Measures of Organizational Structure: A Methodological Note

The application of multiple instruments for measuring structural characteristics of complex organizations in recommended in order to determine their convergent and discriminant validity. This exploratory study makes a comparison between two different sets of measures, designed to assess the degree of centralization and formalization. One set represents the institutional approach, which relies on documents and informants; the other set relies on the survey approach, which is characterized by the use of questionnaires and interview schedules. The simultaneous application of the two sets of instruments to a small sample of manufacturing organizations uggests a certain amount of convergence, but raises serious doubts about the validity of some of the indicators. The differences in scope of the impirical referent of the indicators appear to be a major source for the lack of convergent validity.

[1]  J. M. Pennings.  Organisatie struktuur en technologie: een methodologische kanttekening , 1973 .

[2]  J. L. Price.  Handbook of Organizational Measurement , 1975 .

[3]  Robert N. Stern,et al.  The Structure of Organizations. , 1971 .

[4]  J. Brewer.  FLOW OF COMMUNICATIONS, EXPERT QUALIFICATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONAL AUTHORITY STRUCTURES * , 1971 .

[5]  Gloria L. Lee,et al.  Dimensions of Organization Structure and their Context: A Replication , 1971 .

[6]  G. Rose.  The Structure of Organizations , 1971 .

[7]  Robert P. Althauser,et al.  Validity and the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix , 1970 .

[8]  G. Slatin.  Ecological analysis of delinquency: aggregation effects. , 1969, American sociological review.

[9]  D. Pugh,et al.  The Context of Organization Structures , 1969 .

[10]  A. Tannenbaum.  Control in Organizations , 1969 .

[11]  M. Aiken,et al.  Organizational interdependence and intra-organizational structure. , 1968 .

[12]  J. L. Price.  Design of Proof in Organizational Research , 1968 .

[13]  D. Pugh,et al.  Dimensions of Organization Structure , 1968 .

[14]  M. Aiken,et al.  Relationship of centralization to other structural properties. , 1967 .

[15]  P. Lawrence,et al.  Differentiation and Integration in Complex Organizations , 1967 .

[16]  Peter F. Sorensen,et al.  Centralization of Organizational Control: An Empirical Study of Its Meaning and Measurement , 1967 .

[17]  R. Hall,et al.  A Note on Bureaucracy and Its "Correlates" , 1966, American Journal of Sociology.

[18]  Robert E. Stauffer,et al.  THE STRUCTURE OF SMALL BUREAUCRACIES , 1966 .

[19]  P. Blau.  The Comparative Study of Organizations , 1965 .

[20]  J. Bachman,et al.  Structural Versus Individual Effects , 1964, American Journal of Sociology.

[21]  Richard H. Hall,et al.  The Concept of Bureaucracy: An Empirical Assessment , 1963, American Journal of Sociology.

[22]  Allen H. Barton,et al.  Organizational Measurement and Its Bearing on the Study of College Environments , 1961 .

[23]  James A. Davis,et al.  A technique for analyzing the effects of group composition. , 1961 .

[24]  Stanley H. Udy,et al.  'Bureaucracy' and 'rationality' in Weber's organization theory , 1959 .

[25]  D. Campbell,et al.  Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. , 1959, Psychological bulletin.

[26]  C. Mills,et al.  The Theory of Social and Economic Organization , 1948 .