The People in Information Systems

New Models of Organizations

The integration of information technology has influenced the structure of organizations. The increased ability to communicate and share information has led to a "flattening" of the organizational structure due to the removal of one or more layers of management.

The network-based organizational structure is another changed enabled by information systems. In a network-based organizational structure, groups of employees can work somewhat independently to accomplish a project. People with the right skills are brought together for a project and then released to work on other projects when that project is over. These groups are somewhat informal and allow for all members of the group to maximize their effectiveness.