IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ausman/v15y1990i1p151-175.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Formalisation and Organisational Effectiveness in Hospitals

Author

Listed:
  • Robert W. Hetherington

    (Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, U.S.A.)

Abstract

This study tests four propositions concerning the relationship between formalisation and organisational performance. The propositions are based on Hage's axiomatic theory, wherein formalisation is inversely associated with worker satisfaction and organisational adaptation, and positively associated with efficiency and production. Data were collected by questionnaire from 348 respondents from 92 units of eight hospitals, measuring formalisation, complexity, coördination, climate for change, quality of care and worker satisfaction. Propositions were tested on data aggregated to the unit level. Findings strongly indicate the need for careful respecification of the Hage model in terms of subconcepts of structural and performance measures. Confirmations are reported for four of the five propositions examined, and specified in terms of the subconcepts involved. Unexpected reversals are also found, however, suggesting that formalisation under some circumstances is beneficial for adaptation and morale, but conducive to inefficiencies under other circumstances.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert W. Hetherington, 1990. "Formalisation and Organisational Effectiveness in Hospitals," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 15(1), pages 151-175, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:15:y:1990:i:1:p:151-175
    DOI: 10.1177/031289629001500107
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/031289629001500107
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/031289629001500107?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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:sae:ausman:v:15:y:1990:i:1:p:151-175. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.agsm.edu.au .

    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.