Organizational Structure, Environment and Performance: The Role of Strategic Choice

TLDR

The paper critiques statistical models that explain organizational structure as a product of economic constraints imposed by contextual variables. It proposes a theoretical shift toward recognizing political action as central to strategic choice, illustrated in the main body. The authors argue that current models overlook the political process by which power holders determine strategic actions, thereby misrepresenting organizational reality.

Abstract

This paper critically examines available theoretical models which have been derived from statistically established patterns of association between contextual and organizational variables. These models offer an interpretation of organizational structure as a product of primarily economic constraints which contextual variables are assumed to impose. It is argued that available models in fact attempt to explain organization at one remove by ignoring the essentially political process, whereby power-holders within organizations decide upon courses of strategic action. This `strategic choice' typically includes not only the establishment of structural forms but also the manipulation of environmental features and the choice of relevant performance standards. A theoretical re-orientation of this kind away from functional imperatives and towards a recognition of political action is developed and illustrated in the main body of the paper.