Affiliations: Enterprise Support Systems, Norcross, GA 30092, USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: W.B. Rouse, Enterprise Support Systems,
3295 River Exchange Drive, Suite 380, Norcross, GA 30092, USA, E-mail:
brouse@ess-advisors.com
Abstract: Computer and communications technologies are dramatically increasing
connectivity and providing rich opportunities for organizational
creativity. Most organizations would like to take advantage of this
creativity, but also avoid the chaos that is possible when fundamental change
becomes pervasive. The emergence of loosely-structured
organizations, made possible by increased connectivity to information and
people, is resulting in organizations that cannot be managed successfully using
traditional approaches to planning, organization, and control. This
article explores new approaches by first considering the forces that are
driving organizational change in business, government, and
academia. Organizational trends are then examined in terms of
loosely-structured organizations, including trends and management issues for
virtual organizations. These assessments provide the basis for
considering the issues involved in planning, organization, and control for
loosely-structured organizations, as well as how these issues are best
addressed.
