Goals, Environmental Pressures, and Organizational Characteristics

With data from a mail questionnaire survey of voluntary associations, the general hypothesis is tested that the internal characteristics of organizations will vary with the range of internal and external pressures to which the organizations are exposed. Organizations are classified by two criteria reflecting the range of internal and external pressures they face. The data generally support three hypotheses derived from the general hypothesis: that organizations facing the widest range of pressures will tend to score low on an index of centralization of authority, and high in emphasis on membership involvement in organizational activities and attention devoted to internal communication.