Emerging organizational regimes in high technology firms: The bi-modal form

Abstract

Organizational regimes of high technology firms need to accommodate a range of seemingly-paradoxical imperatives–such as creativity vis-a-vis discipline, and flexibility vis-a-vis cohesion–each requiring a different structural emphasis. This has resulted in the emergence of “bi-modal” organizational forms, defined as structures which are simultaneously centralized and decentralized. Based on a five-year field study of 33 firms in “Silicon Valley”, this paper describes the structural configurations of high technology firms at various stages of development, and examines organizational mechanisms deployed to achieve bi-modality.