An examination of the relationships among the variables: Organizational size, complexity, and the administrative component of Ontario school boards.
Creators: name: Trask, Maxwell.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1978
Subjects: subject: Education, Administration.

description: The problem was to determine the relationships among the variables, organizational size, organizational complexity and administrative components of school boards. The problem presented two questions: First, were mean administrative ratios of small-sized school boards larger than that of either average or large-sized school boards? Secondly, are the differences between mean administrative ratios of small-sized, low complexity and large-sized low complexity school boards different than that of small-sized, high complexity and large-sized, high complexity school boards? The Aston conceptualization of organizational structure and Blau's formal theory of differentiation in organizations provided the analytical and theoretical frameworks in which to examine the questions pertaining to the variances of economies of scale in the school board administrative units. The specific hypotheses derived from the theoretical framework and stated in the direction consistent with the theory were as follows: (1) The mean administrative ratios of small sized school boards are larger than that of either average or large sized school boards. (2) The differences between mean administrative ratios of small sized, low complexity and large sized, low complexity school boards are different than that between small sized, high complexity and large sized, high complexity school boards. The sample of school boards was chosen from the Province of Ontario. The measuring instrument was the School Board Questionnaire developed for use in this study. The data were analyzed by the Full Rank Univariate Linear Model which provided critical F-values for 3x1 and 3x3 analysis of variance testing. The following conclusions were drawn from the results: (1) The mean administrative ratios of small sized school boards are significantly larger than that of either average or large sized school boards. (2) The difference between mean administrative ratios of small size, low complexity and large sized, low complexity school boards are significantly different than that of small sized, high complexity and large sized, high complexity school boards. Following from these two main findings, it was concluded that various administrative components reflect different economies of scale, and that the relationship between size and administrative ratios is curvilinear. Suggestions for further research included: (1) Replicative studies to determine whether or not such variables as expertise and the existence of two-way channels of communication affect administrative economies of scale in organizational structures. (2) Replicative studies using different samples from other types of organizations to determine if the findings of this study apply beyond the scope of this study. (3) An investigation should be conducted to determine the exact nature of the negative feedback associated with more differentiated organizations that is theorized to be the reason for the reduced productivity of the organizational size variable.