Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Patterns of information transfer among engineers and applied scientists in complex organizations

A partial review

  • Published:
Scientometrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This review discusses studies of informal communication of scientific and technical information published in the American management literature between 1976 and 1982. While investigated formerly by information scientists, the subject has been mentioned only infrequently in the literature and abstracts of information science in recent years. Management scientists view the informal information transfer as a special type of organizational communication. Among the papers reviewed, special attention is accorded to the publications byTushman who has extended and developedAllen's approach. The implications of the insights gained for the information worker and information scientist are discussed in the conclusions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. C. CUADRA (Ed.),Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, Vol. 1, Encyclopedia Britannica, Chicago, 1966.

    Google Scholar 

  2. ISA-Information Science Abstracts, formerlyDocumentation Abstracts, Plenum Publishing Corp., New York, N. Y., 10013.

  3. Social Sciences Citation Index, Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia, PA.

  4. T. J. ALLEN, S. COONEY, Institutional roles in technology transfer: a diagnosis of the situation in one small country. R&D Management, 4 (1) (1973) 41.

    Google Scholar 

  5. R. K. MERTON, The normative structure of science (1942), In:The Sociology of Science, R. K. MERTON, (Ed.) University of Chicago Press, Chicago, (1973).

    Google Scholar 

  6. B. BARBER, Science and the Social Order, Free Press, New York, 1952.

    Google Scholar 

  7. J. BEN-DAVID, Emergence of national traditions in the sociology of science, In:The Sociology of Science, J. GASTON (Ed.), Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1978, p. 197–218.

    Google Scholar 

  8. R. K. MERTON, Priorities in scientific discovery: a chapter in the sociology of science,American Sociological Review, 22, (1957) 635.

    Google Scholar 

  9. D. DE SOLLA PRICE,Little Science, Big Science, Columbia University Press, New York, 1961.

    Google Scholar 

  10. D. DE SOLLA PRICE,Science since Babylon, 2nd. ed., Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn., 1975.

    Google Scholar 

  11. See Ref. 3Social Sciences Citation Index, Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia, PA.

  12. W. D. GARVEY, B. C. GRIFFITH, Scientific information exchange in psychology,Science, 146 (1964) 1655.

    Google Scholar 

  13. W. D. GARVEY,Communication: The Essence of Science, Pergamon Press, New York, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  14. C. E. NELSON, D. K. POLLOCK (Eds),Communication among Scientists and Engineers, Heath Lexington Books, Lexington, MA, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  15. C. P. SNOW, The two cultures and the scientific revolution,New Statesman, London, (October 6, 1956) 568.

    Google Scholar 

  16. D. DE SOLLA PRICE, Is technology independent of science?Technology and Culture, 6, (1965) 553.

    Google Scholar 

  17. D. DE SOLLA PRICE, Citation measures of hard science, soft science, in: Ref. 14 —, p. 3–33.

    Google Scholar 

  18. T. J. ALLEN,Managing the Flow of Technology. Technology Transfer and the Dissemination of Technological Information within the R&D Organization, Cambridge, MIT Press, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  19. M. K. BADAWY, One more time: How to motivate your engineer,IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 1978, EM-25 (2), 37–42.

    Google Scholar 

  20. R. R. RITTI, The Engineer in the Industrial Corporation, Columbia University Press, New York, 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  21. D. MARQUIS, T. J. ALLEN, Communication patterns in applied technology,American Psychologist, 21 (1966) 1052.

    Google Scholar 

  22. L. H. BERUL et al.,DOD User Needs Study, Auerbach Corporation, Philadelphia, PA. 1965.

    Google Scholar 

  23. W. D. GARVEY, B. C. GRIFFITH, Reports of the American Psychological Association Project on Scientific Information Exchange in Psychology. American Psychological Association, Washington D. C. (1963–1969).

    Google Scholar 

  24. J. S. COLEMAN, E. KATZ, H. MENZEL,Medical Innovation. A Diffusion Study, Bobbs-Merill, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1966.

    Google Scholar 

  25. D. C. PELZ, F. M. ANDREWS,Scientistis in organizations. Productive climates for research and development, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1966.

    Google Scholar 

  26. C. W. SHILLING, J. BERNARD, Informal communication among bioscientists. Report No. 16A, 1964, George Washington University, Biological Sciences Communication Project. Washington, D. C.

  27. T. J. ALLEN, S. I. COHEN, Information flow in research and development laboratories,Administrative Science Quarterly, 14 (1969) 12.

    Google Scholar 

  28. E. JACOBSON, S. SEASHORE, Communication patterns in complex organizations,Journal of Social Issues, 7, (1951) 28.

    Google Scholar 

  29. R. S. WEISS, E. JACOBSON, A method for the analysis of the structure of complex organizations,American Sociological Review, 20 (1955) 661.

    Google Scholar 

  30. D. F. SCHWARTZ, E. JACOBSON, Organizational network analysis: The Liason communication role,Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance, 18 (1977) 158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Gatekeepers and the transmission of information. A memorandum (unsigned), In: W. SCHRAMM,Mass Communication, a Book of Readings, 2nd. ed., Stanford, California, 1960.

  32. E. M. ROGERS, R. AGARWALA-ROGERS,Communication in Organizations, The Free Press, New York, 1976, p. 133.

    Google Scholar 

  33. W. BREED, Social control in the newsroom: A functional analysis,Social Forces, 33 (1955) 323.

    Google Scholar 

  34. P. F. LAZARFELD, B. BERELSON, H. GAUDET,The People's Choice, Free Press, New York, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  35. S. R. EPTON, Ten years of R&D Management—some major themes: the role of communication in R&D,R&D Management, 11 (1981) 165.

    Google Scholar 

  36. D. KATZ, R. KAHN,The Social Psychology of Organizations, Wiley & Sons, New York, 1966, p. 433 ff.

    Google Scholar 

  37. F. W. WOLEK, The behavioral impact of organizational innovations for STI, In:Information Services: Economics, Management and Technology, R. M. MASON, J. E. CREPS, Jr. (Eds), Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  38. T. J. ALLEN, M. L. TUSHMAN, D. LEE, Modes of technology transfer as a function in the RDT&E spectrum, In:Current Research on Scientific and Technical Information Transfer, Abstracts and Full Text of Papers. Delivered at Three 1976 Seminars Sponsored by National Foundation Division of Science Information, Jeffrey Norton Publishers, Inc. New York, 1976.

  39. J. THOMPSON,Organizations in Action, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  40. H. ALDRICH, D. HERKER, Boundary spanning roles and organization structure,Academy of Management Reviews, 2 (1977) 217.

    Google Scholar 

  41. M. L. TUSHMAN,Communication in R&D organizations. An information processing approach, Ph. D. Dissertation, MIT, Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  42. M. L. TUSHMAN, Technical communication in R&D laboratories: The impact of project work characteristics,Academy of Management Journal, 21 (1978) 624.

    Google Scholar 

  43. L. PORTER, K. H. ROBERTS, Organizational communication, in: Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, M. DUNNETTE (Ed.), Rand-McNally, Chicago, 1976, p. 1553–1589.

    Google Scholar 

  44. P. MORROW, Work related communication, environmental uncertainty and subunit effectiveness: A second look at the information processing approach to subunit communication,Academy of Management Journal, 24 (1981) 851.

    Google Scholar 

  45. W. PAISLEY, Information and work, in:Progress in Communication Science, Vol. 2, B. DERVIN, M. J. VOIGT, (Eds), Ablex Publications Corporation, Norwood, N. J., 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  46. M. L. TUSHMAN, Managing communication networks in R&D laboratories, in:Readings in the Management of Innovation, M. L. TUSHMAN, W. L. MOORE (Eds), Pitman, Boston, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  47. M. L. TUSHMANN, Special boundary roles in the innovation process,Administrative Science Quarterly, 22 (1977) 587.

    Google Scholar 

  48. G. R. WHITLEY, PENELOPE FROST, The measurement of performance in research,Human Relations, 24 (1971) 161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. R. T. KELLER, W. E. HOLLAND, The measurement of performance among research and development professional employees. A longitudinal analysis,IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 1982, EM-29 (2), 54–58.

    Google Scholar 

  50. R. T. KELLER, W. E. HOLLAND, Boundary-spanning roles in a research and development organization: an empirical investigation,Academy of Management Journal, 18 (1975) 388.

    Google Scholar 

  51. M. L. TUSHMAN, R. KATZ, External communication and project performance: an investigation into the role of the gatekeeper,Management Science, 26 (1980) 1071.

    Google Scholar 

  52. M. L. TUSHMAN, Impact of perceived environmental variability on patterns of work related communication,Academy of Management Journal, 22 (1979) 482.

    Google Scholar 

  53. M. L. TUSHMAN, T. J. SCALAN, Characteristics and external orientations of boundary spanning individuals,Academy of Management Journal, 24 (1981) 83.

    Google Scholar 

  54. M. L. TUSHMAN, T. J. SCALAN, Boundary spanning individuals: their role in information transfer and their antecedents,Academy of Management Journal, 24 (1981) 289.

    Google Scholar 

  55. M. L. TUSHMAN, D. A. NADLER, Communication and technical roles in R&D laboratories. An information processing approach, in:Management of Research and Innovation. Studies in the Management Sciences, B. V. DEAN, J. L. GOLDHAR (Eds), Vol. 15, North Holland, Amsterdam, 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  56. W. A. FISHER, B. ROSEN, The search for the latent information star,R&D Management, 12 (1982) 61.

    Google Scholar 

  57. R. TAYLOR, J. UTTERBACK, A longitudinal study of communication in research,IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 1975, EM-22, 80–87.

    Google Scholar 

  58. R. KATZ, M. L. TUSHMAN, An investigation into the managerial roles and career path of gatekeepers and project supervisors in a major R&D facility,R&D Management, 11 (1981) 103.

    Google Scholar 

  59. R. KATZ, The effects of group longevity on project communication and performance,Administrative Science Quarterly, 27 (1982) 81.

    Google Scholar 

  60. R. KATZ, T. J. ALLEN, Investigating the Not Invented Here (NIH) syndrome: a look at the performance, tenure and communication patterns of 50 R&D project groups,R&D Management, 11 (1982) 7.

    Google Scholar 

  61. J. M. KREMER,Information Flow among Engineers in a Design Company, Ph. D. Thesis, University of Illinois, Urbana, Champain, 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  62. O. PERSSON, Critical comments on the gatekeeper concept in science and technoloy,R&D Management, 11 (1981) 37.

    Google Scholar 

  63. 63.Ref. 13, p. 155–157.

    Google Scholar 

  64. H. L. SHUCHMAN,Information Transfer in Engineering, The Futures Group, Glastonbury, Conn., 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  65. 65.Ref. 13, p. 192 ff.

    Google Scholar 

  66. W. A. FISHER, Scientific and technical information and the performance of R&D groups, in:Management of Research and Innovation. Studies in the Management Sciences, B. V. DEAN, J. L. GOLDHAR (Eds), Vol. 15, North Holland, Amsterdam, 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  67. E. RITCHIE, Communication networks: tools for the efficient management of R&D,R&D Management, 7 (1977) 85.

    Google Scholar 

  68. Author's observations (unrecorded).

  69. L. M. B. McKINNON, Rebuilding a high technology library to attract creative people,IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 1982, EM-29 (2), 62–66.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Defence, P.O.B. 2250, Haifa, Israel

    Michaela Aloni

Authors
  1. Michaela Aloni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Aloni, M. Patterns of information transfer among engineers and applied scientists in complex organizations. Scientometrics 8, 279–300 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02018054

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02018054

Keywords

Search

Navigation