| Information technology is among the most frequently mentioned forces of change propelling the evolution of new organization forms. However, whether the use of information technology within organizations results in a consistent pattern of consequences is still open for debate.; Four decades of contradictory findings concerning the impact of IT on the delegation of authority, coupled with a paucity of systematic evidence supporting any particular position, fueled what came to be known as the “centralization debate.” Although differences in the operationalization and definition of both information technology and of centralization are at least partially responsible, modeling limitations may have also contributed to the long-standing lack of consensus. In this dissertation research, a contingency theory framework is developed which models the impact of different types of information technology on centralization and tests for intervening and main effects by several other determinants of centralization (e.g. size, environmental uncertainty, strategy, and task routineness).; A data sample was developed through the content analysis of press accounts of the use of several types of IT by publicly-traded, domestic, general merchandisers. The results indicate that IT does not impact centralization independently of task, environmental, and organizational factors. Instead, the effect occurs by way of and in conjunction with them. More specifically, it is shown that the impact of IT is mediated by task routineness but moderated by both environmental uncertainty and the retail format. Additionally, it was discovered that information technology was used in a manner congruent with the influence of the other determinants of centralization. Exploration & Exploitation theory (March, 1991) is used to explain the pattern of results obtained in this study, to reconcile contradictory results from others, and to suggest a new means by which IT use may be linked to productivity. |
