Blau's Theory of Structural Differentiation Revisited: A Theory of Structural Change or Scale?
- 1 June 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Academy of Management in The Academy of Management Journal
- Vol. 29 (2) , 203-229
- https://doi.org/10.5465/256186
Abstract
The major objective of this study was to determine if Blau's (1970) theory of structural differentiation better captures differences in scale between organizations or structural changes within organizations. Data gathered on 134 Ph.D.-granting universities over nine years permitted us to compare results of within-organizations tests of Blau's theory with those from both cross-sectional and longitudinal between-organization tests. The findings suggest that the theory's power lies in explaining structural differences between organizations rather than in explaining structural change.Keywords
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