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Emerging organizational regimes in high technology firms: The bi‐modal form
Author(s) -
Bahrami Homa,
Evans Stuart
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
human resource management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.888
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-050X
pISSN - 0090-4848
DOI - 10.1002/hrm.3930280103
Subject(s) - cohesion (chemistry) , flexibility (engineering) , industrial organization , business , modal , organizational field , creativity , silicon valley , field (mathematics) , organizational structure , knowledge management , management , computer science , economics , entrepreneurship , political science , materials science , institutional theory , finance , chemistry , mathematics , organic chemistry , polymer chemistry , pure mathematics , law
Organizational regimes of high technology firms need to accommodate a range of seemingly‐paradoxical imperatives–such as creativity vis‐a‐vis discipline, and flexibility vis‐a‐vis cohesion–each requiring a different structural emphasis. This has resulted in the emergence of “bi‐modal” organizational forms, defined as structures which are simultaneously centralized and decentralized. Based on a five‐year field study of 33 firms in “Silicon Valley”, this paper describes the structural configurations of high technology firms at various stages of development, and examines organizational mechanisms deployed to achieve bi‐modality.