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Institutional and Technical Sources of Organizational Structure Explaining the Structure of Educational Organizations

Item

Title
Institutional and Technical Sources of Organizational Structure Explaining the Structure of Educational Organizations
Abstract/Description
Models of organizational structures developed through the study of commercial organizations are not necessarily applicable to educational organizations. Technical organizations such as factories act to regulate the flow of their processes and products and, thus, to buffer them from external forces. Institutional organizations such as schools or school systems seek to conform to the institutional environment, including the expectations of their constituents and, thus, buffer themselves from their own technical work processes. An institutional theory of educational organization offers explanations of the structural conformity and overall homogeneity of the system, and of its overall focus on organizational responsiveness to internal and external constituents. The absence of clearly understood and efficacious technical processes for obtaining desired educational outcomes would threaten the legitimacy and resources of the organization if a tightly coupled technical organizational structure were used. The institutional model needs further development, which should include reconceptualization of the distinction between technical and institutional environments, clarification of the kinds of "buffering" practiced, and specification of the nature of organizational success. (PGD)
Author/creator
Meyer, John W.
Scott, W. Richard
Deal, Terrence E.
Date
1980
In publication
Organization and the Human Services
Editor
Stein, H. D.
Publisher
Temple University Press
Resource type
en Background/Context
Medium
en Print
Background/context type
en Conceptual
IRE Approach/Concept
Organizational Studies
Open access/free-text available
en Yes
Language
en
URL
Open Access PDF (via ERIC)
Citation
Meyer, J. W., Scott, W. R., & Deal, T. E. (1980). Institutional and Technical Sources of Organizational Structure Explaining the Structure of Educational Organizations. In H. D. Stein (Ed.), Organization and the human services. Temple University Press. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED202142
Cited in
The Policy Context of United States Educational Innovation and Improvement
Place
Philadelphia, PA
Item sets
Oxford Bibliography: The Policy Context of United States Educational Innovation and Improvement

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