Together the nodes form networks, but they are also linked by information-networks. Many organizations or individuals have access to their partners' internal information systems through electronic mail networks. This is designated by the term 'groupware'. However, in the network organization the coordination is defined as cooperation instead of control. Examples of the nodes-organization are abundant in all fields and branches.
Classic examples are the inter-organizations one finds in Silicon Valley.
In this article we have described two ways in which an organization can react to the new challenges and the two different organizational forms which will emerge as a result. Both types have as common characteristic the use of IT as a coordination-mechanism, but differ vastly in the way this coordination is effected. 67-77 Sutherland E and Y. Morieux, Business Strategy and Information Technology , Routledge, London and New York, 1991. About the Authors Wendy Jansen is associate professor in Information Systems at the Royal Military Academy in the Netherlands. She has a Ph.D. degree in Economic Science at the University of Amsterdam on the subject of Designing Organizations.