This doctoral dissertation reports on a study that examined the perceptions of the relative use by academic deans of six primary administrative control mechanisms. The effects of four known determinants of organizational control use were gathered from a sample composed of both faculty and administration from four public postsecondary institutions. (The schools ranged in size from small to large, had from 5 to 69 departments, and were all within the University of Wisconsin System.) Findings indicated that goals, traditions, and the environment are major factors influencing control use by deans, with size and technology affecting control to a lesser extent. Specifically, the three major determinants of control (goals, traditions, and environment) were found to affect the deans' use of both hierarchical and non-hierarchical forms of administrative control. Findings further suggested that the aggregate effect of these three major determinants of control use, across institutions and school types, resulted in the greater use by academic deans of hierarchical forms of control compared to non-hierarchical forms. Overall, it was concluded that academic deans use multiple means of control or influence in their work and that a range of factors determines their use of these controls in academe. Contains 51 references. (Author/GLR)