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The Relationship Between Size and Performance of Mail Sorting Offices

Australian Postal Commission, PO Box 302, Carlton South Vic. 3053, Australia.

The paper gives the main results of studies on the size-performance relatio ship of mail sorting offices in two of the developed countries. A distinct optimum size was found at about 450 total operatives and the major factors causing the declining performance of larger offices were identified as deteriorating motivation, increasing specialization in work method, and a poorer industrial relations climate. The performance of small offices is believed to be adversely affected by the minimum number of operatives needed to guarantee service during periods of low demand but who cannot be fully occupied. Special attention was paid to the definition of terms and to statistical technique as these matters have been noted as weaknesses of some previous studies on the effects of size in organizations.

Human Relations, Vol. 35, No. 7, 567-586 (1982)
DOI: 10.1177/001872678203500706


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