Task, Firm Size, and Organizational Structure in Management Consulting
The management consulting industry has grown into a sizeable economic sector and employment market. Globally operating consulting firms, with thousands of consultants, have emerged. They coexist alongside many small consultancies and single practitioners.
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WIRTSCHAFTSWISSENSCHAFT Forschung Schriftenreihe der EUROPEAN BUSINESS SCHOOL International University SchloB Reichartshausen Herausgegeben von Univ.-Prof. Dr. Utz Schaffer
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Die EUROPEAN BUSINESS SCHOOL (ebs) - gegrundet im Jahr 1971 - ist Deutschlands alteste private Wissenschaftliche Hochschule fiir Betriebswirtschaftslehre im Universitatsrang. Dieser Vorreiterrolle fiihJen sich ihre Professoren und Doktoranden in Forschung und Lehre verpfliciitet. IVIit der Schriftenreihe prasentiert die EUROPEAN BUSINESS SCHOOL (ebs) ausgewahlte Ergebnisse ihrer betriebs- und voll -m
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Size (number of employees) Aston group
Figure 8:
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3,000
Size (number of employees) Child
Blau & Schoenherr
Relationships between size and the organizational constructs of vertical span and functional specialization" according to the Aston group (Pugh et al., 1969b), Child (1973b), and Blau & Schoenherr (1971), (graphics based on Astley, 1985: 209; Child, 1973b: 172-173)
Figure 8 visualizes some of the relationships identified by the Aston group (Pugh et al., 1969b), Child (1973b), and Blau & Schoenherr (1971). The researchers findings are summarized in Table 3.
^^ Functional specialization is an aspect of overall specialization and describes the degree to which work is divided between specific functions or divisions of an organization (Child, 1972a: 164; Pugh et al., 1968: 73).
2 Theory
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Research studies
Contingency factor
The Aston group
Size
Four clusters of organizational structure: 'structuring of activities' including standardization, documentation, and specialization, 'concentration of authority' including centralization, 'line control of work flow', and 'relative size of supportive component'
Size was positively associated with bureaucratic structure being high in 'structuring of activities', i.e., high in standardization, documentation, and specialization
Size
Bureaucratic structure with high standardization, documentation, specialization, and low in centralization vs. simple structure being high in centralization but low in the other constructs
Size was a contingency of organizational structure at decreasing rates; 'structuring of activities' was negatively associated with centralization as control could be exercised through a bureaucratic structure or centralization; more bureaucratic structures associated with higher performance in large organizations
Size
Structural differentiation (vertical span, number and size of organizational units, span of control, number of job titles, etc.); bureaucratic vs. simple structure
Size was a determinant of organizational structure; large organizations were more bureaucratic, i.e., had higher specialization, formalization, and structural differentiation but lower centralization; relationships between size and organizational constructs had declining rates with respect to size
(Inksonetal., 1970; Pugh & Hickson, 1976; Pughetal., 1969a; Pughetal., 1963; Pugh etal., 1968; 1969b
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