Abstract
This study chooses two product technological elements (customized design and modular design) and two operations technological elements (process automation and process flexibility) from among a number of best practices to study their impact on organization structure, including centralization, specialization, formalization, managerial level and span of control. The aim is to understand more about the interaction between new technology practices (as mass customization enablers) and organization structure, and how culture affects them.We distributed a questionnaire and received 548 usable responses from MBA and Executive MBA alumni in China. This study found that the introduction of new technological practices can lead to decentralization, less specialization, less formalization and lower span of chief managers at the early stages of implementation. Following a U-shaped curve, the impact of new technological practices would reverse course. The Idealist perspective is supported at the prophase and the Marxist perspective is supported at the anaphase of implementation. This study provides empirical evidence for both Technical Determinism and Social Shaping of Technology (SST).
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