Patterned Interactions In Complex Systems: The Role Of Information Technology For Re-Shaping Organizational Structures

The complex relationships between organizational practices have been the focus of information technology business value (ITBV) research in recent years. There appears to be a discernible trend toward a more nuanced view in which the effects of information technology (IT), various organizational practices and their complex interactions are systematically investigated. Building on the theoretical perspective of configurations, we embedded four distinct organizational typological patterns into a simulation model to study IT-related transformations by specifically focusing on the impacts of IT in different organizational structures. Our approach augmented configurational theory into a NK simulation model developed in theoretical biology to compare and contrast IT business value impacts between centralized and decentralized organizational structures. We found that when IT is a core component (to influence outcome); it has the potential to enable the firms to achieving the highest level of performance when comparing it to a periphery component (being influenced) in the centralized organizational pattern.