ORGANIZATIONAL-STRUCTURE AND EXPECTED OUTPUT AT NUCLEAR-POWER-PLANTS

This paper examines the relationship between organizational structure and operation and outage durations at nuclear power plants in the Unit ed states. It empirically examines Aoki's (1990) proposition that (1) hierarchical control increases productivity in situations that are ver y stable or very uncertain and (2) horizontal coordination increases p roductivity in intermediate situations. It describes a model of contin uous production in which management chooses an organizational structur e that minimizes the ratio of the hazard rates for operation and outag e. And proposes an index of hierarchy based on measures of plant-level organization. Parameter estimates support the proposition that less h ierarchy is associated with higher productivity through longer periods of operation.