Abstract
Current research suggests that organizations tend to move through distinct growth stages from a more person-centered to a more task-oriented bureaucracy. The study reported here examined the structural characteristics of community colleges at regular intervals. Five major growth stages were found, each similar to a theoretically derived growth period.
The colleges progressed from having, in their early years, decentralized decision-making, few and “flat” reporting spans, and few structured and controlled activities, to having, in their later years, many “tall” reporting spans and many structured and controlled activities. They moved toward centralized decision-making in the middle years and then reverted to decentralized forms in later years.
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Heron, R.P., Friesen, D. Growth and development of college administrative structures. Res High Educ 1, 333–346 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00991668
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00991668