Organizational Characteristics and Structure of IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND THE STRUCTURE OF THE INFORMATION SERVICES FUNCTION

Although much has been written about the centraliza-tion versus decentralization of information services, relatively little is known about how the structure of an organization influences the level of centralization or decentralization. This paper presents the results of a study which examined the organizational context of the information services function. The authors attempted to identify those organizational characteristics that are associated with the structure of the information services function. It was found that the organizational environment does have an ir~fluence upon the level of decentralization of information services. Few organiza-tional characteristics, however, were found to influence ihe structure of information services consistently across all organizations. Further research relating organiza-tional form to its impact on information services is suggested. Keywords:Centralization/decentralization, i formation services organization, organization struc-ture, organization contingencies ACM Categories: 2.4, 3.