One Company Used Tech as a Tool. Another Gave It a Role. Which Did Better?

Is technology a tool? Or should it assume a deeper, more social “role” within organizational transformation, profoundly influencing structures, collaboration, and operational mechanisms? Based on a close look at two seemingly similar Chinese online-to-offline companies, this choice about how to view technology within an organization can have far reaching effects. In these two companies, the way technology was introduced, understood, and applied shaped organizational structure, how and with whom employees collaborate, and the roles managers take on.