Premium
Organizational Size, Structure, and Efficiency: A Test of a Blau‐Hage Model
Author(s) -
Armandi Barry R.,
Mills Edgar W.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1982.tb01667.x
Subject(s) - organizational structure , loan , test (biology) , context (archaeology) , profit (economics) , econometrics , hierarchical database model , mathematics , economics , knowledge management , operations research , computer science , microeconomics , management , data mining , macroeconomics , geography , paleontology , archaeology , biology
A bstract . Combining the work of Peter Blau and Jerald Hage regarding organizational characteristics and efficiency, a correlational model was constructed consisting of testable propositions relating organizational size, complexity, stratification, formalization, centralization , and two measures of efficiency. The model was also extended to include hierarchical levels, after vertical and horizontal measures of complexity were separated. Following an extensive review of the literature, both official and self‐reported data from one type of economic organization ( 104 savings and loan associations in New York State ) were employed to test the propositions in a profit‐oriented context. While we findings demonstrate limited support for the model in this special type to economic organization (five of thirteen propositions were fully or partly supported by the analysis), a further classification and comparison of studies reviewed, according to the type of organization under study, suggests that a unified theory encompassing both economic and non‐economic organizations is feasible.