The Organic Organization and Innovation

Abstract

This study explores several variables that characterize organic organization to test whether they are associated with varying rates of innovation. The number of occupational specialities, the intensity of scheduled and unscheduled communication and, to a lesser extent, the decentralization of decision-making, are related to innovation. A review of the literature suggests other factors that are also associated with innovation: slack resources, joint programs, size, and history of innovation. With the exception of size, most of these factors are also found to be highly correlated with innovation. Our conclusion is that perhaps the technological gap is an organizational one and that, therefore, the solution to `the American challenge' is an organic form of organization.