Complexity
Information technology can generally help an organization to process complexity by directly increasing its information processing capacity. More specifically, it can
Provide the ability to manage a greater number of interrelated inputs, variables, process and outputs by offering an auxiliary high-capacity memory for managing and rapidly analyzing complex sets of information; essentially the role of computer-based decision support systems, database systems, and many expert systems.
Provide the means to develop searchable online repositories of explicit knowledge to leverage the organization’s experts.
Provide the ability to spontaneously and quickly locate experts who may have the tacit knowledge or expertise to deal more effectively with particular complex situations.
Provide the ability to coordinate experts working on complex tasks requiring multiple sources of knowledge
Provide the ability to structure communication (e.g., electronic Delphi panel, brainstorming or other techniques), to enable integrating diverse expertise in a coordinated, efficient and effective manner.
Facilitate decentralized decision-making by making global information more accessible to local organizational units and local information more accessible to and integrable by global units and to other local units.
Facilitate easily reconfiguring processes to provide the structural flexibility for dealing with a variety of situations (e.g., using flexible manufacturing systems).
Uncertainty
Information technology can help organizations to process uncertainty by increasing the ability to locate and gather information, and to predict in cases where that information is lacking. More specifically information technology can
Enable communication regardless of geography or time, broaden communication networks, increase their connectivity, and enhance an organization’s capability to exchange information.
Enable configuring communication networks in highly flexible ways to respond to unpredictable information processing needs.
Broadcast at-large requests for information and knowledge, eliminating the need to know precisely where it is located. Once identified, those sources can be identified, creating "pointers" to the organization's knowledge.
Provide central repositories to enhance the ability to locate codified and documented information. These repositories, if supported by routines for gathering, refining, indexing, synthesizing and abstracting that knowledge, provide a highly effective means to get information to where needed when needed.
Increase the amount and timing of feedback to improve learning, prediction and inference
Provide automated capabilities to analyze large amounts of information, improving the ability to estimate, infer or predict; an additional role of many decision support, statistical analysis, and expert systems.