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One of the most promising areas for future development lies in the synthesis of existing information from similar fields of endeavor. Too little attention has been paid by scholars with certain specialities to the incorporation of information from other areas. This paper is offered as an attempt at synthesis between microeconomic production theory and organization theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relations between the social environment provided by the organization and the performance of medical researchers are reported in this article. The study was conducted in a large governmental organization devoted to medical research. Results indicate that scientists tend to perform more acceptably when they are closely associated with colleagues having a variety of values, experiences, and disciplines and when supervisors provide frequent stimulation combined with autonomy of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article gives information on research notes on dysfunctional consequences of performance measurements. The article states that research suggests that quantitative measures of performance are useful tools but are largely used in the wrong context or are relied upon too heavily. The article reviews current knowledge of dysfunctional consequences that result from using a system of performance measurements, and states that further research is necessary in the field of motivational and behavioral consequences of performance measurements.

This study was designed to determine the effect that goals have on performance and the effect that performance has on reported levels of satisfaction in a competitively structured task. The results of this study give strong evidence to Locke's theory (Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1969, 4, 566-574) that the most immediate, direct motivational determinant of task performance is the subject's goal, and to Ilgen and Hamstra's theory (Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1972, 7, 359-370) that satisfaction with one's performance is a function of the difference between actual performance and performance goals, and also a function of the difference between actual performance and performance of a reference person. Satisfaction and performance were found to be strongly related only up to the point where a person exceeds his goal or his reference person's outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology has been depicted, in recent years, as an important causal variable in some theoretical formulations of organizational structure and behavior. Studies conducted to investigate the relationships between technology and other organizational variables have not provided, thus far, a conclusive picture of the role of technology in a parsimonious model of organizational behavior. Much of the difficulty in studying technology can be traced to the problem of obtaining a satisfactory operational definition of technology. A related problem is that of establishing the appropriate unit of analysis within which to study technology variance. An operational definition of technology is developed and applied in this study, building from a typology of technologies proposed by J. D. Thompson. Analysis was conducted on 297 organization units (departments, devisions) from within a diverse sample of 17 business and industrial firms. The organization units were classified among three varieties of technology, specified as long-linked, mediating and intensive technology respectively (following the J. D. Thompson typology). The organization units were also described in terms of several dimensions of organizational behavior developed in earlier research. Direct and indirect relationships involving technology, 14 dimensions of organizational behavior, and organization unit effectiveness, were investigated in several analyses. The findings from these analyses support the hypothesis that the criteria of effectiveness of an organization unit vary with the nature of the technology of the unit. The nature of the intra-technology models of organizational effectiveness are generally supportive of the variation expected from the Thompson theoretical analysis. No direct technology-organizational effectiveness relationship was observed, a finding which is in keeping with the expectations of the researchers. The models of organizational effectiveness observed within each of the three technology categories are described and the implications of their differences and similarities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertically-integrated companies often provide unusual opportunities for conflicts among organizational performance measures, especially as the vertical interdependency of product flow interacts with organisational separation of profit objectives. The resulting problems and their potential resolution by policy reformulation are discussed in this paper for the case of a large manufacturer-retailer of perishable food products. The methods of Industrial Dynamics constitute the systems analysis approach employed in the described study. Emphasis is placed upon the closedloop feedback systems that interrelate the company's divisions and that provide the conceptual basis for development of a company simulation model. Even without computer testing of the simulation model, analysis of the feedback systems structure can be used in this case to highlight the general conflict between the company's sales and profit objectives. Extensive computer simulation of the company model is utilized to test a variety of areas of possible policy change, including among others transfer pricing, market stimulation, budgeting, and performance measurement. A consistent finding from the simulations was that several sources of intensified organisational pressure (including negotiated transfer prices and ambitious budgets) contributed importantly to company growth. Although the model formulation and simulation results were accepted as valid by company managers, little implementation of the recommended policy changes has yet occurred. Instead the principal benefits in the abaft run are seen as largely educational in nature, with new managerial perspectives the key outcome. This result appears reasonable and possibly necessary if management is to be educated effectively for later acceptance of policy change recommendations based on sophisticated management science approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]