An analysis of the relationship between system size and structural differentiation within intercollegiate athletic departments
Lee, Jong-Young
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/18980
Description
Title
An analysis of the relationship between system size and structural differentiation within intercollegiate athletic departments
Author(s)
Lee, Jong-Young
Issue Date
1990
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Loy, John W.
Department of Study
Kinesiology and Community Health
Discipline
Kinesiology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Administration
Education, Physical
Sociology, Social Structure and Development
Education, Higher
Language
eng
Abstract
The present study investigated the relationships among system size, structural differentiation, and administrative component within university athletic departments holding membership in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The main objectives of the investigation were to: (1) test Blau's (1970) formal theory of structural differentiation in sport organizations: (2) determine the validity of Blau's theoretical propositions in the context of organizational change; and (3) elaborate the theory by examining the relationship among structural components of sport organizations using Zipf's (1949) harmonic series model.
Twelve hypotheses were derived from the theoretical propositions of Blau's (1970) theory and by integrating Zipf's (1949) harmonic series model concerning the relationships between system size and structural differentiation. It was hypothesized that as the system size increases: (1) its marginal influence on structural differentiation decreases; (2) the average size of its structural components increases; (3) the proportionate size of the average structural components decreases; (4) the supervisory span of control increases; (5) the proportionate size of the administrative component decreases; (6) the economy of scale in the administrative component decrease; (7) the ratio of the administrative component increases indirectly through the structural differentiation generated by the increased system size; (8) the direct negative effect of system size of sport organizations on the ratio of the administrative component is stronger than the indirect positive effect medicated by the structural differentiation; and (9) the indirect positive effect of system size of sport organization through structural differentiation stems the decline in the economy of scale in the administrative component. It was also hypothesized that: (10) the relationships among system size, structural differentiation, and the administrative component in growing sport organizations are different from those in declining ones; (11) the rank-frequency distribution of personnel in subunits of sport organizations approximates a harmonic series; and (12) the ratio of the force of unification to the force of diversification increases at a decreasing rate as the system size of sport organizations increases. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)
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