Conclusion

While saying an organization must fit its environment to perform may seem intuitive, critics argue that little evidence exists to support a link between fit and performance. The dynamic nature of internal and external environments may ultimately require the field of organizational studies to go beyond contingency to chaos theory, which holds that events cannot be predicted. They can only be explained. Until a more accurate model comes forth, contingency theory remains not only influential, contingency theorists argue that empirical evidence firmly supports the assertion that an organization that fits its environment will perform better than an organization that does not. Drawing conclusions from extensive analysis of structural contingency research, Lex Donaldson's meta-principle of effective organizational structure seems to summarize the key lesson effectively from contingency theory: "The organizational structure should be designed to fit the organizational strategy" (2000, p. 291). While this does make as much sense as saying a person who is qualified for a job will perform better than a person who is not qualified for a job, the manager can only hope for an accurate prediction. Too many contingency factors, seen or unseen, can affect the outcome.