Showing papers in "Administrative Science Quarterly in 1968"
2,081 citations
TL;DR: Pugh and Hickson as discussed by the authors defined five primary dimensions of organization structure, namely specialization, standardization, formalization, centralization, and configuration, from comparative data on these dimensions, in fifty-two different work organizations in Enriland, scales were constructed to measure sixty-four component variables.
Abstract: Five primary dimensions of organization structure were defined and operationalized; (1) specialization, (2) standardization, (3) formalization, (4) centralization, (5) configuration. From comparative data on these dimensions, in fifty-two different work organizations in Enriland, scales were constructed to measure sixty-four component variables. This made it possible to construct a profile characteristic of the structure of an organization and to compare it directly with that of other organizations. Principal-components analysis was used to help in the interpretation of intercorrelations among the scales. The resulting factors suggested four basic dimensions of structure, conceptualized as structuring of activities, concentration of authority, line control of workflow, and size of supportive component. This multifactor result was considered to demonstrate that the concept of the bureaucratic type is no longer useful. D. S. Pugh and D. J. Hickson are members of the Industrial Administration Unit, at the University of Aston in Birmingham, England. C. R. Hinings is at the University of Birmingham, and C. Turner is at the University of East Anglia.
1,599 citations
TL;DR: Terreberry as discussed by the authors argues that evolutionary processes occur in the environments of organizations and argues that organizational change is increasingly externally induced and organizational adaptability is a function of ability to learn and to perform according to changes in the environment.
Abstract: This paper argues that evolutionary processes occur in the environments of organizations. Ideal types of environment, originally conceptualized by Emery and Trist, are elaborated and extended. A review of recent literature gives evidence of the decreasing autonomy and the increasing interdependence of organizations. Four approaches to interorganizational analysis are reviewed and found inadequate to deal with present-day conditions. This paper then outlines a perspective which allows any organization, its transactions, and the environment itself to be viewed in a common conceptual framework. Two hypotheses are discussed: (1) that organizational change is increasingly externally induced; and (2) that organizational adaptability is a function of ability to learn and to perform according to changes in the environment. Shirley Terreberry is a Ph.D. candidate in the Doctoral Program in Social Work and Social Science at The University of Michigan.
651 citations
TL;DR: Friedlander et al. as mentioned in this paper explored the feasibility of an organization concurrently fulfilling the variety of demands made upon it, with energy transfer within the organization as well as between the organization and the societal components.
Abstract: If it is to become effective in terms of survival and growth, an organization must fulfill (or satisfice) the needs and demands of its employees, its owners, and the relevant members of the society with which it transacts (its community, its governments, its customers, its suppliers, and its creditors). In this study, ninety-seven small-business organizations and their relevant societal components were surveyed in order to explore the extent to which the organization fulfilled the needs of these components. Data indicate relatively few significant relationships among various types of employee fulfillment, owner fulfillment, and societal fulfillment, and these few relationships are of a rather low magnitude. The feasibility of an organization concurrently fulfilling the variety of demands made upon it is discussed. The organization is viewed as an open system of interdependent components, with energy transfer within the organization as well as between the organization and the societal components. Frank Friedlander is associate professor of organizational behavior, school of management, at Case Western Reserve University, and Hal Pickle is associate professor in the department of business administration, Southwest Texas State College.
210 citations
TL;DR: Rosner et al. as discussed by the authors made a study of how the economic orientation of an organization can influence its innovativeness, and the effects of two factors, organizational slack and economic orientation, were studied in an empirical setting.
Abstract: A study was made of how the economic orientation of an organization can influence its innovativeness. The effects of two factors, organizational slack and economic orientation, were studied in an empirical setting. Measures of these two variables were made in a group of hospitals and correlated with the frequency and promptness with which new drugs were tried in the hospitals. Trial of new drugs tended to vary directly with organizational slack and inversely with economic orientation. This is a special case, however, since the primary goal of hospitals is not economic, and the costs of trying of new drugs are minimal. It is suggested that the factors studied may be more important in more typical situations. Martin M. Rosner is associate professor in the College of Commerce at De Paul University.
186 citations
136 citations
TL;DR: Fouraker and Stopford as discussed by the authors found that organizations that have a diversified product line tend to have a decentralized, divisional structure and that the first type tends to concentrate on domestic markets, while the second type accounts for most of U.S. direct investment abroad.
Abstract: Organizations that have a single or a few related product lines and a high degree of vertical integration tend to be capital intensive, and to be organized in a centralized, functionally-departmentalized structure. Organizations that have a diversified product line tend to have a decentralized, divisional structure. This paper indicates that the first type tends to concentrate on domestic markets, while the second type accounts for most of U. S. direct investment abroad. Expansion abroad requires diversification, reorganization, and the training of general international managers. The evidence suggests that the organizations that have been most successful in meeting this new challenge have been those that had previously acquired the ability to develop general managers capable of controlling and guiding a heterogeneous, diverse enterprise. Lawrence E. Fouraker is a professor of business administration and John M. Stopford is a research associate at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
133 citations
TL;DR: Vroom and MacCrimmon as mentioned in this paper describe how the career movements of managers and professionals within organizations may be described by a Markov chain model, which allows a formal description of the results of current career policies which can be examined for inconsistencies.
Abstract: This study describes how the career movements of managers and professionals within organizations may be described by a Markov chain model. This allows a formal description of the results of current career policies which can be examined for inconsistencies. Further, it allows predictions to be made of the effects of continuing present policies into the future. Thus, it provides a more rational basis for career policies of organizations and also for individual managers planning their own careers. From a sample of career movements of managers and professionals in a large industrial organization, data are presented, a simple model constructed, and inferences made. In addition to the normative uses of such models, it is important to note that they provide a means for examining in a dynamic way some basic behavioral science issues that have heretofore been approached in a static fashion.1 Victor H. Vroom is professor and Kenneth R. MacCrimmon is assistant professor in the Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie-Mellon University.
105 citations
104 citations
TL;DR: Blankenship et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the association between hierarchical position, organization size, and span of control and five dimensions of managerial decision behavior: perceived influence on superiors, autonomy from superiors, reliance on subordinates, personal initiation, and final choice.
Abstract: The association between hierarchical position, organization size, and span of control and five dimensions of managerial decision behaviorperceived influence on superiors, autonomy from superiors, reliance on subordinates, personal initiation, and final choice-is examined for 190 managers in eight different companies. Hierarchical position was found to be the most important determinant of the decision behavior that a manager reports for the decisions studied. Span of control was found to be related only to the extent to which a manager reports relying on subordinates in his decision making. There is some indication that size had a differential effect on a manager's decision behavior depending on his position in the hierarchy. L. Vaughn Blankenship is associate professor of political science and organization at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Raymond E. Miles is assistant professor of business administration, University of California, Berkeley.
89 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the marginal propensity to perform (MPP) model is used to describe the relationships discussed in this paper, and five major hypotheses and a model for describing the relationship between MP and goal displacement are presented.
Abstract: Goal attainment in organizations is maximized when goal displacement is minimal. Goal displacement is minimal where goals are tangible. If there is a high degree of goal intangibility, goal attainment can still be maximized by keeping tangible goals directed toward the central intangible goals, but it is reduced by displacing tangible goals to peripheral goals of system maintenance. The system of evaluation and sanctioning reinforces both the peripheral displacement of goals and the neglect of the claimed goals in favor of goals designed to maintain the organization primarily as an end in itself. Increasing goal attainment is difficult, since those who have most authority to support such activity frequently are not inclined to do so. Five major hypotheses and a model on the marginal propensity to perform are suggested for describing the relationships discussed in this analysis. W. Keith Warner is associate professor and A. Eugene Havens is assistant professor in the Department of Rural Sociology, The University of Wisconsin, Madison.
TL;DR: Clark as mentioned in this paper systematizes some of the contrasting conceptual schemes which have been used, more often implicitly than explicitly, by previous writers concerned with the institutionalization of innovations in higher education.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to systematize some of the contrasting conceptual schemes which have been used, more often implicitly than explicitly, by previous writers concerned with the institutionalization of innovations in higher education. Most studies have essentially utilized one of three models: the organic growth model, the differentiation model, or the diffusion model. Each of these can contribute to a greater understanding of certain institutionalization processes, but a fourth, here called the combined-process model, is more appropriate for many situations. Terry N. Clark is assistant professor of sociology at the University of Chicago.
TL;DR: Meyer et al. as mentioned in this paper found that, controlling for an organization's size, decision-making authority is more highly centralized as the number of subunits in an organization increases; however, as a number of levels of supervision grows, there is greater decentralization and at the same time proliferation of rules that specify criteria to guide decisions.
Abstract: This study attempts to link the formal structure of bureaucratic organizations to decision-making processes, and in particular to centralization or decentralization of authority. Interview data were obtained from 254 city, county, and state departments of finance. These data show that, controlling for an organization's size, decision-making authority is more highly centralized as the number of subunits in an organization increases; but as the number of levels of supervision grows, there is greater decentralization and at the same time proliferation of rules that specify criteria to guide decisions. Marshall W. Meyer is lecturer on sociology in the department of social relations at Harvard University.
TL;DR: Bertrand as discussed by the authors introduced the beginning student of sociology to the analytical approaches and methodological techniques of the field through a systematic and integrated theory, moving in logical sequence from one basic to another.
Abstract: BASIC SOCIOLOGY: An Introduction to Theory and Method ALVIN L. BERTRAND, Louisiana State University. Introducing the beginning student of sociology to the analytical approaches and methodological techniques of the field through a systematic and integrated theory, this text moves in logical sequence from one basic to another. Although theory is stressed-and clearly distinguished from content-application and utility are also emphasized. 452 pp., illus., $7.00
TL;DR: Weiker as discussed by the authors discusses the attempts by the Ottoman empire to modernize the society by modernizing the bureaucracy to implement reforms needs such as: promotion of Ottomanism as a, counter ideology to nationalism, reform of provincial administration, and an Ottoman constitution.
Abstract: This paper discusses the attempts by the rulers of the Ottoman empire to modernize the society-by modernizing the bureaucracy to implement reforms needs as: promotion of Ottomanism as a, counter ideology to nationalism, reform of provincial administration, and an Ottoman constitution. The reformers were so strongly committed to Ottoman values, that they could not become committed to the radical social and political changes required for modernization. As a result, the changes made in the bureaucracy only increased the ascriptive orientation of the society, and continued the authoritarian rule. Committment to fundamental social and political change would seem to be among the conditions for bureaucrats to help effect modernization in underdeveloped countries. Walter F. Weiker is associate professor in the department of Political Science at Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey.
TL;DR: Cogswell et al. as mentioned in this paper set forth a set of typologies which are expected to place limits on, but not necessarily determine, the behavioral alternatives within socialization systems.
Abstract: Sociologists have given insufficient attention to the influence of structural properties on the process of socialization. This paper sets forth a set of typologies which is expected to place limits on, but not necessarily determine, the behavioral alternatives within socialization systems. The outline can be used as a heuristic device for comparative analysis of socialization research and for the design and evaluation of socialization programs. Three aspects of the structure of socialization systems are discussed-the novice-agent relationship, the setting, and the target roles. Novice-agent relationships are characterized by four dimensions: 1) specification, 2) relative anomie, 3) incumbency of the target role, and 4) role repetition. Variations in types of setting are: 1) formality of setting, 2) individual or group socialization, 3) serial and disjunctive socialization. Target roles may vary along six dimensions: 1) voluntary, involuntary or semi-voluntary entrance, 2) time boundaries of roles, 3) valuation of roles, 4) socialization into social group or social category, 5) degree of institutionalization of roles, and 6) relation of role to novice's identity. Betty E. Cogswell is assistant professor in the departments of preventive medicine and mental health, and a staff member of the Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
TL;DR: Rushing et al. as mentioned in this paper derived measures of division of labor for 44 manufacturing industries, and the hypothesis that the division of labour increases as the hardness of product increases is investigated.
Abstract: In this paper, measures of division of labor are derived for 44 manufacturing industries, and the hypothesis that the division of labor increases as the hardness of product increases is investigated. Two dimensions of the division of labor, structural differentiation and dispersion-concentration, are shown to be related to product hardness as predicted. Analysis suggests that although complexity of the product, machine technology, and industry size may influence the relationship, the relationship between hardness of product and division of labor remains. Production technology appears clearly to modify the effects of hardness, and may account for some of the deviant and marginal cases; for soft-product industries, the effects of hardness and production technology appear to conflict. The relevance of the findings for a theoretical perspective on complex organizations is considered.' William A. Rushing is associate professor of sociology in the department of sociology and head of section on sociological research of Tennessee Mid-South Regional Medical Program, at Vanderbilt University.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors hypothesize that hierarchically differentiated groups will exhibit less risk-taking behavior, less efficient, and less productive than hierarchically undifferentiated groups, and test the hypotheses at the analysis phase of problemsolving.
Abstract: In this paper the authors hypothesize that hierarchically differentiated groups will (1) exhibit less risk-taking behavior, (2) be less efficient, and (3) be less productive than hierarchically undifferentiated groups. To test the hypotheses, 10 hierarchically differentiated groups and 10 hierarchically undifferentiated groups formed from the staffs of 10 elementary schools were given a problem in logic. Results confirmed all three hypotheses at the analysis phase of problemsolving. Too few groups solved the problem to permit testing of the third hypothesis at the synthesis phase of problem solving. Edwin M. Bridges is associate professor of education at the University of Chicago; Wayne J. Doyle and David J. Mahan are research associates at Washington University, St. Louis.
TL;DR: Goodman et al. as mentioned in this paper proposed a theoretical framework and operational measure of an individual's organization map, that is his perceptual model of the organization, and analyzed the relationship between the organization map and various structural and personality variables.
Abstract: This paper proposes a theoretical framework and operational measure of an individual's organization map, that is his perceptual model of the organization. Data were obtained from two departments in an insurance corporation to study the relationship between the organization map and various structural and personality variables. The analysis gave some support to the validity of the organizationmap scale. The implications of the concept and measure of the organization map for organization theory and administrative practices are discussed. Paul S. Goodman is assistant professor in the Graduate School of Business at The University of Chicago.
TL;DR: Messages in a communication network are a manifestation of interactions in the system and of the control mechanisms at work.
Abstract: Communication is the vehicle of control. A communication system provides the means with which information, statements, views and instructions are transmitted through an organisation. Although we often speak of the ‘flow’ of communications, in fact this flow consists of a series of discrete messages of different length, form or content. These messages are transmitted through certain channels (or ‘lines of communication’), which comprise the communication network; some of these channels are heavily congested, others are not. Each message is generated by a transmitter (an individual, a group, a department, a computer) to a receiver or several receivers. It may induce action or provoke a reaction in the form of a counter-message, or both. Every individual or department in an organisation acts as a transmitter and a receiver (though not for the same messages). Some individuals transmit more than they receive, others receive more than they transmit, depending on their role and function in the organisation. Messages in a communication network, then, are a manifestation of interactions in the system and of the control mechanisms at work.
TL;DR: Booth et al. as mentioned in this paper showed that the impact of having an independently elected mayor may have been exaggerated, and suggested that the inclusion of this provision into home rule charters might increase their chances of adoption, and might increase voter turn-out in local elections.
Abstract: The separate, popular, election of mayors in council-manager cities has generally been opposed by proponents of the plan on intuitive grounds, and a recent study, reported in part in this journal, showed that this factor shortened manager tenure, and restricted the range of discretion and authority permitted to managers in the playing of various roles. A series of hypotheses are accordingly derived and tested, using data obtained from a random sample of managers employed in small cities. The data consistently fail to support the previously reported findings, suggesting that the impact upon the plan of having an independently elected mayor may have been exaggerated. The inclusion of this provision into home rule charters might increase their chances of adoption, and might increase voter turn-out in local elections. David A. Booth is associate professor in the Department of Government, University of Massachusetts.
TL;DR: Denhardt et al. as discussed by the authors considered cultural and organizational compatibility in an Appalachian anti-poverty program employing persons native to the area, and found that cultural compatibility is critical for organizational compatibility.
Abstract: Upon entering a complex organization for the first time, persons unacquainted with the central "values" of bureaucratic participation must undergo a process of socialization with respect to these patterns. Until such learning takes place, the organization may find it necessary to forego the bureaucratic mode of organization in favor of a form more compatible with the existing beliefs of the new entrants. These questions are considered here within the context of an Appalachian anti-poverty program employing persons native to the area. Results confirming these expectations suggest the importance of cultural and organizational compatibility. Robert B. Denhardt is assistant professor of government at Louisiana State University in New Orleans.