New Forms of Organisation in Europe: Complementarities and Performance

This paper analyses the emergence of new organizational forms across Europe. These new organizational forms include features such as flattened organizational hierarchies, a reliance on task forces and teams instead of rigid compartmentalisation, the use of elaborate internal IT systems and communication networks, and a shift from "command and control" management styles to "facilitate and empower". Based on results from a survey of 448 European firms, the researchers establish the extent to which internal network form characteristics have emerged in UK and continental European companies over the 1992-1996 period. Over the 1992-1996 period, they find the emergence of certain internal network characteristics -- with only small differences across European regions. The findings do not necessarily warrant the use of claims on the rise of "the new organization" beyond the multidivisional organization.