CONTESTED CONTROL - SYSTEMS OF CONTROL AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR AMBIGUITY IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY-SCHOOLS

Drawing on a perspective originally developed by Braverman and Edwards , and using a sample of 42 elementary and 45 secondary schools, we exa mine the consequences of(as well as the interrelationships among) thre e traditional administrative control mechanisms (direct control throug h supervision, and indirect control through routinization and particip ation) on ambiguity across organizational forms. The results appear to support the idea that administrative control in organizations is not a unidimensional construct, and that, regardless of organizational for m (e.g., elementary vs. secondary schools), multiple control mechanism s are likely to have both direct and indirect effects on the average l evel of teacher ambiguity in schools. However the findings also sugges t that multiple administrative control mechanisms may coexist, having reinforcing offsetting, and mediating effects on one another with rega rd to ambiguity. Moreover the findings indicate that the specific effe cts of these control mechanisms on ambiguity are likely to be continge nt on organizational form.