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For several years organization theorists have debated the magnitude of the impact of size and technology on dimensions of organization structure. Also, management theorists have shown the importance of structure on organization goal attainment. However, no consensus has been reached concerning the interrelationship among size, structure and technology. Apparently much of the disagreement among theorists is a result of mixing levels of analysis, inadequate specification of variables, use of inadequate or inappropriate research tools and lack of controls for potentially confounding variables. The purposes of this dissertation were: (a) to provide a better understanding of the complex interrelationships among size, technology and structure; (b) to use regression analysis in an effort to better depict the relationships among those variables; and (c) to attempt to bridge some of the findings of other researchers that disagree among themselves. The study used carefully selected variables that appear to be appropriate to the level of analysis (the organization) used, and careful selection of sample organizations in order to control for some potentially confounding variables. Other potentially confounding variables were measured and their effects on size, technology and structure controlled for. The central hypotheses of the study were: (a) that technology would cause structure to differ for small firms; and (b) that the difference in structure would disappear among large firms. The findings were mixed, with some of the structural dimensions being related to both size and technology and others to neither size nor technology. The structural dimensions of formalization, specialization and number of hierarchical levels appear to be functions of organizational size, with the effects of size moderated by technology. The structural dimensions of decentralization of authority and Chief Executive Officer's span of control do not appear to be related to either size or technology. Additionally, it appears that the differences in structure attributable to technology are greater for large firms than for small firms. This finding was contrary to the hypothesized relationship. An additional significant finding of this research was that it appears to be more appropriate to refer to the relationship among given dimensions of structure and other variables rather than structure as a monolithic concept. / Ph. D.

Collaboration across the organisational boundaries takes place for different reasons. One of them is to solve complex problems that cannot be dealt with by a single organisation. The area of vocational rehabilitation constitutes an example of inter-organisational collaboration motivated by a need for joint problem solving. Individuals are admitted to vocational rehabilitation with the aim of entering or re-entering the labour market. These individuals constitute a heterogeneous group with different kinds of problems, based on e.g. their social situation, long-term diseases and/or substance abuse. As a result, they are handled at more than one welfare state agency at the time, and the practitioners working at these agencies need to collaborate to find individual solutions for their clients. The expected positive effects of such collaboration are long-term planning, increased quality of the casee management, and reductions of invested time and money. In this thesis, an interpretive case study of inter-organisational teamwork within the vocational rehabilitation is presented. The aim of the study was to investigate how the collaboration could be supported by information technology. During a time period of two years, practitioners from three welfare state agencies took part in the research project, The activities included observations of the teamwork, individual interviews with the practitioners and design of information technology that should support the teamwork. An essential part of the design activities was the user representatives' direct participation in the design group, composed by practitioners and researchers. To stimulate the participation, methods with its origin in the participatory design approach were used. The design requirements that were defined included support for the team's communication and joint documentation of cases, and also information sharing about previous, present and future rehabilitation activities. The teamwork was characterised by an open, positive atmosphere where the practitioners were trying to find solutions for the clients within the frames of the current rules and regulations, limited by the resources allocated for vocational rehabilitation activities. However, the environment was also found to be dynamic with changing, and in some cases conflicting, enterprise objectives, Furthermore, the enterprise objectives were not broken down into tangible objectives on the operational level. The physical team meetings and the meetings with the clients constituted essential parts of the work practices and it is concluded that these meetings should not be substituted by technology. The case management could, however, be supported by a flexible tool that meets the users' needs of freedom of action.

presented by Chow Sung Ming. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-160). / Abstract / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1. --- Objective / Chapter 2. --- Empirical Problems / Chapter 3. --- Theoretical Concern / Chapter 4. --- Data Collection / Chapter II. --- Players of the Game: Political Organizations and Political Leaders in Hong Kong --- p.15 / Chapter 1. --- Historical Development of Liberal Political Organizations: a Retrospect / Chapter 2. --- Amorphous Mass and Amateur Politicians: Socio-cultural Factor / Chapter III. --- Rules of the Game: Political Change in Late Transitional Hong Kong --- p.48 / Chapter 1. --- Possibilities and Constraints under the Basic Law: Politico- institutional Factor / Chapter 2. --- Institutional Locations and Opportunity Structures: a Prospect / Chapter IV. --- Inter-party Relationships: Strategic Choices of Adaptative Elites --- p.80 / Chapter 1. --- Prologue / Chapter 2. --- External Threats and Opportunities / Chapter 3. --- Interorganizational Linkages / Chapter 4. --- Problems of Mobilization / Chapter V. --- Conclusion --- p.132 / Footnotes --- p.139 / Appendix --- p.150 / Chapter 1. --- Conceptual Scheme / Chapter 2. --- list of Interviewees / Chapter 3. --- Sample Questionnaire / Chapter 4. --- Abbreviations / Bibliography --- p.155

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-119). Also available via the Internet.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

An interaction dynamics perspective conceives the cooperation process as an action chain consisting of the actions and reactions between cooperating partners when they respond to disruptive events. The action chain is characterized by three constructs: action acquiescence, action simplicity, and action reciprocity. I further develop an action pattern model that clarifies the relationships among partner relation, governance structure, action pattern, and cooperation performance in a partnership. / Extant literature in strategic alliance has inconsistent conclusions on why some cases of cooperation succeed but some fail. I argue that the interaction process in cooperation may be the missing piece in the puzzle. Drawing on an interaction dynamics perspective, this dissertation examines what factors affect the interaction process and how variations of the interaction process affect cooperation performance. / In the second study, a questionnaire survey was conducted and a sample of 263 construction projects was obtained. The regression analysis indicated that partner relation affected action pattern, and this effect was moderated by governance structure. Contrary to conventional belief that action pattern mediates the effect of partner relation on cooperation performance, I found that action pattern and partner relation affected cooperation performance independently. / The action pattern model was empirically tested in the dyadic partnership between architects and contractors in two related studies. In the first study, qualitative data from 12 construction partnerships were collected through semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and documents between architects and contractors. Overall, the case studies provided some "thick descriptions" of the action repertoire in cooperation. Results showed that cooperating partners adopted particular actions as deliberate strategic signaling to each other and as a means of reward/punishment. Moreover, actions tended to stabilize after repeated interaction cycles as cooperating partners categorized each other into specific portraits. / The interaction dynamics approach provides a new and promising perspective to study inter-firm cooperation. This dissertation suggests that how process unfolds in cooperation is crucial for cooperation success and carefully "matched" alliance may fail without appropriate management of the interaction process. / Lui Siu-yun Steven. / "August 2000." / Adviser: Ngo Hang-Yue. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 61-08, Section: A, page: 3253. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-156). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest dissertations and theses, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

A major question in the study of complex organizations is whether it is possible to develop a useful taxonomy which identifies the crucial aspects of organizations and classifies them in a significant manner. One group of typologies of complex organizations focuses on the relationship between the organization and its environment. The purpose of this thesis is to test the validity of three existing typologies of complex organizations, each of which focuses on one aspect of the relationship between organizations and their environment. The major innovation in this research is the use of block modeling, a form of network methodology, to analyze the multiplex relationships and to establish categories of organizations in six towns in Minnesota. This categorical scheme is based on groupings of organizations that share 2 similar patterns of relationships in a community network. The first part of this thesis is an attempt to discover if the three typologies being tested, which were originally developed from data on internal organizational characteristics, are relevant categorical "tools" for distinguishing among "classes" of organizations that were grouped based on the relational data from network analysis of the six Minnesota towns. Three hypotheses are presented, each associated with a different typology to be tested: Hypothesis I - based on inputs (Resource Dependence), Hypothesis II - based on throughputs (Katz and Kahn), and Hypothesis III - based on outputs (Parsonian). Each of these hypotheses predict specific inter-organizational relationships that should be present in the empirical data. A typology is considered relevant for use in this study, if the inter-organizational relationship, predicted by the corresponding hypothesis, is found to be present in the empirical data. All three typologies examined are found to be relevant categorical tools for the network data employed in this study.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Texas at Arlington, 2008.