The Relationship between Size and the Administrative Ratio in Organizations : Theoretical Reflections on the Baseline Model

Abstract

A baseline model is developed to demonstrate that, when other conditions are held constant, Blau's major theoretical propositions on their relationship between the relative size of administrative components and the size of the organizations can be produced by the logical possibilities for differentiation that are generated by different values of size. The relationships specified by theses propositions are illustrated with calculations from a mathematical algorithm that enumerates possible structural forms for each basic size and assigns the same probability of occurrence to each structure. The implications of the results for the relationship between organizational size and administrative ratios can be reduced from the baseline model which provides an analytical framework for which empirical trends can effectively be assessed.