When you finish studying the material in this chapter, you should be able to:

• Describe the three general views on organisational fit: open systems, chaos theory and systems theory.
• Explain the contingency approach to organisations, including the benefits and shortcomings of such approach.
• Describe the impact of environmental uncertainty on the organisation.
• Define technology as organisational element.
• Explain the effect of technology on the organisation structure and the four major studies that have explored the relationship between technology and structure.
• Explain the role of size in the contingency view.
• Describe major strategy types and the relationship with organisation structure
• Describe the four generic organisational effectiveness criteria.
• Describe the resource-based view on organisations.
• Explain how managers can prevent organisational decline.