In their study of West German university departments, Bresser and Dunbar (1986) related measures of context and structure to measures of departmental effectiveness. Ryder (1988) suggests that other measures of effectiveness as well as measures of internal management processes would have greatly improved the study. Ryder may have missed some of the contributions that the Bresser and Dunbar (1986) study makes, particularly with respect to how size is measured and its impact on effectiveness. This note clarifies these contributions, along with implications for the management of contingencies that may influence the effectiveness of university departments.
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