Paul Lawrance
Paul R. Lawrence
is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of
Organizational Behavior, Emeritus at Harvard Business School where
he served nine years as chairman of the
Organizational Behavior area and also as chairman of both the MBA
and AMP programs. He did his undergraduate work in sociology and
economics at Albion College and did MBA and doctoral training at
Harvard. His
research, published in 24 books and numberous articles, has dealt
primarily with organizational change, organization design, and the
relationship between the structural charactertistics of complex
organizations and the technical, market and other conditions of their
immediate environment. His 1967 book, Organization and Enviroment
(written with Professor Jay Lorsch), added
"contingency
theory" to the vocabulary of students of
Organizational Behavior.
Paul R. Lawrence
has also, with others, made a comparative study of Soviet management
practices that was published in 1990 as Behind the Factory Walls:
Decison Making in Soviet and U.S. Enterprises.
Contingency Perspective and Organization
Theory
Environmental change
and uncertainty, work technology, and the size of a company are all
identified as environmental factors impacting the effectiveness of
different organizational forms. According to the
contingency
perspective, stable environments suggest mechanistic structures that
emphasize centralization, formalization, standardization, and
specialization to achieve efficiency and consistency. Certainty and
predictability permit the use of policies, rules, and procedures to
guide decision making for routine tasks and problems. Unstable
environments suggest organic structures which emphasize decentralization
to achieve flexibility and adaptability. Uncertainty and
unpredictability require general problem solving methods for nonroutine
tasks and problems. Paul Lawrence and
Jay Lorsch suggest that organizational units operating in differing
environments develop different internal unit characteristics, and that
the greater the internal differences, the greater the need for
coordination between units.
Joan Woodward
found that financially successful manufacturing organizations with
different types of work technologies (such as unit or small batch;
large-batch or mass-production; or continuous-process) differed in the
number of management levels, span of management, and the degree of
worker specialization. She linked differences in organization to firm
performance and suggested that certain organizational forms were
appropriate for certain types of work technologies.
Organizational size is another contingency
variable thought to impact the effectiveness of different organizational
forms. Small organizations can behave informally while larger
organizations tend to become more formalized. The owner of a small
organization may directly control most things, but large organizations
require more complex and indirect control mechanisms. Large
organizations can have more specialized staff, units, and jobs. Hence, a
divisional structure is not appropriate for a small organization but may
be for a large organization.
In addition to the contingencies
identified above, customer diversity and the globalization of business
may require product or service diversity, employee diversity, and even
the creation of special units or divisions. Organizations operating
within the United States may have to adapt to variations in local,
state, and federal laws and regulations. Organizations operating
internationally may have to adapt their organizational structures,
managerial practices, and products or services to differing cultural
values, expectations, and preferences. The availability of support
institutions and the availability and cost of financial resources may
influence an organization's decision to produce or purchase new
products. Economic conditions can affect an organization's hiring and
layoff practices as well as wage, salary, and incentive structures.
Technological change can significantly affect an organization. The use
of robotics affects the level and types of skills needed in employees.
Modern information technology both permits and requires changes in
communication and interaction patterns within and between organizations.
Books of Paul Lawrence
-
Lawrence, Paul R.,
and Nitin Nohria. Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Our Choices. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001.
-
Lawrence, Paul R.,
Louis B. Barnes, and Jay W. Lorsch, eds. Organizational Behavior and
Administration: Cases and Readings. 3rd ed. Homewood, Ill.: Richard
D. Irwin Inc., 1976.
-
Lorsch, J. W., and
Paul R. Lawrence, eds. Managing Group and Intergroup Relations.
Homewood, Ill.: Richard D. Irwin Inc., 1972.Dalton, Gene W., Paul R.
Lawrence, and J. W. Lorsch, eds. Organizational Structure and
Design. Homewood, Ill.: Richard D. Irwin Inc., 1970.
-
Lorsch, J. W., and
Paul R. Lawrence, eds. Studies in Organization Design. Homewood,
Ill.: Richard D. Irwin Inc., 1970.
-
Lorsch, J. W., and
Paul R. Lawrence. Organizational Development: Diagnosis and Action.
Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1969.
-
Lawrence, Paul R.,
and J. W. Lorsch. Organization and Environment. Boston, Mass.: HBS
Division of Research, 1967. (Reissued as a Harvard Business School
Classic, Harvard Business School Press, 1986.)
Published Papers of
Paul Lawrence
-
Gulati, Ranjay, P.
Lawrence, and P. Puranam. "Adaptation in Vertical Relationships:
Beyond Incentive Conflict." Strategic Management Journal 26, no. 12
(December 2005): 415-440.
-
Vlachoutsicos,
Charalambos A., and P. R. Lawrence. "“Don’ts" And "Do's”: Insights
From Experience In Mitigating Risks Of Western Investors In
Post-Communist Countries." Harvard Business School Working Paper,
No. 07-041.
-
Lawrence, Paul R.,
and Charalambos A. Vlachoutsicos. "Bridging Over Troubled Waters."
Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 04-022, 2003.
-
Lawrence, Paul R.
"Toward a Unified Theory of Organizational Life." Harvard Business
School Working Paper, No. 98-048, 1997.
References
http://drfd.hbs.edu/fit/public/facultyInfo.do?facInfo=ovr&facEmId=plawrence@hbs.edu |
