Academic Freedom
William G. Ouchi
[download the paper, 121K PDF] — Education Next, A Journal of Opinion and Research, Winter 2004

Tilting the Balance — A management consultant's prescription for changing the equilibruium between central office and schools
William G. Ouchi
[download the paper, 106K PDF] — The School Administrator, August 2004

Organizational Configuration and Performance: The Case of Primary and Secondary School Systems
William G. Ouchi, Bruce S. Cooper, Lydia G. Segal, Tim DeRoche, Carolyn Brown, and Elizabeth Galvin
[download the paper, 239K PDF] — May 30, 2003

Abstract:
Williamson has argued that in large organizations, decentralization of a particular type, known as the M-Form, outperforms more centralized types. We ask whether the effect applies to large school systems, as is does to businesses. Our research team investigated nine school systems, including the three largest districts in the United States; three (in Canada and the U.S.) that use an innovative budgeting system to achieve a radically decentralized M-Form structure; and the three largest Catholic Archdiocesan systems in the U.S. Our data generally support the view that decentralized public school districts outperform more centralized districts on student performance outcomes, administrative efficiency, and incidence of corruption.

The Impact of Organization on the Performance of Nine School Systems: Lessons for California
William G. Ouchi, Bruce S. Cooper, and Lydia G. Segal
[download the paper, 144K PDF] — Published in California Policy Options 2003

Abstract:
This policy-oriented article was published in January, 2003 in a volume issued by the UCLA School of Publicy Policy. It presents some of the data from the Making Schools Work study in a format intended for non-experts and describes the policy issues that emerge, with an emphasis on the State of California.

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