Types of Organizational Control and Their Relationship to Emotional Well Being

Two ideal-type representations of organizational control are presented. Type A is derived from the prototypical American work organization and is characterized by highly specialized tasks, relatively high turnover, and by contractual relations between employees. Type Z represents an American version of the prototypical Japanese organization and is characterized by relatively low task specialization, low turnover, and by primary or wholistic relations between employees. It is argued that each ideal type represents a mechanism of organizational control which is adaptive to a specific social environment. Data collected in two companies in one industry give partial support to the contention that organizational control mechanisms are related to the emotional well being of employees. Untested but important is the further assertion that community mobility, which is held constant in this study, interacts with control type in determining its effect on emotional well being. The conclusion extrapolates generalizations from this specific study relevant to the question of studying organizational theory. Namely, many of the ideas contained in the theoretical constructions represent a rediscovery of old ideas in macro sociology which have been largely ignored by organization theorists. We sample the literature of urban sociology which, we assert, is germane to the organization theorist. We furthermore argue that the present distinction between organization theory and humanistic social psychology, which is often quite sharp, is artificial and that the apparent differences disappear when macro-sociological ideas are applied to organization theory.