Search

ABSTRACT Following accumulative advantage studies based on career performance in science, we demonstrate the generality of the phenomenon through a synthetic cohort analysis of Protestant clergy, using a composite measure of professional resources. These resources are distributed more unequally in older than in younger cohorts within a total sample drawn from 21 denominations and also within 7 denominational subsamples. This finding suggests the presence of an underlying process of accumulative advantage generating inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A causal model of the relationship between organization structure and economic efficiency in profit-oriented organizations is proposed and tested. Applying path analysis to data collected from 104 savings and loan associations in New York State, the results show that structural characteristics explained 20 per cent of the variance in organizational efficiency and 8 per cent in managerial efficiency. Specifically, span of control, promotion policy and practice, and personnel evaluation frequency are good predictors of organizational efficiency. similarly, complexity, documentation, and managerial salary differences serve as major causes of managerial efficiency changes Overall, determinants of the efficiency measures are different from one another: a bureaucratic strategy evokes a response in managerial efficiency, while a personalized strategy produces changes in organizational efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining the work of Peter Blak and Jerald Hage regarding organizational characteristics and efficiency, a correlational model was constructed consisting of testable propositions relating organizational size, complexity, stratification, formalization, centralization, and two measures of efficiency. The model was also extended to include hierarchical levels, after vertical and horizontal measures of complexity were separated. Following an extensive review of the literature, both official and sell-reported data from one type of economic organization (104 savings and loan associations in New York State) were employed to test the propositions in a profit-oriented context. While the findings demonstrate limited support for the model in this special type of economic organization (five of thirteen propositions were fully or partly supported by the analysis), a further classification and comparison of studies reviewed, according to the type of organization under study, suggests that a unified theory encompassing both economic and non-economic organizations is feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the life and works of sociologist Joseph Fichter. Main stress is on the content of Joseph Fichter's work over the past two decades and its contribution to our understanding of religion, particularly American Catholicism. However, the author has prefaced his remarks on Fichter's work with some comments about the man himself. According to the author it is appropriate to do this because Fichter has revealed a great deal about himself through his own writing and because some knowledge of the man provides an important context in which he can assess his work. When Fichter began his teaching and research in the late 1940's, the Catholic Church's general attitude toward sociology seemed to be a mixture of some ignorance (not knowing what sociology was) and some arrogance (not believing that sociology could be of any possible use). In this context the contributions of Joseph Fichter in the field of sociology are discussed in the article.