Introduction
The essay “Technological Determinism Revisited” by Robert L. Heilbronet describes technological changes and cultural transformations in a historical context. The author sees technology as a “powerful force” in the history of mankind and a driven force of all large-scale transformations. Although the directional impact of new technology within the community remains open for discussion, information processing activities of organizational members are changing, since access to new technologies is leading to a change in behavior. Given the uncertain influence of technology on core managerial activities, the relationship between technology and organizations needs to be addressed, since the use of these technologies mediates and contributes to the changing character of organizations Before exploring the relationship between technology and organizations more specifically, the sometimes-confusing terminology surrounding the term will be discussed. The number of terms that have been used to describe the recent advance in technologies such as voice mail, electronic mail (e-mail) or groupware, and so on, is wide. This demands the disentangling of these terms.
Summary
The essay discusses such topics as life and its role in technological changes, determinism and technology, the socio-economic meaning of technology, etc. The essay concentrates on a philosophical approach to technology and views technology through the lens of determinism. The author states that within the context of computer-mediated technologies, technology is the largest term, which covers the use of computer-mediated technology in the context of processing in general. Technology refers to the application of computer technologies in the acquisition, analysis, application, distribution and storage of information. Technology narrows this scope down to the acquisition and distribution of information, basically enabling within organizations. While the focus of the book is on technologies, empirical studies that provide the basis for this volume sometimes focus on the larger term ‘information technology’. It is based on the use of sophisticated information management to enable multiparty participation in organizational activities.
Given the unique characteristics of new technology, it is not surprising to note an increasing interest by researchers and information systems specialists in the relationship between technology and society. Although research on the topic has attracted a number of different academic disciplines, among them organizational theory, management science, computer science and sociology, few reliable generalizations can be made about the relationship between these technologies and organizations One of the reasons may lie in the variety of theoretical perspectives. Another may lie in the often confusing and unclear operationalization of technology. A third may result from an underestimation of the importance of the context of technology usage.
Following Heilbroner, these perspectives are the socioeconomic perspective; the choice perspective; and the determinist perspective. From the impact perspective, technology is viewed as being a cause for changes within organizations. This is the most frequently encountered perspective. Heilbroner claims “changes in the technological background are registered in changes in the price system, indicating the directions in which economic activity can most advantageously move and the forms it can most productively assume” (Heilbroner, 2001, p. 72). From the choice perspective, the actions of humans determine the technological design of organizations. Within this perspective, information system specialists are responsible for changes in organizations resulting from technology implementation. From the emergent perspective, organizations change because of interactions between technology and its organizational and human dimensions. From this perspective, technology will have inevitable effects on organizations, since external technological forces will drive internal structures. This deterministic perspective, best characterized by the word ‘impact’, contends that computers are changing the nature of organizations. The underlying premise is that the outcome of technology implementation can be predicted. Technology has been found to lead to both centralization and decentralization, or both the routinization of and the enrichment of work.
Review and Evaluation
Since generalizations of this nature have not been confirmed, researchers have proposed that contingencies affect the relationship between technology and communities. While this avenue may have led to some promising findings, the majority of authors do not theorize adequately the specificity of the information dimension of technology, thereby failing to differentiate technology from general technological change. If this particular aspect is acknowledged, it may not be difficult to accept that technology cannot be treated as being equal to other technological impacts on organizations. Since technology is a strategic enabler of one of the most basic tasks within organizations, namely information processing, it has to be viewed as a unique technological tool for organizations. This uniqueness implies that technology not only has an impact on organizations but transcends all organizational activities. Although the technological impact perspective provides insights into the determining aspects of technology, the actions of humans in developing, accepting, and changing technology have largely been ignored by this group of researchers (Bijker et al, 2007).
According to Heilbroner, the mainstream of research views human actors, particularly technological system specialists, as making choices regarding information systems depending on the informational needs of the organization. technology is treated as the dependent variable whereby managers take the decision regarding the information processing needs of the organization and choose the appropriate technology accordingly. The emergent perspective posits that the use and consequences of technology are a result of complex social interactions between the institutional framework and the actions of individuals. Because of the dynamics of organizational settings, the frequently changing preferences of individuals, and the adapting organizational context, neither the intentions of managers nor the technological environment within the organization can fully predict the outcome of technology employment within organizations. The interplay of time, objectives, given institutional frameworks, individual preferences, and choice processes are the central concepts of the emergent perspective. Both of these studies clearly emphasize the dynamic relationship between actors, context and technology. Rather than ascribing the cause of outcomes to the role of either technology or actors, this perspective adds a third dimension, namely dynamic processes over time. This makes the operationalization of the concept more difficult to investigate empirically. The managerial implications show how organizations can make use of technology to direct the impact of the technology on their design dimensions (Carr, 2004).
The first is the increased speed which leads to high volumes of information moving between people. In addition, the increased use of technology reduces the cost, since the technologies are frequently less time-consuming. Another aspect is the increased connection between people and machines, leading potentially to widespread access of information to people in organizations caused by the rise in bandwidth, with more information moving simultaneously to different people in a combination of text, voice and graphics. The integration of various computing technologies allows information to be stored so that organizational members can retrieve the information from the collective database. The greater the extent to which technology has permeated the organization’s infrastructure and culture, the higher the impact on knowledge workers’ choice of these technologies. This intuitive argument is consistent with current media choice theories, which argue that social norms of technology use develop over time, benefits associated with these technologies become more apparent over time and knowledge workers’ expertise in using technology increases. Originating from the social information processing perspective and introduced into the media choice debate, the theory proposes that social relationships influence perceived media characteristics, perceived task requirements, attitudes towards, and media use (ibid.). Essentially, the authors suggest that while requirements may differ, similar patterns of media attitudes and use will develop within groups and different patterns across groups. From this perspective, social effects on individual attitudes and behavior explain internalized, behavior within workgroups and patterns of use. Electronic meeting systems are an example of advanced technology, which supports groups by integrating the task focus of group support systems (GSS) and the focus of machines (Snyder, 2007).
While the degree of ambiguity of the task and the degree of social presence of the medium are important requirements, recipient availability has recently been added as another determinant not to be underestimated. Recipient availability has been translated into the task closure model of media choice. Since knowledge workers are highly motivated to complete a sequence and move on to new work, completing the transmission of information to the recipient is viewed as an important decision criterion for media choice. If the task closure model is applied to the ranking of media, then electronic mail, for example, should receive a high rating on its ability to complete a task, while face-to-face meetings receive a lower rating.
The author uses facts and data in order to interpret the role and importance of technology in modern-day life. The features of new technology will be linked to the vertical and horizontal design of organizations as well as the organizational boundaries to investigate the particular set of changes that new technologies entail. The design dimensions are derived from an information-processing framework. First, the relationship between the vertical information-processing perspective and technology is investigated. Next, the horizontal information-processing perspective and technology are explored. An organizational design dimension, which relates the hierarchical level to the information-processing tasks at hand is the degree of centralization versus decentralization of decision-making. Since decision-making requires the availability of unambiguous information, new technology has the potential to shift the level of decision-making by providing access to information. This is one of the design dimensions to be investigated. New technology, by formalizing information-processing within organizations, is the resource that enables managers to report information. In addition, community members are likely to be more motivated if they have a higher degree of autonomy in decision-making. Increased motivation can thus be viewed as a result of technology decentralization.
Conclusion
In sum, technology determines our past and future, and guides social development of generations of people. By enlarging the options, technology has the potential to reinforce or undermine the existing authority structure. Since decision information costs increase as decision-making authority is moved higher in the hierarchy, a possible conclusion appears, that decentralization is the answer to the problem. Yet, as decision information costs decrease, agency costs increase. Thus, it is necessary to minimize total internal co-ordination costs. Technology can increase trust by making remote decision-makers more effective, by helping to monitor, and by socializing remote decision-makers. This will allow central decision-makers to trust local decision-makers in both their implementation and decision-making processes.
References
Bijker, W., Hughes, Th. R., Pinch, T. (2009). The Social Construction of Technological Systems: New Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology. The MIT Press.
Carr, N. G. (2004). Does IT Matter? Information Technology and the Corrosion of Competitive Advantage. Harvard Business School Press.
Heilbroner, L. R. (2001). Does technology drive history: The dilemma of Technological Determinism. Smith & Marx MIT, pp. 67-78.
Snyder, L. (2007). Fluency with Information Technology: Skills, Concepts, and Capabilities (3rd Edition). Addison Wesley; 3 edition.