Computer Networks in Corporate Business

Thomas Malone and John Rockart (1991, pp. 128136) argued that the advent of intensive computer networking in the corporate business setting will transform the internal structure and functioning of business organizations, and will fundamentally alter the way such organizations interact with their external environments. The authors postulated that such transformation will occur through a hierarchy of effects resulting from the implementation of computer network technology.

The firstorder effect in the effects hierarchy is the substitution of information technology for human coordination. An increased use of coordination is the secondorder effect, while the thirdorder effect is a shift in organizational structure to one that is coordinationintensive.

Corporate organizations entered a knowledgebased phase of technological development in the mid1970s, and continue in that phase of development in the 1990s. While the development of the knowledgebased phase began some time ago, it is, in the early1990s, far from complete, and no one is yet sure just what corporate organizations will be like in the early years of the next century, although the next century is less than a decade in the future.

The computer may be the most significant and pervasive technological innovation of the contemporary period. Certainly, the computer is the vehicle that makes a knowledgebased society, sometimes referred to as

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aking activities in economic organizations and institutions in postindustrial society. The size (in terms of personnel) of organizational decisionmaking units is expected to become smaller in postindustrial society. In many ways, postindustrial society appears to be highly appealing from the perspective of the early1990s. Efficiency and effectiveness will likely be enhanced in economic organizations and institutions. Organizational activity spans will likely be shortened significantly. More knowledge will be more accessible and usable. All of these factors create a favorable image for postindustrial society. There is a significant danger, however, that the economic dislocations (worker unemployment, firm bankruptcies, and declines in national economic activity in some countries) associated with the transition period between an industrial economy and a postindustrial economy will not themselves be transitory. A more or less permanent character for these phenomena would significantly mar the attractiveness of a postindustrial society and economy. The postindustrial age will dawn, however, whether or not its turns out to be an altogether attractive age. It is necessary, therefore, for individuals, organizations, an
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2423
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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