ORGANIZATION SIZE
ASTON STUDY
• Size is the major determinant of structure
• Forty-six organizations
• Increased size is associated with greater
specialization and formalization
• “An increased scale of operation increases
the frequency of recurrent events and the
repetition of decisions,” which makes
standardization preferable.
CHILD & MANSFIELD
• Organization size is related positively to
specialization
• Organization size is related positively to
formalization
• Organization size is related positively to
vertical span
• Organization size is related negatively to
centralization
CHILD & MANSFIELD,
CONT’D
• “Larger organizations are more specialized,
have more rules, more documentation, more
extended hierarchies, and a greater
decentralization of decision-making further
down such hierarchies.”
• “…the impact of size on these dimensions
expanded at a decreasing rate as size
increased.”
MEYER STUDY
• Current documentation of the relationship
between size and structure does not imply
causation.
• Longitudinal study of 194 city, county, and
state departments of finance over a five year
period.
• “one cannot underestimate the impact of
size on other characteristics of organizations
MEYER, CONT’D
• Relationship is uni-directional (size caused
structure, but not reverse)
• The impact of other variables disappeared
when size was controlled
CHRIS ARGYRIS
• Blau study sample unique – civil service,
budget limitations, distinct geographical
boundaries, predetermined staff sizes, and
influenced primarily by regulations
• Managerial discretion in bureaus must
follow traditional management theories
regarding task specialization, unity of
command, span of control, and so forth
MAYHEW & ASSOCIATES
• Computer simulation of differentiation
possible for each level of organization
• Concluded Blau’s findings of a relationship
between size and complexity were a
mathematical certainty when equal
probabilities were assigned to all possible
structural combinations
ALDRICH STUDY
• Reanalyzed Aston group data
• Proposed alternate & equally plausible
interpretations
• r.e.-technology causes structure, size is the
result
ASTON REPLICATION
• Replication by some Aston group members
with 14 of original sample
• Partial longitudinal study
• Size generally decreased over time
• Structure measure increased – counter to
original findings
HALL & ASSOCIATES
• Studied 75 highly diverse organizations
• Size 6-9000+ employees
• Business, governmental, religious,
educational, and penal organizations
• Result mixed – “neither complexity nor
formalization can be implied from
organizational size.”
HALL, CONT’D
• Sided with Aldrich – “structure causes size”
• Findings were very inconsistent, do not
demonstrate conclusions.
GEERAERTS STUDY
• 142 small & medium-sized businesses
• Size-structure relationship true for professionallymanaged organization, not for owner-managed
firms
• Increases in size were associated with more
horizontal differentiation, more formalization, and
more delegation of decision-making only in firms
controlled by professional managers
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
• Size appears to impact complexity at a
decreasing rate
• Size and formalization appear positively
correlated
• Increases in size lead to decentralization,
particularly in professionally-managed
organizations
HOW BIG IS BIG?
• Any answer is only an approximation
• Large organizations tend to have 2000 or more
employees
• When an organization has 2000 employees,
additions in size have minimal impact on structure
• A change in size will have its greatest impact on
structure when the organization is small
PARKINSON’S LAW
• Work expands so as to fill the time available
for its completion
• There need be little or no relationship
between the work to be done and the size of
the staff to which it may be assigned
ADMINISTRATIVE
COMPONENT
• There is evidence for a positive relationship
between size and the size of the
administrative component
• There is evidence for a negative relationship
between size and the size of the
administrative component
MORE ADMINISTRATIVE
COMPONENT
• Most likely, a curvilinear relationship
between size and the size of the
administrative component.
• Increasingly large in small to medium
organizations, and decreasingly large in
large to very large organizations.
ADMINISTRATIVE
COMPONENT CURVE
ADMINISTRATIVE
COMPONENT, CONT’D
• There is a limit at which, even in large
organizations, there will be a need for
increasing administrative components.
• Varies greatly by industry or type of
organization.
SIZE AND SATISFACTION
ORGANIZATION SIZE AND
DESIGN
Smaller Organizations:
Less job specialization
Less standardization
More centralization
Larger Organizations:
More job specialization
More standardization
More centralization
INDUSTRY-SIZE MODEL
INDUSTRY
TECHNOLOGY
SIZE
ORGANIZATIONAL
STRUCTURE