The Administrative Component in Complex Organizations*

This study examines the relationship between organizational size and the proportional size of the administrative component. The hypothesis is that organizational size is directly related to the difference between the relative sizes of the clerical and managerial components—the clerical ratio minus the managerial ratio. The data, drawn from general hospitals, show that the managerial component and organizational size are negatively related, and that organizational size and the relative size of the clerical component are not related.