Elements of an Organization’s Infrastructure—Relevant Existing and Expectable Technologies

Abstract

The foundations of organizations such as visions, mission statements, the organizational structure—and corporate strategies as well as strategic objectives derived from them—are the supporting pillars of the core business of the respective organization and they are part of the—in a wider meaning—infrastructure of the organization. These elements and structures influence the behavior of the organization and are part of the subconscious mind of the organization. The new technologies and tools like sensors, internet of things, augmented reality, social media, Big Data, etc. are attached and settled in this infrastructure—they are becoming part of it—and they change the perception of the organization. But they also change the possibilities for interaction both internally and externally. They change the “cognitive processes” of the organization and thus the subconscious mind of the organization. New concepts, such as social collaboration and realtime enterprise accelerate the interaction and business processes and open up new paradigms like the paradigm of sharing—the “shareconomy”. Decisions are increasingly being supported by IT (Decision Support) or even automated. Systems and algorithms with learning abilities and Artificial Intelligence emerge or are moving in. How can the organizational and entrepreneurial governance be secured in such disruptive phase shifts? How can the foundations and frameworks of the organization be kept appropriate and stable? How can the subconscious mind of the organization—required as a basis for the fast and efficient action—be formed and shaped in a safe way. How to make it “resilient”? This requires not only communication but also the right algorithms for the self-control of complex systems. However, organizations have to be designed and built so that they can deal with uncertainties and disruptions as best as possible. This requires an appropriate infrastructure—in a wider meaning—as important part of the subconscious mind of an organization and this requires the meaningful use of existing and expectable technologies.