The role of structured intuition and entrepreneurial opportunities

Abstract

Woodward's seminal research linking technology to optimal organizational form presented a contingent theory of managerial structure that, in effect, presented the organizational version of scientific management. Taylorism addressed individual work processes; Woodward's theory addressed organizational structural processes; deviations from optimized processes or systems reduced effectiveness. The very nature of contingency theory, however, relies on the implicit assumption that the production technology of the organization is the primary mechanism by which the firm generates value. In the case of the biotechnology and social networking firms, the underlying production technology and organizational structure are intermediaries to value creation, not production technologies per se.

Citation

George, G. and Bock, A.J. (2010), "The role of structured intuition and entrepreneurial opportunities", Phillips, N., Sewell, G. and Griffiths, D. (Ed.) Technology and Organization: Essays in Honour of Joan Woodward (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 29), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 277-285. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X(2010)0000029021