Journal of Management 2002 28(2) 217–244 Does Decentralization Make a Difference for the Organization? An Examination of the Boundary Conditions Circumbscribing Decentralized Decision-Making and Organizational Financial Performance  Hettie A. Richardson ∗ Department of Management, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA Robert J. Vandenberg Department of Management, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA Terry C. Blum The Dupree Center for Entrepreneurship, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA Paul M. Roman Center for Research on Deviance and Behavioral Health, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA Received 5 April 2000; received in revised form 19 January 2001; accepted 14 May 2001 Recently, there has been increased interest in the organizational gains that can be achieved by decentralizing decision-making authority to lower level employees. Yet, literature examining the relationship of decentralization to organizational performance is both scarce and equiv- ocal. The current study examines decentralization’s influence on financial performance in a sample of behavioral healthcare treatment centers. As expected, the decentralization–financial performance relationship is moderated by key organizational characteristics. Implications of the findings are presented. © 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. Contemporary practitioners and researchers are increasingly interested in the competitive advantages that can be achieved by leveraging the value of human resources (Becker &  A version of this paper was presented in the Health Care Management Division of the 1998 Academy of Management meetings in San Diego, CA. ∗ Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Management, Ourso College of Business Administra- tion, Louisiana State University, CEBA Building Room 3158, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. Tel.: +1-225-578-6146; fax: +1-225-578-6140. E-mail address: hricha4@Isu.edu (H.A. Richardson). 0149-2063/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. PII:S0149-2063(01)00134-9