SATM 6.2.2.8 Recent Developments

One interesting development in contingency theory has been to see the best way to structure an organization as contingent upon the amount of information processing it has to do, which in turn is dependent on the uncertainty and diversity surrounding its basic task. 

This approach, as developed by Galbraith (1977, Organizational Design, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.), was mentioned earlier as an example of the employment of the "organizations as brains" metaphor. It helps to generalize a number of the more specific findings of contingency theory. It also extends the potential of the approach and brings it closer to the organizational cybernetic thinking.

(Jackson, Michael C. (2000) Systems Approaches to Management, Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers. P115.)