Policies in the Navy reinforce the current organizational structure. The features most transformed by IT were isolation and regimentation. While physical separation remained, social isolation was dramatically reduced. The research team suggests that how the organization and its members enact and use technology might both reinforce and alter different features of organizational structure.