Showing papers in "Administrative Science Quarterly in 1970"

Role Conflict and Ambiguity in Complex Organizations.

Abstract: The literature indicates that dysfunctional individual and organizational consequences result from the existence of role conflict and role ambiguity in complex organizations. Yet, systematic measurement and empirical testing of these role constructs is lacking. This study describes the development and testing of questionnaire measures of role conflict and ambiguity. Analyses of responses of managers show these two constructs to be factorially identifiable and independent. Derived measures of role conflict and ambiguity tend to correlate in two samples in expected directions with measures of organizational and managerial practices and leader behavior, and with member satisfaction, anxiety, and propensity to leave the organization.

Personal factors in organizational identification.

Abstract: This is a study of the personal dynamics of the process of organizational identification in the U.S. Forest Service, an organization noted for the high degree of organizational identification of its members. It was hypothesized and found that identification increased as a function of time and commitment to a pivotal organizational goal, public service. Organizational position, with tenure held constant, did not relate to identification. It was further found that several personal characteristics suggestive of a service orientation were related to identification. It was also hypothesized and found that identification is related to the member's higherorder need satisfactions. There appears to be a process whereby (1) serviceoriented individuals are attracted to and recruited by the Forest Service, (2) service-oriented members are likely to identify strongly with the Service, and (3) this identification results in intrinsic need satisfactions.

Organization Context and Structure: An Abbreviated Replication.

Abstract: The present study establishes the reliability and validity of short forms for the measurement of four previously established dimensions of organizations: two contextual-technology and dependence-and two structural-structuring of activities and concentration of authority-based on information obtained from the chief executive in an interview lasting about one hour. A replication study was carried out using the abbreviated measures on a sample of 40 organizations in the English Midlands. The findings supported the relationships previously found between context and structure. Structuring of activities was found to be primarily related to organization size and to a lesser extent to technology; concentration of authority was found to be related to dependence. A restudy using these measures on 14 organizations after a period of four to five years generally supported the hypothesis that forms of workflow bureaucracy show a trend over time in the direction of increased structuring of activities coupled with decreased concentration of authority.

Professional Autonomy and Bureaucratic Organization.

Abstract: Autonomy is regarded as an important dimension of professionalism. A number of investigators claim that bureaucratic organization limits professional autonomy. This study was undertaken to determine empirically the validity of this claim. The relationship between bureaucratic structure and degree of professional autonomy within the client-professional relationship was examined by systematically comparing the perceived autonomy of professionals in three types of bureaucratic settings, nonbureaucratic, moderately bureaucratic, and highly bureaucratic. The data revealed that those professionals associated with the moderately bureaucratic setting are most likely and those in the highly bureaucratic setting are least likely to perceive themselves as autonomous. These findings do not support the contention that bureaucracy is necessarily detrimental to professional autonomy.

The Evaluation of Broad-Aim Programs: Experimental Design, Its Difficulties, and an Alternative.

Abstract: There is an approach to the evaluation of social action programs which seems so sensible that it has been accepted without question. The underlying assumption is that action programs are designed to achieve specific ends and that their success can be established by demonstrating cause-effect relationships between the pro­ grams and their aims. In consequence, the preferred research design is an experi­ mental one in which aspects of the situation to be changed are measured before and after implementation of the action program. To support the argument that the program is responsible for the observed changes, the anticipated effects may be measured simultaneously in a control situation that does not receive the program (Campbell & Stanley, 1966). This plausible approach misleads when the action programs have broad aims and take unstandardized forms. The term broad-aim program is intended to describe programs that hope to achieve nonspecific forms of change-for-the-better and which also, because of their ambition and magnitude, involve unstandardized, large-scale interventions and are evaluated in only a few sites. These characteristics have been shared by a

Job Characteristics and Pressures and the Organizational Integration of Professionals.

Abstract: Job characteristics and three job pressures were examined in 22 research and development laboratories as possible correlates of organizational effectiveness and the need satisfactions and job involvement of researchers in the laboratories. Job challenge and responsibility for dealing with customers were related to quality pressure and to financial responsibility pressure. Job challenge was also related to need satisfaction. Quality pressure, a professional concern, and financial responsibility pressure, an organizational concern, were both related to organizational performance. Quality pressure was also related to job involvement, so that this pressure was functional for both the individual and the organization. Financial responsibility pressure was seen as the professional's adaptation to organizational values.

Goal Characteristics and Personality Factors in a Management-by-Objectives Program.

Abstract: This study correlated different characteristics of goals established in a management-by-objectives program to criteria hypothesized to represent success of the program. The correlations were calculated after personality and job factors were held constant. The results indicate that establishing clear and important goals produced favorable results especially for certain personality types. Difficulty of goals and establishing goal priorities were positively correlated with criteria of success for certain types of managers. Subordinate influence over goals was not found to be an important goal characteristic.

Constructing Social Theories.

Abstract: \"Constructing Social Theories\" presents to the reader a range of strategies for constructing theories, and in a clear, rigorous, and imaginative manner, illustrates how they can be applied. Arthur L. Stinchcombe argues that theories should not be invented in the abstract or applied \"a priori\" to a problem but should be dictated by the nature of the data to be explained. This work was awarded the Sorokin prize by the American Sociological Association as the book that made an outstanding contribution to the progress of sociology in 1970.\

Organizational Involvement and Commitment to Organization and Profession.

Abstract: This research investigates the effects of professional and nonprofessional types of organizational involvement on the compatibility of organizational and professional commitments for junior college teachers. Hypotheses are examined about the effects of professional and nonprofessional criteria of performance, authority over subordinates, and kind of supervision on the compatibility of these two commitments. It was found that the two commitments are more likely to be compatible when the involvement is professional than when it is nonprofessional. The implications of this for the treatment of professional employees are discussed.

A Multidimensional Approach Toward a Typology of Bureaucracy.

Abstract: This study reformulates and measures variables defining bureaucracy and presents a multidimensional method for classifying bureaucratic patterns. The empirical data were collected in 30 industrial plants. The Guttman-Lingoes multidimensional scalogram analysis-I program was employed for establishing the typology, and six bureaucratic types have been identified: rudimentary, interpersonal, emergent, balanced, technical, and managerial. No claim is made for the exhaustiveness of the typology, but only for the usefulness of the approach.

Relationship of Organizational Size to Complexity and Coordination.

Abstract: Two models are presented to explain the relationship between the size of organizations and the percentage of staff personnel. In the first model, an interaction model, the effect of size is partially dependent on the level of functional differentiation or complexity in an organization. Product terms between size and complexity are therefore included in this model, in accordance with previous research and theory, suggesting that the effects of functional differentiation on the size-staff relationship may not be linear. The product terms are found to be significant and to increase significantly the amount of variance explained by an additive model, but the two independent variables are confounded, and a great deal of variance is not explained. This interaction model has the advantage of theoretical relevance, but is not simple to construct nor to interpret. In the second model, a simpler logarithmic model, size decreases the staff component at a decreasing rate, explaining slightly more variance than the interaction model. It is simple and parsimonious but has no theoretical basis, therefore it does not explain the social processes involved. In the absence of a theory that treats the rate of change in the staff component as a decreasing function of size, the interaction model is considered preferable.

Influence of Integration and Diversity on the Investment Process

Abstract: The process for allocating resources to major capital investment projects was studied in two vertically integrated and two diversified corporations. The hypotheses predicting greater decentralization of decision making in the diversified corporations were strongly confirmed. However, the results did not support other hypotheses related to the influence of a financial model on the process. Instead, decisions were guided by product-market strategy and measures of organizational performance.

Work-Value Systems of White-Collar Workers.

Abstract: It has often been suggested that the different satisfactions offered by a job may be categorized as either intrinsic or extrinsic. Thus, Herzberg et al. (1959) made a distinction between work factors relating to the content of the job, and those relating to the situation in which a job is performed. They stated that job satisfaction consists of two continua: satisfaction/no satisfaction and dissatisfaction/no dissatisfaction. Following Maslow (1943), they consequently developed a model which indicated that the first set of factors, called satisfiers or intrinsic job aspects, contribute to a positive job attitude and to better performance, whereas the second cluster of factors, called dissatisfiers or extrinsic job aspects, are of a lower rank order and, when being fulfilled, only decrease the negative valence of job attitudes. Both Maslow (1943) and Herzberg et al. (1959) claimed that these theories have universal validity. Job satisfaction models like this one have been sharply criticized for their methodological and theoretical weaknesses (Vroom, 1964; Whitsett and Winslow, 1967). If such a model were valid then every individual would have the same work-value system and Friedlander (1965) especially challenged the generality of such an absolute individual psychological motivation model. He attempted to relate work values to social parameters. He showed that work-value systems of employees were largely a function of their occupation and education. Similarly, Seeman (1967) and Turner and Lawrence (1965) indicated that differences in membership groups led to different work-value systems. In fact, Friedlander (1965) found that even the distinction between blue-collar and white-collar workers was not sharp enough because, within the collectivity of whitecollar workers, several subcollectivities were to be discerned. He did not, however, completely explain the differences found in value systems; for example, he did not deal with the extent to which differences in value systems may be contingent upon expectation patterns arising from simultaneous socialization processes. Value systems are an important element in the individual's frame of reference. Workvalue systems can be defined as constellations of attitudes and opinions with which an individual evaluates his job and work environment, and they may be either intrinsic or extrinsic. Usually value systems of white-collar workers are intrinsically oriented, whereas blue-collar workers attribute a greater importance to extrinsic values (Seeman, 1967; Turner and Lawrence, 1965; Friedlander, 1965). This study attempts to ascertain to what degree structural factors might explain variance in the work-value systems of white-collar workers.1 The influence of macrosocial factors such as stratification in the formation of several subcollectivities of white-collar workers is not considered here, although they too may explain some of the variance in workvalue systems. The study tends toward an oversocialized concept of man, and it is assumed that the so-called human needs or

The Impact of Role Diversity, Job Level, and Organizational Size on Managerial Satisfaction.

Abstract: Role diversity-operationalized by the number of relevant role senders-job level, subunit size, and company size are examined in this paper as determinants of perceived managerial satisfaction. Perceived need satisfaction, need fulfillment deficiency, need importance, and possibility of need fulfillment serve as the dependent variables. Role diversity and job level are found to be more significantly related to need satisfaction and possibility of need fulfillment than subunit or company size. Results are interpreted in the context of role theory and previous research by Porter. Administrative implications are suggested in the areas of reward system design and managerial motivation.

Cosmopolitan-Local: Evaluation of the Construct.

Abstract: The development and application of the cosmopolitan-local construct is critically examined from a taxonomic perspective. The authors conclude that the factor analytic studies of Gouldner (1958) and Goldberg et al. (1965), to define the dimensions of the construct do not support Merton's (1957) and Gouldner's (1957) earlier conceptualization. Recent applications of the construct in organizational studies are examined, and serious problems of operationalizing the construct and sample composition of the studies are discussed. It is recommended that further research is needed on the construct itself, and that while such research is in process the construct should not be used as an explanatory or descriptive variable.

The Professional Staffs of Congressional Committees

Abstract: As a legislative organization, the United States Congress has come increasingly to be characterized by the size and expertise of its committee staffs. Primarily based upon extensive interviews with congressional staff personnel, this paper deals with four major questions: In recent decades, how have committee staffs developed? Who are the major users of committee staff personnel? What are the main capabilities of committee staffs? And, what are the principal biases or constraints in the congressional context which shape the behavior of staff personnel? Congressional committee staffs have grown considerably in size in the postwar years, their work is mainly oriented to the committee members themselves, the committee staffs have come to be very influential, and the boundaries of their activities are well-defined by the constraints operating in the congressional institution.

Considering the Case Against Experimental Evaluations of Social Innovations.

Abstract: The present author was asked to comment on the preceding article by Weiss and Rein (also see Weiss and Rein, 1969) because he has vigorously advocated a future experimenting society which would use hardheaded research designs to evaluate social innovations (Campbell, 1969a) whereas Weiss and Rein seem to reject such an approach. The main disagreement turns out to be with the packaging and labeling of their argument, rather than with its contents. Most of their illustrations of weakness in specific ameliorative programs are sensible. They do not oppose experimental designs lacking these weaknesses, although they doubt that such designs are possible for broad-aim programs. There is disagreement with their concept of the experimental method and the alternative methodology they propose. The latter seems to contain mutually incompatible elements, which are individually compatible with the experimental method and, indeed, require the experimental method for reducing equivocalities of inference. In the following, four of Weiss and Rein's important points are reformulated and interpreted in terms of alternative implementations of an experimental approach.1

Consultation and Decision Processes in a Research and Development Laboratory.

Abstract: The study of the relationship between consultation and decision processes in an industrial research laboratory showed the efficacy of multidirectional consultation coupled with a pattern of shared, decentralized decision making. The loose, decentralized pattern was closely associated with more science-oriented activity, while the hierarchical pattern with more practical or organizationally relevant activities. The relationships obtained between this loose or hierarchical pattern and performance were mediated by coordination, adequacy of work expectations, and level of member involvement. The results also suggested that when decision centers are consistent with consultation centers, implying a congruence between authority and expertise, the overall structure of the laboratory is less important.

The Teacher-Student Relation

Abstract: I have been asked to speak of the teacherstudent relation as an aspect of leadership. Any consideration of this subject must be colored by our definition of leadership, and there is a conception of leadership gaining ground today very different from our old notion. Yesterday I tried to present to you this conception of leadership. It is a conception very far removed from that of the leader-follower relation. With that conception you had to be either a leader or a leaner. Today our thinking is tending less and less to be confined within the boundaries of those alternatives. There is the idea of a reciprocal leadership. There is also the idea of a partnership in following, of following the invisible leader-the common purpose. The relation of the rest of the group to the leader is not a passive one, and I think teachers see this more clearly than most people, and therefore in their teaching are doing more than teaching; they are helping to develop one of the fundamental conceptions of human relations. I want to tell you at the outset why I have anticipated discussing this subject with you. As my books and articles have been on human relations in general, rather than on any one aspect of them, I have been asked to speak to different kinds of groups. Out of all these, I find that those I enjoy talking to most are businessmen and teachers. I should not have anticipated this juxtaposition, for one usually thinks of these two groups as rather far apart. But the reason is that both these groups are in a position to try out their ideas of human relations any day, and also both these groups are coming to have the experimental mind. When I speak to certain groups, as to academic people who are thinking of their subject and not of their teaching, they often seem to tend to think of what I have said in terms of whether it is a good paper or not. "That was a good paper," some of them say. And I suppose some of them say, "That was a poor paper," but I don't hear those. But whichever is said, the matter seems to end there. I notice, however, that when I speak to businessmen they don't think in those terms, whether it is a good paper or not, or often even whether they agree with it. They are apt to say, "Well, I'll try that out and see if there is anything in it." They know they can find out for themselves whether it is true or not, they have the best laboratory in the world for the study of human relations. This experimental attitude on the part of so many businessmen today is one of the encouraging signs of the times. And I find the same attitude among many teachers. So these two groups of people who have hitherto been quite distinct in my mind, I am coming to associate because of this trait in common, or rather these two traits: (1) their wish to discover the most fruitful way of dealing with human relations, and (2) their willingness to experiment. To turn now more directly to our subject, what opportunities for leadership has the teacher, and what is the nature of his leadership? If leadership does not mean coercion in any form, if it does not mean controlling, protecting or exploiting, what does it mean? It means, I (think) freeing. The greatest service the teacher can render the student is to increase his freedom-his free range of activity and thought and his power of control. I don't, however, want this to be confused with the idea held by some people in regard to what is called the pupil expressing him-self. In some art schools the students are told to express themselves without, I think, due regard to the fundamentals of drawing. Some years ago a teacher told a class of little boys who were beginning clay modeling that they were to express themselves in clay. They of course began throwing the clay at each other, which was perfectly proper; that is the natural way for little boys to express themselves in clay. Professor Dewey [1927:168] said in his last book: "No man and no mind was ever

Risk Propensity in Decision Making: A Comparison of Business and Public School Administrators.

Abstract: The risk propensity of business and public school administrators was compared on qualitative and realistic decision problems. Each problem was combined with a quantitative decision matrix to make it consonant with the expected value of utilities concept of decision theory in economics. Relevant organizational and personality variables were measured to determine their relationship to the findings if either occupational group proved to be greater risk takers. Business administrators were found to be greater risk takers than public school administrators.

The Structure of Executive Decisions and Decision Times.

Abstract: This paper throws doubt on the direct relationship between the difficulty of a decision problem and decision time. A formal theory is proposed, hypothesizing that decision makers take longer to choose from four alternatives when two of the alternatives are easily rejected than when all four alternatives are equal. The results of laboratory experiments support this hypothesis, and suggest that decision behavior is related to personality factors.

Integration and efficiency in marketing systems

Abstract: This study was inspired by some recent changes in organization and structure of the distributive trades in Sweden. Attention is focused on various aspects of integration in marketing systems consisting of retail and wholesale units. Three main types of integration concept are defined, their interrelations discussed and their relations to efficiency in the systems analysed. The three are: institutional integration, decision integration and execution integration. The last of these contains four variables: activity transference, internalization, exclusiveness and homogeneity.In a comparative study of four marketing systems in the food trade, representing different degrees of institutional integration, the decision integration and execution integration of various marketing activities are measured.

Mechanistic and Organic Models of Public Administration in Developing Countries

Abstract: The analysis by Riggs and Thompson of the shortcomings of public administration in developing countries are discussed. Thompson advocates some kind of organic model for these countries as opposed to the varieties of the mechanistic model which developing countries usually try to follow. In fact the cultures in developing countries do not permit either mechanistic or organic organizations to work efectively. Hypotheses are advanced on the differences in organizational loyalty and on the efects of formal and informal organization between developing and developed countries.

Instrumental and Expressive Leadership in Complex Organizations.

Abstract: This study investigates instrumental and expressive leadership orientations among managers and supervisors in eight production organizations that varied in required labor commitment. Managers and supervisors were found to respond differently to situations necessitating high required labor commitment. For managers, the higher the required labor commitment the more instrumental the leadership orientation; for supervisors the more expressive the leadership orientation.

Interjurisdictional Agreements in Metropolitan Areas

Abstract: The utility of interjurisdictional cooperative efforts to provide public services within metropolitan areas is reassessed through an examination of interjurisdictional agreements in one middle-size metropolitan area, the Quad-City area of Iowa and Illinois. An extensive, complicated cooperative network is found to exist among jurisdictions, involving important public services. Many of the perceived limitations to voluntary cooperation are seen to be less compelling than much of the literature would indicate.

Planned Change in Organization Style Based on the Laboratory Approach.

Abstract: This study reports the design and results of an effort to change the organization style of a sales unit in a business organization The learning design was derived from the laboratory approach to organization development, and sought to create a specific kind of social order as well as to provide experience with appropriate skills and attitudes Changes in organization style were measured with Likert's profile of organizational characteristics A one-week learning experience helped induce significant changes in self-reports by managers about the style of interpersonal and intergroup relations in their organization, judging from before and after administrations of the profile The bulk of the learning time was spent in a sensitivity training session, which was intended to prepare subordinates for a confrontation with their superiors concerning the needs of both as they were variously met by their unit's interpersonal and intergroup climate The entire managerial population was exposed to the learning design, so that there was no control group Therefore the changes in self-reports can only be tentatively attributed to the experimental design, rather than to random factors or the passage of time