Resource dependence theory

About: Resource dependence theory is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2732 publications have been published within this topic receiving 184871 citations.

In Search of a Benchmarking Theory for the Public Sector

Abstract: Organizations withincertain branches of the public sector – such as police districts, municipal socialservices and local tax offices – compare their performances to reveal differencesas well as to show ways of improving performance. Benchmarking is based onideas – implicitly or otherwise – about managing organizations and improvingtheir performances. These ideas include ‘organizations want to copy ‘‘bestpractices’’’ and ‘performance comparison results in performance improvement’(Camp, 1989; and Bruder and Gray, 1994). As far as we know, the possibility ofcombining these and similar ideas into a theoretical framework has never beenexamined. This is confirmed by Bowerman et al. (2002, p. 432), who assert thatpublic sector benchmarking has not attracted much attention in the manage-ment literature. We will attempt to fill in this gap. That is, we will develop atheoretical framework that can be used to investigate public sector benchmark-ing. The starting point for this framework will be a combination of economic andinstitutional reasoning. Together these theoretical angles provide an explanationfor the way in which benchmarking is used in the public sector.This paper develops a theory and formulates hypotheses with respect to thevarious response patterns of public sector organizations to benchmarking. It usesinsights from both economic theory and a theory – developed by Oliver (1991) –which is based on neo-institutional theory and resource dependence theory. Thehypotheses will be exemplified and subsequently refined by empirical researchinto a benchmarking project of waste-water treatment by Dutch water boards.This benchmarking project used an adapted version of the Balanced Scorecard.It comprised two benchmarking studies, which used data from, respectively, theyears 1999 and 2002. Following both studies, we investigated the water boards’response patterns to the benchmarking project. As such, we used multipleresearch methods, including a survey and several case studies. The core of thepaper will entail a reflection on the response patterns of the water boards to the

Network dynamics of interorganizational cooperation: the Croatian civil society movement

Abstract: Throughout the world, social cause organizations and independent media organizations work together, despite their differences and competition with each other for resources, toward creating civil society. This paper assesses the network dynamics of a system of cooperative competitors in Croatia. The research is framed from the theoretical perspectives of resource dependency, cooperation competition, and structural holes with results that describe the roles of various organizations in the development of civil society. Network relationships are described among 18 civil society organizations from their initial participation in the Croatian transformation in the year 2000 to a democratic nation to two years later. Results identify benefits and drawbacks of the general system structure, specific organization's network roles, and reputations associated with networking activities. Theoretical implications address the complementary contributions of using multiple theoretical perspectives to approach interorganizat...

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...