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A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONTEXT AND STRUCTURE OF A LARGE BRITISH FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
Author(s) -
Evans Martin G.,
McQuillan Will
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6486.1977.tb00356.x
Subject(s) - standardization , context (archaeology) , institution , organizational structure , process (computing) , schedule , scale (ratio) , financial institution , process management , accounting , computer science , business , management , economics , political science , finance , law , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology , operating system
T his study represents an analysis of the changes in the environment, context and structure of an organization, using the full Aston Interview Schedule. 2 The limitations of generalizing from a single case are acknowledged, but the longitudinal analysis provides support for the notion that organizations can and do develop self‐evaluative capacities when threatened by external change. The results of the process of self‐evaluation on the part of the organization are shown as changes in the organization's scores on the various scales of organizational context and structure developed by the Aston school, at two points in time. These changes provide support for a number of conjectures arising from previous analyses of the relationships among the structural dimensions of organizational form displayed by the Aston methodology; notably the relationship between size/standardization and centralization/standardization. The analysis also suggests that the centralization scale can be viewed as having two components – one related to policy decisions, the other to operational decisions.