Contingency Theory: Some Suggested Directions

Common to all contingency approaches is the proposition that performance is a consequence of the fit between several factors: structure, people, technology, strategy, and culture. Unfortunately, unwarranted generalizations and fragmented and conflicting findings exist. These approaches need a greater theoretical grounding of key concepts and richer, more complex models to capture the process by which organizations adapt and change. A model is presented which argues that complex relationships exist among environmental, organizational, and individual/group variables, and that these relationships and their salience change with the strategic and organizational design choices made by members of the dominant coalition.

[1]  D. Hambrick.  An Empirical Typology of Mature Industrial-Product Environments , 1983 .

[2]  Stephen M. Shortell,et al.  The Role of Environment in a Configurational Theory of Organizations , 1977 .

[3]  Johannes M. Pennings,et al.  Organizational effectiveness : a behavioral view , 1977 .

[4]  Pehr G. Gyllenhammar,et al.  People at work , 1977 .

[5]  R. Osborn,et al.  Handbook of Organizational Design. Vol. 1: Adapting Organizations to Their Environments. , 1982 .

[6]  A. Gouldner.  Cosmopolitans and locals : toward an analysis of latent social roles-II , 1957 .

[7]  D. Hambrick.  Some tests of the effectiveness and functional attributes of Miles and Snow's strategic types. , 1983, Academy of Management journal. Academy of Management.

[8]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Organization Theory and Design , 1983 .

[9]  J. March,et al.  A Behavioral Theory of the Firm , 1964 .

[10]  C. C. Snow,et al.  Strategy, Distinctive Competence, and Organizational Performance. , 1980 .

[11]  W. Scott.  Stakeholders of the organizational mind , 1983 .

[12]  Stuart Jay Deutsch,et al.  Organizational Effectiveness: A Multiple-Constituency Approach , 1980 .

[13]  Howard E. Aldrich,et al.  Design Strategy from the Population Perspective , 1984 .

[14]  James D. Thompson.  Organizations in Action , 1967 .

[15]  H. J. Arnold.  Moderator variables: A clarification of conceptual, analytic, and psychometric issues , 1982 .

[16]  Arnon E. Reichers,et al.  On the Etiology of Climates. , 1983 .

[17]  Rosalie L. Tung.  Dimensions of Organizational Environments: An Exploratory Study of Their Impact on Organization Structure , 1979 .

[18]  C. B. Schoonhoven.  Problems with contingency theory: testing assumptions hidden within the language of contingency "theory.". , 1981, Administrative science quarterly.

[19]  Martha S. Feldman,et al.  The uniqueness paradox in organizational stories. , 1983 .

[20]  Tom R. Burns,et al.  The Management of Innovation. , 1963 .

[21]  R. Duncan.  What is the right organization structure? Decision tree analysis provides the answer , 1979 .

[22]  R. J. House,et al.  A Path-Goal Theory of Leader Effectiveness , 1971 .

[23]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  The Nature and Use of Formal Control Systems for Management Control and Strategy Implementation , 1984 .

[24]  Gregory G. Dess,et al.  The Congruence Perspective of Organization Design: A Conceptual Model and Multivariate Research Approach , 1984 .

[25]  John W. Slocum,et al.  Person–situation interaction: Competing models of fit. , 1982 .

[26]  James C. Abegglen.  The Japanese factory : aspects of its social organization , 1958 .

[27]  Danny Miller,et al.  TOWARD A NEW CONTINGENCY APPROACH: THE SEARCH FOR ORGANIZATIONAL GESTALTS , 1981 .

[28]  T. Mitchell,et al.  PATH-GOAL THEORY OF LEADERSHIP , 1975 .

[29]  D. R. Dalton,et al.  Organization Structure and Performance: A Critical Review , 1980 .

[30]  J. Werbel,et al.  Universalistic and Contingency Predictions of Employee Satisfaction and Conflict. , 1979 .

[31]  Arnold S. Tannenbaum,et al.  Hierarchy in Organizations. , 1975 .

[32]  A. Athos,et al.  The Art of Japanese Management , 1982 .

[33]  J. Pennings.  The Relevance of the Structural-Contingency Model for Organizational Effectiveness. , 1975 .

[34]  D. Whetten,et al.  Characteristics of Effective Organizations. , 1984 .

[35]  R. Campbell,et al.  A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness. , 1968 .

[36]  Ray Jurkovich.  A Core Typology of Organizational Environments. , 1974 .

[37]  Roger Hudson,et al.  Designing New Business Startups: Entrepreneurial, Organizational, and Ecological Considerations , 1984 .

[38]  R. Bhagat,et al.  Role of subjective culture in organizations: A review and directions for future research. , 1982 .

[39]  Donald C. Hambrick,et al.  Taxonomic Approaches to Studying Strategy: Some Conceptual and Methodological Issues , 1984 .

[40]  A. Meyer.  Adapting to environmental jolts. , 1982, Administrative science quarterly.

[41]  V. Sathe.  Implications of corporate culture: a manager's guide to action. , 1983, Organizational dynamics.

[42]  R. Duncan.  Characteristics of Organizational Environments and Perceived Environmental Uncertainty. , 1972 .

[43]  John R. Kimberly,et al.  The Anatomy of Organizational Design , 1984 .

[44]  R. Kahn,et al.  The Social Psychology of Organizations , 1966 .

[45]  Duncan Neuhauser,et al.  The Efficient Organization , 1975 .

[46]  J. Child.  Organizational Structure, Environment and Performance: The Role of Strategic Choice , 1972 .

[47]  Paul E. Mott,et al.  The characteristics of effective organizations , 1972 .

[48]  Jay W. Lorsch,et al.  Organizations and Their Members: A Contingency Approach , 1975 .

[49]  Jay W. Lorsch,et al.  Organizations and Their Members: A Contingency Approach , 1975 .

[50]  L. Argote.  Input uncertainty and organizational coordination in hospital emergency units. , 1982, Administrative science quarterly.

[51]  John W. Slocum,et al.  Technology, Structure, and Workgroup Effectiveness: A Test of a Contingency Model , 1984 .

[52]  John Rohrbaugh,et al.  A Spatial Model of Effectiveness Criteria: Towards a Competing Values Approach to Organizational Analysis , 1983 .

[53]  K. Weick.  The social psychology of organizing , 1969 .

[54]  Joan C. Woodward.  Industrial Organization: Theory and Practice , 1966 .

[55]  P. Lawrence,et al.  Organization and Environment: Managing Differentiation and Integration , 1967 .

[56]  Daniel J. Brass.  Structural Relationships, Job Characteristics, and Worker Satisfaction and Performance. , 1981 .

[57]  R E Miles,et al.  Organizational strategy, structure, and process. , 1978, Academy of management review. Academy of Management.