STRUCTURE OF KNOWLEDGE AND DEPARTMENTAL SOCIAL-ORGANIZATION

This case study of three university departments was designed to generate substantive theory about decision-making in academic departments. Using Homans' social systems theory as a framework, the theory postulates that the degree of parádigm development of a discipline affects the extent of interaction in the external and internal systems of its associated departments. The rate of interaction affects the crystallization of norm structures and consequently processes of influence and decision-making. © 1979 Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company.