Showing papers in "Administrative Science Quarterly in 1981"

Threat-rigidity effects in organizational behavior: A multilevel analysis.

Abstract: The authors wish to thank Jeanne Brett, Larry Cummings, Joanne Martin, J. P. Miller, and the anonymousASQ reviewers for their insightful comments on an earlier version of this paper. This paper explores the case for a general threat-rigidity effect in individual, group, and organizational behavior. Evidence from multiple levels of analysis is summarized, showing a restriction in information processing and constriction of control under threat conditions. Possible mechanisms underlying such a multiple-level effect are explored, as are its possible functional and dysfunctional consequences.

The Case Study Crisis: Some Answers

Abstract: March 198 1, volume 26 In hisASQ article entitled "Qualitative data as an attractive nuisance," Matthew Miles (1 979) has written a disarmingly candid rendition of the perils of qualitative analysis. Unfortunately, his candor in admitting the existence of these perils was matched by few suggestions for overcoming them. As a result, his article, based on a four-year study of six public schools, leaves the readerwith a sense that qualitative analysis-and its implicit companion, the case study cannot yet be regarded a rational, much less scientific venture.

Information in Organizations as Signal and Symbol.

Abstract: We are grateful for the comments of Kenneth Arrow, Kennette Benedict, Robert Biller, David Brereton, Louise Comfort, Jerry Feldman, Victor Fuchs, Anne Miner, J. Rounds, Alan Saltzstein, Guje Sevon, and J. Serge Taylor; for the assistance of Julia Ball; and for grants from the Spencer Foundation, Brookings Institution, Hoover Institution, and National Institute of Education. Formal theories of rational choice suggest that information about the possible consequences of alternative actions will be sought and used only if the precision, relevance, and reliability of the information are compatible with its cost. Empirical studies of information in organizations portray a pattern that is hard to rationalize in such terms. In particular, organizations systematically gather more information than they use, yet continue to ask for more. We suggest that this behavior is a consequence of some ways in which organizational settings for information use differ from those anticipated in a simple decision-theory vision. In particular, the use of information is embedded in social normsthat make it highly symbolic. Some of the implications of such a pattern of information use are discussed.

Problems with Contingency Theory: Testing Assumptions Hidden within the Language of Contingency Theory

Abstract: This paper suggests that there are five problems with contingency theory, ranging from a simple lack of clarity in its theoretical statements to more subtle issues such as the embedding of symmetrical and nonmonotonic assumptions in the theoretical arguments. Starting from Galbraith's (1973) contingency theory about organizing for effectiveness, several traditional contingency hypothesis were tested along with more precise hypotheses developed from knowledge of the five problems with contingency theory. Data were drawn from a study of organizational effectiveness in acute care hospital operating room suites. Although traditional contingency notions were not supported by the data, the more precise hypotheses received stronger empirical support. The study data suggest that relationships between technology, structure, and organizational effectiveness are more complicated than contingency theory now assumes. The paper concludes by suggesting formulation of a contingency theory of organizational effectiveness that includes interactive, nonmonotonic, and symmetrical arguments.

A Tentative Exploration into the Amount and Equivocality of Information Processing in Organizational Work Units.

Abstract: ? 1981 by Cornell University 0001 -839218112602-02071$00.75 A model is proposed that relates the amount and equivocality of information processing to thevariety and analyzability of work-unit activities. New questionnaire scales were developed for the information and task variables, and an exploratory test of the model was conducted on 24 work units. The reported amount of information processing increased with both task variety and analyzability; the reported use of equivocal information decreased with task analyzability. The findings suggest a modification of the previously reported positive relationship between task uncertainty and amount of information processing

Environment, strategy, and power within top management teams.

Abstract: This study distinguishes two sources of critical contingencies for organizations: environment and strategy. In turn, it explores how coping with each type of contingency is related to power within top management teams. Executives had high power if, by virtue either of their functional area of scanning behavior, they coped with the dominant requirement imposed by their industry's environment. Power patterns within each industry were further affected by the extent to which executives coped with the contingencies posed by their organizations' particular strategies. A temporal critical contingencies model of power is proposed.

Relationships between organization structure and employee reactions: Comparing alternative frameworks

Abstract: March 1981,volume26 This research examines the relative power of the attraction-selection framework and the job-modification framework in explaining the relationship between several properties of organizational structure (i.e., size, number of hierarchical levels, formalization, centralization) and employee reactions to the work and the work context. The attraction-selection framework suggests that organizations with certain structural properties attract and/or select employees with particular personal attributes. These attributes, in turn, are associated with employee reactions. The job-modification framework posits that structural properties affect the characteristics of employees' jobs. These job characteristics, in turn, are associated with employee reactions. Data were collected from 2,960 employees working on 428 jobs in 36 organizations. Results show that the job-modification framework better explains the relationship between organizational structure and employee reactions than does the attraction-selection framework. Most effective, however, is a framework that combines the attractionselection and job-modification frameworks.

Structural Relationships, Job Characteristics, and Worker Satisfaction and Performance.

Abstract: This research is based in part on a Ph.D. dissertation completed by the author while a student at the University of Illinois. The author wishes to express his deep appreciation to his committee, Greg Oldham (Chairman), Michael Moch, and Charles Hulin. Hank Sims and Denise Rousseau also provided helpful comments on an earlier draft. This research investigates the role of job characteristics as possible mediating variables in the relationships between the organization's structural context and the attitudes and behaviors of individual employees. The organization is conceptualized as a network of task positions interrelated on the basis of workflow transactions. Three structural relationships of task positions are investigated: (1) the centrality of a task position; (2) the degree to which a task position is critical to the workflow; and (3) the transaction alternatives availableto a task position. The results indicate significant relationships between these three relational measures and job characteristics. Further, the findings support the hypothesis that job characteristics mediate the relationship between structure and individual responses.

The commitment and job tenure of new employees: Some evidence of postdecisional justification.

Abstract: The constructive comments of W. Gary Wagner, Barry M. Staw, and anonymous ASO reviewers are gratefully acknowledged. The effects of postdecisional justifications on the job satisfaction and commitment of new employees were investigated. One hundred and eight M.B.A.'s were questioned about their job choice immediately after making the decision and then again six months later. Turnover data were collected after 24 months. Results showed that individuals who had made the original decision volitionally, that is, from among a number of offers and free from external constraints, and who had perceived the choice to be irrevocable were more satisfied and committed six months later than others. The perceived irrevocability of the choice and behavioral commitment were also negatively related to turnover after two years. Interaction effects between the sufficiency of the original justification and job alternatives was associated with diminished job satisfaction and commitmentfor insufficiently justified respondents. Overall, the results of this investigation are interpreted as consistent with the view that attitudes and commitment may be created retrospectively through processes of rationalization and justification.

Perceptions of Organizational Effectiveness Over Organizational Life Cycles

Abstract: ? 1981 by Cornell University. 0001 -8392/81/2604-0525/$00.75 Among the problems in the literature on organizational effectiveness are the over-reliance on researcher imposed criteria of effectiveness and the tendency to measure perceptions of effectiveness at only one point in time. In this study, we examine the changes that occurred in ratings of effectiveness by organizational members as their organizations developed through various life cycle stages. Using 18 simulated organizations, we tracked the changes that occurred in perceptions of effectiveness related to different domains of activity and different levels of analysis. We found that, as the organizations developed, the importance of effectiveness in acquiring inputs gave way to the importance of effectiveness in producing outputs. Individual effectiveness became less important over time while organizational effectiveness became more important. We draw implications for the use of different models of organizational effectiveness in future research.

Effects of Organizational Strategies and Contextual Constraints on Centrality and Attributions of Influence in Interorganizational Networks.

Abstract: Comments from T. K. Das, Joseph Galaskiewicz, Bill McKelvy, Michael Moch, William Ouchi, David Rogers, and Andrew Van de Ven on an earlier draft have been very useful. This study examines the effects of organizational strategies and contextual constraints on location in interorganizational transaction networks and the effects of strategies, constraints, and network position on attributions of influence. A model of these effects is presented, and eleven propositions specific to social service organizations are examined. In client referral networks in 17 communities, it was found that centrality in referral flow, in communication exchanges, and in joint program activities was positively associated with attributions of influence. A revised model is tested using path analysis.e

Cultural orientations and individual reactions to organizations: A study of employees of Japanese-owned firms.

Abstract: March 1981, volume 26 This study concerns cultural differences in the reactions of persons to work organizations. The data pertain to 522 employees of 28 Japanese-owned firms in the United States. First, an additive model of national origin effects showed: (a) that Japanese and Japanese-American employees were more likely than American employees to value paternalistic company behavior; (b) that there were no differences among national origin groups in the extent of personal ties with co-workers; and (c) that there were lower levels of work satisfaction among the Japanese and Japanese-Americans. Second, a model of personal ties and work satisfaction was postulated that allowed effects to vary across national origin categories. Consistent with a view that the Japanese favor vertical social structures, vertical differentiation of the organization's structure had positive effects on the personal ties and work satisfaction of the Japanese and Japanese-Americans but had no effects on the non-Japanese Americans. Furthermore, horizontal differentiation had negative effects on personal ties and work satisfaction for Japanese and Japanese-American workers but had no effect on these variables for non-Japanese Americans. These results were interpreted from a theoretical perspective that stresses the matching of organizational forms to cultural contexts. Such a perspective can be viewed as'consistent with recent theoretical constructions of organizations as loosely-coupled systems.

Bureaucratic versus Craft Administration: The Relationship of Market Structure to the Construction Firm.

Abstract: I would like to thank Harrison White for a number of helpful comments. Robert Miles, John Kotter, and Paul Lawrence also provided useful criticisms and suggestions. ThreeASQ reviewers contributed a great deal to the clarity and exposition of the arguments in this paper. This paper examines subcontracting and characteristics of firms in the construction industry. It argues that subcontracting by general contractors can be explained by complexity, size, and market extent. Data are provided to substantiatethese claims and to disconfirm the hypothesis that subcontracting isa responseto seasonal variability, a major alternative explanation. Extensive subcontracting has implications for the nature of the construction firm. The paper then examines Stinchcombe's (1959) thesis that construction firms are managed through craft administration. It is argued that firm size, role in the production process, and census classification problems are better explanations for the administrative structure of construction firms. This raises questions about the validity of Sti nchcombe's thesis.

Effects of Environmental Uncertainty on Information and Decision Processes in Banks.

Abstract: This research was partly supported by a grant from the Bank Administration Institute. The effect of environmental diversity and volatility on decision-making strategies is examined for 41 independent banks. Uncertainty is defined and measured in terms of an entropy equation, which combines environmental and probabilistic sources of decision uncertainty. Uncertainty was associated with loan managers' perceptions of the uncertainty of loan repayments and the information they collected before deciding on a loan application. The normal operations procedures used by the banks to process loans varied with the diversity, but not the volatility, of their environment. Volatility was associated with the uncertainty experienced for particular decisions. A theoretical framework with the implication of the two sources of uncertainty is discussed.e

Managerial Information Processing: A Research Review.

Abstract: An earlier draft of this paper was presented atthe 20thAnnual Meeting of the Western Academy of Management, Portland, Oregon, in April 1979. The project was supported in part by funds provided by the Division of Research, University of Oregon and by the Office of Naval Research N0014-76-C-0164. In preparing the paper, we benefited from informal meetings with Paul Slovic, Baruch Fischhoff, Randy Hansen, and Stewart Bither. We are grateful to Richard Mowday and Lynda Paule who provided criticisms of earlier drafts. Finally, we acknowledge guidance and comments made by Karl Weick and two anonymous ASQ reviewers.

Technology and Size as Determinants of the Organizational Structure of Japanese Factories

Abstract: March 1981, volume 26 New findings highlighting the controversy over the relative importance of size (number of personnel) and technology (custom/mass production/automated) as causes of organizational structure are presented from a sample of fifty Japanese factories. We showthe effects of technology (size held constant) and of size (technology held constant), controlling for five other variables that influence structure. Only two domains of structurestructural differentiation and formalization are clearly more a function of size than of technology. Other aspects labor inputs, cybernetic complexity, costs and wages, the differentiation of management from ownership, the span of control of the chief executive, and union recognition -vary more with technology than with size. Still other components of structure vary independently of both size and technology.

Influence in Corporate Networks: An Examination of Four Measures.

Abstract: Research for this paper was partly funded by the National Science Foundation, grant #SOC 73-05606 and the Center for Social and Economic Research, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, Washington. Bunting's contributions were made while on leave at the Sociology Board, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California. We wish to acknowledge the assistance and encouragement of G. William Domhoff, Mark Granovetter, Charles Hoffmann, Donald Palmer, Michael Schwartz, Katherine Teves, Eugene Weinstein, and William C. Hoekendorf. This study evaluates four quantitative measures of influence in networks of large corporations: (1) the absolute number of interlocks; (2) the Bonacich centrality index; (3) a modification of the Bonacich index using strong ties only; and (4) a further modification of the Bonacich index using strong ties weighted for directionality. These measures are applied to data from a sample of large American corporations in 1904, and the results are compared with the historical record. Results from the more sophisticated measures are shown to more closely resemble historical accounts of the period. Implications of these findings for studies of intercorporate relations are discussed.*

A Comparison of Models of Role Orientations of Professionals in a Research-Oriented University.

Abstract: We wish to thank NIMH grant #IERA 445-94681 for support of the data collection, Gary Sandefur and Carol Straus for computational assistance, and Richard West for methodological advice. We also appreciate the valuable comments on an earlier draft made by Joanne Martin, Ann Swidler and anonymousASQ reviewers. In this paper we summarize existing ideas about dimensions of role orientations of professionals in terms of five models. The preferred model has five dimensions: professional commitment, commitment to organizational goals, organizational immobility, external orientation, and concern with advancement. We propose that three mechanisms generate associations between dimensions of role orientations: cognitive congruence, organizational selection, and behavioral feedback. The first mechanism implies that associations between dimensions do not vary across organizations; the other two imply that associations between dimensions depend on organizational structures and processes. Confirmatory factor analyses of data from faculty and administrators at a large research-oriented university clearly favored the preferred model over the other four. Moreover, the correlations between the dimensions of this model differed in some striking ways from associations found previously between comparable dimensions in liberal arts colleges; this suggests that organizational structures and processes shape role orientations of professionals. We conclude that the organizational context must be explicitly included in theories dealing with role orientations of professionals.

Nursing subunit technology: a replication.

Abstract: Overton, Schneck, and Hazlett's (1977) measurement of nursing subunit technology was replicated using 157 subunits of 9 types located in 24 hospitals in Alberta. A 21-item questionnaire was given to nurses, and the answers were subjected to factor analyses. Results indicated three dimensions of technology: instability, uncertainty, and variability. Because of the similarity of these variables to those in the Overton, Schneck, and Hazlett study, the results suggested a high degree of construct validity for the measure. The technological dimensions also differentiated among the types of subunits in the same pattern as in the original study. A relatively quick method of obtaining measures of instability, uncertainty, and variability by using composite scores was tested and found reliable.

Interpersonal Attraction and Organizational Outcomes: A Field Examination.

Abstract: The authors wish to thank Gary Albrecht, Jeanne Brett, David Dittman, and Barry Staw for their very helpful criticisms and suggestions during the early stages of this research. The authors also wish to thank theASQ reviewers and editorial staff for their valuable assistance. Objective evaluation is one of the basic tenets of rational administrative theory. However, it is widely recognized that several barriers exist to objective evaluation in practice. Informational social influence theory offers an auxiliary approach to understanding organizational outcomes. While informational social influence subsumes a wide variety of elements, three components were selected for examination from the social psychological literature on interpersonal attraction. The relationship of physical attractiveness, attitude similarity, and social background to performance ratings and salaries was examined at two public accounting firms. Motivation and ability measures were included to provide baselines for results. The data were consistentwith research suggesting that physical attractiveness may lead to higher outcomes but are less supportive of previous findings on attitude similarity and social background.

The Structuring of Organizational Structure: A Note.

Abstract: ? 1981 by Cornell University 0001-8392/8 1 /2603-0470/$00.75 The appearance of Ranson, Hinings, and Greenwood's "The Structuring of Organizational Structures" (1980) is to be welcomed for its concern to generate a more satisfactory framework for the analysis of organizational structure. The shortcoming of existing forms of analysis, they argued, lies in the unhelpful counterposing of two perspectives: those that address structure as a formal configuration of roles and procedures and those that attend to structure as a patterned regularity of interaction. Ranson, Hinings, and Greenwood's claim was "to articulate the latent linkages" that connect these frameworks and thereby incorporate them into "a more unified methodological and theoretical framework" (1980: 1). Did they succeed?

Occupational role development: the changing determinants of outcomes for the individual.

Abstract: This research examined the development of an occupational role from one month before the role incumbent's graduation from training to five months into the first job. Kahn et al.'s (1964) theory of ""expectation-generated role stress" provided a conceptual framework for the development of a causal model of role development. A national sample of 181 physicians' assistants (PAs) and their supervising physicians reported by questionnaire on actual and expected PA task performance and participation in decision making at three points during the period of interest. Task data were used to derive three measures of objective role ambiguity and conflict. In addition, PAs provided data on perceived role ambiguity and conflict and attitudes about work, A path analytic technique was applied to the model to examine changes over time. Results suggest that, during the first months of employment, the role occupant passes through different stages of development, during which the determinants of outcomes change. This notion of changing causal structure was supported by the identification of four casual patterns of outcomes, the changing strength of prediction models, and the changing effects of discrepancies between pre-job expectation and on-the-job reality. Role-development stages are discussed in terms of rational and emotional processes, and implications for theory, research, and practice are proposed.