Technology, Organizations, and Work in the 20th Century

In the following pages I discuss how technologies have changed forever the structure and functioning of organizations, and therefore, the fundamental nature of work. I will begin by describing the growth of office technology in the first half of the 20th century. Next I describe two technology-driven paradigm shifts that profoundly affected organizations. The first shift, which began in the early 1950s, saw the computer evolve from a military tool to a business machine. The second paradigm shift, beginning in the 1980s, saw the computer evolve from an isolated PC on a workers desk, to networks which connect computers throughout an organization and throughout the world. This connectivity has resulted in flatter and more dynamic organizations, where the primary work unit is no longer the individual, but work teams. The latter shift is driving radical developments in the way organizations are structured and how they function. I conclude by discussing how these changes will affect the practice of industrial and organizational psychology in the next millennium.