At a fundamental level, technology may be defined as organizational actions employed to transfer inputs into outputs. It can be viewed not just in the narrow sense of focusing on machines needed to produce physical goods, but in the broader sense of any systematic set of techniques which leads to organizational outputs. Naturally an understanding of technology is fundamental to our understanding of organizations, but little is known about the precise impact of technology, particularly IT given the unique attributes of information discussed in Chapter 2, on KN.

Technology has a number of potential impacts. Most importantly, it determines the human composition of organizations. The diversity of skills needed in the contemporary organization increases the heterophily of its members and generally heterophily can be associated with a variety of communication problems (Rogers 1983). Different occupations also have different knowledge needs (Case 2007). Engineers, for example, are much more likely than scientists to be interested in information that is directly and narrowly relevant to their jobs (Allen 1977). Second, technological factors also have a significant impact on the spatial environment of organizations, something we shall discuss in detail in the next chapter. Third, technology has a direct impact on the structural design of organizations.