The Economics of Organizational Design - Theoretical Insights and Empirical Evidence

Cover

Contents

List of Figures and Boxes

List of Tables

List of Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction: A New View of Organizational Design

I.1 Preliminary issues in the study of the organization

I.1.1 The concept of organization

I.1.2 Unit of analysis

I.2 An overview of a new approach to the study of organization

I.2.1 The roots of the new approach

I.2.2 A new approach to the study of organizational design

I.3 The substance of the economics of organizational design

I.3.1 Transaction cost economics

I.3.2 The information processing stream

I.3.3 The decentralization of incentive stream

I.3.4 On the dynamics of organizational design

1 A New Quantitative Empirical Methodology for the Analysis of Organizational Design and Dynamics

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Measures of organizational design

1.2.1 Structural organizational variables: configuration and centralization

1.2.2 Organizational practices

1.3 International evidence on organizational design and its dynamics

1.3.1 Evidence on structural organizational variables

1.3.2 Evidence on structural organizational variables based on the new empirical methodology

1.3.3 Evidence on the use of organizational practices

1.4 Concluding remarks

2 The Determinants of the Allocation of Decision Authority

2.1. Introduction

2.2 A conceptual framework of the determinants of the allocation of decision authority

2.2.1 The benefits and costs of delegation of decision authority

2.2.2 The determinants of the delegation of decision authority

2.3 Empirical evidence on the determinants of the allocation of decision authority

2.3.1 The work of the Aston group

2.3.2 More on the role of size and technology

2.3.3 Country-specific effects

2.3.4 New directions in the empirical literature on the determinants of decentralization

2.3.5 A synthesis

2.4 Evidence on the determinants of the allocation of decision authority based on the new empirical methodology

2.4.1 The data

2.4.2 The econometric model

2.4.3 Econometric results

2.4.4 A synthesis

2.5 Concluding remarks

Appendix

2.A.1 Definition and expected effects of the explanatory variables, and results of the econometric estimates

3 The Determinants of the Corporate Hierarchy

3.1 Introduction

3.2 A conceptual framework of the determinants of organizational depth

3.3 Empirical evidence on the determinants of organizational depth

3.3.1 Size

3.3.2 Technological variables

3.3.3 Other firm-specific and industry-specific effects

3.4 Evidence on the determinants of organizational depth based on the new empirical methodology

3.4.1 Specification of the econometric model

3.4.2 Explanatory variables

3.4.3 Econometric results

3.4.4 A synthesis

3.5 Concluding remarks

Appendix

3.A.1 Definition and expected effects of the explanatory variables, and results of the econometric estimates

4 Evidence on the Determinants of Organizational Dynamics

4.1 Introduction

4.2 A conceptual framework of the determinants of organizational dynamics

4.2.1 A general framework of organizational dynamics

4.2.2 Testable predictions on the determinants of changes in the organizational depth

4.3 Empirical evidence on the determinants of the adoption of organizational practices

4.3.1 Work in the steel industry

4.3.2 Work related to other industries

4.3.3 Cross-industry evidence

4.4 Empirical evidence on the determinants of changes in structural organizational variables

4.4.1 Empirical evidence on the determinants of the adoption of organizational forms

4.4.2 Empirical evidence on the determinants of the "flattening" of the corporate hierarchy

4.4.3 Evidence on the determinants of organizational dynamics based on the new empirical methodology

4.5 Concluding remarks

Appendix

4.A.1 Methodological issues

4.A.2 Definition and expected effects of the explanatory variables, and results of the econometric estimates

5 The Effects of Organizational Design on Firm Performance

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Methodological issues

5.2.1 Measurement of performance

5.2.2 Unit of analysis

5.2.3 Characteristics of data sets

5.2.4 Econometric methodology

5.3 Effects of organizational design on productivity

5.3.1 Single-industry studies

5.3.2 Cross-industry evidence

5.4 Effects of organizational design on firm profitability

5.4.1 Previous empirical evidence

5.4.2 Evidence based on the new empirical methodology

5.5 More on the complementarity between technological and organizational innovations

5.6 Concluding remarks

Conclusions

Appendix: Data Set and Empirical Methodology

Notes

References

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Z