ABSTRACT
Having established the value generating and enabling structures of the intelligent organisation it is evident that within those structures we run the risk of either over constraining the organisation or having it run riot. We can have insufficient autonomy or too much. The information processing capability of contemporary technology has the potential to massively centralise potential control, or it can guarantee our freedom. The risk in an over-centralised system are reduced flexibility in the interactions with the customers, failure of those ‘in the centre’ to comprehend the needs of those at the edge and a diminution of their skills, a denial of their abilities. In an intelligent organisation we wish to realise the full capabilities of all the people and that can only be done where control is distributed. The chapter proposes a new five element model for managing the autonomy of both organisational units and individuals which balances the competing demands of central and local control. BY the end the reader will be able to understand the debates around autonomy and the implications of their decisions.
