The Structural Implications of System Size: Evidence from a Developing Country

Abstract

Previous research has found considerable evidence that system size is directly related to a variety of system structures. Most notably, perhaps, has been the effort to link system size to changes in industrial and occupational specialization (i.e., greater concentration of personnel engaged in transportation and communication with increases in system size). Most such research has been carried out in the context of formal organizations, or urban industrial environments. Results presented in this paper indicate that in at least one less developed country there is little or no task specialization as system size increases on at least one level of systems. The implication is that the formal, rational nature of previous samples may have influenced the strong relationship heretofore found between system size and task specialization.