Effects of Dependence and Tasks on Unit Design and Efficiency

In: Organization studies: an international multidisciplinary journal devoted to the study of organizations, organizing, and the organized in and between societies, Volume 11, Issue 4, p. 503-529

Abstract

This paper explores the ramifications of external dependence for work-unit design and efficiency. Previous studies at the work-unit level have been largely concerned with task elements alone as the most important contingency for design. Two rival formulations of a dependence-contingent model are derived and contrasted with the more familiar task-contingent propositions. Tests using data from 230 employment security agency units show that, if task is controlled, both horizontal and vertical dependence are important predictors of more organic work-unit designs. In addition, failure to relate design to horizontal dependence is related to lower efficiency.