1 . I n t r o d u c t i o n : Te c h n o l o g y a n d o r g a n i z i n g
networks, industries, and so forth, no firm is “an island.” Instead, most forms and organizations are located within networks of firms and organizations which either provide the input materials for the firm’s specific value chain or which handle the output in various ways, in sales companies or distribution networks for instance. In addition, a number of firms and organizations influence, either directly or indirectly, how the production and administration are organized and carried out. This network of firms is maintained and reinforced using a number of technologies and tools, and we consequently propose a model comprising the following technologies: • Production technologies enabling output • Administrative technologies supporting production • Network technologies connecting the value chain (the focal firm) with the relevant firms and organizations within the field or industry While this tripartite model may be debated and contested, it has the obvious merit of being a simple and easily understood functionalist model of how a firm operates from a bird’s eye view. In order to convey the full complexity of the literature and perspectives on the concept of technology, there may be some educational value in reducing the firm to its elementary components and pro cesses. However, such a procedure neither suggests nor assumes that the map and the territory look the same; instead, a useful map helps the subject to orient him- or herself in a domain not fully known and, given such ambitions, we believe our operative model may be justified.
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