INFORMATION AS A STRATEGIC CONTINGENCY - APPLYING THE STRATEGIC CONTINGENCIES THEORY OF INTRAORGANIZATIONAL POWER TO ACADEMIC-LIBRARIES

This research examines the changes that electronic information technol ogies have caused on power within organizations. Based on the strategi c contingencies theory of intraorganizational power, a model of organi zational power is developed and tested. Major features of the model in clude a technology index, subunit power variables, environmental varia bles, and bases of power variables (structure, coping with uncertainty , centrality, and substitutability). According to canonical correlatio n analyses, changes in library automation and changes in the environme nt are related to changes in both the bases of power variables and pow er itself. The bases of power, in turn, are related to changes in the power of the library as measured by the percent of the institutional b udget allocated to the library, the number of library positions, and t he perception of power.