Using a sample of 35 university departments, this study relates aspects of research and teaching effectiveness in university departments to contextual and structural contingen cies. Three contextual measures (paradigm development, student emphasis, resource availability) and two structural measures (academic control, bureaucratic control) serve as independent variables. The contextual variables are found to be better predictors of effectiveness than the structural variables. Implications for developing and testing structural contingency theories as well as programmes for university reforms are discussed.
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