IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rje/bellje/v9y1978ispringp106-122.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Organizational Structure and Economic Performance: A Test of the Multidivisional Hypothesis

Author

Listed:
  • Henry Ogden Armour
  • David J. Teece

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the proposition that the organization and operation of the large enterprise along "M-form" multidivisional lines favors goal pursuit and least-cost behavior more nearly associated with the neoclassical profit maximization hypothesis than a number of alternative organizational forms. Using a sample of petroleum firms during the period 1955-1973, a positive relationship between M-form structure and profitability is observed during the period in which the M-form innovation was being diffused. This relationship is no longer observed once an organizational form equilibrium is achieved. The results provide support for the "Markets and Hierarchies" paradigm, but additional studies are needed to affirm the generality of the finding.

Suggested Citation

  • Henry Ogden Armour & David J. Teece, 1978. "Organizational Structure and Economic Performance: A Test of the Multidivisional Hypothesis," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(1), pages 106-122, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:rje:bellje:v:9:y:1978:i:spring:p:106-122
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0361-915X%28197821%299%3A1%3C106%3AOSAEPA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K&origin=repec
    File Function: full text
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to JSTOR subscribers. See http://www.jstor.org for details.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rje:bellje:v:9:y:1978:i:spring:p:106-122. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.rje.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.