A55. Crawford,
G. & Rice, R.E. (1997). Power, technology and structure: Developing
a model of the effects of automation on liberal arts college libraries.
Library
and Information Science Research, 19(3), 265-300.
Based upon theories of organizational structure and power, especially
the strategic contingencies theory of intraorganizational power, a model
of organizational power and technology within liberal arts colleges is
developed, tested, and modified. The model includes measures of subunit
(library) power, environment, extent of automation, organizational structure,
and bases of power. Data on 487 liberal arts college libraries collected
from the 1982 HEGIS survey, the 1990 IPEDS survey, and two mailed questionnaires
provided limited support for the proposed model of intraorganizational
power. Changes in the amount of library automation caused changes in several
of the bases of power of the libraries. Analyses of a modified model of
intraorganizational power and technology showed that as automation and
the environmental variables increased, subunit bases of power increased,
and all of these directly increased library power. Thus, automation can
be a change agent within organizations, causing changes in structure, in
the bases of power, and in power itself.
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