ABSTRACT
The theoretical point of departure of this study is that variations in the intensities of bureaucratic characteristics of organizations occur under the influence of various contextual conditions such as functions performed, public served, and size, A previous study of industrial organizations in Israel (Samuel and Mannheim, 1970) derived empirically six types of bureaucratic profiles comprising each three structural characteristics (Intensity of Hierarchical Control, Normativity, Functionalization) and one behavioural characteristic (Interlevel Impersonality). The types that emerged indicated clearly that there was no latent homogeneous dimension of bureaucratization, but that different combinations of the structure variables could be found, with more intense ‘bureaucratization’ characterizing only one or two of them. Two contextual variables appeared to have the main impact upon the configuration of the structural variables, namely production system and age of enterprise, while type of ownership and size also had an effect, but of secondary importance. These findings were partly consistent with the findings of the Aston group concerning the importance of the nature of technology and size ( Pugh et al., 1969b ). Since the nature of the industrial sample limited the applicability of the previous findings, the first purpose of the present study was to examine the nature of bureaucratization in Israeli non-manufacturing organizations, and to determine which contextual factors are most significant in their effects upon it.
