The influence of external environment, organizational structure, leadership style and organizational culture on the implementation of computer technology in an elementary school system.

摘要

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of organizational factors (i.e., external environment, organizational structure, leadership style and organizational culture) on the implementation of computer technology in a school system. It was proposed that organizational factors unique to the individual schools within the system would influence computer usage and acceptance; specifically, the organizational structure, the principal's leadership style and the organizational culture which s/he creates in the school. At the individual level of analysis, teacher involvement in decision making regarding computers, teacher training/expertise and teachers' attitudes toward computers were investigated.;Respondents were 140 teachers, 10 vice-principals and 18 principals from an elementary school system. Eighty-one of these also participated in structured interviews, as well as five school board superintendents, 2 board staff with computer expertise and 5 trustees.;The content analysis of the board and staff responses indicated that the operating environment of the school board was bureaucratic in both its leadership style and organizational culture. Schools were classified according to culture types--authoritarian, bureaucratic and participatory--on the basis of a structured interview. The findings suggested that the culture groups did not differ on the computer usage and acceptance measures. The bureaucratic culture and leadership style at the environment level was discussed as one factor limiting the use of computers in the schools.;At the individual level, teacher involvement in decision making regarding computers, teacher expertise using computers and adequate training were found to be good indicators of high computer usage.