How Will IT Affect Centralization and Decentralization?
In 1958, Leavitt and Whisler predicted that IT would lead to the elimination of middle managers and to greater centralization of decision making.4 Since then, many others have speculated about how IT will affect centralization and decentralization in organizations; over the years, numerous changes have occurred in both directions. In some cases, IT appears to have led to more centralization; in other cases, to more decentralization; in still others, it appears to have had no effect at all on centralization.5 Previous research, therefore, gives no clear indication of IT’s effect on centralization and decentralization. Much of this confusion results from lumping together two kinds of decentralization. When we distinguish between decentralized control by unconnected (that is, independent) decision makers and decentralized control by connected decision makers, a clearer pattern emerges.6 Our research suggests that unconnected, decentralized decision makers should be common when communicati
