PhD thesis,
University Budget Systems: A Test of Contingency Theory at Private Institutions
Case Western Reserve University, PhD Thesis, (1986)
Abstract
This research explored the nature of budget systems at private American universities. It used a contingency approach, attempting to relate differences in budget systems to the characteristics of the organization and its environment. The focus of the study was on budgeting at the schools within universities. A survey methodology was used with responses being elicited from the deans of the schools. Ninety seven deans from forty seven universities participated in the study. As part of the research, a model of the subsystems of the budget was developed and an attempt was made to relate positive evaluations of the budget to a matching of the subsystems to the school's characteristics. The results of the study provided support for a subdivision of the budget system based on two dimensions: level of authority and timing. It also provided evidence for a contingency theory model, although the strength of the relationship between the contextual variables and the budget system varied among the subsystems. The study particularly demonstrated the importance of size as a variable and showed the same positive relationship between size and an administrative budget system that had been found in research at for-profit organizations. The findings generally did not show that positive budget evaluations were related to matching the budget to the school's characteristics. However, a further exploration of the data indicated that participation in budgeting and a detailed budget system were related to the deans' satisfaction with the budget.
