THE INFORMATION INTENSIVE ORGANIZATION - A STUDY OF GOVERNANCE, CONTROL AND COMMUNICATION IN A NORWEGIAN SHIPYARD

Organizational performance is closely related to the features of the information system of an organization. Sterkoder Ltd changed its organizational structure in 1989 to increase productivity in the shipyard. Eighty per cent of its employees were rehired and retrained in 1989. The company focused on a flatter organization with an information system to link the corporation, which resulted in a better working logistics between the different units. In this process the number of middle managers was decreased by 65 per cent. This was carried out in an agreement between the top management and the trade union for the blue collar workers. The total result was an increase in productivity by 34 per cent from 1989 to 1991. A further increase of 20 per cent is planned for 1992-93 and a productivity gain of 3 per cent has been achieved in the first quarter of 1992. Based on the requirements specified in Drucker's 1989 book, The New Realties, the efforts of reorganizing a Norwegian shipyard is interpreted in terms of the relationships between patterns of communication, intraorganizational variability, political alliances and economic performance. Crucial properties of an 'information-intensive organization' are discussed with an emphasis on the vital impact of the ecology of communicative routines with regard to organizational performance in organizations in transition.