Organizational culture as a determinant of technology assimilation

Abstract

From higher to lower levels of abstraction, an organization can be seen as a more or less rational entity trying to achieve certain objectives by securing and employing certain resources strategically, as a complex system enacting specific processes and enabling certain patterns of individual and group behavior, or as a set of individuals working around certain (implicit or explicit) operating rules and utilizing certain technology. For an organization to successfully achieve its objectives, it must be able to deploy the right kind of processes and behaviors by carefully aligning its technology, its organizational structure and the values and beliefs of its people (which is usually referred to as "organizational culture"). Successful technological innovations require that either the technology be designed to fit the organization's current structure and culture or that the organizational structure and culture be reshaped to fit the needs of the new technology. Only if the organization is able to undertake the additional changes that are required to maintain overall fit will the new technology reach the desired effects. Otherwise, the investment could be worthless. To illustrate these issues, the paper presents a case study based on a technology-driven change in a Turkish financial organization.