ORGANIZATIONS ... THE SMALLER THEY GET

Average organizational size has declined sharply over the last thirty years in the American economy. This article documents this trend and e xamines a number of factors that may have produced if, including downs izing, sector shifting, and resource partitioning. It concludes that m ost of the decline in average firm size is attributable to the shift f rom manufacturing to services. This development presents important new challenges to management that vary according to the growth patterns o f each industry.