Showing papers on "Organizational effectiveness published in 1985"
Book•
19 Mar 1985
TL;DR: A review of the book "Organizational Culture and Leadership" by Edgar H. Schein is given in this article, where the authors present a review of their approach to organizational culture and leadership.
Abstract: The article presents a review of the book “Organizational Culture and Leadership,” by Edgar H. Schein.
17,083 citations
Book Chapter•
01 Jan 1985TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a comprehensive analysis of organizational culture - what it is, how it develops, and how it functions in relation to managerial style and organizational effectiveness. But they do not discuss the role of organizational diversity.
Abstract: Presents a comprehensive analysis of organizational culture - what it is, how it develops, and how it functions in relation to managerial style and organizational effectiveness.
1,923 citations
TL;DR: This article investigated the relationship between top management perceptions of uncertainty, corporate goal structures, and industry volatility in explaining economic performance in 20 firms and found that attempts to avoid true environmental uncertainty and to seek high levels of goal congruence may be dysfunctional.
Abstract: An untested proposition in the normative strategic management literature is that strategists should make decisions based on accurate assessments of their external environments. Empirical organization theory literature holds the assumption that high levels of perceived uncertainty are detrimental to performance. Both literatures assume goal consensus to be important to effectiveness. This study investigated the relationship between top management perceptions of uncertainty, corporate Goal structures, and industry volatility in explaining economic performance in 20 firms. Findings suggested that attempts to avoid true environmental uncertainty and to seek high levels of goal congruence may be dysfunctional.
693 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed an integrative organizational control model, which synthesizes selected contributions of the administrative management school, organizational sociologists and organizational psychologists, and presented propositions for each core control mechanism, relating its impact to work behaviors and outcomes.
Abstract: This paper develops an integrative organizational control model which synthesizes selected contributions of the administrative management school, organizational sociologists and organizational psychologists. The model consists of a core control system embedded in the context of organizational structure, organizational culture and the external environment. Control is defined as attempts by the organization to increase the probability that individuals will behave in ways that will lead to the attainment of organizational objectives. Control of work behavior is accomplished by the four core control mechanisms of planning, measurement, feedback and evaluation-reward. The paper presents propositions for each core control mechanism, relating its impact to work behaviors and outcomes. It also examines the manner in which the contextual factors (culture, etc.) function as control mechanisms on work behavior. Finally, the paper suggests directions for future research on the proposed model. Taken together, the model and the propositions comprise the basis for an integrative framework of organizational control.
597 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors operateally defined three top-level management priorities and made some suggestions about these priorities' relative levels of importance across three stages of organizational life (organizational life cycle).
Abstract: This research operationally defined three top-level management priorities and made some suggestions about these priorities' relative levels of importance across three stages of organizational life ...
461 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1985TL;DR: The authors argue that public and private schools are distinctively different in environment and organization, and that public schools are more likely to possess the characteristics widely believed to produce effectiveness, and they argue throughout that the differences across the sectors are anchored in the logic of politics and markets.
Abstract: that public and private schools are distinctively different in environment and organization. Most importantly, private schools are more likely to possess the characteristics widely believed to produce effectiveness. We argue throughout that the differences across the sectors are anchored in the logic of politics and markets. This argument derives from our belief that environmental context has pervasive consequences for the organization and operation of all schools and specifically that the key differences between public and private environments-and thus between public and private schools -derive from their characteristic methods of social control: the public schools are subordinates in a hierarchic system of democratic politics, whereas private schools are largely autonomous actors "controlled" by the market.
417 citations
01 Jan 1985
337 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between training and organizational support to predict store performance and found that training and support were significantly correlated with both measures of store performance, although training was stronger than organizational support.
Abstract: The present study uses both objective and survey data to examine relations among retail sales training, organizational support, and store performance and to examine whether training interacts with organizational support to predict store performance. The study is unique in that it presents an example of the analysis of the relationship between organizational level measures of training and performance, as opposed to more traditional individual level measures. Archival data in a correlational design were analyzed for 62 stores belonging to the same international merchandising firm. Two measures of training and two measures of support were used to predict two measures of store performance. Results indicated that training and organizational support were significantly correlated with both measures of store performance, although the relationship between training and organizational performance was stronger. In contrast to predictions, there were no significant interactions between the training and support variables.
315 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a meta-analysis of 31 field studies of the size-performance relationship is presented, showing that subunit size and performance are nonsignificantly or negatively related, depending on the operationalization used to measure subunit performance.
Abstract: The authors thank Lawrence W. Foster for his collaboration and Michael K. Moch for his comments on earlier drafts of this paper. We also thank the Associate Editor and ASQ reviewers for their helpful guidance, and Sarah B. Dornbos for her diligent assistance. This paper presents a meta-analysis of 31 published field studies of the size-performance relationship. The metaanalysis indicates that the relationship between subunit size and performance differs from the relationship between organizational size and performance. Specifically, subunit size and subunit perfomance are nonsignificantly or negatively related, depending on the operationalization used to measure subunit performance. These results appear to be modestly consistent with free-rider and process-loss models of group behavior. However, organizational size and organizational productivity, defined as performance measured in absolute (nonratio) terms, are positively related to each other in contrast to review findings to date. Additionally, organizational size and organizational efficiency, defined as performance measured in relative (output-input) terms, are shown to exhibit no positive relationship to each other, casting doubt on the existence of a positive net relationship between organizational size and economies of scale.*
291 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the effects of problems and opportunities on managers' strategic decisions in response to both problems and opportunity, and when their firms were performing poorly or well.
Abstract: Managers make strategic decisions in response to both problems and opportunities, and when their firms are performing poorly or well. This research investigated effects of these two motives and of ...
284 citations
TL;DR: The composition of organizations in terms of the length of service and age distribution of its members is important for understanding a wide variety of phenomena ranging from innovation to turnover rates as mentioned in this paper, and managers need to better understand the role of organizational demography if they are to improve the functioning of their organization.
Abstract: The composition of organizations in terms of the length of service and age distribution of its members is important for understanding a wide variety of phenomena ranging from innovation to turnover rates. Cohorts (groups of people who have entered the organization at about the same time) play an important role in shaping organizational conflict, power, and politics. Managers need to better understand the role of organizational demography if they are to improve the functioning of their organization.
TL;DR: The authors examine the relationship between the aggregate job satisfaction level of nursing staff in 77 family planning clinics and two client outcomes: 1) the aggregate satisfactionlevel of teenage clients with contraceptive services obtained in the clinic, and 2) the subsequent rate of client compliance with contraceptive prescriptions.
Abstract: In studies of the effectiveness of health care organizations, the job satisfaction level of professional staff is often viewed as an "outcome," since providing a climate that satisfies participants' needs is one aspect of organizational effectiveness. Staff satisfaction, however, has not been linked with outcomes associated with clients. In this article, the authors examine the relationship between the aggregate job satisfaction level of nursing staff in 77 family planning clinics and two client outcomes: the aggregate satisfaction level of teenage clients with contraceptive services obtained in the clinic, and the subsequent rate of client compliance with contraceptive prescriptions. Among the variables studied in testing an organizational-level model, it is found that the job satisfaction level of nursing staff is the strongest determinant of the aggregate satisfaction level of clients; client satisfaction level, in turn, predicts the rate of clients' subsequent contraceptive compliance. Staff satisfaction has a noteworthy indirect effect on compliance through client satisfaction. Compliance, however, appears to be more susceptible to variations in clinic structure than to variations in staff satisfaction levels. Implications of these findings for studies of effectiveness of health services and for management of health care organizations are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors assess the relationships among characteristics of industrial relations systems, efforts to improve the quality of working life, and selected measures of organizational effectiveness in 25 manufacturing plants belonging to one company.
Abstract: This study assesses the relationships among characteristics of industrial relations systems, efforts to improve the quality of working life, and selected measures of organizational effectiveness in 25 manufacturing plants belonging to one company. On the basis of both research from organizational behavior and industrial relations, the paper offers the proposition that industrial relations systems affect organizational effectiveness through two channels. The empirical results show (1) strong evidence of an association between measures of the performance of industrial relations systems and economic performance, and (2) evidence that efforts to improve quality of working life have little impact on economic performance.
TL;DR: In this paper, Abu-Lughod, Howard Becker, John Kretzmann, Janice Weiss, Gerald Salancik, and anonymous ASQ reviewers for their comments on various drafts and sections of this article.
Abstract: We are grateful to Janet Abu-Lughod, Howard Becker, John Kretzmann, Janice Weiss, Gerald Salancik, and anonymous ASQ reviewers for their comments on various drafts and sections of this article. Based on a comparative case study analysis, this paper suggests how preexisting organizations within an environment constitute resources for the genesis of new, similar organizations and how this process may expand the level of resources available from the wider environment, while the absence of similar organizations may hinder organizational genesis. As a result of the three central processes of resource exchange, legitimation, and domain definition, the emergence of new organizations can be facilitated rather than hindered by the presence of a greater number of preexisting similar organizations in the organizational field. The article raises significant questions about the conceptualization of resources and environments and contributes to the specification of the "liability of newness" hypothesis.,
TL;DR: The management of organizational conflict involves the diagnosis of and intervention in conflict at intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup levels as discussed by the authors, and a diagnosis should indicate whether there is need for intervention and the type of intervention needed.
Abstract: The management of organizational conflict involves the diagnosis of and intervention in conflict at intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup levels. A diagnosis should indicate whether there is need for intervention and the type of intervention needed. In general, an intervention is designed to attain and maintain a moderate amount of conflict a various levels and to enable the organizational members to learn the styles of handling interpersonal conflict so that the individual, group, and overall organizational effectiveness are enhanced.
TL;DR: In this article, an ageneral model of school effectiveness is proposed, which is based on two competing frameworks for the study of organizational effectiveness, and a multidimensional perspective was operationa...
Abstract: After the examination of two competing frameworks for the study of organizational effectiveness, ageneral model of school effectiveness is proposed. This multidimensional perspective was operationa...
Book•
01 Jan 1985
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors combine theory and practical application in such areas as incentive plans, personnel policies, production systems, job designs and organizational goals to manage change while gaining acceptance and commitment from employees.
Abstract: Learn how to manage change while gaining acceptance and commitment from employees. This highly-praised book combines theory and practical application in such areas as incentive plans, personnel policies, production systems, job designs and organizational goals.
TL;DR: In the law firms analyzed in this paper, promotion was much more common than lateral entry: three out of four partnership positions in law firms were staffed through promotion, while promotions in prior periods decreased current promotion.
Abstract: Douglas R. Wholey Professional labor markets, such as law, are often thought to be highly open occupational internal labor markets, in which promotion is rare and lateral entry is common. In the law firms analyzed in this study, however, promotion was much more common than lateral entry: three out of four partnership positions in law firms were staffed through promotion rather than lateral entry. Law firm growth, the number of major clients, and addition of major clients increased promotion, while promotions in prior periods decreased current promotion. Addition of major clients and promotions in prior periods led to lateral entry.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a model that specifies a number of major school process and outcome variables associated with administrator succession, and suggest a variety of research strategies to examine administrator succession and effects of leaders on school processes and outcomes.
Abstract: Conventional wisdom maintains that changing administrators will improve school performance. Some research evidence suggests, however, that because leader succession is disruptive to communication, decisionmaking and power processes, it will have either no causal effect or a negative effect on organizational effectiveness. Even if the impacts are modest, leader succession produces a naturally occurring set of events that provides excellent opportunities for researchers to assess administrator effects on school performance. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is threefold: (a) to construct a model that specifies a number of major school process and outcome variables associated with administrator succession, (b) to review the succession literature for each component, and (c) to suggest a variety of research strategies to examine administrator succession and effects of leaders on school processes and outcomes
TL;DR: In this article, the authors summarized eight principles of administrator effectiveness that have emerged from a variety of studies of excellence in colleges and universities, and argued that the effectiveness of higher education institutions is dependent upon the effective of their administrators.
Abstract: Eight principles of administrator effectiveness that have emerged from a variety of studies of excellence in colleges and universities are summarized. It is argued that the effectiveness of higher education institutions is dependent upon the effectiveness of their administrators.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the job performance of 420 credit managers from a large finance company who either quit their job, were fired, or were promoted to a higher position in the company.
Abstract: This study examines the job performance of 420 credit managers from a large finance company who either quit their job, were fired, or were promoted to a higher position in the company. Six biographical variables and 12 performance appraisal scores were used in a cross-validated multiple discriminant analysis to predict membership in the three classification groups. The results revealed a systematic relation between the performance appraisal variables and the classification groups: The performance of promoted employees was significantly superior to those employees who quit, which in turn was significantly superior to the performance of the fired employees. The 18 discriminating variables accounted for a 46.7% hit rate in group membership. The findings are discussed in the context of research on performance antecedents of voluntary and involuntary turnover, as well as the feedback properties of performance appraisal information. Researchers have investigated the relation between turnover and many other variables such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job involvement, economic conditions, and a host of biographical factors (Muchinsky & Morrow, 1980). Conspicuously absent from this list are variables that would help to determine the role of performance in the turnover process, either in the form of objective or subjective performance criteria. This neglect of performance variables may be related to the fact that involuntary separations (firings), one possible outcome of negative appraisals, have been ignored as a topic of study (Bluedorn, 1978). Even in research on voluntary turnover (quitting), which predominates by far, there are few data about the performance differences between those who leave and those who stay with an organization (Price, 1977). This is surprising in light of the fact that organizational effectiveness hinges on which employees leave the organization: If those who quit are the best performers, the organization suffers (Mobley, 1982). Four recent empirical studies dealing with the role of performance in the turnover process are evident in the literature: Dalton, Requests for reprints should be sent to Paul M.
TL;DR: The authors found that participants experience less actual influence than they think they should have and that board members' influence is positively related to board member ratings of staff educational sufficiency and the extent to which board members feel informed of their duties.
Abstract: Boards of directors perform both internal and external functions. After reviewing research on the external function, this paper reports the results of an empirical study of the internal role. Based upon responses from 142 people in seven private nonprofit organizations the study finds that: (1) participants experience less actual influence than they think they should have; (2) board members' influence is posi tively related to the frequency of board meetings and the extent to which board members feel informed of their duties, though neither is very strong; (3) ratings of organizational effectiveness are positively related to board member ratings of staff educational sufficiency and the extent to which board members feel informed of their duties; and (4) at the organizational level of analysis, organizational effective ness is strongly related to the amount of total influence in the organization though this result seems to be based mostly on the strong relation between the influence of the executive direct...
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between education, management style, and organizational effectiveness is examined and a model of a new more participative management style is presented and its relationship to education and skills is explicated.
Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between education, management style, and organizational effectiveness. The increasing education level in the society is pointed to as a strong force toward a more participative management style. However, it is stressed that much of the education which is taking place in the United States may not equip people to participate effectively in a more democratically managed workplace. Finally, a model of a new more participative management style is presented and its relationship to education and skills is explicated.
TL;DR: Theoretical understanding of communication with organizations and between organizations and their relevant publics through the mass media is in an area of more interest than accomplishment for most scholars of communication.
Abstract: ,Theoretical understanding of communication with organizations and between organizations and their relevant publics through the mass media is in an area of more interest than accomplishment for most scholars of communication. Although public relations is the essence of that communicative process, most of the body of knowledge in the field is descriptive at best. Further, it is too often studied in isolation-one subsystem of the organizational system and separate from the rich research tradition of mass communication, which deals with the societal suprasystem. This study tries to integrate the communication subsystem into the goals of the organization. Such a level-spanning approach is critical from the scholar's theoretical standpoint. European researchers, according to Gurevitch and Blumler,l traditionally have emphasized this interface between the meso-level of a department such as public
TL;DR: In this article, a theory of organizational effectiveness theories is proposed, and a model for analyzing the effectiveness of colleges or universities is outlined, and an underlying framework upon which individuals organize criteria of effectiveness is identified.
Abstract: An underlying framework upon which individuals organize criteria of effectiveness is identified. A theory of organizational effectiveness theories is proposed, and a model for analyzing the effectiveness of colleges or universities is outlined.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a conceptual scheme to explain what distinguishes organizational forms and the transformation of these forms under the condition of future uncertainty, and the implications of this framework for organization theory and design are discussed.
Abstract: This paper is an attempt to extend and amplify the concept of transaction and its relation to alternative organizational forms. Based on the institutional economics tradition of Commons (1924), the economics of internal organizations (Williamson 1975), and recent developments in organization theory (Ouchi 1980), it proposes a conceptual scheme to explain what distinguishes organizational forms and the transformation of these forms under the condition of future uncertainty. The implications of this framework for organization theory and design are also discussed.
TL;DR: A review of 65 organizational development studies employing "hard-criteria" measures reveals a clear trend toward more rigorous methods and designs, especially the use of quasi-experimental designs and sophisticated statistics.
Abstract: A review of 65 organizational development studies employing “hard-criteria” measures reveals a clear trend toward more rigorous methods and designs, especially the use of quasi-experimental designs and sophisticated statistics. Still, the selection of comparison groups and the duration of measurement were often inadequate, and many descriptions of techniques and dependent variables were so vague that results are uninterpretable. A number of suggestions for improving reporting of organizational development research are presented.