Formal Organization: Dimensions of Analysis

Impersonal controls in formal organizations, such as assembly-line production or evaluation on the basis of performance records, tend to affect the structure of work groups and reverse the flow of interaction between superior and subordinates. Three methodological problems are discussed: The effects of group structure can be isolated by determining the relationship between X and Y for groups while holding constant the independent variable X for individuals. The quantitative study of complex configurations of interdependent elements involves the internal and external elaboration of a relationship between two major elements. Dialectical processes characterize organizational change, and these processes may be empirically investigated by adapting the panel method to organizational research.