The significance of the movement to decentralize workplace authority is hotly debated. Drawing from a case study of the impact of video technology on surgical work, this article provides conceptual clarity to the debate by specifying the technological determinants of two distinct task-coordinating structures found in decentralized work units. The first involves unilateral control by the dominant actor in the work team. It is effective when tasks are segmented and when coordination occurs in a natural, face-to-face context. The second structure involves the formation of teams with particularistic, group-based coordination skills. This team-based structure is demanded when outputs are produced collectively in tightly coupled units, and the task unit coordinates its collective actions through complex information-mediating technology.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adler, P. S.
(Ed.). (1992). Technology and the future of work. New York: Oxford University Press.
2.
Adler, P. S.
, & Borys, B. (1989). Automation and skill. Politics and Society, 17, 377-402.
3.
Appelbaum, E.
, & Batt, R. (1994). The new American workplace. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.
4.
Barley, S. R.
(1986). Technology as an occasion for structuring. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31, 78-108.
5.
Barley, S. R.
(1990). The alignment of technology and structure through roles and networks. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 61-103.
6.
Barley, S. R.
, & Orr, J. E. (Eds.). (1997a). Between craft and science. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
7.
Barley, S. R.
, & Orr, J. E. (1997b). Introduction: The neglected workforce. In S. R. Barley & J. E. Orr (Eds.), Between craft and science (pp. 1-19). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
8.
Blauner, R.
(1964). Alienation and freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
9.
Buchanan, D. A.
, & Boddy, D. (1983). Organizations in the computer age. Aldershot, UK: Gower.
10.
Burawoy, M.
(1985). The politics of production. London: Verso.
11.
Capelli, P.
, Bassi, L., Katz, H., Knoke, D., Osterman, P., & Useem, M. (1997). Change at work. New York: Oxford University Press.
12.
Clark, J.
, McLoughlin, I., Rose, H., & King, R. (1988). The process of technological change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
13.
Coser, R. L.
(1958). Authority and decision-making in a hospital. American Sociological Review, 23, 56-63.
14.
Dankbaar, B.
(1988). Teamwork in the West-German car industry and the quality of work. In W. Buitelaar (Ed.), Technology and work (pp. 165-181). Aldershot, UK: Avebury.
15.
Dawson, P.
, & Webb, J. (1989). New production arrangements. Work, Employment & Society, 3, 221-238.
16.
Dohse, K.
, Jürgens, U., & Malsch, T. (1985). From “Fordism” to “Toyotism”?Politics and Society, 14, 115-146.
17.
Edwards, R.
(1979). Contested terrain. New York: Basic Books.
18.
Fadem, J. A.
(1984). Automation and work design in the U.S. In M. Warner (Ed.), Microprocessors, manpower and society. Aldershot, UK: Gower.
19.
Fantasia, R.
, Clawson, D., & Graham, G. (1988). A critical view of worker participation in American industry. Work and Occupations, 15, 468-488.
20.
Faunce, W. A.
(1958a). Automation and the automobile worker. Social Problems, 6, 68-78.
21.
Faunce, W. A.
(1958b). Automation in the automobile industry. American Sociological Review, 23, 401-407.
22.
Florida, R.
, & Kenney, M. (1991). Transplanted organizations. American Sociological Review, 56, 381-398.
23.
Freidson, E.
(1970). Profession of medicine. New York: Dodd, Mead.
24.
Gabarro, J. J.
(1990). The development of working relationships. In J. Galegher, R. E. Kraut, & C. Egido (Eds.), Intellectual teamwork (pp. 79-110). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
25.
Galegher, J.
, & Kraut, R. E. (1990). Technology for intellectual teamwork. In J. Galegher, R. E. Kraut, & C. Egido (Eds.), Intellectual teamwork (pp. 1-20). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
26.
Geary, J. F.
(1993). New forms of work organization and employee involvement in two case study sites. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 14, 511-534.
27.
Glaser, B. G.
, & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. New York: Aldine.
28.
Goodman, P. S.
, & Shah, S. (1992). Familiarity and work group outcomes. In S. Worchel, W. Wood, & J. A. Simpson (Eds.), Group process and productivity (pp. 276-298). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
29.
Graham, L.
(1995). On the line at Subaru-Isuzu. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
30.
Gutek, B. A.
(1990). Work group structure and information technology. In J. Galegher, R. E. Kraut, & C. Egido (Eds.), Intellectual teamwork (pp. 63-78). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
31.
Heydebrand, W. V.
(1989). New organizational forms. Work and Occupations, 16, 323-357.
32.
Hodson, R.
(1995). The worker as active subject. In D. B. Bills (Ed.), The new modern times (pp. 253-280). Albany: State University of New York Press.
33.
Hodson, R.
(1996). Dignity in the workplace under participative management. American Sociological Review, 61, 719-738.
34.
Jürgens, U.
, Malsch, T., & Dohse, K. (1993). Breaking from Taylorism. London: Cambridge University Press.
35.
Katz, P.
(1981). Ritual in the operating room. Ethnology, 20, 335-350.
36.
Katz, P.
(1985). How surgeons make decisions. In R. A. Hahn & A. D. Gaines (Eds.), Physicians of Western medicine (pp. 155-175). Hingham, MA: Kluwer Academic.
37.
Kelley, M. R.
(1986). Programmable automation and the skill question. Human Systems Management, 6, 223-241.
38.
Kelley, M. R.
(1990). New process technology, job design, and work organization. American Sociological Review, 55, 191-208.
39.
Kenney, M.
, & Florida, R. (1993). Beyond mass production. New York: Oxford University Press.
40.
Leidner, R.
(1993). Fast food; fast talk. Berkeley: University of California Press.
41.
Lorenz, E. H.
(1993). Flexible production systems and the social construction of trust. Politics and Society, 21, 307-324.
42.
McLoughlin, I.
, & Clark, J. (1988). Technological change at work. Milton Keynes, UK: Open University Press.
43.
Noble, D.
(1984). Forces of production. New York: Knopf.
44.
Orr, J. E.
(1996). Talking about machines. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
45.
Ozaki, M.
(1992). Technological change and labour relations. In M. Ozakiet al. (Eds.), Technological change and labour relations (pp. 1-46). Geneva: International Labour Office.
46.
Perrow, C.
(1967). A framework for the comparative analysis of organizations. American Sociological Review, 32, 194-208.
47.
Perrow, C.
(1984). Normal accidents. New York: Basic Books.
48.
Perrow, C.
(1986). Complex organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill.
49.
Piore, M.
, & Sabel, C. (1984). The second industrial divide. New York: Basic Books.
50.
Prechel, H.
(1994). Economic crisis and the centralization of control over the managerial process. American Sociological Review, 59, 723-745.
51.
Roberts, K. H.
(1993). New challenges to understanding organizations. New York: Macmillan.
52.
Shaiken, H.
, Herzenberg, S., & Kuhn, S. (1986). The work process under more flexible production. Industrial Relations, 25, 167-183.
53.
Shaiken, H.
, Lopez, S., & Mankita, I. (1997). Two routes to team production. Industrial Relations, 36, 17-45.
54.
Simpson, I. H.
(1989). The sociology of work. Social Forces, 67, 563-581.
55.
Smith, V.
(1994). Institutionalizing flexibility in a service firm. Work and Occupations, 21, 284-307.
56.
Smith, V.
(1996). Employee involvement, involved employees. Social Problems, 43, 166-179.
57.
Stinchcombe, A. L.
(1990). Information and organizations. Berkeley: University of California Press.
58.
Streeck, W.
(1987). The uncertainties of management in the management of uncertainty. Work, Employment & Society, 1, 281-308.
59.
Surgical injuries lead to new rule
. (1992, June 14). New York Times, p. A1.
60.
Taplin, I. M.
(1995). Flexible production, rigid jobs. Work and Occupations, 22, 412-438.
61.
Thomas, R. J.
(1994). What machines can't do. Berkeley: University of California Press.
62.
Thompson, J. D.
(1967). Organizations in action. New York: McGraw-Hill.
63.
Trist, E. L.
(1981). The evolution of sociotechnical systems as a conceptual framework and as an action research program. In A. H. Van de Ven & W. F. Joyce (Eds.), Perspectives on organization design and behavior (pp. 19-76). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
64.
Turnbull, P. J.
(1988). The limits to “Japanisation”—Just-in-time, labour relations and the UK automotive industry. New Technology, Work and Employment, 3, 7-20.
65.
Vallas, S. P.
(1993). Power in the workplace. Albany: State University of New York Press.
66.
Vallas, S. P.
, & Beck, J. P. (1996). The transformation of work revisited. Social Problems, 43, 339-361.
67.
Van de Ven, A. H.
(1977). A panel study on the effects of task uncertainty, interdependence, and size on unit decision making. Organization and Administrative Sciences, 8, 237-253.
68.
Van de Ven, A. H.
, & Delbecq, A. L. (1974). A task contingent model of work unit structure. Administrative Science Quarterly, 19, 183-197.
69.
Van de Ven, A. H.
, Delbecq, A. L., & Koenig, R., Jr. (1976). Determinants of coordination modes within organizations. American Sociological Review, 41, 322-338.
70.
Walsh, J. P.
(1991). The social context of technological change. Sociological Quarterly, 32, 447-468.
71.
Walsh, J. P.
, & Bayema, T. (1996). Computer networks and scientific work. Social Studies of Science, 26, 661-703.
72.
Walton, R. E.
(1985). From control to commitment in the workplace. Harvard Business Review, 63(2), 76-84.
73.
Weick, K. E.
, & Roberts, K. H. (1993). Collective mind in organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38, 357-381.
74.
Weiss, R. S.
(1994). Learning from strangers. New York: Free Press.
75.
When patient's life is price of learning new kind of surgery
. (1992, June 23). The New York Times, p. C3.
76.
Woodward, J.
(1970). Industrial organization. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
77.
Womack, J. P.
, Jones, D. T., & Roos, D. (1991). The machine that changed the world. New York: HarperCollins.
78.
Zetka, J. R. Jr.
(1991). Automated technologies, institutional environments, and skilled labor processes. Sociological Quarterly, 32, 557-574.
79.
Zetka, J. R. Jr.
(1992). Work organization and wildcat strikes in the U.S. automobile industry, 1946 to 1963. American Sociological Review, 57, 214-226.
80.
Zetka, J. R., Jr.
(1995). Militancy, market dynamics, and workplace authority. Albany: State University of New York Press.
81.
Zetka, J. R., Jr.
, & Walsh, J. P. (1994). A qualitative protocol for studying technological change in the labor process. Bulletin de Methodologie Sociologique, 45, 37-73.
82.
Zuboff, S.
(1988). In the age of the smart machine. New York: Basic Books.
