This study was designed to examine the applicability and usefulness of contingency theory within the Saudi setting. According to this theory, to understand the structure and function of public bureaucracy, one must understand the external environment which influences that bureaucracy through constant daily interaction with it. To achieve this goal, cross-organizational analysis was conducted among four governmental organizations serving four district subenvironments (districts). The analysis involved four environmental forces employed as independent variables: family status, religious piety, education, and preferred conflict avoidance style. Seven organizational characteristics represented the dependent variables: power structure, formal communication, informal communication, direct supervision, formalization and standardization, the effectiveness of the general coordination mechanism, and the quality of personal treatment received by the employees from the public. The data were collected by questionnaire from two sources in each district: 125 public employees of public organizations serving the four districts, and 347 clients of those governmental organizations. / The study demonstrated that there were limitations on the applicability and usefulness of the contingency theory because none of the environmental forces utilized by the study had significant impact on the following formal structural characteristics: power structure, formal communication, direct supervision and formalization and standardization. On the other hand, the theory was useful in defining the organizational characteristics influenced by the impact of the overall environment and the environmental forces which generated such impact. The organizational characteristics were informal communication, effectiveness of the general coordination mechanism, and the quality of personal treatment of employees by the public. The independent variable of family status was strongly correlated positively with the dependent variable of dependence on informal communication and the quality of personal treatment received by employees from the public. Religious piety was positively correlated with the effectiveness of the general coordination mechanism. On the other hand, education was found to be negatively correlated with effectiveness of the general coordination mechanism. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, Section: A, page: 1081. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75527 |
| Contributors | AL-JILANI, AHMED ABBAS., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 227 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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