Showing papers on "Resource dependence theory published in 1985"

Institutional Environments and Resource Dependence: Sources of Administrative Structure in Institutions of Higher Education.

Abstract: Pamela S. Tolbert Two theoretical perspectives are combined to explain the pattern of administrative offices in public and private institutions of higher education. The first perspective, resource dependence, is used to show that the need to ensure a stable flow of resources from external sources of support partially determines administrative differentiation. The second perspective, institutionalization, emphasizes the common understandings and social definitions of organizational behavior and structure considered appropriate and nonproblematic and suggests conditions under which dependency will and will not predict the number of administrative offices that manage funding relations. The results of the analyses indicate that dependence on nontraditional sources of support is a strong predictor of administrative differentiation and demonstrate the validity of integrating these two theoretical perspectives.

Social Control of Occupations and Work

Abstract: Three largely separate literatures—on organizations, on professions, and on manual and clerical work settings—have treated the social control of work. From these writings we identify five modes of control over work: simple, technical, bureaucratic, occupational, and worker self-control. We discuss findings on conditions that underlie the occurrence of different controls. Contingency and resource dependence organization theories help explain the degree of bureaucratic control and the power of work groups within organizations. Literature on occupations and work groups suggests four categories of variables related to modes of control. These pertain to (a) the nature of tasks, particularly their degree of uncertainty, (b) relations between segments of occupation, (c) how an occupation fits into a division of labor, and (d) relations of an occupation to elements of its environment such as clients, markets, or government. Findings on professionals and those on lower-status workers are often similar although sta...

Organizational Structure and Information Technology: Elements of a Formal Theory

Abstract: There are three parts of this paper. The first part (1) discusses the kinds of theories needed to understand the consequences of information technology for organizational structure and (2) reviews a number of previous models of organizational design. In the second part of the paper, a new model is presented that helps integrate and formalize some of the previous work. This model distinguishes several generic organizational structures and identifies tradeoffs between them in terms of coordination costs, productivity, and adaptability. The model is unusual in that it includes mathematical derivations of qualitative results that summarize several important principles from previous research on organizational design. In the last section of the paper, the model is used to help explain several major historical changes in the structure of American businesses and to help predict changes that may occur in the future with the widespread use of information technology. This paper has two goals. The first is to take a small step toward developing powerful theories about the use of information technology in organizations. We are particularly interested in the relationships between information technology and organizational structure. We would like, for example, to have some basis for predicting whether certain existing organizational structures are likely to become more desirable as information technology becomes more widespread or whether new organizational forms that are now impractical will become, for the first time, feasible and desirable. In order to help answer these questions in a principled way, the second goal of this paper is to take a step toward summarizing and formalizing the existing knowledge about organizational design. There is already a large body of literature on this topic, and this article does not begin to encompass it all. The formal model presented here, however, does appear to capture a number of important qualitative relationships between organizational structure and coordination cost, productivity, and adaptability. The final section of the paper illustrates how this model can be used to explain several major changes that have occurred in the structure of American businesses over the last century and to help predict changes that may occur in the future with the widespread use of information technology. A model similar to the one presented here was described by Malone and Smith (1984). This paper integrates the earlier model with a number of other models of organizational design and emphasizes applications of the model to questions about organizational structure and information …

Is Resource Theory Equally Applicable to Wives and Husbands

Abstract: This paper argues that resources at the wife’s disposal have a considerable impact on her share in marital decisions while the husband’s resources are not positively associated with his decision-ma...

An Organizational Perspective of Graduate Student Recruitment: A Resource Dependence Approach

Abstract: A recent shift in the nation’s demographic environment has been partially responsible for lower enrollment in higher education. This has stimulated an interest in student recruitment at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. This article represents the first effort to analyze recruitment from an organizational perspective. Using a resource dependence theory, the discussion focuses on recruitment as a response of graduate education to fluctuations in the environment.

Three theories of coalition behaviour: A probabilistic extension

Abstract: A major weakness with recent research and theoretical advancements in the area of coalition formation is that most of the efforts have been limited strictly to deterministic formats, while in many instances outside the laboratory the success of a coalition is not certain. Extensions of three theories of coalition formation behaviour (minimum resource theory, bargaining theory and equal excess theory) to take into account probability of success were derived employing the expected value concept. The theories were tested by having subjects play the role of company stockholders engaged in a power struggle to gain control of a company. The results offered strongest support for the extended bargaining theory and suggested that subjects combined considerations of resources and probabilities in reaching coalition decisions.

A compliance‐resource theory of regulatory failure: the case of o.s.h.a.

Abstract: Neither capture theory, nor neo‐conservative theory and technical failure arguments adequately account for the behaviour of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) during the 1970s. A framework drawn from organisation theory suggests that regulatory failure is due to a crisis of compliance resources caused by a flawed legislative mandate. Lacking effective compliance mechanisms, regulatory agencies are forced into a bargaining posture rather than an enforcement stance towards industry. This leads to creation of de facto policy which diverges substantially from the original legislative mandate, and this is read as evidence for regulation failure.

Organizational Drift as a Response to Resource Dependence.

Abstract: This article is based on a longitudinal study of a Swedish Social Democratic newspaper and examines its `organizational drift' over time in response to changing patterns of resource dependence. The early goals of the newspaper as a means of political communication were subsequently overtaken by such criteria as economic performance and journalistic professionalism. This, in turn, had implications for the organizational and reward structures of the company.

The Relationship between Environment Change and School Board Expectations of Superintendents' Decision Making.

Abstract: ABSThACT The purpose of this research was to investigate and describe the relationship of environmental change to superintendent-school board decision-making and superintendent turnover. Assuming the resource dependence model of organizational open system theory, researchers hypothesized that the amount of decision-making autonomy boards grant to superintendents and the mobility of superintendents would be related to the amount of turbulence in the community. To gather data for the study, two instruments were developed: (1) a 57-item questionnaire to measure superintendent-board expectations on the relative dependence or independence of the superintendent in various contexts; and (2) a commnity environment questionnaire with 12 questions illustrating im)ortant aspects of the relationship between community characteristics and environmental turbulence. A total of 273 school districts were surveyed with these instruments in 1979 and again in 1983. Data analysis suggests statistically significant relationships between the management process occurring in education (perceptions of superintendents and boards concerning the amount of discretionary authority in decision making that boards should grant to superintendents) and environmental turbulence within the community.