Contingency Theory: Some Suggested Directions

Common to all contingency approaches is the proposition that performance is a consequence of the fit between several factors: structure, people, technology, strategy, and culture. Unfortunately, unwarranted generalizations and fragmented and conflicting findings exist. These approaches need a greater theoretical grounding of key concepts and richer, more complex models to capture the process by which organizations adapt and change. A model is presented which argues that complex relationships exist among environmental, organizational, and individual/group variables, and that these relationships and their salience change with the strategic and organizational design choices made by members of the dominant coalition.