Max Weber’s argument that organizations benefit when they operate consistently and Robert Merton’s counter-point that consistency arises from organizational dysfunction create a fundamental tension in organization theory. Substantial research has examined the spread of bureaucracy and organizational practices, while other research has examined how organizational change affects survival, but there has been surprisingly little research on the value or dysfunctional nature of ongoing consistency in following rules for decision making. This paper develops measures based on the definition of consistency as close adherence over time to a set of simple rules for conducting business. We explore the sources of consistency and test whether greater consistency is a beneficial high point in organizational development or, instead, whether consistency simply reflects Emerson’s notion of a “hobgoblin of little minds”.

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Date created

• 2006 July 23-2006 July 27

Type

• Document

Processing Activity

• Processing documentation available at: https://wiki.albany.edu/display/SCA/Processing+Ingested+Digital+Files

License

• Creative Commons BY-NC-ND Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International

  
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ITEM CONTEXT

Part of

32937c7b43e3e015509bb71fd40d2054

Scope and Contents

Part of

23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8

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Part of

f9377a3ac7b50b1fca5e04fb6d679ec2

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Collection

System Dynamic Society Records

Scope and Contents

Collecting area

• This collection is part of the University Archives