Computing and organizations: what we know and what we don't know
Communications of the ACM - Special section on management of information systems
Managing information systems
Electronic markets and electronic hierarchies
Communications of the ACM
Computer information systems and organization structure
Communications of the ACM
Computer Technology and Employment
Computer Technology and Employment
Cognitive science and organizational design: a case study of computer conferencing
CSCW '86 Proceedings of the 1986 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative work
Computers and the centralization of decision-making in u.s. city governments (united states)
Computers and the centralization of decision-making in u.s. city governments (united states)
Something for nothing: management rejection of open source software in Australia's top firms
Information and Management
Information management: A challenge for business education
International Journal of Information Management: The Journal for Information Professionals
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This article reviews studies that examine the impact of information technology (IT) on the number of middle managers in organizations. Contradictory evidence is found to suggest, paradoxically, that IT both increases and decreases the number of middle managers. This "empirical paradox" is resolved by looking at the effects of IT on middle managers as contingent upon the degree of centralization of computing decisions, and of organizational decisions more broadly. When both computing decisions and organizational decisions are centralized, top managers tend to use IT to reduce the number of middle managers. When these decisions are decentralized, middle managers use IT to increase their numbers. A recent case study provides preliminary support for this perspective by showing an interesting case of reduction in middle managers.