Posted by Yogesh Malhotra on June 27, 1997 at 14:31:17:

In our previous discussion we talked about some issues related to management controls, IT, surveillance, etc. In this message, I would like to share with you a "hidden issue" about KM, the issue of 'Control.'Instead of starting with a definition, agai n in the tradition of our sense making process, I shall offer you multiple definitions of 'Control' and welcome you to participate in creating what you think is a good definition.

In that process, here are my notes from a paper [more definitions to foll ow...] that related to the use of advanced information technologies (such as CASE tools) in a major consulting firm. This study suggested that the use of IT is not necessarily associated with flexible or debeureaucratized forms of organizing. However, it may result in the integration of various kinds of controls that operate separately prior tointroduction of technology.

Attempt to get the drift of the paper, don't get hung up on the technical jargon...

Orlikowski, W. J. (1991). "Integrated Informa tion Environment or Matrix of Control?: The Contradictory Implications of Information Technology," Accounting, Management and Information Technology, 1(1), pp. 9-42.

Does IT supplement or undermine existing control mechanisms in the organization? Orlikowski argues that "IT is not necessarily associated with flexible or debeureaucratized forms of organizing. Instead we see the emergence of technical control, and the augmentation of personal, social structural, and cultural control through elec tronic mediation" (p. 32-33).

Control mechanisms - to seek compliance with established plans, standards, quality criteria, and in conformance with organizational goals and values. Control mechanisms are both enabling [coordination of act ion] and constraining [individual action] (Boland, 1979).

Internal forms of control

Personal control - dyadic relationship between the direct supervisor and subordinate - authority & monitoring.

Systemic control - Shift from personal to mo re transparent, indirect, and impersonal forms of control - vested in technology, social structure and culture.

Technology - control embedded in technical infrastructure - managers enforce the operation of the technical system instead of direct supervi sion.

Social Structure - control embedded in policies, procedures, rules, well-defined job descriptions, career ladders, and incentive schemes - production knowledge is embedded in bureaucratic procedures and employees' firm-specific skills.

Culture - workers' shared norms and values that shape behavior, order perception, and influence attitudes (Birnberg & Snodgrass, 1988; Ouchi, 1979). A shared ideology obviates the need for extensive and explicit procedures and rules, providing a philosophy of in terests and norms from which members can deduce an almost limitless number of specific rules to suit varying conditions. Workers internalize organizational norms -socialization reinforces those goals.

External forms of control: has roots outside the organization.

Professional control - "buying" personnel having complex rules built in them by virtue of indoctrination & training by outside institutions. Organizations use this control as production processes become complex and dependent on highl y specialized skills and knowledge. To cater to the unpredictability of complex demands, organizations can reduce the number of written rules by "buying" personnel (Perrow, 1986) who have complex rules built into them, and who can employ them in varying c ircumstances.

Systemic and professional forms of control - disciplinary power - control is exercised indirectly and impersonally through institutional, technical, and normative regulations, and does not emanate directly or physically from individuals.

Dialectic of control (Giddens, 1984) - "All forms of dependence offer some resources whereby those who are subordinate can influence the activities of their superiors."

Information Technology and Forms of Control: Structure exists only as its is ins tantiated in action, and IT can be interpreted as an occasion for structuring organizations which both facilitates and constrains action (Orlikowski, 1991). Forms of control => the mechanisms by which "agents seek to achieve and maintain the compliance of others" (Giddens, 1984, p. 9). Such type of control through - allocative resources (for power over the objects) and authoritative resources (for power over persons). IT is "an administrative resource having both allocative and authoritative aspects."

Discussion Summary: Before deployment of "productivity tools," production tasks and norms within SCC (the consulting company) were informed by the rules embedded within SCC's methodology. In line with Giddens (1979, p. 148) ("rules do not follow or interp ret themselves."), the rules had to be appropriated by the SCC workers to have effect. In deploying IT in the production process, SCC embedded the rules of the methodology within the productivity tools. In this move, rules defining production tasks became embodied within the medium through which the production activity is accomplished. Fusion of rules and means of production - technical control - ideational control, also coupling of technical control with personal control => integration of various interna l forms of control through embedding in IT => emergence of a new control mechanisms that fuses a number of previously separate mechanisms - a new, integrated computer-based control mechanism. Embedding production rules within the medium has a number of st ructural implications.

Conclusion Summary: This paper has described a study which examined the extent to which implementation of IT in production is associated with changes in forms of control and organizing. The results indicate that no new organizati onal forms emerged, while the existing forms of control were intensified and fused, albeit with some contradictory implications for the long-term viability of the firm. We see the emergence of an integrated information environment as well as a matrix of c ontrol.

This paper examines the extent to which IT deployed in work processes facilitates changes in forms of control and forms of organizing. Field study of a single organization - focus on systems development within a consulting firm.

Findings ind icate that the mediation of work processes by IT augments and extends existing mechanisms of control, while reinforcing established forms of organizing (intended consequences, problem of generalizability?). Further, the IT fuses together existing forms of control, creating an integrated information environment which has contradictory implications for forms of organizing and control. It facilitates decentralization and flexible operations on the one hand, while increasing dependence and centralized knowled ge and power on the other.

Technological Imperative: (implied definition): "Potential of IT to loosen the hierarchical stranglehold on organizational practices, creating networked and lateral relations that can usher in new organizational forms and pra ctices."

Systemic forms of control: Hierarchy and career path; Production knowledge: SCC practice methodology; Socialization - acquisition of role-specific language and knowledge, hiring of entry level persons primarily - continuous "training" - "SCC p rofessionals;"

Impression management: emotional labor

Personal form of control: Direct supervision

Integrating personal and systemic forms of control: Direct supervision

Change in forms of control: Mediating production with IT

Change in sys temic forms of control: Production knowledge: Since the methodology was now embedded in the productivity tools, individuals have much less discretion over how they conduct their work. Embedding the technology in the tools makes it less visible, hence less open to criticism. SCC's use of productivity tools enables productivity and predictability in the production process, while restricting the range of actions known or available to the workers. The economic and productivity benefits generated by deskilling workers makes it one of the main reason for deploying tools.

Changes in systemic forms of control: Impression management: "make-expert"

Changes in personal forms of control: Electronic supervision: Tools facilitate increased delegation on projects (decentralization), paradoxically, they only do so because they simultaneously facilitate increased monitoring (centralization). Electronic monitoring becomes institutionalized within the tools - transforming the personal control of direct supervision int o systemic controls.

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