The study was an investigation into the workflow structure of junior and senior secondary schools. It constituted an attempt to develop a conceptual framework for identifying dimensions of school workflow structure and possible determinants thereof. The study incorporated seven stages: (1) development of a theoretical model of possible determinants of school workflow structure, (2) adaptation and refinement of an existing instrument to measure school workflow structure in junior and senior secondary schools, (3) use of the instrument to identify underlying dimensions of school workflow structure, analysis of the relationships between variables of organizational context and school workflow structure, (5) examination of a particular orientation of professional staff towards students, namely, the degree to which staff are concerned with the control of pupil behavior, (6) analysis of the control orientation, or Pupil Control Ideology (PCI), of professional staff with respect to school type, size, and school district affiliation and, (7) clarification of the relationship between pupil control ideology and school workflow structure. School workflow structure was measured by Kelsey's Diversification of workflow instrument. This instrument is based on the notion of diversification of workflow structure in schools and is an adaptation of Perrow's concept of technological routinization. Two separate major dimensions, 'Diversification of Control' and 'Diversification of Equipment', were found to underlie workflow structure. School districts and school types (junior or senior secondary) differed significantly on school scores on both dimensions. School types were significantly different in size but when size was controlled for type, size was not associated with scores on either dimension. PCI scores differed significantly across school districts in only two of eighteen pair wise comparisons. Junior secondary schools and senior secondary schools were, however, significantly different with respect to their mean PCI scores. Size of school, controlled for type, was not significantly associated with Pupil Control Ideology scores. School mean PCI scores and Diversification of Control scores showed a significant positive association in junior secondary schools. The attempt to explain this finding and the evident lack of relationship in senior schools led to the discovery that the amount of within-school variance on the PCI scores may be a mediating variable between school PCI score and Diversification of Control. When PCI variance is taken into account, prediction of the probable extent of diversification of control is possible for low variance schools but not for high variance schools. PCI scores were also significantly inversely related to Diversification of Equipment in junior secondary schools. The findings were incorporated into a revised model of possible determinants of school workflow structure. The revised model carries implications of a theoretical, methodological, and practical nature. The theoretical implications are found in the clarification of the nature of the relationships among dimensions of school workflow structure, variables of organizational context, and a psycho-sociological variable. Methodologically, the results indicate that, while it is possible to take an instrument such as Kelsey's, which was designed for comparative research, and apply it to a geographically restricted study, it is wise in such cases to consider using the unrefined form of the instrument in order to test not only the applicability of the instrument but also its initial conceptualization. Finally, the relationship of pupil control ideology to school workflow structure has implications for school principals and for the recruitment and placement of professional staff. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

Thesis. 1975. B.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / Bibliography: leaves 82-83. / B.S.

No description available.

Firms compete based on their relative ability to renew as much as they do on their ability to extract profits from product-markets. Drawing from literature and case studies the research explores how renewal is affected in organisations. The main dynamics of the renewal process, and the issues and skills involved in its management, therefore, receive detailed treatment. Relevant data is gathered from a variety of primary and secondary sources. The research begins with an effort to understand the forces that trigger and processes that act to sustain decline in organisations. These findings are contrasted with a number of case studies that serve the identification of underlying characteristics and dynamics common to successful organizations. This comparison serves to uncover principles of successful organisation and that hold the key to renewal and sustained growth. The main objective of this research is to increase the understanding and awareness of the processes, problems and successful means of organisational renewal. Underlying is the concern to develop more formalised models and translate these findings into a useful conceptual framework as a basis and stimulus for further research and as a helpful guideline for management practitioners to handle successfully the problems of entropy and organisational ossification of their business.

This study is an initial and exploratory venture toward examining organizational change as it applies to the field of social welfare in Greater Vancouver. Specifically the formulation for documenting change as outlined in the proposal of the Area Development Project of the Greater Vancouver Area was used in three separate case studies. The study has concerned itself with documenting the process of organizational change (both planned and unplanned), rather than analyzing the effect organizational change has had upon services and/or agencies. The first case study deals with three social actions initiated in 1964 by the Society of Women Only, a group of deserted women in the Vancouver Area. In each action process the organization was attempting to create change in governmental systems of a mutual support and social control nature. The change processes were documented from their inception but not to their conclusions. The structured organizational change documented in the second case study occurred in 1961. At that time two divisions of the Social Planning Section of the Community Chest and Councils of Greater Vancouver, the Groupwork and Recreation Division and the Family and Child Welfare Division were combined. The combined divisions became the Welfare and Recreation Council. The whole change process was documented from its inception in 1960 until the change was assessed by a special committee in January - March 1965. The third case study considers the documentation of organizational change being attempted in a geographic area known as Sunrise Park in the city of Vancouver. The purpose of this change process has been to formulate plans for action by the health, recreation, education and welfare agencies towards solving problems that exist or may exist as a result of the introduction of a large public housing project into the area. The case study deals with change process in its initial stages as the organizational change in the period under study was only just beginning. Each writer has concluded his case study by making a number of critical observations concerning the utility of the selected model for the development of both theory and practice in the field of community organization. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Myers, Robert James; Belknap, John Victor / Graduate

Application after application of the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ) has revealed that the majority of urban core school climates seemed to be "closed" rather than "open". Efforts on the part of school administrators to alter the "closed", "unhealthy" organizational climates in their systems to more "open", "healthy" climates are premature because so little is actually known about how to change a climate. Since "closed" climate conditions seem to be almost synonomous with "large" school size, the purpose of this study has been to contribute some small measure of knowledge as to how to change a school climate by determining the relationship between organizational climate measured by the eight OCDQ subtests—Disengagement, Hindrance, Esprit, Intimacy, Aloofness, Production Emphasis, Thrust, Consideration—and four objective organizational size characteristics—School Area, Staff Members, Enrolment, and Human Density. The impact of these size variables is examined based on data obtained through a field study involving 20 schools and 116 teachers in the Vancouver, British Columbia school system. The data were subjected to factor analytic techniques. The results subsequently suggested that a five-factor pattern of climate dimensions—Principal as Leader, Teacher "qua" Teacher Group Perception, Non-Classroom Teacher Satisfaction, Working Conditions, Hindrance V—was as suitable as an eight-factor pattern. Consequently, the study design was expanded to accomodate the unanticipated results. In terms of its purpose, the study's findings can be briefly summarized as follows: 1) Reduction of Enrolment may prove useful in providing conditions related to the type of leadership behaviour—as described by the Principal as Leader dimension of school organizational climate—normally associated with a more "open", "healthy" climate. 2) Reduction of Staff Members may influence the Principal as Leader dimension of school organizational climate in much the same manner just described for Enrolment. Further investigation of this relationship could well reveal that the reduction of Staff Members, would increase Esprit for the remainder. A smaller staff with higher Esprit will, tend more toward the "open", "healthy" climate; 3) There is a hint in the findings that the association between Density and Principal as Leader and Area's association with both Teacher "qua" Teacher Group Perception and Hindrance (V) is strong enough to justify further research; 4) There Is little Indication that manipulation of any of the four size variables will influence either, the Non-Classroom Teacher Satisfaction or the Working Conditions dimension of a school's organizational climate. Three basic implications are drawn from the findings and related empirical evidence provided by the literature: 1) Smaller schools are imperative if the principal's leadership is not to be smothered by too many pupils and teachers, 2) School size in terms of its Area and its Density, i.e., the number of square feet available to its occupants, may not have as much impact on the climate dimensions as a reduction in Enrolment and Staff Members, but nevertheless, sufficient evidence does exist to. imply that altering Area and Density might prove useful in providing conditions similar to those which are normally associated with an "open" climate, 3) Even though considerably more research is required with respect to gaining much more knowledge concerning the relationship between school size and school climate, the difficulties encountered by this study and several others reported in it, imply that the OCDQ itself should be subjected to further refinement before continuing to subject it to such extensive use. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

No description available.

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