A Fit Issue Research About Organizational Cognition And Structural Complexity In IT Innovation Context

All the time, fit is a core concept in management science, in essence it is either a kind of disperse, or continuous corresponding relationship between two (or more) variables in target system (subsystem). When fit relationships exist between these variables, the target system (subsystem) would perform well. Nowdays Information Technology (IT) factor is an important management variable in organizational management domain, Fit issues are also concerned in organizations'IT innvotion. Organization researchers concern how to redesign organizations for better performance after the IT variable joining in the organization management domain, concern how to design better software products in software engineering or how to get a high success rate in information system implementation consulting. In technology view IT handles information storage, communication and processing, whose function seems as human being's cognitive system does, for organizations to some extent IT can be seen as a cognitive system expander. However, in extant IT-conserned fit literatures, there is little oganization cognitive research. This discourse tries to fill this gap. Here the dissertation explores the fit issue about organizational cognition and structural complexity during IT/IS innovation, in which organizations are seen as a cognitive subject.Based on the problem identified above, this discourse unfolds as follows:1. Complexity adaption theory construction as a base to study the fit issue about organization cognition and complexity in IT innovation context. This sector (3rd chapter) deeply analyzes the concept "complexity", proposes a "three worlds" (chaos world, natural complexity world, artificial complexity world) classification at philosophy level, summarize three complexity key factors: Cognitive subject, cognitive medium and cognitive object, confine this study in the artificial complexity world. Then this sector based on above complexity concept, also propose a cognitive complexity knowledge view and a technology view, thus construct a logic conceptual channel within complexity, knowledge, technology and IT. Based on the Law of Requisite Variety in cybernetics, propose a complexity adaptation entropy inequality as a criterion for judging organization-IS adaptation relationship.2. Organization cognitive schema model and methods design. This sector (4th chapter,5th chapter) focuses on organization cognitive schema model representation, modeling processes, and measurement design. The designed schema model takes a graph tool in graph theory as representation style, entity and relation in database science as node elements. The Designed modeling process is based on process-activities analysis. To measure organizations' cognitive complexity, static complexity, entropy complexity and cognitive load ratio three metrics are designed.3. Case study:Explaination of organization's cognitive schema modeling method and complexity index computing. This sector (6th chapter) takes an example application for the proposed theories and methods. The case organization is some middle-small manufacture enterprise in China, who had successfully implemented information system innovation then improved its order lead time. Based on this case IT innovation's field study data, this sector performs cognitive schema modeling, processes-activities analysis, static complexity computing, entropy complexity computing, and cognitive load ratio computing. A qualitative complexity adaptation analysis and a cognitive load ratio discuss are also presented. lastly, The law of cognitive load ratio ascending is concluded。This discourse's contributions can be summarized as follows:(1) Studying the organization and IS adaptation issue from a new perspective——cognitive complexity perspective, proposing a organization-IS complexity adaptation criteria——complexity adaptation entropy inequality, summing up several adaptation patterns (expansion pattern, optimization pattern and expansion-optimization pattern).(2)Proposing the complexity adaptaion theory. The theory content contains: In a variable environment, organization need adgust self cognitive structure to capture more complexity. With bounded cognitive capbilities, organization utilizes knowledges and technolgies to handle more and more cognitive complexity, knowdge is the complexity simplizer, technology is the complexity freezer. As regard to organization's cognition, regardless of before or after organization innovation, the complexity adaptation entropy inequation must be meet, which implies that organization's complexity process demand complexity process capbilties must keep balance to some extent.(3) Proposing an organization cognitive schema model representation, designing a processes-activities-based modeling process, and 3 complexity measures for organization cognitive complexity.(4) Concluding a law for organization's successful IT innovation, namely cognitive load ratio ascending law。...