7 Chapter 2 Literature Review: Markets, Intermediation and E ...

component parts, and doing so at a lower cost. However, this benefit comes with a
disadvantage: the requirement for competitiveness in many areas of activity.
In the context of new ICT, new models have been proposed that may shed light on
these issues and provide us with new ways of thinking about them. For example
Mowshowitz (1994) outlines his vision for the ‘virtual organisation’ by spelling out
the principles underlying successful management in the ‘information age’. The
essence of this is the uncoupling of the managerial planning of a goal-orientated
activity from the implementation of the activity, in order to exclude extrinsic factors
(i.e. irrelevant to the stated goals) from influencing the actual implementation. A
related principle is that of systematic ‘switching’ between choices (for example, the
choice of supplier), as the organisation’s needs change over the course of time, and
doing so within the framework of an explicit decision scheme:
“To achieve the benefits of such separation it is essential to be able with ease to
couple and decouple actors in the business arena.” (Mowshowitz 1994, pg. 279)
These principles, it is argued, are a form of ‘meta-management’ that will enable the
efficient use of resources, and will enhance organisational responsiveness as well as
organisational reflection upon the specification an activity’s requirements rather than
an ad-hoc management approach. However, this vision has been contested by
Walsham (1994) on the grounds that it is not straightforward nor sufficient to equate
managerial decision-making with objective interpretations:
“Mowshowitz’s assumptions in this area form part of the myth of management
objectivity … [their] own prejudices and self-interest play a large part in their view of
the world and their choice of relevant factors.” (Walsham 1994, pg. 290)
Furthermore, Walsham finds it difficult to accept “the breaking down of decisions
into rational choices with defined variables and objective functions” as a description
of management practice because it ignores evidence suggesting the prevalence of
‘holistic’ or intuitive approaches in the face of uncertainty and complexity of real
situations.
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