2024 Volume 21 Pages 71-85
What are the organizational requirements for DX in Japanese companies? In this study, we use Simon’s artifact theory to test whether the informal aspects of an organization might be the key. It is known that in Japanese-style management, there are deep informal aspects that fall outside the formal structure of the organization. These include tasks not described in manuals or job descriptions, and horizontal coordination between departments.
However, in the changes triggered by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it is possible that these characteristics are causing incompatibility. According to Simon’s artifact theory, the form of an organization and the form of the artifacts produced by that organization should be consistent, and the artifact of an IT system requires an organization with minimal informal aspects. This is why Japanese companies are finding it difficult to progress DX.
Analysis using data from the Organizational Survey 2020, an attempt to understand the current state of Japanese companies, revealed that the fewer informal aspects an organization has, the more smoothly DX can progress. This study underlines that Japanese companies must consider how to deal with the informal aspects of their organizations.
