In effect without some sort of power hierarchy, organizations break down into thousands of pieces, each with its own trajectory and direction. Within the power structure, access to information is a major form of power. B knows earlier than others about decisions to be announced, whether sales are up or down, for instance, it allows the decision-maker to adjust better to change in sales, etc. As computers have become the most important place to store, retrieve, and analyze information, those who have access to them in a given corporation have a power advantage over those who do not. This assumes that not all members of an organization have equal access, which is typically the case.
Access means much more than a key to a computer room or terminal, or command of a password.
It means also commanding the skills to query the computer and digest the information it provides. As a result, the introduction of computers almost inevitably changes the power structure of an organization. What holds for computers in general holds many times over for a management tracking system. The information such a computer program contains is much more consequential for power relations than information about practically any other item. Compare the information that your rival division heads are behind schedule to some changes in the expenditures on research and development, or to a fall in revenue.