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M-Form adoption and firm performance : an empirical investigation*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2016

R.S. Thompson
R.S. Thompson*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University College, Cork
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Extract

This paper presents the results of an empirical study on the relationship between internal structural change and performance, in a sample of 138 large U.K. companies, 1959-1976. The paper considers the introduction of the multidivisional form (M-form) within the sample and addresses itself to three principal questions:

Firstly, whether re-organization to an M-form structure followed a significant decline in the performance of the firm?

Secondly, whether M-form adoption was followed by a significant improvement in performance?

Finally, was the performance impact, if any, of re-organization related in a systematic way to firm characteristics — e.g. size, diversification etc. — in a manner consistent with the M-form hypothesis?

Type
Research Article
Information
Recherches Économiques de Louvain/ Louvain Economic Review , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , March 1983 , pp. 3 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de recherches économiques et sociales 1983 

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Footnotes

*

Valuable comments on earlier drafts of this paper were received from Tony Appleyard, John Cable, Landis Gabel, Leonard Wrigley and participants at the nineth E.A.R.I.E. Conference. Leuven 1982. In addition, the paper has benefited greatly from a number of points made by two anonymous referees of this Journal. None of these individuals, however, bears responsibility for the remaining shortcomings. Financial assistance from the Management Fund, UCC., is gratefully acknowledged.

References

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