Structural differentiation and size in organizations: A thermodynamic formulation and generalization

Abstract

Relationships between size and structural differentiation are basic points of analysis by organizational sociologists. Building upon Blau's 1970 theory of size and structure in organizations, we present a thermodynamic model of these relationships that offers a new theoretical perspective on processes central to understanding organizations: structural stability, equilibrium and change. Our method is to adapt Blau's theory to thermodynamic principles that specify relationships between organizational parameters such as size and differentiation and thereby explain stability. The underlying question for analysis, we propose, is the nature of organizational stability rather than temporal direct or indirect relationships between organizational size and structural differentiation. Starting with Blau's formal theory of size and differentiation, we use the model to logically justify and clarify interpretations in his generalizations and the more recent work of others. We start with Blau's theory because of its foc...