The Contingency Theory of Organizations

Author/creator Donaldson, Lex Author
Format Electronic
Publication InfoThousand Oaks : SAGE Publications, Incorporated
Description344 p. ill 09.000 x 06.000 in.
Supplemental ContentFull text available from Ebook Central - Academic Complete
Subjects

SeriesFoundations for Organizational Science Ser.
Summary Annotation Written by one of the foremost scholars in the field, this volume presents a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the theories, evidence and methodological issues of contingency theory - one of the major theoretical lenses used to view organizations. It includes both an appreciation of the coherency of contingency theory overall and a frank recognition of some of the deficiencies in contingency theory research. The coherent underlying model provides the platform from which to make good some of the deficiencies through a series of improvements in theory and method that chart the course for future research. The opening chapter presents a theoretical integration to provide the reader with an overview that makes sense of what is a large literature. It also argues that there is an underlying core paradigm that renders contingency theory coherent. The next chapters lay out the foundations of contingency theory by reviewing the pioneering contributors to theory and empirical research. This is followed by an examination of the causal models in the received bureaucracy research literature and an attempt to put them on a more truly contingency theory base. Chapters 7 and 8 examine in detail the concept of fit and its relationship with performance, including the empirical research studies. Chapter 9 presents possible new developments for contingency theory, to make it more coherent and, hopefully, valid. These new developments include the concepts of disequilibrium, quasi-fit and hetero-performance. All three are novel concepts that substantially revise and improve contingency theory. The final chapter offers suggestions on how to operationalize the ideas in this book in terms of hypotheses for future empirical research.
Access restrictionAvailable only to authorized users.
Technical detailsMode of access: World Wide Web
Genre/formElectronic books.
LCCN 00010586
ISBN9780761915744
ISBN0761915745 (Trade Paper) On Demand
Standard identifier# 9780761915744
Stock number82734 00023123

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