Local management of schools as an organizational form: theory and application

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Abstract
This paper sets out to understand local management of schools (LMS) in terms of the theory of organizational form. It is argued that the 1988 Education Reform Act was designed to change the LEA from a unitary form of organizational strucure to a multidivisional (M‐form), though the regulatory role of the LEA required in an M‐form organization was left underdeveloped. Without a quality assurance function for a regulatory body decentralized management structures approximate more closely to a holding company or H‐form organization. This interpretation of LMS is then applied to a case‐study LEA. The theory of organizational form provides an analytical framework for understanding the restructuring the education sector is undergoing, while the case study yields data for assessing the applicability to current organizational changes in education of the multidivisional form model and its claimed efficiency advantages. The M‐form model is offered as a resolution of the apparent paradox in the Education Reform Act between the centralization of the curriculum and the decentralization of management responsibilities. It is also argued that the M‐form model for the LEA is more likely than a holding company structure to promote higher educational standards because of its stronger element of quality assurance. However, subsequent government policy changes have prevented LEAs developing as M‐form organizations and are set to fragment and centralize LEAs’ previous strategic functions.