The performance effect of computer-mediated communication and decentralized strategic decision making

Organizing effective strategy-making processes is challenging in contemporary environmental settings characterized by dynamic competition and intense use of information technology. Scholars have long argued for the pertinence of emergent strategy processes and the effectiveness of nonhierarchical decentralized decision structures in rapidly changing environments. However, little empirical research has investigated the direct and moderating effects of communication-enhancing information technology in this context. Consequently, the relationships between computerized information systems, strategic decision making, and organizational performance remain largely unexplored. To fill this gap, this paper presents a recent empirical study, which confirms that decentralized strategic decision making is related to higher organizational performance in dynamic environments. Furthermore, the study indicates that computer-mediated communication is associated with superior performance and that decentralized strategic decision making in conjunction with computer-mediated communication is associated with even higher performance across environmental settings. (c) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.