University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Power Struggle And Organizational Goals: A Case Study Of An Industrial Firm

(USC Thesis Other)

Power Struggle And Organizational Goals: A Case Study Of An Industrial Firm

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content This dissertation has been
microfilmed exactly as received 68-7178
CRQWTHER, John Franklin, 1923-
POWER STRUGGLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL
GOALS: A CASE STUDY OF AN INDUSTRIAL
FIRM.
University of Southern California, Ph.D., 1968
Sociology, general
University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan
(£/ Copyright by
John Franklin Crowther
1968
POWER.STRUGGLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS
A CASE STUDY OF AN INDUSTRIAL FIRM
by
John Franklin Crowther
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(Sociology)
January 1968
UNIVERSITY O F SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THK GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES. CALI FORNIA 0 0 0 0 7
This dissertation, written by
John Franklin Crowther
under the direction of hi£....Dissertation Com
mittee, and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by the Graduate
School, in partial fulfillment of requirements
for the degree of
. . . . . . .
D O C T O R OF P H IL O S O P H Y
i k ? ® . ? .
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
* / v-
.-7 ■■ Cktirman
. ,.^L*.^±kL..
TABIB OF CONTENTS
Chapter
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Page
INTRODUCTION................................. 1
The Problem
Significance of the Problem
Problems of Terminology
Organization of the Study
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.................... 10
Literature from Political Science
and Philosophy
Sociological Literature
Literature from the Study of Complex
Organ izati ons
Literature from Biology and the
Study of Games
Popular Literature
Conclusions
METHODOLOGY................................... 75
The Researcher's Role
Field Techniques
Problems of Participant Observation
THE COMPANY AND ITS SETTING................. 87
The Company
The Larger Setting
The Research and Development Program
Organizational Form of the Company
Summary and Conclusions
BASIC FINDINGS................................. 103
Central Observational Results
General Interview Results
A Traditional Pattern of Power
Struggle Activities
Norms of Power Struggle Activities
Summary
• i
XI
Chapter Page
VI. EXAMPI£S OF POWER STRUGGLE ACTIVITIES. . . . 146
Power Ploys
Power Tactics
Power Strategies
Concluding Comment
VII. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...................... 184
Correlates of Power Struggle
Activities
A General Hypothesis
A Theory of Power Struggle
Activities
Related Observations
VIII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.........................214
Summary
Conclusions
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................ 222
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This dissertation is based upon a participant
observation study of power struggle activities in an
industrial firm. Viewed narrowly, it is a case study
within the field of industrial sociology. However, the
findings and theoretical formulations of the study
have applicability to other types of formal organizations
such as schools, hospitals, and government agencies.
In the broad view, therefore, the work falls somewhere
within the sociological sector of the multidisciplinary
study of complex organizations.
The Problem
The central problem of the study has both its
empirical and its analytical aspects. Empirically, the
study is concerned with ascertaining the forms and
correlates of power struggle activities in an industrial
firm. Specifically, it is focused upon the patterns of
power struggle activities among the managers and
aspirant managers on the middle and lower levels of the
1
2
firm. Analytically, the study is concerned with
developing a sociological explanation of power struggle
activities in formal organizations. To this end the
study considers some of the theoretical relationships
between the behavior of actors in social systems and
the formal goals of such systems.1
Significance of the Problem
Power struggle activities occur among indivi
duals, cliques, and organizational units inside
factories, business offices, government agencies, and
voluntary organizations. Very few members of formal
organizations are so high or so low in their statuses
By virtue of its methodological approach and its
scope, the present study is more within the "context of
discovery" than within the "context of justification."
However, the underlying theoretical position of the
study, which has conditioned both its methodology and
its scope, is one of a naturalistic sociology which has
been derived from a qualified functionalism. Bernard S.
Phillips discusses the contexts of discovery and
justification in science. See, Social Research (New Yorks
The Macmillan Co., 1966), pp. 56-58. For an important
discussion of naturalistic sociology and its relation
ships with functionalism, see William R. Catton, Jr.,
From Animistic to Naturalistic Sociology (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1966), pp. 59-95. The basic state
ment of functionalism in the social sciences is probably
that offered by Bronislaw Malinowski in "Anthropology,"
Encyclopaedia Britannica. 13th ed., Vol. XXXXII (first
supplementary volume, 1926), 132-139. One of the more
important discussions of functionalism in sociology is
that given by Robert K. Merton in Social Theory and
Social Structure (rev. ed.y Glencoe, 111.: The Free
Press, 1957), pp. 19-84.
or so much or so little involved in their organizations
as to be completely outside the pale of power struggle
activities. Blue-collar workers sometimes play shop
politics; and white-collar workers occasionally engage
in office politics. Executives and managers often make
power thrusts at their peers, subordinates, and superiors.
Power struggle activities within formal organizations
comprise a ubiquitous and important type of social
interaction in modern society. Systematic study of the
phenomenon should have both practical and theoretical
importance.^
In the practical vein, power struggle activities
appear to be socially dysfunctional. The importance
of studying the phenomenon becomes apparent when it is
viewed in the setting of contemporary society. The
portion of our national energy which is continuously being
expended in the power struggle activities within the
nation's business, labor, governmental, and voluntary
organizations cannot be estimated. However, it is certain
that to the extent that members of formal organizations
engage in power struggle activities they divert
attention and energy from their legitimate assignments.
The equivalent dollar costs of such diversions must be
2
Robert Bierstedt, "An Analysis of Social Power,"
American Sociological Review, XV (December, 1950), 731.
3
truly immense.
In the theoretical vein, the divisive and
dysfunctional aspects of power struggle activities within
formal organizations must be accounted for in any
sociological explanation or treatment of social organiza
tion and social structure. At the present time very
4
little has been achieved in this area. Many sociologists
appear to have some degree of awareness of power struggle
activities as a social phenomenon, and they appear to
have a respectable interest in it. Few of them, however,
have addressed their research or analytical efforts
directly toward the subject. At the present moment
sociology lacks clear theoretical formulations relating
to social power and its dynamics, and there have not
been a sufficient number of discriminating case studies
of the phenomenon to facilitate the development of such
5
theory.
3
A large-scale example of apparently dysfunction
al power struggle activities was acted out in Washington
D. C. during the 1950s. High-ranking officers of the
Army, Navy, and Air Force engaged in perennial power
struggle activities, often disrupting the political life
of the nation. See Roscoe Drumond, "The President Sees
Red" (column), Mirror-News (Los Angeles), December 31,
1957, Sec. 2, p. 2.
4
R. M. Maclver, The Web of Government (rev. ed.;
New York: The Free Press, 1965), pp. 341-342.
5
Bierstedt, American Sociological Review, XV, 738.
Problems of Terminology
There is no single, sufficient term which
denotes unambiguously the phenomenon referred to in this
study as power struggle activities. Rather# there are
a great many expressions in common usage which are to
some degree equivalent. For the purposes of the study,
power struggle activities are conceived of as all
deliberate actions or plans for actions which are con
trived by persons for the purposes of advancing themselves
in status or power in organizations with respect to
other persons by means which are not legitimate compo
nents of their formally assigned roles in the organiza
tions. The advancements sought in power or status might
be absolute, such as when higher statuses or power are
actually achieved; or they may be relative, such as when
the statuses or power of surrounding individuals or
groups are diminished. In this definition, status is
taken to mean hierarchical placement in an organization;
and power is assumed to mean the ability to influence the
actions of others, even against their will, while
resisting the unwelcome influences of others.6
6This definition of power struggle activities
does not require that any distinctions be made between
conflict and competition. As used in this study, the
term is applied to both "power conflict" and "power
competition."
While the element of legitimacy in the above
working definition serves to separate power struggle ac
tivities from other types of social behavior, there still
remains a very complex phenomonen for study. In an
attempt to reduce the complexity of the phenomenon, a
classification system was devised which collects all
power struggle activities into one or another of four
categories. These categories are: power ploys, power
tactics, power strategies, and power maneuvers.
In this classification system, power plovs are
conceived of as small-scale, direct actions by persons
which involve only a few other people at a given point
in time. They are directed toward immediate gains or
defenses. In most cases these actions are performed by
individuals, and they are directed only against
individuals.
Power tactics are thought of as personal
contingency plans or procedures which are followed by
individuals in order to gain immediate or short-range
advantages or successes in given situations. Power
tactics are plans and procedures as opposed to direct
actions. In general, power tactics are viewed as giving
rise to power ploys.
Power strategies are conceived of as long-range
plans developed by individuals for making movements and
7-
other actions in order to bring about successful careers.
Power strategies often give coherent form to the other
types of power struggle activities engaged in by given
persons.
Power maneuvers are considered to be large-scale
actions by persons which involve many people over
fairly long periods of time. They are directed toward
gaining or defending substantial amounts of power and
status. Usually, power maneuvers are performed by
higher managers, and they commit many people to some
degree of opposition with one another. They are made up
of power ploys; they embrace power tactics; and often
they stem from power strategies.
The scope of the present study is restricted to
a consideration of power ploys, power tactics, and power
strategies. While power maneuvers were observed during
the study, and they were reported by interview respondents
and informants alike, their treatment in the study would
serve only to lengthen it.
Another term which requires some degree of
qualification is manager. Often the terms executive and
manager are used more or less interchangeably. In the
present study the two terms will be distinguished from
one another. The term executive will be applied only to
those persons who determine the firm's over-all policies;
these persons are in effect the upper"level management
of the firm. The term manager will be applied to all
persons who formally direct the efforts of others in
carrying out the firm's policies; these persons comprise
7
the middle and lower levels of management. This study •-
is concerned with managers and persons who aspired to
be managers. Some further refinement of the term
manager will be made in a subsequent chapter when the
organizational form of the firm is discussed.
Organization of the Study
This initial chapter has described the central
problem of the study and its practical and theoretical
importance. In addition, it has sought to clarify two
of the more immediate problems of terminology. The
second chapter presents a long but selective review of
the literature which is pertinent to a sociological
concern with power struggle activities. The third
chapter indicates the general methodological approach
followed in the study, and it discusses some of the
problems which attach to the approach.
The fourth chapter describes the firm which was
7
The distinction made here is essentially the
same as the one offered in Perrin Stryker, The Character
of the Executive (New York; Harper and Row, 1961),
pp. 5-7.
studied and some of its more important features. First
the nature of the firm is sketched, and its place in the
contemporary industrial setting is indicated. Then the
organizational form of the firm is outlined, and its
changing programs and operations are described.
The fifth chapter outlines the basic findings of
the study. It describes the forms and correlates of
the power struggle activities which were discerned in
the firm during the field work. The sixth chapter pro
vides illustrative examples of the power struggle
activities which were studied in the firm.
The seventh chapter discusses and analyzes the
conditions which were associated with power struggle
activities in the firm. A theoretical formulation is
then offered which appears to account for the observed
power struggle activities. Convergences between this
theory and observations that have been offered by other
social scientists are then noted briefly.
The eighth chapter summarizes the study and
indicates the principal conclusions which may be drawn
from its findings and theoretical formulations.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OP THE LITERATURE
Only a few books and articles by sociologists
deal specifically with power struggle activities in
formal organizations. However, a large number of
sociological works do deal with the general subject of
social power. In addition, a great many works by
political scientists, philosophers, business educators,
and biologists discuss social power in one or another of
its many aspects. Over the years the subject also has
received the attentions of many journalists and fiction
writers. Taken all together, these works constitute a
fairly sizable literature.
In this chapter representative works from this
literature are discussed as they contribute a
sensitizing perspective to a sociological study of power
struggle activities in formal organizations. The
discussions are selective and illustrative, not
exhaustive. For convenience, the works are discussed
under six descriptive headings: Literature from Political
Science and Philosophy, Sociological Literature,
Literature from the Study of Complex Organizations,
10
11
Literature from Business Education, Literature from
Biology and the Study of Games, and Popular Literature.
The chapter concludes with a brief summary comment.
Literature from Political Science and Philosophy
The phenomenon of social power has been observed
and commented upon by many of the political and social
philosophers of western civilization. From Greek and
Roman times down through the course of European history
to present times the subject has attracted the attention
of social thinkers. References to social power, defini
tions of it, and advice concerning it may be found readily
in written works from Epicurus to Russell.1 - For the
purposes of the present study the subject will be taken
up as it was first approached objectively in the
Renaissance.
Machiavelli, without question, must be considered
the spiritual godfather of all modern office politicians.
To a lesser degree he may also be considered the patron
saint of all sociologists who make application of
participant observation research methods. For over
^The nature of philosophical thought on social
power in western civilization is outlined by Russell
himself. See Bertrand Russell, A History of Western
Philosophy; And Its Connections with Political ancf"Social
Circumstances ^rom the Earliest Times to the Present Day
(New yorks Simon and Schuster, 1945)•
12
fourteen years Machiavelli served in the Florentine
Chancery where he worked closely with many of the most
active power politicians of Renaissance Europe. He
observed and analyzed the actual methods of leadership
and statecraft employed by these politicians and reported
on them in two books, The Prince and The Discourses.
Machiavelli was, thus, one of the first modern political
scientists. He studied human behavior as it really was,
not as it was said to be. Before Machiavelli, most
treatises on man and power were more moralistic than
empirical.
The Prince, in form, was something of a "how to"
book for the scheming, petty princes of Renaissance
Italy. In it, Machiavelli set forth practical methods
for gaining and holding power successfully. In so doing,
he distinguished clearly between ideals and ethics on
the one hand and effective techniques on the other.
Further, he counseled that when a leader sought a firm
and stable state, he was justified in employing
virtually any means that might bring him success. This
divorcing of political theory from ethics prompted the
2These two books have been published in one
binding as Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince and The
Discourses (Modern Library ed.; New York: Random House,
Inc., 1940). The volume includes an introduction by
Max Lerner.
13
adjectival application of Machiavelli's name to
unprincipled self-seekers from his time forward. Never
theless, "The Prince was the keenest sociological study
of leadership and political pragmatism that had yet been
made."3
The Discourses is a somewhat less well-known
book than The Prince, but it is a more profound and
4
scholarly work. "It was the, longer work on which
Machiavelli was engaged when, because of political
opportunism, he made a sudden sortie to finish The
5
Prince." In it he discusses at some length the role of
the "law-giver" in preserving the health of the state
and in fostering the allegiance of its citizens. This
role today would be called leadership.
The present study is concerned with much the same
subject as was Machiavelli, and it is based upon some
thing of the same method. Both studies deal objectively
with the personal power tactics of leaders in formal
organizationsy and both are based upon observations of
3
Harry Elmer Barnes, "Ancient and Medieval Social
Philosophy," An Introduction to the History of Sociology,
ed. Harry Elmer Barnes (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1948), p. 23.
^Ibid.
3Max Lerner in the introduction to Machiavelli,
p. XXXV.
real behavior. Though Machiavelli studied the power
arenas of state rather than those of industry, many of
his observations are quite appropriate to the latter
setting. A modern reader given to self-seeking in a
large company office should be able to profit from a
reading of The Prince. Further, just as in Machiavelli's
time when power politics did exist but it was improper
to discuss them, so too today office politics are ubiq
uitous but they are usually ignored in all official
reference. It would perhaps be appropriate for
some modern, astute office politician to offer his
observations on the corporate power arena under some such
title as The Executive or The Industrial Prince.
In final observation on Machiavelli, it should
be noted that The Prince itself is a prime example of a
type of power maneuver which will be discussed at a later
point in this study. It was written by Machiavelli
in the vain hope that it might effect his reinstatement
g
in the councils of the Medici and the Pope. However,
his effort was ignored by these worthies, and
subsequently when they fell from power and Machiavelli
sought a position with the newly formed republic, the
book was used against him. This backfiring of an
6Machiavelli, pp. 3-4.
15
elaborate pcwer maneuver also could be a lesson for
many of today's would-be industrial princes.
Hobbes, probably more than any other social
philosopher of the past, was concerned with the place
of power in human society. Whereas Machiavelli never
offered a clear definition of power and dealt with it
entirely on the practical level, Hobbes developed a pre
cise definition and dealt with it largely on the
theoretical level. In his book Leviathan. Hobbes
sought to explain the nature of organized society as
7
it occurs in the form of the sovereign nation-state.
In this effort he was specifically concerned with the
origins and functions of social power and authority
O
as they are held and exercised by rulers of states.0 A
brief review of Hobbes* thought on power and society
within the framework of his total scheme is worthwhile
since he anticipated several later sociological thinkers
and he addressed some of the points which are also of
central concern in the present study.
In seeking to explain society, Hobbes developed
a complex argumentative theoretical scheme directed to
ward resolving the apparent paradox posed by the
^Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (Everyman's Library ed.;
London: J. M. Dent and Sons, 1914), p. 1.
8Ibid.
confrontation of man's basically individualistic nature
and the imperative needs of aggregated society. He
averred that if man lived in accordance with his natural
bent and without artificial restraint, his life would
o
be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.Since,
however, man's life normally is none of these things
in our modern states, there must be some underlying
principle of organization and peace. Hobbes' whole
book is devoted to examining and explaining the many
facets of this problem.
In Hobbes' scheme, man, by his very nature, is
moved to action only by his passions.^ These
passions are nearly infinite in number and are widely
diverse in form; in addition, they appear to arise in
random fashion, following no known plan of
developmentMan's reason is simply a tool or servant
of his passions, being no more than his faculty for
devising the means required for obtaining the objects
9lbid., p. 65. Modern spelling norms have
been followed in all quotations taken from Hobbes.
10Ibid., p. 23. The term passions in Hobbes'
usage includes desires and virtually all feelings and
attitudes. He often uses the terms interchangeably.
To simplify the explanations here, the single term
passion is used.
^Ibid.. pp. 24-30.
17
, . . 12
of his passions.
Human behavior in this scheme is simply the
13
reasoned pursuit of the objects of passion. However,
since all men, regardless of minor differences, are
approximately equal in their faculties of body and
mind, they will tend to harbor the same hopes for
14
achieving the objects of their passions. "And
therefore if any two men desire the same thing, which
nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become
15
enemies." It is inevitable, therefore, that all men
will be led sooner or later into conflict with their
fellows as they pursue the ends of their passions. The
natural condition of men living in contact with each other
16
is, then, a war of all against all.
The immediate end or object of passion in each
case of conflict between man and man must be power.
which Hobbes defines as the present means to some
17
future good. All men are thus led into a wide and
12n;bid., p. 35.
13^id., pp. 18 and 35.
14Ibid.. p. 64.
15Ibid., pp. 63-64.
16Ibid., p. 64.
17Ibid., p. 43.
18
18
general power struggle which may end only in death.
Under such conditions the principal means to the objects
of passion will be force and fraud, and there will be
19
no law or justice.
Hobbes resolves most of the conflict in this
vast power arena by invoking the "first and second
fundamental laws of nature," and a "general rule of
20
reason." He contends that each man, in the interest
of pursuing the objects of his passions, will seek peace
with the same force and intensity with which he will
prosecute a defensive war; and that each man will be
content with the same measure of liberty to pursue the
objects of his passions as he is willing to grant
21
to others. Reasoning men, then, knowing that
masterless men are perpetually in a state of war of
every man against his neighbor, and every group against
22
every other, seek a peaceful solution. They effect
peace by appointing one man, a sovereign, or an
assembly, to be the repository of their collected rights
18Ibid., p. 49.
19Ibid.# p. 66.
20Ibid.. p. 67.
21Ibid.
22Ibid., p. 113.
19
and powers. The sovereign, or assembly, in turn
exercises the power so conferred to guarantee them free-
23
dom from aggressions by each other and from without.
The war of all against all is held in check and each
man pursues the objects of his passions in an enlightened
self-interest.
In this scheme Hobbes dealt directly with the
functions of power and authority in human society and
the fact that men are prone to struggle with each other
for it. While his total theory may leave something to
be desired in modern sociological explanation, certain
elements of it are still provocative. In his extended
definition of power, he underlined the fact that in
large measure social power is often a personal ability
24
to command the attentions and actions of others.
And his observation that power as an immediate goal is
often merely a means to a more distant goal will have
special relevance later in the present study.
Russell approaches the subject of social power
somewhat differently than did either Machiavelli or
25
Hobbes. ^ He is closely concerned with the
23Ibid.. p. 89.
24Ibid., p. 43.
25
Bertrand Russell, Power: A New Social Analysis
(London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1938).
20
relationships between power and ethics. One of his
principal conclusions is that "The ultimate aim of
those who have power (and we all have some) should be
to promote social cooperation, not in one group as
against another, but in the whole human race."28 Russell
seeks in this book to establish a scientific basis for
studying social power. One of his stated aims is to
demonstrate that power is the fundamental concept in
social science in the same sense that energy is the
27
fundamental concept in physics. He points out that
like energy, social power has many forms. It follows
then that the task of social science is to seek out the
laws by which power is transformed from one state to
another.
Russell offers a theoretical framework for
analyzing social power.28 In his scheme he observes that
in those social systems which have open access to power,
positions of power will tend to be occupied by those
individuals who have a strong love or impulse for
power. He then suggests that the human impulse for power
may be either explicit or implicit in form. In its ex
plicit form, the impulse to power is characteristic of
26Ibid., p. 283.
27Ibid., p. 10.
28Ibid., pp. 12-16.
the leaders of social groups, in its implicit form, it
is characteristic of the followers in social groups,
who view acquisition of power by their group as their
own triumphs. Russell suggests that the existence of
the implicit form of the impulse to power is what makes
the inequalities in the distribution of power in complex
societies endurable for those who lack it. The scheme
is based upon the assumption that the love for power is
among the strongest of human motives.
Russell's definition of power is one of the
simplest in the whole literature. He states simply:
"Power may be defined as the production of intended
29
effects." However, he provides for some extension of
this definition when he discusses the three basic forms
of power. He observes that human behavior is
influenced (1) by direct physical control of the body,
(2) by rewards and punishments, and (3) by the opinions
of others. In Aesopian analogies he characterizes the
first as a pig on a rope; the second as a donkey plying
between the carrot and the stick; and the third as the
performance of educated animals. He notes that the most
important organizations in society are often distinguish
able in terms of the prevailing form of power used in or
by them. The military and police are examples of the
29ibid.. p. 35.
22
first form of power. Businesses usually approximate the
second form of power. And churches and schools are
most often characterized by the third form. Russell
cautions, however, that these distinctions are not always
clear-cut, since most organizations use all of the forms
of power.
In extending his discussion of the forms of
power, Russell touches briefly upon the central concern
of the present study.
There is one form of the power of individuals
which we have not yet considered, namely, power
behind the scenes: the power of courtiers,
intriguers, spies, and wire-pullers. In every large
organization, where the men in control have consider
able power, there are other less prominent men (or
women) who acquire influence over the leaders by
personal methods. Wire-pullers and party bosses
belong to the same type, though their technique is
different. They put their friends, quietly, into
key positions, and so in time, control the organiza
tion. 30
This discussion, in addition to being a fairly
accurate description of activities in a corporate power
arena, also asserts that the phenomenon of power
struggle is endemic in all large organizations. Through
out the book, Russell offers ideas and illustrations
which turn up in later analyses by other writers on
social power.
30Ibid., pp. 48-49
23
One of the most ambitious attempts to deal with
the phenomenon of social power is reflected in the
combined efforts of a political scientist and a
philosopher. In Power and Society. Lasswell and Kaplan
attempt to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework
for analyzing the political processes in society.^
The framework they offer is constructed of a number of
logically related definitions, hypotheses, and
propositions together with interlineated explanations and
commentaries. The authors attenpt to formulate systems
of propositions in forms amenable to direct observation
or simple test. Some of the propositions they offer are
quite provocative and they appear to warrant serious
consideration for empirical examination. Others, however,
are oftentimes little more than instances of the taxonomic
proliferation which plagues so much of formal social
theory.
A partial enumeration of the definitions (DF.)
and propositions (PROP.) used by Lasswell and Kaplan in
treating a particular set of group processes will serve
as an illustration of their potentially useful
suggestions.
DF. The permeability of a group is the ease with
31
Harold D. Lasswell and Abraham Kaplan, Power and
Society: A Framework for Political Inquiry (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1950).
24
which a person can become a participant.
DP. The circulation of a group is the degree of
change in group membership, independently of change
in size of the group.
PROP. The morale of a group varies inversely
with its circulation.
PROP. Conflict among given groups varies
inversely with (1) the circulation in the groups, and
(2) their mutual permeability.32
It would appear to be fairly simple to operationalize
and test the elements in this construct, using convention
al sociological research methods and instruments.
In contrast, the suggestions offered by Lasswell
and Kaplan which bear directly on the subject of the
present study appear somewhat less amenable to immediate
examination.
DF. A decision is a policy involving severe
sanctions (deprivations).
DF. Power is participation in the making of
decisions: G has power over H with respect to the
values K if G participates in the making of decisions
affecting the K-policies of H.
DF. The arena of power is the situation comprised
by those who demand power or who are within the
domain of power. The political man (homo politicus)
is one who demands the maximization of his power in
relation to all his values, who expects power to
determine power, and who identifies with others as
a means of enhancing power position and potential.
DF. An encounter is an interaction in the power
process.
DF. An alignment is the power ratio for and
against a decision.
32Ibid.. pp. 35-36
25
DP, A form of influence is a kind of influence
relationship specified as to base value and scope.
A form of power is a form of influence in which the
effect on policy is enforced or expected to be
enforced by relatively severe sanctions.
PROP. The forms of power are interdependent:
a certain amount of several forms of power is a nec
essary condition for a great amount of any form.
PROP. The amount of power tends to increase till
limited by other power holders.
PROP. Forms of power and influence are
agglutinative: those with some forms tend to acquire
other forms also.33
While some of these definitions and propositions
parallel to some extent the approach and findings of the
present study, the system itself does not lend itself
readily to simple examination.
Probably no statement on the subject of social
power is more widely-known and presumably more profound
than the famous Actonian dictum that power corrupts and
absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is appropriate,
therefore, that any discussion of political and
philosophical literature on social power include some
reference to Lord Acton's assertion.
A pair of political scientists, Rogow and
Lasswell, have challenged Acton's thesis. In their
little book, Power. Corruption, and Rectitude, they
examine the context in which Acton offered the statement,
33ibid.. pp. 74-79.
26
the background of the belief which it summarizes, and
the consequences that this belief has had for politics
in democracies.3^
Using historical and biographical data, Rogow
and Lasswell compare occurrences of power concentrations
and corruption to ascertain whether the two conditions
appear to be associated. They also seek to assess the '
specific impact of the widely-held belief in the
power-corruption thesis upon the course of actual
political conditions through time. The authors conclude
that Acton.' s aphorism is not accurate unless it is
qualified to a considerable extent, and they find that
prevalence of the belief that it is true has frequently
frustrated the popular will by obfuscating the function
35 ’
of party responsibility.
In the course of the present study it became
apparent that belief in Acton's contention was not con
fined to the wider political arena. There is more than
a little of this belief around the power arenas of
industrial firms. Persons within a firm who are distant
witnesses to power struggle activities above them in the
34
Arnold A. Rogow and Harold D. Lasswell, Power,
Corruption, and Rectitude (Englewood Cliffs, New
Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1963).
35Ibid., pp. 18-19.
27
management structure often appear eager to project
corruption upon the contenders involved. The existence
of such attitudes no doubt has some dysfunctional
consequences in the industrial setting just as Rogow and
Lasswell have alleged for the wider political setting.
The limitations of the present study, however, have
precluded examination of this aspect of social power
activities.
One particularly interesting feature of the Rogow
and Lasswell work is its typology of power seekers. The
authors make a distinction between the game politician
36
and the gain politician. For the game politician,
politics functions as a mode of self-expression and self-
realization; "the game" is rewarding in terms of power,
prestige, and a sense of self-importance. The gain
politician, on the other hand, pursues politics in
order to enhance the material welfare of himself and his
deserving friends; he values tranquility and stability,
and seeks no more status and power than is necessary to
maintain his control of adequate welfare means. This
typology would appear to apply quite well in the
industrial setting also. Very often power actors have
seemed to be just as much moved by a love for the power
^6Ibid., pp. 46-50.
28
game itself as they have been by the money which
usually comes with advancement in status.
Sociological Literature
By virtue of its relative youth, sociology has
been concerned with the phenomenon of social power for
a much shorter period of time than has either philosophy
or political science. However, because very few social
relationships do not involve some element of power,
many sociologists from the earliest days of the
discipline have been compelled to take some notice of the
subject. For the most part, these sociologists have
dealt with social power only in theoretical terms. In
recent decades, however, a few sociologists have
attempted to deal empirically with selected aspects of
37
the subject.
Among the early sociologists, two stand out from
tne rest in terms of their observations on social power
and closely related phenomena. Weber and Simmel included
theoretical discussions of power in their analyses of
society and its processes. Their approaches have had
considerable influence on most of the subsequent
37
In addition to the sociologists discussed here
a number will also be noted below under the heading,
"Literature from the Study of Complex Organizations.1 1
29
observations on the subject.
Weber was probably the first writer in the
sociological tradition to make a systematic examination
38
of social power. in developing his theories of social
and economic organization he devoted considerable analyt
ical attention to the forms and interrelationships of
power, leadership, and social organization. He was
particularly concerned with the ways in which power may
be exercised within social groups. He recognized that
a proper study of this complex and subtle subject
constituted one of the major challenges to sociology:
The concept of power is highly comprehensive
from the point of view of sociology. All conceivable
qualities of a person and all conceivable combina
tions of circumstances may put him in a position
to impose his will in a given situation.^9
To facilitate his analysis of social behavior,
Weber composed precise definitions of his principal
terms and devised pure types (models) of social phenomena
with which to compare selected features of the observable
social world. He employed this approach in his discussion
of power.
To characterize power, Weber utilized what is
3®Max Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic
Organization, trans. A. M. Henderson and Talcott Parsons,
ed. Talcott Parsons (New York: Oxford University Press,
1947).
3®Ibid., p. 153.
30
essentially a probabilistic definition:
"power" (Macht) is the probability that one
actor within a social relationship will be in a
position to carry out his own will despitQ.resistance,
regardless of the basis on which this probability
rests.40
Zn another place Weber extended the definition
considerably but still retained the probabilistic aspect:
In general, we understand by "Power" the chance
of a man or a number of men to realize their own
will in a communal action even against the resistance
of others who are participating in the action.41
Weber made a clear distinction between power
and authority. He conceived of authority as the legiti
mate exercise of power by an individual or group within
42
some given social setting. Involving his idea of pure
types, he observed:
All ruling powers, profane and religious,
political and apolitical, may be considered as
variations of, or approximations to, certain pure
types. These types are constructed by searching for
the basis of legitimacy, which the ruling power
claims .43
Weber contended that all power relations in human
society may be understood within a framework of just three
40Ibid., p. 152.
41
Max Weber, From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology,
trans. and ed. H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1946), p. 180.
42Ibid.. pp. 294-295.
43Ibid., p. 294.
31
pure types of authority.
The first of these pure types Weber termed legal
authority. He viewed it as the most rational type of
authority. In this type, leaders exercise power in the
name of their organizations in accordance with clearly
defined rules and within specific jurisdictions. The
right to exercise power is conferred upon individual
office holders by their organizations. The principal
illustration of the legal authority type is
bureaucracy.44
The second of the pure types Weber termed tradi
tional authority. He viewed it as being based upon the
ready acceptance of the habitual workaday routine as an
inviolable guide to behavior. In this type of authority
the rights of the leaders to exercise power are accepted
out of piety for the fact that they or their counter
parts have always exercised power. Patriarchalism is the
principal illustration of this pure type of authority.4^
The third of the pure types Weber termed
charismatic authority. He viewed it as being somewhat
revolutionary in character. The rights of the leaders to
exercise power in this type of authority are based upon
44
Weber, The Theory of Social . . . , pp. 329-341.
45Ibid., pp. 341-358.
32
the devoted convictions of their followers. The leaders
are assumed to have some extraordinary or special
personal quality which fits them for leadership and
power. Religious prophets and military Caesars
46
illustrate charismatic authority.
In Weber's view it appears that most individuals
and organizations are moved to seek power primarily for
its economic utility. However, in discussing power
and the social order he observes that it is an error to
think of all power as being economically conditioned.
He notes that power is sometimes sought as an end in
itself2
Man does not strive for power only in order to
enrich himself economically. Power, including
economic power, may be valued "for its own sake."
Very frequently the striving for power is also
conditioned by the social "honor" it e n t a i l s .47
If a disproportionate amount of space has been
devoted to Weber's work here, it is because his writings
have served as the principal starting point for a
sociological concern with social power in the present
study. His examination of the ways in which the exercise
of power is legitimized suggested the working definition
of power struggle activities used in the present
46Ibid., pp. 358-363.
47Weber, From Max Weber . . . , p. 180.
33
studyIn addition, his carefully phrased distinction
between power and authority has been basic to both the
field-work and the analytical efforts reported here.
Simmel, in his discussions of the relationship
between superordinates and subordinates and in his
treatment of social conflict, deals with several important
aspects of social power relations. While in general his
efforts lack the specificity and clarity which character
ize Weber's work, they do provide two additional
observations which are relevant to the present study.
In analyzing the "forms" of domination, Simmel
points out that the social relationship which obtains
between superordinates and subordinates is not the
one-sided affair which it frequently appears to be. He
suggests that in most interactions between superordinates
and subordinates, the superordinates do not actually
wish to impose their will completely upon their subordi
nates. Rather, they expect to have their own behavior
determined to some extent by the wishes of their sub-
49
ordinates.
Simmel contends that only infrequently do social
4®Above, p. 5.
49Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel.
trans. and ed. Kurt H. Wolff (Glencoe, Ills The Free
Press, 1950) , pp. 181-182.
34
conditions exist wherein an all-powerful leader imposes
his will upon his subordinates to the exclusion of all
spontaneity on their part. He observes that even under
the most cruel and oppressive of conditions, unless
actual physical force is used to control the very bodies
of the subordinates, they still will enjoy a considerable
measure of behavioral freedom.^0 This leads Simmel
to conclude that, for the most part, relations between
superordinates and subordinates involve a great deal of
reciprocity in terns of the influence each exercises upon
the behavior of the other.^
Though Simmel does not define or specifically
refer to social power in this context, he obviously is
concerned with it. The exercise of influence upon the
behavior of others is a central point in nearly all
conceptions of social power. Simmel1s contentions, then,
would seem to suggest that analysis of social power must
take into account the reciprocal nature of power relations
between interacting individuals.
In his discussion of leaders and followers Simmel
constructs a typology of leaders or of superiority which
is similar in many respects to Weber's pure types of
51Ibid., p. 186.
authority. Simmel notes that there are two forms of
superiority. Some individuals lead other people by
virtue of the power conferred upon them by larger en
veloping organizations. Simmel terms these leaders
"authoritative leaders." This form of superiority corres
ponds quite closely with Weber's pure type of legal
authority. Other leaders, Simmel notes, command respect
and obedience by means of an apparent or obvious
personal strength and ability. These leaders he terms
"prestige leaders." This form corresponds closely with
Weber's pure type of charismatic authority.
Simmel makes a further observation in this
connection which extends the analysis somewhat beyond
Weber's contribution. He points out that individual
subordinates often have more freedom of action and
criticism under authoritative leaders them they do under
prestige leaders. However, due to the enchantment
effected by prestige leaders, their subordinates feel as
though they are more free in their actions than do the
52
subordinates of authoritative superiors.
In another place Simmel points out that social
conflict, while it appears to be negative in character,
52Ibid.. p. 187
36
53
has many positive functions in society. He says that it
is naive to conclude that the discord between individuals,
which may appear to have its negative aspects, will also
have negative effects upon the total group. Simmel
asserts that conflict serves to dissolve the tensions
which arise from the ordinary contrasts between individuals;
it reduces the divergent dualisms which result from hate,
envy, need, and desire. Simmel was so attracted to this
line of thought that he made conflict a central concern
of his whole system of sociology. His intense concern
with conflict and its positive functions encouraged an
active search for positive functions in the power struggle
activities observed during the course of the present study.
Weber and Simmel included their discussions of
social power within their larger and more general works.
A number of recent sociologists have dealt directly and
specifically with the subject. Among the more important
of these recent writers are Timasheff, Blumer, Bierstedt,
and Abramson and his coauthors.
Timasheff centers his attention upon the
54
relationship between social power and formal law.
53Georg Simmel, Conflict and The Web of Group-
Affiliations, trans. Kurt G. Wolff and Rexnhard Bendix
(Glencoe, 111.; The Free Press, 1955), pp. 13-20.
54Nicholas S. Timasheff, "The Power Phenomenon,"
American Sociological Review. Ill (August, 1938), 499-509.
37
Observing that all power systems must involve dominance-
submission relationships between individuals, he
seeks to explain the nature of such relationships. He
avers, that at base, dominance-submission behavior is a
sophisticated form of inhibitory conditioned response.
He observes that:
A true power relationship, after obedience has
become automatic, is merely a system of acquired
tendencies in which the stimuli are represented by
words, gestures or symbols of the dominators, and the
responses consist of an inhibition of the excitations
which otherwise would prevent the execution of the
"indicated" action.55
Timasheff points out that social power is central
in all forms of social control. Apparently borrowing
from Hobbes, he contends that without a clearly defined
power system there can be no system of law. He
concludes that complex power systems are necessary parts
of all those societies which are able to carry on
56
higher social functions.
In contributing to a book on industrial conflict,
Blumer offers a brief theoretical analysis of social
57
power. Arguing the importance of studying social power
55Ibid., pp. 504-505.
56Ibid., p. 509.
57
Herbert Blumer, "Social Structure and Power
Conflict," Industrial Conflict, ed. Arthur Kornhauser,
Robert Dubin, and Arthur M. Ross (New York: McGraw-
Hill Book Co., 1954), pp. 232-239.
38
relations, he observes that:
It would indeed be strange if our industrial
arena did not show power situations comparable to
those in other areas of our American life. The most
careful observation of American industry reveals
clearly the presence of power play and power conflict.
Power actions are to be noted in the competitive
struggles between business organizations, in the
conflicts between different business interests, in
the internal politics of large corporations, and in
the half-hidden struggles between administrative
units of production in factories and plants; in the
factional strivings within labor unions and in the
rivalries and disputes between labor unions; and in
the relations between managements and labor unions.58
In his analysis Blumer contends that there are
three basic forms of human relationship. The first
form he calls "codified" human relations. This form
includes behavior which is guided by norms. The
second form he calls "sympathetic" human relations.
This form includes behavior which is guided by sentiment.
The third form he calls power relations. This form
includes behavior which is guided by the respective
59
positions of effective strength among the principals.
It is clear in Blumer’s view that power relations
are of necessity conflictive in character. It follows
then that one of society's most important problems is
the controlling of power conflict. Blumer does not
pursue the solution to this problem but he does offer an
58Ibid.. p. 233.
59Ibid., pp. 233-234.
39
observation in passing. He avers that the most effective
restraint upon the exercise of power by actors or groups
is the rational calculation of the losses which might
be attendant upon its use. Self-limitation is thus in-
60
herent in the power process.
Bierstedt contends that there are few problems
in sociology which are as perplexing as the problem
61
of social power. He observes that the subject is
obviously important, but that the studies are few and
62
inadequate. In his article he "attempts to articulate
the problem as one of central sociological concern,
to clarify the meaning of the concept, and to discover
63
the locus and seek the sources of social power itself."
Bierstedt first suggests a number of distinctions
which must be made between social power and the related
concepts of prestige, influence, dominance, and rights.
He observes that while some power may derive from
prestige, prestige often is unaccompanied by power.
Influence, he notes, is persuasive while power is
60Ibid.. p. 236.
^Robert Bierstedt, "An Analysis of Social Power,"
American Sociological Review, XV (December, 1950),
730-738.
. 62Ibid., p. 730.
40
coercive. Dominance, he avers, is a psychological
concept, while social power is a sociological concept.
Finally, he points out that individuals frequently may
64
have rights without the power to exercise them.
Having made these distinctions, Bierstedt then
discusses the relationships between power and force and
authority:
Power is not force and power is not authority,
but it is intimately related to both and may be
defined in terms of them. We want therefore to
propose three definitions and then to examine their
implications: (1) power is latent force; (2) force
is manifest power; and (3) authority is institution
alized power. . . . Force, in any significant
sociological sense of the word, means the
application of sanctions. . . . Power itself is the
predisposition or prior capacity which makes the
application of force possible. . . . Power symbolizes
the force which mav be applied in any social
situation and supports the authority which is. applied.
Power is thus neither force nor authority but, in a
sense, their synthesis.65
Bierstedt then examines the locus of power in
society. He "discovers" it in three areas: in formal or
ganization, in informal organization, and in the unorgan
ized community. He observes that in formal organization
power is institutionalized as authority. In informal
organization power remains simply power itself. In the
unorganized community power stems from the majority. He
concludes that the ultimate sources of power are in
64Ibid.. p. 733.
66Ibid.. p. 735.
41
66
numbers, in social organization, and in resources.
Of particular importance for the present study is
the fact that Bierstedt's careful distinction between
power and authority becomes blurred when he discusses
the relationships between power in the formal social
structure and power in the informal social structure.
In an illustration he observes that:
Sometimes these power relations become quite
complicated. In a university organization, for
example, it may not be clear whether a dean has the
authority to apply the sanction of dismissal to a
professor. . . . It is similarly unclear whether a
Bishop of the Episcopal Church has the authority
to remove a rector from his parish when the latter
apparently has the support of his parishioners. In
other words, it sometimes comes to be a matter of
unwise policy for an official to exercise the author
ity which is specifically vested in his position,
and it is in these cases that we can clearly see
power leaking into the joints of associational
structure and invading the formal organization. 7
Abramson and his coauthors seek to overcome some
of the difficulties involved in measuring social power
68
by offering a new approach to the subject. They
suggest that social power is best conceived of in terms
of actors, objectives, and lines of action. Actors are
assumed to be capable of acting and to have objectives.
66Ibid., p. 735.
67Ibid.. p. 734.
68
E. Abramson and Others, "Social Power and Com
mitment : A Theoretical Statement," American Sociologi
cal Review, XXIII (February, 1958), 15-22.
42
Lines of action are the action sequences which may be
suitable for employment by actors in seeking their
objectives.
The authors then point out that lines of action
may be considered to be open, closed, or committed
with respect to a particular actor in a given situation.
Open lines of action, they say, are sets of alternative
action sequences which are available and suitable for
the actor to use in obtaining his objectives. He is
free to shift from one action sequence to another as it
may suit his purposes. In illustration, a checker
player has open lines of action in the early phases of a
game.
Closed lines of action are specific action
sequences which appear to be efficient and appropriate
for an actor to use but which are not allowed to him,
at least at that time. They may, however, be
allowed to certain other actors. Backward movements
are closed lines of action for checker players until
they have "crowned" kings.
Committed lines of action are action sequences
with attached penalties which assure their selection by
the actor. A checker player with a solitary cornered
king faces a committed line of action.
Abramson and his coauthors then suggest that
social power may be measured by examining the lines
g g
of action available to actors. In comparing the
social power of two actors in a given situation, the
more powerful actor would be the one with more open lines
of action and he would be subject to fewer closed and
committed lines of action. In brief, power exists
when the lines of action of an actor exceed his
commitments. The authors observe that an authority
system obtains when the lines of action exactly equal
70
the commitments for each actor in a social system.
A number of recent sociologists have made use of
some of the theoretical observations on power and
conflict offered by Weber and Simmel. Probably foremost
among these writers are Parsons and Coser.
In his theoretical works Parsons deals with
71
power in much the same way as did Weber. In some of
his references to power Parsons appears to be merely
recasting Weber's observations in modern structural-
functionalist terminology:
Power, by its very nature, is a relatively scarce
object; its possession by one actor in a relationship
is a restriction of the other actor's power. Its
69Ibid.. p. 17.
7QIbid.. p. 22.
71
Talcott Parsons, The Social System (Glencoe, 111,
The Free Press, 1951), passim.
44
intrinsic scarcity and its generalized instrumental
status make it into one of the most avidly and
vigorously competed for of all objects—-we pass over
here its very great importance as a direct cathectic
object for the immediate gratification of a variety
of derivative need-dispositions.72
In another place Parsons describes power in one of
the types of sentences for which he has become famous:
Power then is generalized capacity to secure the
performance of binding obligations by units in a
system of collective organization when the obligations
are legitimized with reference to their bearing on
collective goals and where in case of recalcitrance
there is a presumption of enforcement by negative
situational sanctions— whatever the actual agency of
the enforcement .*73
At other points in this article, however, Parsons
extends his analysis beyond the observations already
offered by Weber. In one place he considers a question
which also arose several times in the course of the
present study. He examines the likelihood that, in a
game-theory sense, power is a zero-sum phenomenon. He
observes that:
The dominant tendency in the literature, for
example in Lasswell and C. Wright Mills, is to
maintain explicitly or implicitly that power is a
zero-sum phenomenon, which is to say that there is a
72Talcott Parsons and Edward A. Shils, "The
Social System," Toward a General Theory of Action, ed.
Talcott Parsons and Edward A. Shils (New York: Harper
Torchbooks, Harper and Row Publishers, 1951), p. 200.
73Talcott Parsons, "On the Concept of Political
Power," Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society. CVII (June. 1963). 237.
45
fixed "quantity" of power in any relational system
and hence any gain of power on the part of A must
by definition occur by diminishing the power at the
disposal of other units, B, C, D. . • .
Parsons goes on to argue that the zero-sum
conception of power is useful only for restricted social
situations. He then describes how banks in competing
for depositors' money in order to use it for making
75
loans actually add to the available money (power)• He
concludes that the zero-sum condition "is not
constitutive of power systems in general."7® His con
clusions would appear to be applicable to the power
situations observed in the present study.
Coser has drawn upon and extended some of
Simmel's ideas about power and conflict. In one work
Coser systematically examines and reformulates a number
77
of propositions which had been put forth by Simmel. '
In his approach to this task Coser states a definition
of conflict which relates it to power in much the same
way that it is used in the present study:
Social conflict has been defined in various
ways. For the purpose of this study, it will pro
visionally be taken to mean a struggle over values-
74Ibid., pp. 232-233.
7^Ibid., pp. 251-252.
7®Ibid., p. 258.
77
Lewis Coser, The Functions of Social Conflict
(Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1956).
46
and claims to scarce status, power and resources in
which the aims of the opponents are to neutralize,
injure or eliminate their rivals.78
One of the propositions Coser examines is that
conflict establishes and maintains the balance of
79
power. He derives this proposition from Simmel's
assertion that "the most effective prerequisite for
preventing struggle, the exact knowledge of the compara
tive strength of the two parties, is very often attainable
80
only by the actual fighting out of the conflict."
In analyzing this apparently paradoxical
assertion, Coser reviews some of Simmel's most interest
ing suggestions. Coser then reformulates Simmel's
proposition:
Conflict consists in a test of power between
antagonistic parties. Accommodation between them
is possible only if each is aware of the relative
strength of both parties. However, paradoxical as
it may seem, such knowledge can most frequently be
attained only through conflict, since other mechan
isms for testing the respective strength of
antagonists seem to be unavailable.
Consequently, struggle may be an important way
to avoid conditions of disequilibrium by modifying
the basis for power relations.81
Coser concludes from this that conflict, "rather
78Ibid., p. 8.
79Ibid.. p. 133.
81Ibid.. p. 137.
47
than being disruptive and dissociating, may indeed be a
means of balancing and hence maintaining a society as a
82
going concern." This suggestion, both in Coser*s
form and in Simmel's original form, influenced some of
the analysis offered later in this study.
In recent years Homans, Blau, Coleman, and
other sociologists have been utilizing the idea of ex
change in their social theories. These writers, with or
without awareness, have found it necessary to consider
social power in their formulations. Homans, though he
does not use the term power in his book, is clearly
concerned with it when he discusses influence and
OO
authority. Blau deals with the subject directly and
QA
at some length. Coleman even suggests that power is a
85
commodity in the exchange process.0
The conceptions of social power employed by these
82Ibid.
83George C. Homans, Social Behavior; Its
Elementary Forms (New Yorks Harcourt, Brace, and World,
Inc., 196l), pp. 283-316.
84Peter M. Blau, Exchange and Power in Social
Life (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1964),
pp. 115-142.
88James S. Coleman, "Foundations for a Theory of
Collective Decisions," American Journal of Sociology,
LXXI (May, 1966), 615-627.
48
writers, for the most part, follow the ones developed
by Weber, Simmel, Bierstedt, and others discussed above.
It is apparent in their works, however, that considera
tion of social power within the framework of exchange
theory should become quite useful in sociology.
Unfortunately, the field has begun to take shape too
late to be of more than passing interest for the present
study.
Cartwright has offered what is probably one
of the most well known of the recent works on social
86
power. His book is a collection of ten or more
short pieces by different writers. Most of the
inclusions are theoretical treatments of the subject,
but several report on limited empirical inquiries.
Cartwright himself provides some of the most
interesting material in the book. In his introduction
he argues persuasively that power is a neglected
87
variable in social psychology. In his closing
theoretical review he illustrates the complexity of the
power concept by enumerating many of the differing
definitions of power that have been employed by other
86
Dorwin Cartwright (ed.), Studies in Social
Power (Ann Arbor, Mich.s University of Michigan Press,
1959).
87Ibid., pp. 1-14.
49
QQ
writers. His subsequent characterization of pcwer
as a "psychological force," however, may not appeal to
89
all sociologists. The empirical studies reported in
the book are of limited significance for the present
study. Neither their methods nor findings appear to be
suited for the industrial setting considered here.
Most of the empirical studies of power by
sociologists have been focused upon community power
structures. Hunter provided the prototype for these
studies." In his study Hunter attempted to learn who
the power figures were in a given community and some of
their socioeconomic characteristics. His methods
relied extensively upon reputational reports by members
of the community. While interesting, these studies of
community power structure are of little value in
connection with the present study. Their lack of
relevance is probably a reflection of the significant
differences between loosely structured communities and
tightly organized corporations.
Dalton has made several empirical sociological
88Ibid., pp. 185-187.
89Ibid., pp. 188-192.
90pioyd Hunter, Community Power Structure (Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1953).
50
91
studies of power in the corporation setting.
Employing the participant observation approach he studied
the behavior of managers in three business firms. In
the course of his field work Dalton observed many of the
power struggle activities which occurred among line
managers, between line and staff managers, and between
managers and union representatives.
Dalton reports that power struggle activities
at all levels in industrial organizations tend to occur
principally between two polar types of managers. On the
one side of this conflict are the managers who tend to
be systematizers and routinizers. On the other side
are the managers who tend to be adapters and
92
reorganizers. Dalton concludes that the prevalence of
power struggle activities in industry belies the
apparent drive for conformity in our society which so
93
troubles such observers as Whyte and Riesman.
91
Melville Dalton, Men Who Manage (New Yorks
John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1959). See also his earlier
work, "Conflicts Between Staff and Line Managerial
Officers," American Sociological Review, XV (June, 1950),
342-351.
92
Men Who Manage, pp. 6-7.
"ibid., p. 272, referring to William H. Whyte,
Jr., The Organization Man (New Yorks Simon and
Schuster, 1956) and David Riesman, Nathan Glazer, and
Reuel Denney, The Lonely Crowd. Abridged ed. (New Yorks
Doubleday and Co., 1953).
51
It appears that Dalton's work is the only
empirical sociological study of power which has any
substantial relevance for the present study. His study
deals directly with power struggle activities by
managers, and his methodological approach to the problem
was quite similar to the one employed here. As will be
discussed later, however, his findings differ to some
extent from those of the present study.
Literature from the Study of
Complex Organizations
In recent years a multidisciplinary concern with
complex organizations has begun to take form in the
94
sciences devoted to human behavior. A number of
sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, political
scientists, economists, and students of management have
focused their attentions upon social units that approxi-
95
mate the organizations which Weber termed bureaucracies.
A spate of book-length works in this area has appeared,
94
The scope and nature of this multidisciplinary
concern with conqalex organizations and the role of
sociology in it are indicated in James G. March (ed.),
Handbook of Organizations (Chicago: Rand McNally and
Co., 1965)• See especially the editor's introduction,
pp. ix-xvi.
95
Max Weber, Theory of Social . . ., pp. 329-341.
52
Qg
along with at least one journal.
Nearly all of these boohs and many of the articles
include discussions of power. Usually, however, these
discussions add little to existing knowledge of the
97
subject. A notable exception is provided by Etzioni.
Because his book also offers the best of the theoretical
discussions of complex organizations it will be considered
at some length here.
^Among the more important book-length works
seer Richard N. Adams and Jack J. Preiss (ed.). Human
Organization Research (Homewood, 111.: Dorsey Press,
Inc., 1960); Peter M. Blau and W. Richard Scott, Formal
Organizations (San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Co.,
1962); Theodore Caplow, Principles of Organization (New
Yorkr Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1964); Amitai
Etzioni, Complex Organizations: A Sociological Reader
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1961);
Robert L. Kahn and Elise Boulding (ed.). Power and
Conflict in Organizations (New York: Basic Books, Inc.,
1964); Charles D. Orth, 3rd., Joseph C. Bailey, and
Francis W. Walek, Administering Research and Development
(Homewood, 111.: Richard D. Irwin, Inc., and the
Dorsey Press, 1964); Robert L. Peabody, Organizational
Authority (New York: Atherton Press, 1964); Robert
Presthus, The Organizational Society (New York: Alfred
A. Knopf, Publisher, 1962); Albert H. Rubenstein and
Chadwick J. Haberstroh, Some Theories of Organization
(rev. ed.; Homewood, 111.: Richard D. Irwin, Inc., and
The Dorsey Press, 1966); Robert Tannenbaum, Irving R.
Weschler, and Fred Massarik, Leadership and Organization
(New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1961); Victor A.
Thompson, Modern Organization (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1961)• Many shorter works on complex organizations
appear in the Administrative Science Quarterly, an inter
disciplinary journal which commenced publication in 1957.
97
Amitai Etzioni, A Comparative Analysis of
Complex Organizations (Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press,
1961).
53
Etzioni proposes an analytical typology for
comparing complex organizations. The scheme he outlines
is based upon the ways in which various forms of power
may be combined with various forms of involvement to
constitute compliance (social control) patterns in
98
organizations. The types yielded by this approach
are then compared in terms of the levels of their
participants, the performance obligations of the
99
participants, and the goals of the organizations.
In his theoretical framework Etzioni views power
as being either coercive, remunerative, or normative in
form. Involvement may be alienative, calculative, or
moral. It is possible to conceive of nine possible
compliance patterns made up by combining one form of power
with one form of involvement. Of these nine patterns
only three are empirically important: the coercive-
alienative, the remunerative-calculative, and the
normative-moral. Etzioni shortens the names for these
compliance patterns to coercive, utilitarian, and
normative respectively. They constitute the basic types
in his analytical framework. A fourth category, the dual
pattern of compliance, completes the typology.
"ibid., pp. 4-16.
99
Ibid., pp. 69 et passim.
100Ibid., pp. 23-67.
54
Etzioni supplies a number of examples
illustrating how complex organizations may be typed in
terms of their predominant compliance patterns. In
his scheme prisons and custodial mental hospitals are
classified as coercive organizations. Most business
firms are classified as utilitarian organizations.
Churches, hospitals, and universities are classified as
normative organizations. Labor unions, elementary
schools, and ships are classified as dual-type
. . . 101
organizations.
Etzioni*s scheme also provides for a simple but
useful typology of elites in complex organizations.
Each actor is viewed as either having or not having a
significant amount of personal power. The offices
or positions in complex organizations are viewed as
either being or not being sources of power for their
incumbents. Actors who have personal power and who
occupy offices which are sources of power are termed
formal leaders. Actors who do not have personal power
and who occupy offices which are sources of power are
termed officers. Actors who have personal power and who
do not occupy offices which are sources of power are
informal leaders. Actors who do not have personal power
101Ibid., pp. 66-67.
55
and who do not occupy offices which are sources of
, . . 102
power are non-elites.
In considering elites in complex organizations,
Etzioni offers a modification of Weber's conception of
charisma. Weber had conceived of a pure charisma and a
routinized charisma. In Weber's theory actors with pure
charisma ("natural" leaders) sometimes established
complex social structures. The offices in these
structures "borrowed" charisma from the leader. Eventual
ly this borrowed charisma became routinized and was ex
ercised by the officers in the bureaucracy. Over time,
103
office charisma could run down.
Etzioni suggests that in complex organizations
a certain amount of transferable charisma is available
in all offices which are sources of power. He contends
that actors without much personal charisma may sometimes
achieve it by occupying offices which are sources of
power. In short, an actor with little pure charisma may
develop a certain amount of it while holding an office
which possesses routinized charisma. In fact, he may
develop so much pure charisma that he extends the
104
routinized charisma of the office.
102
Ibid., pp. 89-96.
103
Weber, Theories of Social . . .. pp. 329-341.
104
Etzioni, A Comparative Analysis . . ., pp. 203-
207.
56
In examining the relationship between compliance
patterns and other variables, Etzioni considers
organizational goals. He proposes a typology which
provides for three categories: Order goals, economic
105
goals, and cultural goals. In his examination he
observes that order goals are usually associated with
coercive compliance structures; economic goals tend to
occur with utilitarian compliance structures; and
cultural goals are connected with normative compliance
structures. He terms these three associations
congruent. and he avers that they are the most effective
arrangements for complex organizations.^-00 He
concludes that "Other combinations of conpliance and
goals are feasible and sometimes found, but they are
107
less effective." He suggests that in the normal
course of things, incongruent compliance-goal
structures will shift in the direction of the effective
108
types.
Many of Etzioni's ideas are useful in the
analysis offered later in the present study. Of interest
105Ibid., pp. 72-74,
106Ibid., pp. 77-86,
107
Ibid., pp. 88.
108Ibid.
57
here is the fact that he found it difficult to classify
109
and examine research organizations in his scheme.
He finally assigns them to the dual-type compliance
structure category. Perhaps Etzioni's problems with
research organizations suggest something of the complexity
encountered in the present study. A research and develop
ment oriented electronics firm with a cojoined
manufacturing facility would be both dual natured in
compliance pattern and ambiguous in terms of goals.
Literature from Business Education
Very few books and articles in the literature
of business education discuss power struggle
activities. The most widely hailed book in the field
fails to mention power, even in its discussion of
authority.This condition probably stems from the
emphasis upon meritorious achievement in the creed or
ideology of business in the United States. In
analyzing the ideology of business and its import for
executives Sutton and others observe that while in
government co-optation is recognized, "The fact that a
109
Ibid.. pp. 51-52, 227-228, 260-261.
Chester I. Barnard, The Functions of the
Executive (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1938),
pp. 161-184 et passim.
58
junior executive in business is completely dependent
on the good will of a few of his superiors for
promotion is not recognized in the ideology. Two
works which are exceptions to this general condition are
discussed here.
In his book on leadership Jennings argues that
there are three types of leaders: princes, heroes,
112
and supermen. In discussing these types and their
functions in business and other organizations he
considers power at some length.
Jennings describes princes as individuals who are
motivated primarily by desires or needs to exercise pure
power over other individuals. Their leadership derives
113
only from their achieved power. Heroes, he says, are
moved by strong feelings of mission. Their leadership
114
stems from their actual insight and genius. Supermen
he characterizes as energetic innovators who are able to
resist the commonly accepted values and norms. Their
^^■^Francis X. Sutton, The American Business Creed
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956), p. 105.
112
Eugene E. Jennings, An Anatomy of Leadership
(New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1960).
113
Ibid., pp. 32-69.
114
Ibid., pp. 70-121.
59
leadership grows out of their leadership over
115
themselves. In Jennings' conception the leadership
of the prince is inferior to that of the hero which in
116
turn is inferior to that of the superman.
Jennings contends that at the present time
organizations in our society and society itself are
functioning with a disproportionately large number of
117
inferior leaders. He attributes this condition to
the character of contemporary organizations. The
complexity of businesses today leaves no room for the
118
virtuoso or real individualist. In an established
bureaucracy great men must be subordinate to
119
efficient men. The insignificance of the individual
in the organization fosters self-alienation. In
consequence, by the time an individual has achieved a
position of leadership in a large organization he has
lost the capacity to deal with complex problems if he
ever had it. This setting favors the advancement of
princes at the expense of the heroes and supermen, thus
115Ibid.. pp. 122-146.
^ 6Ibid., passim.
117 . ,
Ibid.. p. xv.
118Ibid., p. 24.
ll9Ibid., pp. 27-28.
60
120
reducing the quality of the reigning leadership.
Jennings summarizes:
The executive is rapidly becoming a kind of power
seeker who appears to be a leader because he is
skillful in getting support, popularity, and rapport
with a minimum of "heavy" involvement. He is trying
hard to become skillful at working with people and
using resources of committees and decision-making
groups. He appears to be a good human relations
practitioner or social engineer, but actually consid
ers these human relations principles as means by
which he may intelligently and subtly play the
power g a m e .121
In effect, Jennings repeats and extends the
organization-man and other-directed theses put forth
122
by Whyte and Riesman. Jennings concludes that if our
society is to avoid further alienation and possibly
catastrophe, it must sponsor "rebirth" of the leader:
Executives should be encouraged to seek power
that comes from a superior inner awareness and
sensitivity to what the future character and
direction of the firm should be; not power that comes
from an ability to manipulate people and to use
social techniques.123
Of especial interest for the present study is the
fact that Dalton and Jennings have used the same ideas to
arrive at opposite conclusions. Dalton contends that the
prevalence of power struggle activities in business belies
120Ibid., pp. 220-221.
121Ibid.. p. 230.
122
Cited above, p. 50.
123
Jennings, Anatomy . . ., p. 237.
61
124
the organization-man and other-directed theses.
Jennings, on the other hand, contends that the
organization-man and other-directed phenomena in them
selves give rise to power struggle activities in
organizations. The wide range of possible interpreta
tions in this area may be a reflection of the sheer
complexity of the power phenomenon.
Martin and Sims have offered what is probably
the most explicit treatment of power struggle activities
to be published in the literature of business
125
education. They argue that a frank and realistic
discussion of power behavior in the business setting is
long overdue. Their article is offered as a report on
some of the findings of their investigation into "how
the executive functions in his political-power
environment.
After a general discussion of power and the
legitimacy of discussing it in a business journal, Martin
and Sims outline a number of power tactics which are
said to be commonly employed by managers in performing
124
See above, p. 50.
125
Norman H. Martin and John Howard Sims, "Power
Tactics," Harvard Business Review. XXXIV (November-
December, 1956), 25-36, 140.
126Ibid., p. 26.
62
their assignments. Among the tactics indicated are
alliances with other managers, the maintenance of
personal maneuverability or flexibility, and the
selective use of communications.
Martin and Sims conclude with a plea for business
leaders to acknowledge that power tactics are a
necessary part of the manager's role. They urge business
leaders and business educators to start thinking about
the apparent contradiction between the theories of
human relations and the facts of power. The authors
contend that a viable philosophy of business management
will be developed only when this paradox has been
127
resolved.
Martin and Sims appear to be apologetic for even
raising the issue of power in the business setting. As
if to confirm once and for all time the general taboo
upon discussing the subject, they phrase most of their
discussion of power in terms of its contribution to
managers in performing their assigned functions. Power
and personal advancement are connected with each other
only in a few words or phrases appended to sentences
which direct attention to managerial efficiency.
127Ibid., pp. 36, 140
63
Literature from Biology and
the Study of Games
Biology and game theory, while apparently quite
far removed from each other, are connected by well-
developed interests in power conflicts between individual
organisms. Further, each of these disciplines offers
at the same time some of the simplest and some of the
most sophisticated approaches to social behavior that
have ever been devised. Some of the observations
growing out of these two approaches will be indicated
here.
Over the years field biologists and experimental
biologists have reported upon social behavior among
128
lower animals. Their reports frequently discuss
dominance-submission relationships and power contests.
It appears that many animal species which live in groups
129
establish and maintain definite social hierarchies.
The most familiar example of these hierarchies is
probably the "pecking order" observed in flocks of
chickens
128
Information from many of these reports is
drawn together in W. C. Allee, The Social Life of
Animals (rev. ed.; Boston: Beacon Press, 1958).
129Ibid.. pp. 129-136.
130
The term "pecking order" is often used to refer
to the social hierarchies of animals other than chickens.
In these hierarchies dominant animals are said to have
"peck rights" over the submissive animals.
64
It appears that the social hierarchies found
among animals are usually based upon the outcomes of
physical contests between individuals. However, the
relative strengths and sizes of animals do not always
determine their places in the hierarchies. Some other
131
factors are apparently involved. Of interest here
is the fact that while the actual leadership in animal
groups usually reflects the social hierarchy or
132
pecking order, it often differs from it considerably.
Apparently animal groups also may have "informal"
leaders.
Among the most sophisticated approaches to
social behavior are those formulated by the mathematical
biologists. A book by Rashevsky is of particular
133
interest here. Drawing upon his previous work in
mathematical biology, Rashevsky formulates a "mathemati
cal sociology" for application to animals and men alike.
He intends that his derived mathematical formulations
will facilitate interpretation of empirical
131Ibid.. pp. 135-145.
132Ibid., pp. 145-148.
133
Nicolas Rashevsky, Mathematical Biology of
Social Behavior (rev. ed.; Chicagos University of Chicago
Press, 1959).
65
134
observat ions.
One of the formulations which Rashevsky
discusses relates to pecking orders. Drawing upon the
work of other mathematical biologists, he outlines a
135
mathematical model for the pecking order in groups.
He avers that the mathematical properties of this model
indicate that the hierarchical structure of a given group
will tend to take on a definite form which is independent
of the form it had when the group was first brought into
being. While Rashevsky does not elaborate upon this
observation, it would appear to suggest that any group
which has a hierarchical structure that differs from the
one toward which it would tend will be subject to undue
internal conflict (peck-right contests) until it achieves
137
that particular structure.
134xbid., pp. xi-sviii. James S. Coleman has
characterized Rashevsky*s attempts as having "little
attachment to actual social phenomena . . . at the level
either of postulates or of deductions. ..." See his
Introduction to Mathematical Sociology (Glencoe, 111.:
The Free Press, 1964), p. 51.
135Ibid., pp. 53-57.
136ibjd., p. 57.
137apparently Rashavsky's model suggests that there
is an "ideal" hierarchical structure for any given group.
If the manifest structure of the group does not coincide
with the ideal structure, the ideal structure will be
latent in the group. Such a group will tend to change its
manifest structure toward the latent ideal structure until
the ideal structure becomes manifest. It might be inter
esting to examine this idea in connection with some of the
Game theory, in essence, provides for rigorous
logical analysis of the behavior of rational actors in
138
conflict with each other. Episodes of conflict are
termed "games." The games may be two-person games, or
they may be n-person games. The latter may or may not
involve alliances among some or all of the actors. Games
end with "payoffs" by the losers to the winners. When
the gains of the winners are exactly equal to the
losses of the losers, the games are called "zero-sum"
games. Games in which the gains and losses are not in
balance are "non-zero-sum" games. The potential action
sequences which may be pursued by actors are termed
"strategies." The objective of game theory is to
ideas on other types of latent structures offered by
Paul F. Lazarsfeld. See particularly his article with
Neil W. Henry, "The Application of Latent Structure
Analysis to Quantitative Ecological Data," in Fred
Massarik and Philburn Ratoosh (eds.), Mathematical
Explorations in Behavioral Science (Homewood, 111.:
Richard D. Irwin, Inc. and The Dorsey Press, 1965),
pp. 333-348.
138
The theory of games was first introduced in
John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern, The Theory of
Games and Economic Behavior (Princeton, N. Y. s Pnnce-
ton University Press, 1944). This book is so heavily
mathematical that it is seldom read by sociologists.
Since its publication, however, a number of less formid
able treatments of the subject have appeared. See for
example, J. D. Williams, The Compleat Strateavst (New
York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1954) and John McDonald,
Strategy in Poker. Business, and War (New York: W. W.
Norton and Co., Inc., 1950).
67
determine the optimum strategy for each actor in a game
139
in terms of its payoffs.
Game theory embraces elegant mathematical
techniques for evaluating the alternative strategies
available to actors. All possible strategies in a game
are examined in varying combinations with each other in
terms of the various payoffs. The probabilities for
rationally selecting the strategies are then determined.
Rational actors, informed by game theory, maximize
their gains and minimize their losses. Informed actors
should fare better than naive actors.^®
Many attempts to analyze social power in the
game-theoretical approach have been offered.1^1 For the
most part these works seldom yield insights which
justify the efforts required of most sociologists to
read them. A few articles, however, do present some
interesting ideas.
Harsanyi, for example, proposes an approach to
142
measuring social power. He reviews many of the
139
This characterization of game theory is drawn
primarily from Williams, The Compleat Strategyst. passim.
140ibid.
141
Several of these works have been collected in
Martin Shubik (ed.), Game Theory and Related Approaches to
Social Behavior (New Yorki John Wiley and Sons, Inc•,
1964).
142
John Harsanyi, "Measurement of Social Power,"
in Shubik, Game Theory . . ., pp. 183-206.
68
features or aspects of power which have been considered
by other writers. In particular, he considers the basis,
means, scope, amount, and extension of power as they
relate to the behavior of two interacting entities. He
contends that an adequate measure of power can not be
based solely upon features such as these. He proposes
that two additional "dimensions’ ' of power must be con
sidered: the costs to actors of using their power and
the costs to actors of not complying with directions
143
supplied by others.
As Harsanyi pursues this approach he is led to
consider a rewards-costs calculus in power behavior.
Ultimately, he attempts to show that such behavior may
be analyzed in one or more previously established game
144
theory models. Harsanyi's ideas and those offered by
Coleman appear to mark an interesting point of
convergence between game theory and sociology which has
145
not been generally recognized.
143Ibid.. pp. 186-192.
144Ibid., pp. 198-206.
145
Cf. Coleman, "Foundations for a Theory of
Collective Decisions." Coleman does not refer to Harsanyi
in this article nor in his book, Introduction to
Mathematical Sociology. The mathematical approaches of
the two authors differed considerably but some of their
substantive ideas are quite similar.
69
The approaches to social behavior by the game
theorists range from the very simple to the exceedingly
complex. Many of the idealized conceptions of human
conflict employed by the game theorists are on a level
146
with tick-tack-toe. Others, however, readily embrace
147
an analysis of international conflict. So far the
practical yield from game theory has not been great. Its
stimulating character, however, has seldom been
questioned. In this connection Rapoport, a mathematical
biologist who has done work in game theory, observes:
Disappointment with a theory is inevitable if
direct and practical results are expected immediately.
Direct and immediate results are rarely fruits of the
most important theories. To take an example, wave
mechanics is extremely difficult to apply to the
most familiar waves, namely the waves on the surface
of the bodies of water. And so wave mechanics is
of little consequence in sailing ships, where one
might naively think it had the most direct relevance.
The tremendous importance of wave mechanics is in
its use as a tool for studying waves whose existence
was not even suspected when wave mechanics was being
developed as a branch of mathematical p h y s i c s .148
Rapoport concludes with the observation that game
theory, practical or not at this time, will lead
scientists to think about conflict in novel ways. This,
146
See Williams, The Compleat Strategyst, passim.
147
See for example Anatol Rapoport, Fights, Games.
and Debates (Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan
Press, 1960), pp. 16-46.
148Ibid., pp. 241-242.
70
hopefully, will lead to the discovery of other frameworks
149
within which conflict situations may be analyzed.
Popular Literature
A number of journalists, humorists, and novelists
have dealt with power struggle activities in the business
setting. A few of the works offered by such writers
will be mentioned briefly.
Powdermaker, nominally an anthropologist, provides
one of the better journalistic examinations of power in
the business setting.In a book-length treatment she
chronicles her observations on the "natives" of
Hollywood. She centers her attention upon the power
relationships among certain personalities and statuses
in the film industry and the influence these power
relationships have upon the form and content of the
films coming out of Hollywood. She reports that Holly
wood has incorporated certain totalitarian elements in
its social system. These elements include "the concept
of people as property and as objects to be manipulated,
149Ibid., p. 242.
^■^®Hortense Powdermaker, Hollywood: The Dream
Factory (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1950). The
inclusion of this book in the journalism category is
supported somevfliat by Robert Bierstedt's very critical
review of it in the American Sociological Review, XVI
(February, 1951), 124-125.
71
highly concentrated and personalized power for power's
sake, an amorality, and an atmosphere of breaks,
151
continuous anxiety and crises." Powdermaker concludes
that the result "is business inefficiency, deep frustra
tion in human relations, and a high number of
152
unentertaining second and third-rate movies."
Another journalist, Packard, in his long and
critical look at corporation management in the United
States includes a chapter on "The Maneuvers of the Power
153
Players." In this chapter Packard discusses the
difficulty of getting information about power tactics in
business. However, he is able to report on a number of
confidential interviews with business consultants. On
the basis of information gained through these interviews,
Packard outlines several common power maneuvers and
power tactics used by the "pyramid climbers" in the large
corporations. He reports also that there are "career
coaches" who for a fee provide ambitious young men with
advice on the proper tactics to employ for rising in their
corporations. Packard outlines the counsel offered by
one of the career coaches and concludes that it can only
151Ibid., p. 332.
152Ibid.
IS^Vance Packard, The Pyramid Climbers (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1962), pp. 194-211.
72
154
produce "a real grade-A corporate creep."
Typical of the shorter journalistic treatments
of power struggle activities in business is a popular
155
article by Ross. This article is offered as a popular
guide to the practice of office politics. It includes
brief descriptions of a number of simple power maneuvers
and power tactics which are commonly encountered in
business offices. The author concludes that office poli
tics is a cruel business, and that it is often the in
nocent who are victimized. He counsels, "Anyone who wants
to survive or exploit the endless possibilities of office
politics should always remember that the best office
politician is the one who seems to be above the
,, ,,156
mucky game.
Power struggle activities in the business world
also have been dealt with in humorous works. The most
interesting of these humorous works is undoubtedly the one
157
offered by Mead. In a series of whimsical vignettes,
illustrated with cartoons, he develops a series of power
154
Ibid., p. 211.
155
Irwin Ross, "Everyman's Guide to Office
Politics," Pageant, May, 1957, pp. 6-13.
156Ibid.. p. 13.
157
Shepherd Mead, How to Succeed in Business With
out Really Trying (New Yorks Ballantine Books, Inc.,
1952) .
73
maneuvers which are calculated to elevate a man from
office boy to chairman of the board. While humorous in
the extreme, this book communicates quite clearly the
power conditions which are said to prevail in the
advertising field. Many of the maneuvers that Mead
describes are obviously applicable in other business
settings.
Finally, it should be noted that power struggle
activities in business have been included often in both
short stories and novels. In a short story, MacDonald
portrays the agony and personal frustration which may
be felt by young men near the top of a corporate
pyramid.*5® The story focuses primarily upon the
problems of "deferred gratification" of the upwardly
mobile manager. However, it also deals with a certain
amount of subtle power maneuvering.
Probably the most widely known of all fictional
works on power struggle activities in business is the
novel What Makes Sammy Run? by Schulberg.*59 In this
novel Schulberg describes the climb to power of Sammy
158john D. MacDonald, "The Trap of Solid Gold,"
reprinted in John D. MacDonald, End of the Tiger and
Other Stories (Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications,
Inc., 1966), pp. 129-183.
*5®Budd Schulberg, What Makes Sammy Run? (New
York: Random House, Inc., 1941).
74
Glick. Sammy is a compulsive neurotic who is ready to
trample friend and foe alike to reach the top of the
Hollywood pyramid. This book has become something of a
classic in its own time.
Conclusions
The literature dealing with social power is
wide and varied. It rsinges from the philosophical to
the whimsical in form, and its treatment of the
subject varies from the tangential to the direct. Some
of the writings on power are idealistic, and others are
practical. There emerges from this review of the litera
ture the conclusion that social theory does not yet
include an adequate conception of social power. In the
realm of sociological theory only Etzioni has improved
substantially upon the earlier sensitizing formulations
offered by Weber. And no theorists or researchers have
yet offered satisfactory operational approaches for
studying the subject. Hopefully, in the pages which
follow some small measure of achievement in this
direction will be made.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
The data for this study were obtained by means of
incognito participant observation in an industrial firm.
This chapter indicates the principal features of the
approach employed by the researcher and discusses some of
the problems which were associated with it.
The Researcher's Role
The researcher entered the firm as a regular
employee, and without the consent or knowledge of the
company's management, studied power struggle activities
among managerial employees. The field work for the study
was completed while the researcher served as a management
planner and co-ordinator in a staff group for the
research and development activity in the firm.1
lThe researcher was not hired initially for this
particular position. Rather, after entering the ficm in
another position he looked about for the optimum available
position from which to make the study and then arranged
for a transfer to it. Among other positions which were
considered was one in the personnel activity of the
company. That position was declined, however, because
it was feared that it would provide only a limited
perspective on power struggle activities in the firm. This
75
76
The formally assigned role of the researcher's
position called for virtually unrestricted study of those
company operations which involved the research and
development activity and its relations with other
company activities. It provided for ready access to
managers in nearly all of the operating and staff
activities of the firm, at nearly all organizational
levels. The researcher was expected to analyze, diagram,
and describe many of the operations performed by organi
zational units all over the company and to plan assign
ments and procedures for them. In addition, the role
involved close liaison with some of the staff people at
the top of the company, who sometimes were able to share
their wider perspectives on company plans and operations
with the researcher. On several occasions the researcher
was "lent out" to work on problems with the managers and
staffs of other major activities in the firm.
The various roles which may be played by
sociologists as they perform field work and some of the
strains which attach to such roles have been discussed
decision probably was fortunate. Later in the course
of the study the researcher was actually assigned by his
superior (an upper-middle manager) to arrange for a
"college student researcher" from the personnel activity
to "discover" only those conditions which the manager
wished him to find.
77
by Gold.2 He describes a continuum of theoretically
possible role8 which ranges from the complete participant
on the one extreme, through the participant-as-observer
and the observer-as-participant, to the complete observer
at the other extreme. In characterizing the complete
participant role, Gold virtually describes the present
re searcher's role:
The true identity and purpose of the complete
participant in field research are not known to those
whom he observes. He interacts with them as naturally
as possible in whatever areas of their living interest
him and are accessible to him as situations in which
he can play, or learn to play, requisite day-to-day
roles successfully.3
Gold suggests that one of the strains attaching
to the complete participant role is that of "role-
pretense." He observes that the researcher "must bind
the mask of pretense to himself or stand the risk of
4
exposure and research failure." Gold notes, however,
that "the complete participant role offers possibilities
of learning about aspects of behavior that might other
wise escape a field observer.”5
2Raymond L. Gold, "Roles in Sociological Field
Observations," Social Forces, XXXVI (March, 1958), 217-
223.
3lbid., p. 219.
4lbid.
5Ibid., p. 220.
Field Techniques
78
The field work for this study embraced four
complementary activities: (1) direct observation of
power struggle activities among managerial employees,
(2) informal interviewing of observed power players,
(3) development and interrogation of selected informants,
and (4) study of several types of company documents.
Direct observation.— The researcher's position
afforded excellent opportunities for observing managerial
employees in interaction. The researcher's role involved
daily participation in small problem-solving conferences
which made up much of management activity at the middle
and lower levels of the firm. In addition, the role
involved frequent attendance at staff and program meetings
in many different organizational units. The conferences
and meetings were active "laboratories" of social inter
action within which power struggle activities could be
observed.
Actual observation of power struggle activities
at these conferences and meetings was guided by a tenta
tive working list of "indicators." Observed instances
of disruption, duplicity, hostility, dissension,
factionalism, and so forth among managerial employees
were interpreted as possible indicators of power struggle
activities. Whenever such indicators were detected,
79
observational efforts were focused more closely upon the
persons involved. While no record was kept of the number
of employees observed closely, a conservative estimate
would place it at well over three hundred.
Informal interviews.— When direct observation
disclosed the presence of power struggle activities,
attempts were made to conduct informal interviews with
the employees who appeared to be involved. Employees
were informally interviewed by being engaged in ostensibly
"normal" discussions about their positions and some of
their problems. These informal interviews, however, were
covertly structured in order to gain specific information
on six topics relating to power struggle activities.
Each informal interview incorporated the following
topics: (1) the degree of the respondent's awareness of
power struggle activities, (2) his assessment of the
relative extent of power struggle activities in his
immediate work environment and in the firm as a whole,
(3) examples of power struggle activities, (4) his
attitudes toward the phenomenon, (5) the terms he used
to refer to power struggle activities, and (6) what he
thought caused power struggle activities. Each informal
interview was also arranged to include an open-ended
80
discussion of power struggle activities.6
Within the limits imposed by the researcher's
formal role in the firm, informal interviews were sought
with those managers and other employees who were
directly involved in some way with power struggle
activities. Altogether, more than a hundred interviews
were attempted. These attempts yielded fifty-four
reasonably complete interview records and over thirty
partial records.
Development of informants.— Nearly two dozen
employees were selected as potential informants for use
in the study, and attempts were made to develop them.
These people were chosen on the basis of their rapport
with the researcher and their knowledge of the firm.
Only eleven of these persons were successfully developed
into useful informants. Two of these informants were
&The structuring of the informal interviews was
assisted no end by a fortunate circumstance. The
researcher was assigned by management as one of the Civil
Defense co-ordinators for a portion of the firm which
was designated as "Area Two." This position was highly
visible, but it had an ill-defined role. With a little
adjustment in initial conceptions, the names for the
topics to be covered in the informal interviews were made
to yield the acronym AREA TWO. The researcher had special
four-by-six inch cards printed with an apparent Civil
Defense emblem and the words area two placed vertically
along the left-hand edge. These cards were used as
mnemonic guides for the interviews when necessary, and as
cryptic interview records.
81
managers at the upper-middle level; and two of them
were on the staffs of top-level executives. Four of
the informants were managers or staff men on the middle
and lower levels. Three secretaries of important
7
managers also served as informants.
Zn most cases, informants were developed by
making them privy to the researcher's "plan to do a book
on managers," based upon observations in the firm. In
nearly all cases the informants were eager to co-operate.
They frequently volunteered information which they thought
would be useful for such a project. But more importantly,
many of them readily submitted to frequent interrogations
about things they had seen or experienced, and on request
they would observe selected situations and discuss them
with the researcher later.
7
Two of the secretaries had college degrees m
social sciences. One of these two, the wife of a college
professor, was so interested in the study that she was
accepted into complete confidence by the researcher.
More than once she served as a valuable source of infor
mation. She also urged the researcher, unsuccessfully,
to make a study of how often major organizational units
in industrial firms are actually managed by the secre
taries of the titular managers. Perhaps this question
should be pursued. The researcher often encountered
secretaries who far exceeded their bosses in intelligence
and awareness, but who were defined as second-class
citizens on the basis of their sex.
82
In general, informants were used as sources of
information about projects, programs, and aspects of the
firm's operations and history which were not readily
accessible to the researcher. Frequently, however, they
corroborated or disputed the researcher's interpretations
of events and situations in the company. On some occa
sions they served as "sounding boards" for some of the
ideas and questions which turned up during the field
work for the study. Several of the informants were
older men with considerable experience and insight, and
they helped the researcher to focus upon certain points
of inquiry. On a number of occasions informants directed
the researcher's attention to instances of power struggle
activities which he had not perceived.
Study of company documents.— During the course of
the study the researcher examined many of the official
documents which were available in the firm. Among the
most important of these were policy statements, organiza
tion bulletins, management procedures, program reports,
and contracts. Other documents which were sometimes
useful were annual reports, press releases, and the
employees' newspaper. These documents often added depth
to information which had been obtained through observa
tion, and on occasion they indicated relationships between
certain situations which had not been apparent.
83
Problems of Participant Observation
A number of special problems are associated with
participant observation as a research method in sociology.
One of the greatest of these problems is the sheer dearth
of instructional information relating to its successful
practice. The classic participant observation study by
Whyte was first published without any description of its
methods. It was only with publication of the second
edition, a dozen years later, that notes on the methodol-
Q
ogy were provided as an appendix. Recently, some of the
problems of participant observation methodology have been
g
discussed by Blau and Dalton. Again, these discussions
were supplied a decade or more after completion of the
research to which they refer. The first book-length
treatment of participant observation as a research method
in sociology appears to be that offered by Bruyn.'1 ’ 0 This
Q
°See William Foote Whyte, Street Corner Society
(enlarged ed.; Chicago, Illinois: University Press, 1954),
pp. 279-358.
9See the chapters by Peter M. Blau and Melville
Dalton in Phillip E. Hammond (ed.), Sociologists at Work
(New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1964), pp. 16-49 and 50-95,
respectively.
lOseveryn T. Bruyn, The Humanistic Perspective in
Sociology; The Methodology" of Participant Observation
(Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1966).
book appeared after the field work for the present study
had been completed.
Another problem associated with participant
observation centers on a controversy over the scientific
value of data which has been gathered by the method. Some
sociologists question whether participant observation
presently has any meaningful place in a scientific
sociology.^ Other sociologists contend that participant
observation is a valuable method by which data may be
12
gathered on certain types of social phenomena. Still
other sociologists think that participant observation is
the only method available for gathering data on certain
13
types of human behavior.
Another important problem associated with partici
pant observation in sociological research involves the
morality of such efforts. In particular, the ethics of
incognito participant observation have been called into
^Aaron V. Cicourel, Method and Measurement in
Sociology (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1964),
p. 66.
12
Howard S. Becker, "Problems of Inference and
Proof in Participant Observation," American Sociological
Review. XXIII (December, 1958), 652-653. See also,
Erving Goffman. Asylums (New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday
and Co., 1961), pp. ix-x.
^See Bruyn, The Humanistic Perspective . . ..
pp. 85-124.
85
14
question.
A full consideration of the problems and
techniques of participant observation will be left to
other writers because the treatment of these subjects
here would lead quickly into a discussion of material
which is only tangential to the main purposes of the
present study. However, two observations will be offered
in defense of the method employed in the present study.
First, considering an industrial firm as a whole,
it is most unlikely that a responsible management would
sponsor or permit an independent sociologist to make a
study of power struggle activities among its managers.
The subject itself is taboo, and the results of such
research would undoubtedly be threatening to the
management. Therefore, it would appear that an incognito,
unsponsored study of the phenomenon is the only way it
14
For example, first see Mortimer A. Sullivan,
Jr., Stuart A. Queen, and Ralph C. Patrick, Jr.,
"Participant Observation as Employed in the Study of a
Military Training Program," American Sociological
Review. XXIII (December, 1958), 660-667. Then see later
communications to the editor: Lewis A. Roth, "Dangerous
and Difficult Enterprise?"; Mortimer A. Sullivan, Jr.,
"Ethics— And Difficulties: Replies to Coser and Roth,";
and Stuart A. Queen, "No Garrison State— Difficulties,
Yes: Replies to Coser and Roth"; American Sociological
Review. XXIV (June, 1959), 397-400. More recently, a
whole issue of the American Behavioral Scientist has
been devoted to a discussion of "Ethics and Social
Science Research." See Vol. X, No. 10, June, 1967.
86
15
can be approached, given our society's present values.
Second, considering the individual persons who
would be studied, it is unlikely that realistic informa
tion could be obtained outside of informal and disguised
settings. The very nature of power struggle activities
is such as to ensure that formal inquiry about them will
add to the insecurities and anxieties of the persons
involved. Therefore, it is probable that any attempt to
approach the subject by means of elaborate interview
schedules or questionnaires might very well disturb the
16
phenomenon more than it could detect it.
15
This social phenomenon, like many others, could
probably be studied effectively in societies which
empowered researchers with the right of subpoena and the
right to apply narcoanalytic, polygraphic, and wire
tapping techniques at their own discretion.
16
It is being suggested here that under the given
conditions the ability to study power struggle activities
would be subject to a limiting principle, similar in
effect to that of the Heisenberg Principle in physics.
Goffman implies something of the same idea in the preface
to his work. Asylums, p. x.
CHAPTER IV
THE COMPANY AND ITS SETTING
The power struggle activities described in this
study occurred within a particular social system which
was functioning within a given environment. The analysis
of these power struggle activities which is offered later
in the study is based to a considerable extent upon the
social situations within which the power struggle activi
ties occurred. This chapter describes the company and
the setting within which it operated. The company's
programs are outlined briefly and some of the special
problems associated with them are noted. The organiza
tional form of the company is indicated and the more
important changes which occurred within it are described.
In the course of the chapter several special terms which
are used in later descriptions are introduced and
emphasized.
The Company
The company described in this study was a wholly
owned subsidiary of a larger industrial firm. In this
87
88
report it will be termed simply the Company; the larger
firm will be referred to as the Parent Firm.
The Company was formed by the owners of the
Parent Firm during the 1930s to develop and manufacture
several items which were used in the communications and
transportation industries. In its early days the company
was never very large and its achievements were modest.
It had several small office and shop buildings, a
quantity of machine tools and experimental equipment,
and a regular staff of about 500 employees. Its annual
sales figures were regular but relatively small.
The staff of the Company included experienced
managers, electrical, mechanical,and aeronautical
engineers, and a complement of office and shop workers.
For the most part the employees of the Company were
reasonably adequate in their assignments. A few, how
ever, were not. It appeared that the owners of the
Parent Firm had arranged for a number of sinecures in the
Company for certain employees of the Parent Firm and for
a few of the "founding" members of the Company. It was
understood by many people in the Company that a number
of these employees were to "have their jobs for life."
Over the years many of the managers in the Company had
become adroit at juggling positions, titles, and assign
ments around these "special" employees in a manner which
89
would avoid stirring up hard feelings on the part of the
more able persons who were affected.*
The Larger Setting
With the close of World War II the United States
and other major world powers were forced to revise their
national defense policies. The spectacular advances which
had been made in electronics, rocketry, and nuclear physics
during the war had ushered in a new age of weapons
sophistication and destructiveness which demanded a new
approach to the possibilities of international conflict.
The new approach to national security which took
form in this situation relied upon the co-ordinated
efforts of science, industry, and the military. Broad
research and development programs were sponsored by the
government. Flexible manufacturing programs were under
taken. And extensive military training programs were
planned and implemented. The specific purposes of these
programs were to assure that our frontiers of science
were continuously being advanced beyond those of all
possible attackers, and that the weapon making arts and
3-All descriptions of the Company and its programs
are based upon lengthy study of Company documents and upon
information provided by a number of informants who had
worked for the Company for many years. Among these infor
mants was one of the "special" employees who said that he
had a "job for life."
90
the abilities of the military to use new and better
weapons were being kept abreast of the developments made
by science. The guiding theory behind the new approach
was that if our science and ability to make and use
advanced weapons continuously exceeded that of all
possible attackers, national security would be preserved
through deterrence of any such attack by the threat of
2
destructive reprisal.
The Research and Development Program
The owners of the Parent Firm were among the
first industrialists to grasp the significance of the new
approach to national defense. The President of the Parent
Firm, who was also one of the principal stockholders,
became actively involved in the Company's management. He
formed a special scientific study team in the Company
and assigned it the task of surveying the long-range needs
of the United States for certain complex electronic
systems.
After completion of its studies, the team
2An influential discussion of this theory is given
in Albert Wohlstetter, "The Delicate Balance of Terror,"
Foreign Affairs. XXXVII (January, 1959), 211-234. For a
recent discussion of the new approach to national defense
see Bruce L. R. Smith, The Rand Corporation; Case Study
of a Nonprofit Advisory Corporation (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1966).
91
recommended that the Company undertake research and
development work upon a new and improved electronic system
which was an interactive combination of two previously
existing systems. In the past, these two systems had
never been used in conjunction with each other. The
President and the owners of the Parent Firm approved the
recommendation•
In the pages which follow, these two systems will
be termed the basic system and the auxiliary system. When
reference is made to the interacting combination of the
two, they will be called the combination system.
Shortly after the study team made its recommenda
tion, the President announced that from that time onward
the primary concern of the Company would be research and
development work in the field of electronics. Two members
of the study team were commissioned to organize a "first
class industrial research and development activity" as a
new major organizational unit in the Company.
Virtually as soon as the research and development
activity had been established as a part of the Company,
the scientists and engineers began making important
discoveries and achievements in the technology which
supported the combination system. Many of these dis
coveries and achievements interested the military enough
to result in small contracts for research and development
92
work on’ isolated components of the system. Soon the over
all research and development project for the combination
system was receiving considerable support in this piece
meal fashion. When the scientists and engineers were
able to demonstrate a clear mastery over two of the most
complex technical problems in the design of the combination
system, the Company was offered a full contract for
developing and building several prototype models of the
system. This contract was immediately accepted by the
Company.
As the success of the research and development
efforts for the combination system became more and more
apparent, the military services became increasingly eager
to actually possess working models of the system. One
branch of the military requested that the Company prepare
a design for an intermediate form of the basic system by
itself. This intermediate form, while based upon the
previously existing form, would embrace many of the new
features planned for the combination system. The military
proposed to use this intermediate form of the basic system
in conjunction with a simple form of the auxiliary system
which had been developed previously by another company.
Together these two systems were to provide a military
"preview" of the combination system.
A contract was made for the development of this
93
intermediate form of the basic system. It called for the
delivery of several test sets for operational evaluation
by the military. The Company designed the system and
produced and delivered the sets.
After evaluating the intermediate system, the
military requested that the Company accept a regular
production contract for it. Many of the scientists and
engineers in the Company felt that the production contract
should be handled by some other firm, leaving the Company
free to pursue research and development work unencumbered
by the detailed demands of volume production. The military
and most of the management of the Company, however, argued
strongly for the production contract. After a certain
amount of hesitation the President accepted the contract
and the Company's manufacturing activities were enlarged
to handle a production program.
While the design for this intermediate form of
the basic system was being completed and production
manufacture of it was being commenced, further achieve
ments were being made on the over-all design of the
combination system. On learning of these achievements
the military service requested that the Company design
another more advanced intermediate basic system. A
contract was made and the system was developed and test
sets were delivered. Again, after evaluating the system,
94
the military service requested that the Company accept
a production contract for a large number of sets.
After some hesitation and much discussion among
managers in the Company, the contract was accepted and
the system was put into factory production. Before even
one production set of this system had been completed,
however, the military requested the company to design
still suiother even more advanced intermediate form of
the system. In due course this third intermediate form
of the system was developed and operational evaluation
quantities of it were delivered to the military. However,
when the military subsequently requested production
quantities of the system the Company declined the contract,
urging it upon another firm which had had long experience
in mass production. This arrangement was made.
By the time that the design for the third inter
mediate form of the system had been completed, delivered
production sets of the first and second intermediate forms
of the system had seen extensive field application. These
systems had performed so well in the field that they
immediately had won world renown. Other branches of the
military services and several other national governments
began seeking contracts with the Company for development
and production of even more advanced intermediate forms
of the system. The Company accepted several of these
95
contracts, in both their development and production phases.
By the time that the design for the combination
system had been completed, a graded series of ten or more
intermediate forms of the basic system had been developed
and put into factory production for the military services
of the United States and other nations. Most of these
systems had been designed and manufactured on extremely
short delivery schedules, under contracts which provided
for all costs plus fixed profits.
During the period of time while the design for
the combination system was being developed, many other
possibilities for electronic systems, and their components
had been discovered by the scientists and engineers of
the research and development activity. Whenever possible
or practicable, these discoveries were incorporated in
proposals for additional research and development
contracts. Literally hundreds of small research and
development projects were contracted and executed by the
Company while the combination system was being designed.
Some of the research and development projects
undertaken by the Company resulted only in simple technical
innovations which were of limited use. Other projects
resulted in radically new products which have come to be
in demand all over the world. A few projects resulted in
successful proposals for other types of systems which
96
later developed into projects that surpassed in scope
and size that of the combination system itself. One of
these was an entirely new conception, the extended system.
Organizational Form of the Company
Throughout most of the period covered by the
study the Company as a whole was organized on a "functional"
plan. Under this plan the Company was divided into a
number of major organizational units, each of which was
responsible for performing most of the work required in
connection with certain Company functions. These major
organizational units were called departments.
Departments in the Company were divided into
sections and sections were divided into groups on the
basis of specialties within the functions assigned to
the departments. In most cases groups were further
divided into smaller units at one or more levels depending
upon their sizes and functions.
In the managerial hierarchy of the Company the
managers of groups, sections, and departments were
recognized officially as members of the Company's manage
ment. They were accorded certain managerial perquisites
such as reserved parking spaces with their names on them
and access to the executive dining rooms in the Company's
cafeterias. Managers of units below the group level were
97
viewed as "working supervisors" in the white-collar
activities and foremen or leadmen in the blue-collar areas.
In addition to the managers of organizational
units, there were also designated project managers who
were responsible for directing certain programs which
might cut across organizational lines. Usually, project
managers were designated as having statuses equivalent
to that of managers of departments, sections, or groups
depending upon the importance of their projects. Managers
of organizational units often served also as project
managers at the same time. Normally, project managers
enjoyed all of the perquisites of their equivalent
statuses.
At the beginning of the period covered by the
study the Company was divided into five departments:
Central Offices, Central Services, Engineering, Manu
facturing, and Field Services. The Central Offices and
Central Services departments performed most of those
functions within the Company which were considered to be
"staff" functions. The Engineering, Manufacturing, and
Field Services departments performed most of the "line"
functions.
During the course of the study, two major changes
were made in the organizational form of the Company.
The first of these changes was occasioned by the
98
introduction of research and development as one of the
Company's principal activities. The President of the
Parent Firm designated one of the section managers in the
Engineering Department as the acting manager of the
research and development project and commissioned him to
organize the new activity. This man, assisted by an
administrative engineer from the Engineering Department
and one of the consulting scientists on the special study
team, began recruiting the required personnel. Together,
these three men established a "university-like" atmosphere
for technical people which attracted scientists and
engineers from companies and universities in nearly all
parts of the world.
When the research and development activity had
been partially staffed and organized, it was designated
as the Research and Development Department, on an equal
level with the other departments in the Company. The
consulting scientist was named manager of the department,
and the administrative engineer was named as his principal
assistant. The acting manager of the research and develop
ment project left the Company to accept a high position in
another small company owned by the Parent Firm.
As the successes of the research and development
program unfolded, two smaller but important organizational
changes followed. First, the Manufacturing Department
99
was completely reorganized and esqpanded in order to
handle the increasing number of production contracts
which were accepted by the Company. And second, the
Field Services Department was reorganized and expanded
in order to handle the field service and training
associated with the delivered systems.
Once the Company's research and development
programs and its production programs were well established,
the President of the Parent Firm withdrew from an active
role in the management of the Company. The affairs of
the Company were left in the hands of a general manager,
assisted by a management committee composed of the
department managers.
For a period of time the Company prospered. It
won many new research and development contracts, and
often these were accompanied by significant production
contracts. The Company originated a number of important
new products, both military and commercial, which later
came to be in demand all over the world. Many new
employees were hired, and new organizational units were
established. Between the time the research and develop
ment program was first formed and the time when the design
for the combination system was perfected the Company
increased more than fifty times over in number of personnel
and more than two hundred times over in amount of annual
sales.
A second major change in the organizational
framework of the Company came near the end of the period
covered by the study. It apparently grew out of two sets
of conditions. First, the expansion of the Company and
its programs taxed the existing organizational plan; and
second, the government suggested the need for certain
changes in the Company when it discovered that it had
been substantially overcharged for delivered systems and
services. The first effects of the change were seen in
the resignations of the general manager and several of
his assistants and the resignations of the manager of
the Research and Development Department and several of
his subordinate managers. The President of the Parent
Firm installed a new general manager and gave him
sweeping powers.
The new general manager immediately set about
reorganizing and diversifying the Company. He abandoned
the "functional" organization of the whole Company in
favor of a "product-line" plan. Under this plan each
major product or group of closely related products was
to be designed, manufactured, marketed, and maintained
by one major organizational unit. The organizational
units were named divisions. A division was established
for the combination systems, and other divisions were
101
formed for each of several new products that had been
developed earlier by the research and development activity.
The reorganization commenced with five divisions. The
Central Services Department was dissolved, and its people
and functions were absorbed by various divisions and by
the Central Offices Department. The Central Offices
Department was expanded, given increased powers and
responsibilities, and renamed the Corporate Offices.
Summary and Conclusions
This chapter has outlined the nature of the
Company, its setting, and its programs. In brief, the
chapter has described the transformation of a small
traditional-type industrial firm into a scientifically
oriented company which competed successfully for govern
ment contracts in the complex electronics market which
emerged following World War IT. The organizational form
of the Company then was discussed, and some of the changes
which occurred in it were outlined.
Many of the actors working in the Company during
this period were forced to define their situations in
terms of a dynamic setting which was difficult for them
to appraise. The market in which the Company competed
was mercurial, and the center of the technology which it
pursued was constantly shifting. As a result the
102
Company's long-range goals were often uncertain; it
experienced intermittent goal achievements; and frequently
it had to abandon some goals and introduce others. The
meaning of the power struggle activities described and
analyzed later in this study will depend to some extent
upon certain of the aspects and characteristics of the
Company that have been outlined in this chapter.
CHAPTER V
BASIC FINDINGS
This chapter outlines the basic findings of the
study. It reports many of the central observations which
were made while participating in the Company, and it
indicates the general results of the covertly structured
informal interviews. The chapter also includes descrip
tions of two unexpected aspects of power struggle
activities which were found during the course of the
study.
Central Observational Results
On the basis of the researcher's initial observa
tions the Company appeared to be an ideal example of a
complex social system.^ It was composed of a large number
of formal groups arranged in a pyramidal fashion. Each
^The word observations is used here in a broad
sense. It refers to the process wherein the researcher,
as he performed his role in the Company, became aware of
and knowledgeable about the behavior of other actors as
they participated in activities connected with the Company.
The content of the term is meant to contrast with the
awareness and knowledge which grew out of the purposively
arranged informal interviews which are described later in
this chapter.
103
104
group had fairly well defined tasks, and each had a
designated manager. All groups and managers appeared
to be bent upon pursuing the stated goals of the Company.
The actors in the system appeared to function together
harmoniously in accordance with established formal rules.
A few of the groups and some of the managers appeared to
engage to varying degrees in a competition of ideas and
performance with each other; but this competition
obviously was structured and controlled. On the surface
the firm appeared to be a classic bureaucracy in the best
2
Weberian sense.
As the observer learned the basic requirements of
his role in the Company, he became an accepted participant
in a great many different formal and informal interaction
settings within the firm. The formal interaction settings
usually were staff meetings, problem-solving conferences,
and consultations with managers and other actors in the
Company. Informal interaction settings included such
things as small "gripe sessions" and "lunch groups," both
of which often followed formal meetings and conferences.
As an accepted participant in these interaction settings,
the researcher had an excellent opportunity to observe a
2See Max Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic
Organization, trans. A. M. Henderson and Talcott Parsons,
ed. Talcott Parsons (New Yorks Oxford University Press,
1947), pp. 329-341.
105
great many managers and aspirant managers in both their
official and unofficial behavior
After the researcher had been participating in the
formal and informal interaction settings for a period of
time, he was permitted by many actors to observe or become
aware of instances and modes of behavior which were not
usually apparent to outsiders and newcomers. Often he
was able to observe or hear of aspects of organizational
life which were not parts of officially acceptable
behavior.^
3lt was indicated briefly in Chapter III that the
observer's formal position in the Company was that of a
management planner and co-ordinator at the middle level.
The opportunity for observation afforded by that position
may be indicated by a brief description of the role
associated with it. The observer's assignments involved
determining the need for management policies and procedures
in certain operating areas in the Company, and the develop
ment of written proposals for implementing those policies
and procedures which appeared to be needed. Proposed
policies and procedures were usually developed and co
ordinated through participation in frequent staff meetings
and planning conferences with managers in the organiza
tional units which were most closely affected. Acceptable
proposals were approved and issued by the middle managers
involved. The role demanded frequent contacts with
managers and other management planners in all of the major
organizational units in the Company.
4The dramaturgical perspective suggested by Erving
Goffman affords an excellent description of the situation.
Using Goffman1s terms, the observer had become a member of
a number of "performance teams." Team members are allowed
in the "backstage areas" of establishments. There they
may observe other team members as they engage in non-public
role behavior and as they behave outside their formal
roles. In the backstage areas participants may learn much
of the "destructive information" which all performance
106
The researcher learned of many situations in which
there were instances of disruptive behavior on the part of
actors in the Company. This disruptive behavior was
usually observed in the form of obviously contrived
opposition, aggression, belligerence# dissension,
duplicity, and factionalism. Often actors were heard to
give voice to hostile attitudes toward other actors and
other organizational units in the Company. These expres
sions of hostile attitudes were usually in the form of
contempt, rancor, defiance, disrespect, and enmity.
Instances of disruptive behavior and expressions
of hostility were interpreted as possible indicators of
the presence of power struggle activities. Whenever such
indicators were observed, and when the situation permitted,
observational efforts were intensified. The actors
involved were observed as closely as possible, and attempts
were made to win greater acceptance by them.
Under conditions of attentive observation and
close acceptance by many of the actors in the firm, the
observer learned that there were indeed a great many
power struggle activities occurring in the Company. In
nearly every organizational unit which was accessible to
teams attempt to conceal from their "audiences." See The
Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Garden City, New
Yorks Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1959), pp. 77-105 and
141-148.
107
observation it was found that at one time or another there
were rivalries occurring between some actors or some
factions as they appeared to seek power over each other.
The power struggle activities which were observed
exhibited a considerable variety with respect to their
placement and temporal characteristics. Some appeared to
obtain between only two actors at a time, with conflict
being confined to a limited area within the Company.
Others appeared to involve a great many actors, with
conflict distributed over considerable portions of the
firm. Many power struggle activities occurred between
adjacent actors on the same level in the Company's
managerial hierarchy. Others involved actors with
differing ranks. Sometimes power struggle activities
occurred between managers and their own subordinates.
Some of the observed power struggle activities
appeared to endure only for a few days or weeks. Others
were observed over periods of many months. Often power
struggle activities appeared to come into being quite
suddenly. At other times they appeared to build up
slowly over considerable periods of time. Finally, it
was observed that power struggle activities often followed
upon or were followed by organizational changes and
transfers or resignations of managers.
General Interview Results
108
The extent to which power struggle activities
could be understood, or even perceived, by observational
efforts alone was limited. The background and subtleties
of many of the situations and the beliefs held by the
actors involved could be learned only through pointed
questioning. Covertly structured informal interviews
were arranged for this purpose.
Host of the covertly structured informal inter
views were initiated by means of actions which appeared
to be bonafide parts of the researcher's formal role in
the Company. Interviews were usually effected following
staff meetings or conferences in which power struggle
activities had been in evidence. Typically, the researcher
would approach one of the actors involved in the power
struggle activities to seek "clarification" of some point
that had been made at the meeting. After a discussion
of the "unclear" point, a reference would be made to one
of the obvious manifestations of power struggle activities
which had been observed at the meeting. The researcher
would then inquire simply, "What was really going on
there?" In most cases the actors would respond and the
covertly structured interview would be developed to the
extent permitted by the work schedules of the respondent
and the interviewer.
109
Interviews were not always completed with the
first attempt. Often it was necessary to approach actors
several times in order to obtain information in all six
topic areas included in the covert interview schedule or
to engage them in open-ended discussions of power struggle
activities. Sometimes actors who already had been inter
viewed would be engaged in subsequent informal interviews
when they had been observed in later power struggle
activities.
The general results of the covertly structured
informal interviews are described below. The responses
to each of the topic areas included in the covert inter
view schedule are characterized, and several emergent
5
features are noted briefly.
Awareness of Power Struggle Activities.— In the
early phases of each covertly structured informal inter
view efforts were directed toward ascertaining how aware
No attempt has been made to treat the over-all
interview responses statistically. Frequencies for certain
types of responses could have been given, and measures of
association could have been employed; in addition, several
tests of "significance" could have been made. The use of
such statistxcs, however, would suggest a level of preci
sion and objectivity in the study which cannot be com
pletely claimed. As was pointed out in the first chapter,
the study is more in the context of discovery than it is
in the context of verification. The "sample" used was
determined by accessibility and convenience, and the
"indicators" employed often embraced both subjective and
intuitive components.
110
the respondent was of power struggle activities in the
Company. A number of interviews never developed beyond
these early phases when it appeared that the respondents
either were not aware of power struggle activities at all,
or else they simply could not be induced to discuss the
subject. Most of the actors selected for interviewing,
however, were aware of power struggle activities in the
Company, and they would discuss the subject under proper
circumstances.
It was found in the interviews that there was a
certain amount of variation among the actors with respect
to the degree of their awareness of power struggle activi
ties. Some persons only knew vaguely that such things as
"pull" or "politics'* were sometimes involved on the job.
Usually, these people lacked any specific knowledge of
power struggle activities. At the other extreme were
people who were acutely aware of power struggle activities.
Many of these people would readily admit to having engaged
in power struggle activities. In general, it appeared
that the higher an employee was in the managerial hierarchy
of the Company, the more aware he was of power struggle
activities. Without exception, managers and aspirant
managers were familiar with the phenomenon; and they
usually had some definite, if not always clear, ideas on
the subject.
Ill
In some of the Interview situations it was
possible to ask the respondents directly how aware they
were of power struggle activities in the Company. This
direct inquiry often elicited an equally direct response.
Several managers responded to the question with comments
such asf "Man, in this business if you are not constantly
aware of what is going on, you are stabbed in the back
before you know it."
On the basis of the general interview findings
on awareness of power struggle activities in the Company,
it would appear that nearly all of the employees in the
firm who worked in or close to the official management
structure had at least some awareness of the power
struggle phenomenon. The actors who could not be inter
viewed effectively on the subject of power struggle
activities were undoubtedly feigning an ignorance of the
subject in order to avoid discussing it. In every case
these actors had been observed previously in obvious
power struggle activities with other actors. However,
in most cases it appeared that they had been "targets"
rather them "gunners." The actors who successfully
avoided being interviewed on the subject often gave
the appearance of harried individuals who were working
under conditions of great stress. Rather than being
ignorant of power struggle activities in the Company,
112
they probably were fearful individuals and they simply
were unable to trust the interviewer enough to discuss
the subject.6
Relative Extent of Power Struggle Activities.—
Attempts were made in each covertly structured informal
interview to ascertain the respondent's judgment as to
whether there was a relatively greater or lesser amount
of power struggle activities in the Company than in other
firms for which he had worked. The respondent was also
asked to compare his own immediate work area with other
7
areas in the Company.
Most of the respondents appeared to believe that
there were comparatively more power struggle activities
t>One of the few quantitative approaches attempted
in the course of the study was connected in a way with
some of the actors who declined to discuss power struggle
activities. A number of actors who were not active power
players were selected later in the study along with those
actors who had been observed to make actual power attacks
upon one or more of them. Using the Company's organization
charts for two different points in time, the promotion
rates of the two groups were compared. Five of the twelve
"target" actors had advanced at least one rank in the
Company as compared with eleven of the seventeen "gunner"
actors. Though apparently large, the difference between
these proportions is not statistically significant even
at the 0.30 level.
^Comparative extent might have been a more precise
expression for usage here than relative extent. However,
it did not fit into the mnemonic acronym, AREA TWO, which
served as the topical core of the covert interview
schedule. The two terms are sufficiently close in meaning
for the present purposes.
113
in the Company than in other £irms for which they had
worked. This view was held by nearly all of the managers
and aspirant managers who were interviewed. It seemed
to be especially prevalent among those actors who pre
viously had been associated with firms which were not
defense-oriented; however, it also obtained for most of
those employees who had come to the Company from other
defense-oriented firms. Many of the interviewed actors
seemed to think that there were "just naturally" more
power struggle activities in defense-oriented firms than
in most other types of companies. Several of the actors
offered the observation that power struggle activities
were almost as prevalent in defense-oriented firms as
O
they were reputed to be in the advertising field.
For the most part the respondents seemed to think
that power struggle activities occurred in all areas of
the Company in about equal proportions. Some actors
began their comments on the subject by reporting how
extensive power struggle activities were, or had been, in
their own areas, then suddenly volunteered observations
®This view appears to be in direct opposition to
the conclusion offered by Vance Packard in The Pyramid
Climbers (New York: McGraw Hill Book Co., 1962). He says,
"Politicking appears to be notably light in new, rapidly
growing companies; in companies whose executives are
drawn in large numbers from scientists and engineers in
research and development. ..." p. 197.
114
on the comparable prevalence of these activities in
other areas of the company. Attempts to probe further
on this point usually led the interview back to a dis
cussion of how extensive power struggle activities were
in the whole Company as compared to other companies. Some
of the actors pointed out that intense storm centers of
power struggle activities seemed to move about in the
Company from one area or organizational unit to another.
A few actors observed that power struggle activities in
engineering groups in one period of time would often be
followed by power struggle activities later in the
manufacturing groups which were associated with them.
Examples of Power Struggle Activities.— Each of
the respondents was asked in the interview to describe
examples or instances of power struggle activities in the
Company with which he was familiar. He was also asked to
provide examples in other formal organizations.
Nearly all of the managers and aspirant managers
who were interviewed were able to describe examples of
power struggle activities in the Company. Of especial
interest was the fact that many of the actors described
the same examples. It appeared that in each of the major
organizational units there were at least two or three
well-known instances of power struggle activities which
were referred to by nearly all of the respondents in the
115
unit. Further, there were a few "classic" cases which
were well-known all over the Company. Several illustrative
examples of power struggle activities, including some of the
widely known cases, will be described in the next chapter.
Most respondents could also describe examples of
power struggle activities which were known to them in
other companies or in other types of formal organizations.
Some actors, for example, cited instances of power
struggle activities in professional societies, and a few
reported that the phenomenon often occurred in social
clubs. Several respondents recalled events in their
college fraternities. One or two actors who had worked
for advanced degrees described power contests which had
occurred among their graduate professors. They reported
that sometimes power struggle activities developed in
connection with the assignment of graduate assistantships.
The respondents left the interviewer with the clear
impression that few if any of the power struggle activi
ties reported for other companies and other organizations
matched those observed in the Company.
Attitudes toward Power Struggle Activities.— A
portion of each interview was devoted to probing the
respondent's attitudes toward power struggle activities,
especially as they occurred in the Company. The results
indicated that attitudes varied widely.
Some of the respondents reported that they were
116
indifferent toward power struggle activities and that they
had learned to accept them passively as a part of the
reality of their working lives. Other actors, however,
vehemently denounced power struggle activities in moralis
tic terms. Still others cautiously praised the behavior.
In general, those persons who did not engage actively in
power struggle activities tended to voice strongly negative
attitudes toward them; and those persons who did engage
actively in power struggle activities tended to be less
negative in their attitudes toward them, if they did not
actually have positive attitudes.
The responses of actors when they were queried on
their attitudes toward power struggle activities were not
always unambiguous. Sometimes an active power player
would profess to have a negative attitude toward the
subject, only to become gleeful about it a few minutes
later as he described something he considered to be a
particularly adroit power action.
At the lower managerial levels in the Company
there appeared to be a relationship between attitudes
toward power struggle activities and success as a power
player. Actors who had lost obvious power contests tended
to be pronouncedly negative toward the whole subject. On
the other hand, actors who had enjoyed recent power
victories seemed to find it easier to praise power
117
struggle activities. In a few carefully studied cases
it was observed that actors who had had negative attitudes
following power defeats were somewhat less negative on
the subject when interviewed again later following power
successes.
The attitudes toward each other of those persons
who were active power players and those who were not
probably varied even more widely than did the general
attitudes toward power struggle activities. It was
clearly noticeable that some of the active power players
had actual contempt for those persons who were apparently
capable of being power players but were not. Just as
often, this attitude was reciprocated in some measure.
It appears that many of the capable actors who refused
to engage actively in power struggle activities rejected
the whole idea of struggling to achieve status in the
work setting. They felt that it was enough that they
should conscientiously perform their assigned roles and
accept whatever promotions stemmed from such performance.
They would not devote extra efforts in trying to expand
their roles at the expense of other actors. Many of
these actors questioned the wisdom of "getting an ulcer
just to get your name on a door." Often they appeared
to view the active power players with a mixture of
118
9
contempt and pity.
Terms Used for Power Struggle Activities.— During
each covertly structured informal interview an attempt
was made to discern what terms the respondent would use
spontaneously to refer to power struggle activities.
After he had used one or two words, he was asked for
other expressions which he would use or had heard others
Nearly all of the respondents readily used the
word power in referring to examples of behavior which
the researcher considered to be power struggle activities.
Those who did not use the term in their first references
inevitably applied it later in their interviews. Clearly,
it was the most frequently used term applied in connection
Q
Many of the actors who refused to play the power
game appeared to approximate the "retreatists" in Robert
K. Merton's typology of adaptation. They were functioning
in a setting which assumed a commitment to success-goals,
but apparently they had internalized values which pre
cluded their using illegitimate measures (power struggle
activities) to reach them. In consequence, they employed
defeatism, quietism, and resignation as escape mechanisms.
Paraphasing Merton, these actors were ,in the power system
but not of it. See Social Theory and Social Structure
(rev. ed.y Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1957), pp. 153-
155.
10The original purpose of this part of the inter
view was to gather material for a semantic analysis of the
terms used by respondents. The results were then to be
compared with the attitudes professed by the actors. Un
fortunately, the approach was not sufficiently well
planned to yield usable results.
119
with power struggle activities. The term politics was
probably the next most frequently applied word. Usually,
the word power was combined with one or two other words.
The most frequently employed combinations joined the
word power with such words as ploy, play, plot and poli
tics? other combinations used tactics. maneuvers. game.
struggle. arena. contest. rivalry. and gambit.
Some of the other terms used in connection with
power struggle activities were feud, connive. skulduggery.
machinat ion. deception. undermine. strategy. cabal, back
stabbing, and dirty pool. The actors who engaged in
power struggle activities were sometimes called power
players. politicians, operators, wire pullers, plotters.
connivers. conspirators. manipulators, maneuverers,
palace politicians. credit stealers, gamesmen. and
gunners. Such actors were sometimes described as being
overly ambitious, unprincipled, devious, smooth.
aggressive, wily, hostile. crafty, and Machiavellian.
These enumerations are not exhaustive, but they do
indicate something of the range and form of the terms
applied by the respondents.
What Causes Power Struggle Activities.— At some
point in each interview situation the respondent was led
into a discussion of the possible causes of power struggle
activities. The explanations drawn from the interviewed
120
actors appeared to fall along a continuum which ranged
from the very naive to the quite sophisticated. In
general, the lower a respondent was in the Company's
managerial structure the more likely it was that his
explanation would fall on the naive end of the continuum.
The higher he was, the more likely it was that he would
offer a sophisticated explanation.
The most naive of the explanations usually em
braced the idea that some people were just naturally
"good guys" and that others were just as naturally "bad
guys." In this naive view, good guys did their work as
they were supposed to, and they did not go around causing
trouble for other people. Bad guys, on the other hand,
by their Very nature liked to cause difficulties for
others. One respondent observed of power players that,
"They go around making waves just to call attention to
themselves."
Many respondents, who were a little less naive,
tended to view power struggle activities in terms of pure
power seeking. In this view certain actors sought to
^This quotation reflects a double naivete. It
was made by an actor who firmly believed that he was a
"good guy" and that any person who made a power move
against him was a "bad guy." His comment appeared to
suggest that power actions were ends in themselves,
ignoring the fact that many power actions were made for
the precise purpose of gaining visibility for the actors
involved.
121
climb the managerial ladder simply to be able to exercise
command over other persons. It was assumed that such
persons derived enjoyment from having the power of
decision and control over the work lives of other
employees. Several respondents suggested that power
struggle activities were merely self-gratifying
demonstrations of power by such persons. A few respondents
reported that many power actors sought advancement so that
they could be associated with other persons of high status
1 2
and obvious power.
Most of the explanations of power struggle
activities offered by respondents fell somewhere near
the middle of the continuum between the naive and the
sophisticated. Among these explanations were a number
which emphasized individuality in one way or another.
Several respondents suggested that power struggle
activities often were simply demonstrations by perfectly
normal persons that they could not be "pushed around,"
either by their peers or their superiors. In this
12This conception of power players resembles the
idea of the "game politician" proposed by Arnold A. Rogow
and Harold D. Lasswell in Power. Corruption, and Recti
tude (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1963), pp. 46-50. In their view, political activity by
the game politician is a mode of self-expression and self-
realization. They contrast the game politician with the
"gain politician," who is moved by desire for the material
welfare that political activities may bring him.
122
conception it was expected that a person was always ready
to show others that he was "just as good as anybody else."
Respondents were able to offer many illustrations
of power struggle activities which revolved around this
individualistic motive pattern. For example, they
observed that when subordinates "dragged their feet" in
executing assignments which they disliked, they often
were engaging in power struggle activities. In a similar
manner, when engineers with degrees from "cow county
colleges" eagerly engaged in controversies with engineers
who had degrees from "prestige techs," they also were
engaging in power struggle activities. A few respondents
observed that when men who had college degrees deliber
ately "put down" peers who did not have college degrees,
they were engaging in subtle power struggle activities.
Several respondents suggested that power
struggle activities often occurred when two given types
of individuals were brought into confrontation with each
other. In this explanatory scheme one type of individual
tended to "stand by the book" in performing his job,
while the other usually would "do what had to be done."
Individuals of the first type were sometimes referred to
as "toads." It was reported that they usually would
follow official procedures slavishly, especially when
their doing so might disturb or discredit their rivals.
123
Individuals of the second type were sometimes referred to
as "cavaliers." It was thought that they were always
looking for ways in which to flaunt official procedures,
even when their doing so might upset operations for other
persons around them.*1 - 3 Reportedly, power struggle
activities were virtually inevitable when representatives
of these two types of individuals were assigned to
reciprocally interdependent positions.
Under closer questioning, some of the respondents
who explained power struggle activities in terms of toads
and cavaliers admitted that the two types were not
completely fixed. A few respondents reported instances
in which apparent toads had been metamorphosed into
cavaliers and vice versa. It was observed that on
occasion an apparent toad who saw an opportunity to
seize an attractive power prize might become a flamboyant
cavalier in its pursuit. In a similar manner, a cavalier
who found himself in insecure possession of an attractive
power prize might sit on it protectively like a toad.14
13These two types of actors also bear more than a
little resemblance to types proposed by Merton. The
toads appear to approximate his ritualists, and the
cavaliers sure similar to his innovators. See Social
Theory . . . , pp. 141-153.
14This finding would appear to differ markedly
with a point which has been underscored by Melville
Dalton. He views the advocates of routines and systems
and the advocates of adaptation and reorganization as
being in continuous "collaborative struggle." The
124
Several explanations of power struggle activities
which were near the middle of the continuum were those
which emphasized the importance of symbols in human
behavior. Many of these explanations involved the
Company's managerial perquisites system. Some of the
respondents thought that a great many power struggle
activities were simply efforts by individuals to acquire
perquisites which were usually accorded only to persons
in higher managerial ranks. In this view power struggle
activities were motivated by needs for the symbols of
status. One lower-level manager effectively summarized
the point: "If you aren't as high as your dad, and your
brother-in-law has a better position, a push-button phone
can be awfully important." Many respondents clearly
recognized that the symbols were sometimes sought as
substitutes for the status which was unattainable for the
individuals involved.
Many respondents were able to give illustrations
of power struggle activities which centered around the
Company's perquisite system. It appeared that quite a
few actors who did not really qualify for offices with
windows in them or reserved parking spaces with their
implication is clear that they are fixed types. See
Men Who Manage (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,
1959), pp. 6-7.
125
names on them spent considerable amounts of time maneuver
ing to get them. A lower-level actor who had a close-in
parking space could take a certain amount of pride in
volunteering to drive a "lunch bunch" to a restaurant at
noon.^ In this connection, it was observed that a
"sticky situation" could develop when a higher-level
actor learned that a lower-level actor had seme specific
perquisite which appeared to be better than his own.
It was reported that this occasionally resulted in power
struggle activities.
A few respondents reported that some persons
sought to obtain offices and parking spaces which either
were close to or symmetrical with the offices and parking
spaces of actors who were at higher levels in the
Company. Possession of such an office or parking space
apparently conferred a certain amount of prestige on the
possessor. Reportedly, one aspirant manager was more
than a little pleased when he learned that his telephone
extension number was complementary to the General
- ^ O c c a s i o n a l l y , a capable manager who could not
(or would not) arrange an actual promotion for a
subordinate who was clamoring for one was able to
still the clamoring by obtaining for the subordinate
one or another of the perquisites appropriate to a
higher rank.
126
16
Manager1s extension number.
Toward the sophisticated end of the continuum
were a number of explanations of power struggle activities
which embraced psychological and sociological conceptions.
Among these explanations were several which utilized the
idea of a natural pecking order among human beings.
These respondents suggested that power struggle activities
stemmed basically from a lack of agreement between the
Company's formal rank order of actors and the rank order
the actors would stand in naturally if they were inter
acting outside of the Company's formal authority system.
One respondent observed that, "Once in a while you assign
to a supervisor a man who just stands too tall to be his
l^The study did not allow sufficient time to
inquire further into this concern with such things as
distance and symmetry. An interesting study might be
built around an examination of the ways in which
perquisite systems are developed. In particular, a
study should be made of the symbolic usages of space,
distance, time, and symmetry in perquisite systems.
Edward T. Hall's suggestions for new ways of looking at
such aspects of culture might afford a starting point.
See The Silent Language (New York: Doubleday and Co.,
Inc., 1959), pp. 165-209.
Some of the respondents referred to greater or
lesser "peck rights" in individuals. The idea appears to
correspond closely with the idea of "charisma" as used by
Max Weber. See The Theory of Social . . . , pp. 358-
392.
127
subordinate; when this happens, you got trouble."18
The idea of a natural pecking order among human
actors was often phrased in terms of a water analogy.
Several respondents averred that, "All water finds its
own level." In this conception, power struggle activities
were simply the "surges and waves" which occurred in a
system while the "water" was finding its level. A number
of respondents noted that the introduction of a new manager
from outside the Company was always associated with power
disturbances. A few respondents referred to this as "the
1 Q
new cow effect."4-^
180n first thought the idea of a natural pecking
order among human beings appears to be a provocative one.
However, attempts to examine power struggle activities in
such a framework quickly became lost in the subjective
aspects of observation. While an actor's place in the
formal order of the Company could be determined easily,
his place in the natural pecking order was never clear.
Besides, such an approach ignores the interaction be
tween "personal charisma" and "office charisma." See
Amitai Etzioni, A Comparative Analysis of Complex
Organizations (Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1961),
pp. 203-207.
18These particular respondents all had degrees in
business administration. Apparently a recent text in
business management had referred to the relationship
between the social order of cows in dairy herds and their
milk production. Dairy farmers and animal psychologists
have observed that introduction of a new cow into a herd
disrupts its social order, and milk production falls
until a new social order has been established. Hence,
the "new cow" effect. See Ronald V. Diggins and
Clarance E. Bundy, Dairy Production (Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1957), p. 186.
128
Finally, several respondents offered systemic
explanations for the phenomenon of power struggle
activities. In brief, they suggested that a great many
power struggle activities were simply accidental or un
intentional excesses in the competitive behavior which
is demanded of individuals by the workings of the
managerial system followed in most large business enter
prises.
In the view offered by these respondents, power
struggle activities came into being when actors became
so zealous in their legitimate pursuit of advancement
in the Company's status order that they were carried
across "that very thin line" which separated accepted
behavior from that which was not. In their view, this
problem resided as much in the system as it did in the
individuals. In this connection, several respondents
offered the suggestion that occurrence of a certain
amount of power struggle activities in firms probably
provided a partial antidote for some of the strains and
20
problems which were inevitable in bureaucracies.
20unfortunately only a few respondents could be
drawn out on this point. It would appear, however, to
offer a certain amount of empirical support for Dalton's
contention that the prevalence of power struggle
activities in firms in the United States belies the
organization man thesis proposed by William H. Whyte, Jr.
See Men Who Manage, pp. 271-272.
129
For the most part the explanations of power
struggle activities offered by the respondents contributed
very little to an understanding of the phenomenon. It was
only later in the course of the study when specific
questions on power struggle activities could be put to
particular managers that information from employees
became useful.
Open-ended Discussions of Power Struggle
Activities.— Once the central topics had been treated in
each interview, attempts were made to lead the respondent
into an open-ended discussion of power struggle activities.
In nearly every instance the attempts were successful.
Those actors who had responded readily to inquiries on
the central topics also were willing to continue to
discuss power struggle activities. In many cases these
discussions amply added depth to the responses which
already had been made for the central topics. In a
number of cases, however, the open-ended discussions
brought to light unexpected aspects of power struggle
activities. Two of these emergent aspects are suf
ficiently important to warrant separate treatments below.
A Traditional Pattern of Power
Struggle Activities
Many of the respondents in their interviews
reported that power struggle activities occurred
130
regularly between engineering, manufacturing, and "front
office" groups. Under close observation it became apparent
that there was some sort of a pattern of power struggle
activities which embraced these three sectors of the
Company. There appeared to be a constant, low-keyed
readiness for conflict between persons from any two of
the three sectors. This readiness seldom resulted in
large-scale conflicts, but some elements of conflict
always seemed to be present. The conflicts between the
engineering and manufacturing sectors were the most
obvious; however, there were also noticeable and per
sistent tensions between each of these two and the front
21
office sector.
2lMany respondents referred to these power
struggle activities as occurring between the "staff"
and the "line." Consensus was lacking, however, on which
functions in the Company were staff and which were line.
Nearly all respondents agreed that manufacturing people
were in the line and that front office people were staff.
Disagreement arose with respect to the place of engineer
ing people. In general, manufacturing people considered
engineers to be staff. Most of the engineers considered
themselves to be line, and they cited the research and
development nature of the Company in support of their
position. Front office people were divided, but they
tended to agree with the engineers. Several respondents
thought that there were both staff and line functions in
each of the three sectors; and a few averred that the
distinction was useless and misleading. Dalton provides
an excellent discussion of the controversy and confusion
which surrounds the staff-line distinction and its role
in manufacturing companies. Ibid., pp. 71-73.
131
In this pattern of conflict, manufacturing per
sonnel were prone to see themselves as practical people
who were faced with the nearly impossible task of giving
form and substance to the "widly impractical ideas" put
forth by the engineers. Engineering personnel, in
contrast, viewed themselves as creative persons who had
to scale back their reasonable designs to ridiculous
simplicity in order for them to be built by the people
in the "butcher shop." The front office people were
viewed by the engineering and manufacturing people as
superfluous dandies who spent most of their time "pouring
martinis down the throats of pompous customers' representa
tives." The front office people, in turn, were convinced
that both the manufacturing people and the engineering
people "lacked any vestiges of business sense."
Power struggle activities within this tripartite
pattern appeared to be of a different order or quality
from most of the power struggle activities which were
observed during the study. They were usually of lesser
intensity, and more actors expected and accepted them.
In the examples cited by respondents the members of each
sector always stood by their fellows. In the power
struggle activities which occurred outside the pattern
actors often formed alliances which "crossed party lines."
Many respondents reported that recurring power struggle
132
activities between engineering, manufacturing, and front
office people were common in all industrial firms.
Several actors alleged that the three-way conflict was
22
traditional in manufacturing companies.
In response to careful probing a number of
respondents from the manufacturing sector of the Company
admitted that manufacturing people tended to resent the
fact that engineering personnel often originated action
for them. As one production planning manager observed,
"Some young engineer redesigns a rivet head, and we have
to retool the whole factory." Engineers sometimes had
similar feelings about people in the front office sector.
An electronics engineer complained that, "Those boys up
front are always committing us in the contracts to extra
drawings and specifications; I have more important things
23
to do than boss around a bunch of draftsmen."
22
**One manager in the manufacturing sector had a
collection of over a dozen yellowing newspaper cartoons by
the late J. R. Williams which dealt with rivalry between
"the shop," "drafting," and "the bigwigs in the office."
The recurring theme in these cartoons argued strongly for
an established tradition of conflict.
23
This finding appears to be consistent with an
interaction proposition offered by George C. Homans. He
avers that among actors in a given social system, "to the
extent that one gives orders that the other must obey,
social interaction will be held down, and sentiment will
move in the direction of respect or at worse antagonism."
See The Human Group (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co.,
1950), p. 444 (Italics added)•
133
Discussion of the subject with persons in the
front office sector of the Company disclosed a different
pattern of responses. A contracts analyst observed that,
"No matter how many times we keep a major program from
going down the tubes, engineering always gets the credit
and manufacturing gets the glory." A finance planner
complained that, "The only path to higher management here
or in any other defense firm is through manufacturing or
24
engineering; the engineers are the new salesmen."
After observing interaction in the Company for a
period of time it became apparent that there actually
were more power struggle activities occurring within the
engineering sector than there were occurring between it
and the other two sectors. This condition also appeared
to prevail for the manufacturing sector. It appeared,
however, that power struggle activities between the front
office sector and other sectors of the Company exceeded
in number those which occurred within the front office
25
sector. These conditions, the many reports by
24Dalton discusses at some length the differences
in career opportunities which are available for actors in
the staff as compared with those in the line. His find
ings would appear to agree with the sentiment expressed
in the above quotation. See Men Who Manage, pp. 95-99.
2^It should be noted that opportunities for the
researcher to observe behavior in the front office sector
were less than they were in either of the other two
134
respondents not withstanding, suggest that perhaps the
tripartite pattern of power conflict was more apparent
them real. There definitely was some sort of a predict
able rivalry between the three sectors, but it did not
account for very many of the power struggle activities
26
observed during the study.
Norms of Power Struggle Activities
After a fairly long period of observation in the
Company and after many discussions with interview respond
ents and informants, it became apparent that there was a
complex system of norms which related to power struggle
activities in the firm. Most of the actors who were
involved with power struggle activities appeared to hold
the same ideas regarding which types of behavior were to
sectors. The apparently lower rate of power struggle
activities in the front office sector actually could have
been the result of restricted perspective. However, a
lower rate of power struggle activities within the front
office sector as opposed to between it and the other
sectors would be consistent with Dalton's conception of
career opportunities for staff people. Ibid.
26
No pretense is made here to a complete under
standing of the phenomenon discussed. The subject could
easily serve as the focus of a whole study. The observer
sometimes was left with the distinct impression that the
three-way contest between engineering, manufacturing, and
front office sectors might be simply a convenient topic
of conversation, much as the weather is used by casual
acquaintances in other social situations.
135
be considered as power struggle activities and which
types were not; and further, most of the actors had some
very clear ideas concerning which kinds of power struggle
activities were acceptable as power struggle activities
27
and which kinds were not.
The ideas held by the actors which served to
distinguish power struggle activities from other types
of behavior were simply the norms of the larger society
which related to the allowable limits of competitive
behavior. Most of the actors appeared to distinguish
power behavior from other behavior on the basis of its
lack of legitimacy in the larger system. In their
conception, instances of competition for higher rank and
more power in the Company were not power struggle activi
ties unless they involved "political" or "unprincipled"
28
behavior. The norms of the larger society specified
27
Homans, in discussing norms in the industrial
setting, says that, "A norm, then, is an idea in the minds
of the members of a group, an idea that can be put in the
form of a statement specifying what the members or other
men should do, ought to do, are expected to do, under
given circumstances." See The Human Group, p. 123.
28By "political" and "unprincipled" behavior the
respondents meant activities which were not legitimate
parts of officially assigned roles. This distinction is
the same as the one that was used in developing the working
definition of power struggle activities for this study.
The agreement reflected here between respondents and the
researcher results from the fact that the working defini
tion was formulated after discussing power struggle activi
ties with a number of acknowledged power players in several
different social settings.
136
that men ought to compete for higher rank and more power
in their work organizations, but only by means of meri
torious achievement in the performance of their assigned
roles. Competitive acts which relied upon elements which
were not embraced in prescribed role behavior were power
struggle activities. In the larger society power struggle
activities were criticized and were subject to negative
29
sanctions.
The ideas held by actors which served to dis
tinguish acceptable kinds of power struggle activities
from nonacceptable kinds were not norms that were common
in the larger society. Rather, they were special norms
which were applicable only in the "society" of power
players. In effect, the power players were social
deviates with respect to the larger society; and like
many other types of social deviates, they were not inter
acting in a normless jungle. They had their own recogniz
able subculture. Within the framework of this subculture
certain power struggle activities were criticized and
29
In this connection, Vance Packard observes that,
"In business there is a pretty firm taboo against even
discussing the possibility that personal strategy— or
politics— may be a factor in promotion. Such discussion
is contrary to the U. S. business creed. Anyone who
depended upon the textbooks and most of the business
journals for his insights would believe that merit alone
prevails when candidates for an opening are considered."
See The Pyramid Climbers, pp. 194-195.
137
negatively sanctioned, and others were admired and
30
praised. A few of the general characteristics of this
system of norms will be indicated.
The power arena.— Many aspects of power behavior
in the Company appeared to be unofficially formalized.
Often, power actors described power struggle activities
as though they were formal events in a big system of
games which were being played in some sort of an arena
in accordance with certain rules. Sometimes power actors
referred to this arena as "the rat race," "the battle
field," or "the grinder."
Each active power player tended to conceive of
the arena as being centered right upon his own level in
the Company. He often thought that the power struggle
activities which occurred below him were little more than
the petty squabbles of disgruntled employees. At the
same time, he tended to think that the power struggle
activities which occurred above him were merely the cut-
and-dried rituals which were arranged by higher powers
30
It is entirely possible that the subcultures of
the power players in the business firms of our society are
just as developed and elaborated as are the criminal sub
cultures. However, since these subcultures rest upon
groups of persons who are more "respectable" and more
influential in our society, they seldom have received the
same attention from sociologists. Something of this nature
was suggested by Edwin H. Sutherland in his White Collar
Crime (New York: The Dryden Press, 1949), pp. 3-13.
138
to sanctify predetermined organizational changes
before they were announced. The power struggle activi
ties which occurred on his own level, however, were "the
real thing."
While the arena was ill-defined, it appeared to
be familiar to nearly all of the power players. At least,
it was well known to all of those actors who were obvious
aspirants for management positions or for promotions.
Further, all obvious power players were thought of as
being subject to "the rules of the game."
In the arena, certain power struggle activities
were accepted by the actors who were witness to them,
and other power struggle activities were disdained. The
intensity of the expectations associated with particular
norms varied with the norms themselves and with the
statuses and competences of the actors involved. Certain
power struggle activities were appropriate for use by
virtually all of the actors in the Company; others were
acceptable only when used by actors in particular
statuses. Also, certain power struggle activities were
permissible when performed by novices but not when
performed by experienced "old pros." Usually, deviations
from the norms resulted only in loss of prestige,
especially among the power players. In some cases,
however, deviations could give rise to more severe
139
sanctions.'**’
Brief descriptions of several of the most common
norms will serve to characterize the power arena and
some of the rules governing the games played in it.
Appearance of rectitude.— In the power games it
was expected that actors would avoid obvious and blatant
power struggle activities. Whenever possible, power
struggle activities were to be performed with taste and
skill. They were expected to be subtle. Actors who
engaged in crude power struggle activities lost prestige
as power players. In its extreme form, this norm
specified that actors would appear even to be unaware of
such things as power struggle activities.
It was observed that power actors who could affect
the appearance of being above the petty struggles which
were occurring among others were much admired. Ideally,
an actor should not even appear to defend himself when he
came under power attack by others. Needless to say, this
appearance was often difficult to maintain. However,
3^While it could not be pursued, it was noticed
that some of the more serious deviations from the norms of
power struggle activities appeared to produce disfavor not
only among the power players but also among many of the
actors who did not participate in the power games. The
condition appeared to be similar to that which prevails in
the larger society in connection with criminals. Nearly
all known criminals suffer some loss of respect.
Criminals who are "squealers" inevitably lose even more.
140
when it was done well it provided an actor with a certain
amount of defense against the depredations of other
actors.
Head-price entry fee.— Not all actors who partici
pated in the power arena did so with the same degree of
commitment. It appeared that above a certain level in
the Company, entry into the power struggle complex was
understood to require an actor's head as surety. At the
lower levels, all actors could play for free with small
wins and small losses. On those levels, blundering power
actors were simply scolded by their superiors. However,
actors who participated in the power games above the
head-price line might be expected to leave the Company if
they made major power moves which miscarried or if their
rivals executed particularly successful power actions
against them.
This head-price line appeared to coincide pretty
much with the last rank below positions in middle manage
ment. For example, in the Research and Development
Department all successful and ambitious group managers
were viewed as being just above the head-price line.
Sometimes, a minor power actor might be moved up above
the head-price line without his being fully aware of the
way the system worked. If in his ignorance he executed
actions against other actors who were above the head-price
141
line, he could find himself in jeopardy when they
retaliated.
Resting place.— At a higher level in the Company
there was another line of demarcation which influenced
participation of actors in power struggle activities.
Those actors who were competing in or very close to the
top of the power arena could expect to be given a secure
"resting place" should they be forced out of the Company.
This resting place was usually in some sort of a temporary
assignment which provided an actor with an appropriate
title, his regular salary, and plenty of free time for
seeking a position with another company. This temporary
assignment might last as long as a year for an actor near
the top of the arena.
The minimum level which assured an actor of a
secure "resting place" appeared to coincide with the
two top ranks in middle management. Usually, aspirant
department managers, department managers, and managers
of major projects could expect to have resting places
should they need them. Below these levels, departing
actors simply were given a "grace period" of a few
weeks or maybe a month to seek other positions.
Noncombatants.— Not all actors participated in
the power games which were staged in the arena. Some
men chose to be noncombatants and "to lead quiet little
142
lives." It was expected that power actors who did
participate in the arena would not harass or "kill
off" reasonably efficient actors who were not engaging
in the power games. While being questioned on this
point, one respondent laughed, "After all, somebody
has to take care of the store.1 1 This norm provided
a certain amount of security for those actors who
sought to avoid the power games altogether.
A few other norms, which were not quite so
clear as the ones described above, may also be
mentioned. All actors were expected to be able to
rationalize their power moves in terms of the good
of the Company and its programs. The logic of their
rationalizations did not have to be perfect, but it
was expected that it should have the appearance of
reasonableness. Again, actors who perceived power
actions against other actors were expected to keep
their own council. It was expected that an actor
not inform on power moves by another actor unless
they were against his own superior. (And then,
perhaps, only if it were to his advantage to do so.)
Also, it was expected that actors not rock the boat,
that they avoid precipitating power struggle activities
which might endanger their own organizational units.
143
Still another norm involved loss of face. It
was expected that actors who £aced demotion in the
Company would leave the firm or at least transfer from
the immediate society of their peers. Actors who failed
to leave the Company when they were expected to lost
the respect of their peers. All actors were expected
to sanction those who deviated seriously from the norms
by voicing criticisms of unacceptable power moves.
And finally, actors were expected to put on a show of
magnanimity whenever they had successfully vanquished
active rivals.
These norms were only a few of those discerned
during the study. There were other norms which related
32
to the place of women in the power arena. Un
doubtedly, there were still other norms which governed
the participation of minority groups in power struggle
3^Although there were several female engineers
and management planners in the Company, there were no
acknowledged women participants in the big power arena.
However, there appeared to be a separate power arena
with its own rules for the secretaries of managers at
all levels. In this system, the ranks of the women
derived from the ranks of the managers they served.
Sometimes the power struggle activities among the
secretaries appeared to equal or exceed those of their
bosses in intensity and deviousness. Also, in a few
cases secretaries appeared to be the prime intelligences
and tacticians behind successful male power actors.
144
33
activities. Some of the norms described or mentioned
above may be unique to this particular company. Others,
however, appear to be norms which could be expected to
obtain in many different social arenas. In any event,
a number of norms did exist, and they served to guide
the behavior of a great many power actors. Like all
norms, these norms were not followed with complete
fidelity by all actors. But actors who flouted these
norms too far were apt to lose prestige, and they often
found that other actors were hesitant to co-operate fully
and whole-heartedly with them.
Summary
Observation of managerial personnel interacting
in both formal and informal settings disclosed that power
struggle activities were fairly prevalent in the firm.
Interviews with persons who had been observed in power
struggle activities yielded information on their knowledge
33
Although there were a number of Negro pro
fessionals in the Company, no Negro power players were
observed. There were, however, a few Chinese and Japanese
managers who engaged in power struggle activities. Jewish
power players appeared to be proportionately represented
in the engineering sector of the Company; but they were
virtually absent from the front office and manufacturing
sectors. It was impossible to determine whether this
condition resulted from prejudice or from occupational
self-selection.
of the subject and their attitudes toward it. In
general, managers and aspirant managers were quite
familiar with power struggle activities, and they
accepted them as a part of their work milieu. The
interviews brought to light two unexpected aspects of
power struggle activities: (1) a pattern of recurring
power struggle activities which involved the engineering,
manufacturing, and front office sectors of the firm; and
(2) a system of norms which governed the behavior of
persons who participated in power struggle activities.
Case illustrations of power struggle activities that
were observed or reported during the study will be
described in the next chapter.
CHAPTER VI
EXAMPLES OF POWER STRUGGLE ACTIVITIES
The number of power ploys and power tactics
discerned in the course of the study was so great that it
would be impracticable to attempt to describe all of them
here. However, it became apparent during the study that
many of the ploys and tactics relied upon the same "twist"
or approach by the power actors performing them. When the
numerous ploys and tactics were considered in terms of
such common features, a loose descriptive typology of
approximately a dozen different ploys and tactics emerged.
In the pages which follow several of the principal cate
gories in this typology will be characterized and then
illustrated.^
In the pages which follow, first the general
nature of the ploys or tactics in a given category will
be outlined. Then a specific, observed ploy or tactic
lThe categories used in this typology are neither
exhaustive nor mutually exclusive. They are used for
descriptive purposes only, to provide some idea of the
form and variety of the power struggle activities which
were observed in the Company.
146
147
which illustrates the type will be described. Because
ploys and tactics seldom occurred in isolation, each
illustration given below, while focusing upon one ploy or
tactic, usually will involve other ploys and tactics also.
On occasion, these "secondary" ploys and tactics will be
2
indicated in passing.
The number of power strategies considered in the
course of the study was limited. Therefore, only a brief
discussion of power strategies will be offered below. The
chapter will, however, include one illustrative example.
Power Plovs
Power ploys, generally, were small-scale power
struggle activities. A ploy was usually executed by only
one or two power actors. In most cases, ploys were
deliberate actions which were performed in immediate
situations. Four broad types of ploys will be described
and illustrated below, and brief references will be made
to several others.
Unintentional flag.— The "unintentional" flag
2A11 of the ploys and tactics used for illustra
tions in this chapter were actually observed by the
researcher. Further, in each case at least one of the
principal participants was interviewed in connection with
the reported ploy or tactic. In all of the cases,
information was also obtained from other actors who were
witness to the situations.
148
ploy was one of the most frequently observed types of
power struggle activities. In this ploy a power actor
would "accidentally" call attention either to some notable
achievement on his own part or to some significant mis
take on the part of a rival. The "flag" was usually
planted or waved in an innocent set of remarks at a
conference or staff meeting, or it was placed in some
convenient and widely distributed report or memorandum
which ostensibly dealt with other subjects. Often a
power actor arranged for an ally to wave the flag. When
executed skillfully this ploy sometimes remained undetected
for what it really was, but it still had its desired
effect•
One of the most adroitly executed of the unin
tentional flag ploys observed during the study was
performed by a design engineer who was concerned with
the basic system. He directed the ploy against a group
manager who was concerned with the auxiliary system. The
engineer previously had worked for the group manager, and
the two had not gotten along very well. At his first
opportunity, the engineer had transferred to another
group.
The ploy performed by the engineer hinged upon the
fact that the basic system and the auxiliary system were
physically connected to each other when the two were
149
functioning as the combination system. In actual field
operations the combination system often would be subjected
to considerable physical strain at that point. The
"mating" assemblies where the systems attached to each
other had to be able to withstand that strain.
The group manager1 s men had completed the designs
for the mating assembly on the auxiliary system quite
early in the program. The engineer/ deeply involved with
production designs for intermediate forms of the basic
system, started designing its mating assembly much later.
Before undertaking the design work for the mating assembly,
the engineer borrowed an engineering model of the mating
assembly for the auxiliary system. In the course of
studying it he tested it with applied strains comparable
to those which ultimately would be applied in the field.
The engineer discovered that the borrowed assembly, as
then designed, simply could not withstand the strains to
which it would be subjected. The engineer did not bother
to report this fact to his own superior nor to the group
manager. However, guided by this knowledge he made very
certain that his own design for the mating assembly for
the basic system was adequate.
The engineer executed his ploy at a subsequent
program meeting for the managers and engineers who were
concerned with the interaction between the two systems.
150
Near the end of this meeting the project manager was
distributing praise for those managers who were doing
exceptionally well in terms of meeting the established
schedules. He had especially high praise for the group
manager and his men. They always seemed to be able to
keep their projects ahead of the established schedules.
The engineer joined in loudly with the praise for the
group manager. He lamented, however, that he had had a
great deal of difficulty in overcoming the problems of
physical strain in the mating assembly for the basic
system. The project manager's remarks and those of the
engineer and others at the meeting were summarized in the
report of the program meeting and circulated among the
research and development managers.
Several weeks later a test model of the combina
tion system failed miserably when it was submitted to
simulated operating conditions and stresses. Study of the
test results disclosed that the precipitating cause of
one of the major areas of failure was the rupture of the
mating assembly on the auxiliary system. The project
manager, having been sensitized by the engineer to the
problems of this part of the system, had less than praise
for the group manager at the next program meeting. The
criticism received by the group manager that day may have
been a contributing factor in his decision to leave the
151
Company a few months later for a job with another firm.
Assignment of credit.— A good many of the ploys
which were observed centered around the assignment of
credit for ideas and achievements. In their basic forms
these ploys simply were claims of credit for favorable
things and disclaimers for unfavorable things. The more
complex forms of the ploys involved diffusion of any dis
credit which was properly due oneself, and diffusion or
dilution of any credit which was due a rival. Sometimes
these forms occurred in something of a sequence. For
example, when a really good idea had been offered by a
rival or by a troublesome subordinate, a power actor
would attempt to demonstrate that at least a portion of
the credit for the idea should be given to himself. If
this was impossible or impracticable, he would seek to
diffuse the credit among his rival's other rivals. A
truly artful power actor, if he could not claim credit
for the idea for himself, would attempt to demonstrate
that the idea "really" originated with his own superior.
A form of this ploy was used by a young engineer
working on the auxiliary system in his rivalry with an
older engineer. These two men were in obvious competition
with each other for the next opening for a group manager
in their section. It was apparent that given the rate of
expansion of the research and development program one or
152
both of them could be promoted sometime within the year.
Both men were involved in designing the electrical aspects
of one of the major units in the auxiliary system. The
young engineer was responsible for the design of the unit
in one form of the system; the older engineer was
responsible for the design of the unit in an alternative
form of the system.
Two of the controlling parameters in designing
the unit were that it had to be enclosed within a space
which was only one-half the size of any previous design,
and that it be made to weigh substantially less than any
similar item.
After months of study and tests, the older
engineer conceived of a way in which several of the
larger parts used in the unit could be made to serve
multiple functions. Such usage would reduce substantially
the total number of parts required in the unit. With
fewer parts required, the reductions in space and weight
could be achieved. The older engineer referred to his
conception as "time sharing." He assigned a number of
his designers and draftsmen to the task of blocking out
the new design. The young engineer was still floundering
around in other pursuits which were not very successful.
In the normal course of events, the older engineer could
be expected to describe his idea triumphantly at the next
153
regular program meeting for the section.
One of the draftsmen working with the older
engineer on the design had often worked with the young
engineer in the past. On one occasion the young engineer
had been instrumental in getting the draftsman a sizable
and warranted special merit increase in pay. This drafts
man, when he was assigned by the older engineer to sketch
out the time sharing idea, recognized its technical rele
vance to the problems facing the young engineer. Being
completely unaware of any tactical significance in his
act, he communicated the idea to the young engineer
informally as a gesture of appreciation, and perhaps as
a modest boast of his own knowledge.
It was immediately clear to the young engineer
that his rival stood to win a strong advantage in their
competition for the next opening for a group manager. He
knew that there was no way in which he could claim credit
for the idea; but he also knew that he simply could not
leave the credit entirely with his rival.
A few days after learning of the time sharing
idea, the young engineer happened to be reading through
the reports of past program meetings of the section.
In one of these reports he came upon the phrase "time
sharing," used in reference to "problems" facing the
section. Actually, the phrase had been used by the
154
manager of the section to describe a possible way of
solving some of the increasing manpower problems of the
section. However, the report of the meeting was less than
literate , and the context in which the phrase was used
was ambiguous. It could be interpreted as referring to
some of the technical problems which had been discussed
at the meeting. The young engineer set some of his
designers and draftsmen to work blocking out a "time
sharing" approach for his own unit.
At the next program meeting for the section when
the older engineer proudly announced his innovation the
young engineer met it with puzzled disdain. He professed
to be unable to recognize the novelty of the approach.
After all, he observed, he had been pursuing the "time
sharing" approach ever since it had first been proposed
by the section manager several months before. When the
older engineer denied this in disbelief, the young
engineer, who "just happened" to have a copy of the
program report with him, managed to find the key para
graph, which he read aloud. The surprised section
manager did not disclaim the credit thus offered to him,
so any advantages that the older engineer might have won
by his technical abilities were lost in the grammatical
obscurities of the report.
Indirect suroerv.— Sometimes power actors
155
utilized other persons to carry out their purposes
against troublesome subordinates, dangerous rivals, or
inept superiors. In this type of ploy, the intended
victim was induced to enter an apparently normal situation
which actually was extremely hazardous for him. In its
simplest fora the ploy involved getting the victim to
accept a difficult or impossible assignment under another
actor who was "quick with the axe." In another of its
forms the ploy involved coaxing the intended victim into
conflict with another actor of ill humor and unsuspected
strength. If the intended victim were fired or forced
to transfer to another area in the Company, the power
actor had brought about the "surgery" indirectly. He
could proclaim in all innocence that he had "no blood
on his hands." The actual surgeon usually was aware of
his role in the affair, but sometimes he was not.
One novel and usually harmless form of the
indirect surgery ploy was independently invented and
executed by each of several different power actors before
it became well known around the Company. This particular
ploy was always designed around an affable and aging
draftsman.
In the first observed instance of the ploy, the
draftsman was working under the drafting manager in the
Engineering Department. The research and development
156
program was still in its early stages at the time. Most
of the drafting work for the Research and Development
Department at that time was being performed by persons
who were "out on loan" from the Engineering Department.
Several of these "loaners" were working temporarily for
an acting group manager in the Research and Development
Department.
In the rush of the early research and development
efforts, a great many drafting errors occurred. The
acting manager attributed most of these errors to "poor
supervision" of the loaners by the drafting manager in
the Engineering Department. He argued this point loudly
in the program management meetings. After several of
these unpleasant confrontations on the subject, the
drafting manager felt constrained to retaliate. He had
been with the Company for many years, and he was a fairly
accomplished power player.
As the need for drafting services in the research
and development program increased, the Research and
Development Department began assembling its own drafting
force under the acting manager. Many draftsmen in the
Engineering Department sought to transfer to the more
promising and exciting Research and Development Depart
ment. The drafting manager encouraged the draftsman to
seek such a transfer. On the basis of strong
157
recommendations from his superior, the draftsman was
allowed to transfer.
Within a matter of days after the draftsman had
officially transferred to the Research and Development
Department, it had become apparent that he was either
lazy or incompetent. He would work at his drawings for
an hour or two each morning, then he would spend the
rest of the day at his table writing personal letters,
telephoning persons outside the plant, or even reading
magazines. In due time this was reported to the acting
manager and he reprimanded the draftsman. The draftsman
averred that he would try to work harder. Within a few
days, however, it had become obvious that he had no real
intention of changing his behavior.
The next time that the acting manager saw the
drafting manager, he complained about the excellent
recommendations that had been given for the draftsman
when he had requested a transfer. The drafting manager
acted surprised, and he maintained that the draftsman had
always been a very good worker in the Engineering Depart
ment. The drafting manager sympathized with the acting
manager, though, and observed that sometimes unpleasant
as it might be, a manager did have to fire a man.
The acting manager reprimanded the draftsman
several more times over the next two months with no
158
visible results. Finally, in despair, lie ordered the
draftsman terminated. In the lengthy termination process,
the draftsman demanded and received an audience with the
acting manager. He suggested that perhaps too much work
was expected of him. He volunteered the promise that, if
he were not fired, he would only work for the acting
manager for a year, then he would seek a transfer to some
other part of the Company. The acting manager was over
whelmed with the apparent temerity of the man. That
afternoon he personally completed the necessary forms for
having the draftsman terminated immediately. As the
draftsman left the plant on his "last day," he shrugged
passively and stated to his work associates that he was
going to spend a day or two on the beach, and then he
would be back.
A few days later the acting manager was summoned
to the Central Offices Department. When he returned to
his own office he obviously had been chastised. He was
taciturn; and he appeared to be more amused than angry.
The following Monday, the draftsman was back at his
table, well tanned and reading a magazine. When the
acting manager walked through the drafting roan the two
men waved and exchanged smiles. The next time the acting
manager and the drafting manager were seen together they
were laughing amicably, and their old conflicts apparently
159
had been forgotten.
When the elements of the situation became known,
it emerged that the draftsman and the President of the
Parent Firm had known each other as children. The drafts
man had "a job for life" with the Company. When he had
been fired, he simply telephoned his friend. Shortly
thereafter, the acting manager was called to the Central
Offices Department.
The drafting manager apparently had learned of
the draftsman's special connections some years before
under much the same set of circumstances. The acting
manager's sometimes unreasonable complaints had provided
him with a justification for applying the ploy himself.
The ploy did not really hurt the acting manager, but it
did leave him somewhat shaken for a period of time.
Much this same sequence of events happened
several times during the course of the study. The ele
ments of the ploy were apparently so attractive that
power actors could not resist exploiting them. The
occasionally clownish aspects of the ploy led more than
one actor to liken it to something from Gilbert and
Sullivan.
In one observed case the ploy was involved in the
forced resignation of a lower-level drafting manager in
a section in the Research and Development Department.
160
In this instance the trap was set for the man by his own
superior. When the trap had been sprung, the man made
an issue of the case, proclaiming that if he did not have
the power "to fire a bum" when he found one, he was in
the wrong job. Apparently, he was left to stand on his
statement by a superior who welcomed the opportunity to
"unload" him.
By the end of the period covered by the study the
ploy centering around the draftsman had become widely
known in the folklore of the Company. Once it had become
well known to the people in the Company's personnel
activities, it is doubtful that it was ever successfully
executed again.
Manipulation of information.— A great many power
ploys were based upon the passive, active, or indirect
manipulation of information. In passive ploys, power
actors simply did not supply other actors with information
which was known to be of value to them. In active ploys,
actors actually created or used false information in order
deliberately to mislead other actors. In indirect ploys,
actors relayed useful information to the other actors for
their use in moving against mutual adversaries.
The information manipulated in this type of a
power ploy usually was not of the type specified for
treatment in the role of the power actor. Use of such
161
Information in a ploy would have constituted malfeasance
or insubordination. The information usually was of the
type which was tangential to or removed from the actor's
official concern, involving knowledge that he was not
ordinarily expected to have.
A very complex form of the manipulated information
ploy was observed during the study. It actually involved
all three of the methods of manipulating information
mentioned above, having passive, active, and indirect
aspects. Description of this particular ploy will serve
not only to illustrate the type, but it also will indicate
the subtleties and complexities of some of the machina
tions contrived by the power players.
This ploy occurred principally in the Research
and Development Department, but it had some expression in
the Central Offices Department. The ploy was contrived
by a new man in the Company, who was on a temporary
assignment as an acting manager of a services group in
the Research and Development Department. He directed
the ploy against a lower project manager and the manager
of a documents group, who also were in the Research and
Development Department. The lower project manager was
a "fading star," but the documents manager was being
groomed for a position as manager of a new section which
was being planned.
162
The complex nature of the ploy stemmed from two
attendant conditions. First, the ploy was calculated
to get the documents manager to execute a poorly conceived
ploy of his own against a contracts manager in the Central
Offices Department; and second, the contracts manager
aided in the execution of the ploy, knowing that it
would ultimately have negative consequences for the lower
project manager, in the past, the lower project manager
had been active in driving the contracts manager out of
the Research and Development Department.
This particular ploy revolved around a document
called the Qualified Suppliers List. The new technical
demands of the combination system required that a great
many new and improved parts be developed by small
suppliers in the electronics industry. The Company
controlled the development and quality of these new
parts by means of rigid and detailed specifications.
Not all parts manufacturers could produce parts that
came up to these specifications. The Company had been
forced to expend large sums of money in order to test
the parts offered by many of the potential suppliers.
The Qualified Suppliers List indicated which manufacturers
were able to produce which parts in the quality and
quantities required, on acceptable schedules.
It was outlined earlier that when the designs
for the production model of the third intermediate form
of the basic system had been completed, they were trans
mitted to another firm for manufacture of the actual
hardware. The contract between the government and the
Company called for delivery to the other firm of complete
engineering documentation for the system. At the same
time, the contract between the government and the other
firm specified that the other firm would just manufacture
the system; it would not engage in any funded research
and development work for improving the system nor for
designing new systems. A special clause in the contract,
however, did provide for funding any research work which
might be required should the Company fail to provide
sufficient engineering documentation for the system to
be manufactured. Zt was well known in the electronics
industry that the other firm wanted very much to obtain
a contract for a funded research program in the area of
the combination system in competition with the Company.
When the services manager assumed his temporary
duties in the Research and Development Department, he
learned that most of the managers in the department were
under the impression that the Qualified Suppliers List
was proprietary information with respect to the Company.
Rigid security measures were exercised with the document.
This appeared to be reasonable to the services manager in
164
view of the considerable costs that had been involved in
developing the list. However, in the course of his work
he discovered that the list was being sent routinely to
the other firm as a part of the engineering documentation
for the production model of the basic system, and that
apparently none of the managers in the Research and
Development Department were aware of this fact. The
services manager visited a contracts manager in the
Central Offices Department to ascertain whether the list
was being sent to the other firm legally. He learned
that indeed the list was being provided to the firm
under contract, and that it was being kept current on
a monthly basis.
In the course of his conversation with the
contracts manager, the services manager learned about
the special clause in the contract which would allow the
other firm to commence funded research and development
work if the Company's engineering documentation should
be incomplete. He also learned that the government and
the other firm considered that the Qualified Suppliers
List was an integral part of the engineering documenta
tion for the system, whether or not the research and
development managers held that view. Apparently, the
provisions for transmitting the list were considered
to be routine by the contracts managers, and they had
165
been arranged without any particular discussion of the
subject with managers in the Research and Development
Department.
The services manager initiated his ploy a few
days later by simply mentioning in apparent naivet£ to
the documents manager that the Qualified Suppliers List
was being sent to the other firm. He gave the documents
manager a copy of the official transmittal list which
showed the Qualified Suppliers List by name and number.
The services manager did not bother to mention to the
documents manager the special clause in the contract
between the military and the other firm.
The documents manager immediately concluded that
the Company was needlessly losing information which had
been very costly to compile. He conferred with his
superior, the lower project manager, and the two decided
to "impound" the Qualified Suppliers List. They
righteously refused to allow further copies and revisions
of the Qualified Suppliers List to be removed from the
Research and Development Department. They then initiated
an official complaint against the contracts manager who
had made the "costly blunder." The documents manager
and the lower project manager had had jousts with the
contracts manager before when he had been in the Research
and Development Department. They were certain that
166
"when the chips were down" the contracts manager and
several others in his office would come in for consider
able criticism by the upper management of the Company.
Before the issue had matured inside the Company,
the other firm acted upon the situation. It filed a
formal request with the government for the contract to
be rewritten to allow funded research and development
work on the basic system. The government, before
responding to the request, sought an explanation from
the Company as to why it was violating the terms of its
contract. The general manager's office initiated a
high-level inquiry.
Once the elements of the situation had become
clear to the upper management of the Company, it moved
quickly. The Company did not wish to promote any un
necessary competition in research and development work
in the area of the combination system.
Several changes were made in the management of
the research and development program. The documents
managers was moved to a lesser managerial position, and
he thereby lost an important promotion which had appeared
to be quite certain for him. The lower project manager
was seriously weakened in his position, and he lost the
respect of many of his best engineers. Of even more
importance, however, a clamor commenced in the Central
167
Offices Department for closer "central cognizance" over
the whole research and development program.
The services manager, while he was subjected to
a certain amount of temporary criticism by the documents
manager and the lower project manager for his apparent
ignorance, was unscathed by the whole affair. A short
time later, he was promoted to the section manager
position which had been slated originally for the docu
ments manager. The contracts manager was observed to
gloat over the documents manager's loss.
In summary, the services manager executed a very
complex ploy by providing some true information to a
rival, the documents manager, while withholding yet other
information which would have been most valuable to him.
The documents manager eagerly seized this incomplete
information and induced the lower project manager to
join him in shaping a ploy against the contracts manager
and some of the other front office people. The contracts
manager, well aware of what was happening, sat back and
by means of a "passive ploy" let the two of them "cut
their own throats." The services manager and the
contracts manager were both successful in executing their
ploys, one active, one passive. The documents manager
and the lower project manager saw their ploy backfire
with disastrous results.
168
Other plovs.— The above are only a few of the
many types of ploys which were observed during the study.
Other types involved the juggling of schedules, appeals
to public opinion, exploitation of industry standards,
political prejudices, and participation in the power
struggle activities within the government. Three other
general power ploys will be described briefly without
illustration•
First, there was the favorable parallel ploy.
In this ploy an actor would endeavor to make his particular
assignment appear to be equal in function and importance
with that of another actor who stood on a higher rung of
the Company ladder. When successful, the attempt resulted
in the "inflation" of the actor's activity to a higher
level. However, sometimes the attempt resulted in a
"deflation" of the parallel activity. When this happened
the actor won himself a new and angry rival.
Second, there was the rumor ploy. When a time of
decision was approaching in which a choice had to be made
between an actor and his rival for promotion to a coming
vacancy, the actor would start a rumor about his rival.
Their superior would hear the rumor and often he would
attach credence to it. Usually the rumor was to the
effect that the rival was leaving the Company for another
position. The promotion sometimes then went to the power
169
actor. This particular ploy was dangerous, though, and
it sometimes backfired. In a few cases the promotion
3
was offered to the rival to keep him on the scene.
Third, there was the second guess ploy. The
first time a set of new operations was performed in the
firm it was sometimes stiff and inefficient; the program
would be riddled with problems and mistakes. An actor
who received an assignment with similar sets of opera
tions would study the history of the first situation.
Then he would be able to anticipate and correct many of
the errors. By appearing to be ignorant of the problems
which had existed for the others, the actor affected
the appearance of being a very efficient manager who
should have been given the assignment the first time
around. In some cases, however, this approach won the
actor the undying enmity of the man who had the first
assignment and who was thus "shown up."
Power Tactics
Power tactics were general contingency plans
3The rumor that a rival was leaving the Company
was the most common rumor; and apparently xt was also the
most effective. However, the substance of the rumor varied
with the circumstances. Other subjects used in rumors were
divorce actions, "dating" of secretaries, and arrests for
drunken driving, in one observed case a power player
made effective use of a rumor that his rival was a
Democrati
170
devised by actors for courses of action under particular
circumstances. Usually, tactics were developed only
for situations with which the actors were immediately
familiar; a few, though, were directed toward condi
tions at a period removed in time. Normally, tactics
were developed by individuals; but certain tactics,
by their very nature, were shared by several actors.
Four general power tactics will be described below
and referred to specific situations in the Company.
Several other tactics will be mentioned in passing.
Form alliances.— Actors formed useful alliances.
They attempted to become closely acquainted with those
of their peers who were able to help them; and they
established casual but warm relationships with some of
the subordinates of their rivals. Often, they attempted
to become known to their superiors' peers, and even their
superiors' superiors. Unofficial relationships such as
these were sought by actors in order to forestall ploys
by rivals and to provide information for shaping their
4
own ploys.
^Several respondents in the Manufacturing Depart
ment and a few in the Central Services Department reported
that the discovery (or even the placing) of a lodge
brother in a rival's organization could provide an actor
with a ready-made alliance, "if he didn't lean on it too
heavy." The lodge reported was always the Masonic Order.
Such alliances reportedly were prevalent among leadmen.
171
Many instances of successful alliances were
observed during the study. Probably the most effective
alliance noted was one which connected the project manager
for the basic system and the managers of the Manufacturing
Department and the Central Offices Department. These
three men always appeared to support each other firmly
and uncritically, even when their subordinates were
sometimes in a state of near-warfare with each other.
The strength which resulted from this mutual support
undoubtedly was one of the deciding factors in moving
the Company into volume production activity over the
strenuous objections of the manager of the Research and
Development Department.
In effect, the project manager had formed
assistant foreman, foremen, and superintendents in the
various assembly plants. Many other respondents, however,
when questioned about such alliances denied that they
really existed. (The researcher did observe Masonic pins
and rings on the majority of the minor functionairies
mentioned when he attended meetings of the Company's
management club. However, because only a small percentage
of such functionairies attended the meetings, it is
possible that the people at the meetings represented
"joiners" more than they represented the lower-levels of
factory management.) In the Research and Development
Department and the Central Offices Department, there were,
reportedly, a number of "country club cliques" and two
yachting groups which were sometimes involved in power
alliances. The relationships between social groups and
alliances within the Company could not be pursued in the
study. However, the limited findings indicated here for
the factory people appear to agree with those reported by
Melville Dalton in Men Who Manage (New York: John Wiley
and Sons, Inc., 1959), pp. 150-155, 178-181.
172
alliances with the peers of his superior; and the managers
of the Manufacturing Department and the Central Offices
Department had formed alliances with the subordinate of
one of their rivals. These alliances had important
consequences for the Company and the careers of the
actors involved. The project manager and the manager
of the Manufacturing Department both achieved more in
terms of importance and control in the Company than they
would have if it had continued as a research firm only.
The manager of the Central Offices Department was served
by the creation of counterbalancing forces to match the
growing ascendancy of the Research and Development Depart
ment in Company affairs.
Catch a star.— Many power actors were constantly
on the watch for a "rising star" in the Company firmament.
When some promising actor appeared on the scene and he
obviously was slated for bigger things in the Company,
many other actors would seek assignment to his organiza
tion. The converse form of this tactic related to falling
stars. Actors usually attempted to transfer quickly from
the organizations of lights which were failing, unless
they saw chances to succeed to the positions and to
achieve some success in them. Sometimes a small team
of actors on as many as three levels in the Company would
build and polish a star. The team would then rise as a
173
constellation.
The best example of this tactic was afforded by
a number of industrial engineers who worked for a time
in a special group in the Central Offices Department.
Early in the research and development program the group
was disbanded, but not before the members had come to
know each other very well. Apparently all of the members
of the group had come to respect and admire the manager
of the group. He in turn had been impressed with their
loyalty.
When the group was disbanded, the members
transferred to positions which were scattered around
the Company. A few members left the Company for other
firms. When the Manufacturing Department was reorganized
and expanded, the new mamager of the department attempted
to find some promising young man, experienced in the
Company, to serve him as a special aide with trained
"eyes and ears" for Company problems. The department
manager soon settled upon the former manager of the
industrial engineering group.
Within weeks of this appointment as an aide to
the manager of the Manufacturing Department, the former
industrial engineering manager was swamped with requests
from his former subordinates to join him in his new
assignment. Over half of the foxmer members of the
174
industrial engineering group ultimately joined the
Manufacturing Department, During the next three years
the former manager of the group rose to a vice presidency
in charge of a division in the Company. At the time he
assumed that position, nearly all of the men who had
joined him had management positions somewhere in the
Company.
Support preferential regulations.— Not all actors
or organizational units were affected to the same degree
by Company regulations. In general, actors supported
strongly all of those regulations which hampered the
activities of their rivals but which weighed lightly
upon their own operations. Further, some managers
actively urged the formulation of regulations which
favored their positions at the expense of their rivals.
The prime example of this tactic was afforded by
the manager of the Engineering Department. Bitter that he
had not been given the assignment to manage the research
and development program, he opposed its operations whenever
he could do so without engaging in direct aggression. To
this end, he supported all suggestions for standardization
programs in the Company. He knew that standardized proce
dures and regulations would rest more heavily upon research
and development activities than upon his own more tradi
tional assignments. He also supported all suggestions
175
for the establishment of a central data processing
activity in the Company. Finally# the manager of the
Engineering Department became the most ardent champion
of increased strength for the Central Offices Department#
a thought which had been repugnant to him before the
Research and Development Department had been formed.
Anticipate staff needs.— Often an actor who had
advance knowledge of coming work assignments would collect
under him a nucleus of people with the critical skills
and experience required for the upcoming work. When the
assignment arrived# logic often demanded that his
organization be expanded to include the new functions.
This tactic was pursued to an unsuccessful
conclusion by a production control manager in the
Manufacturing Department. When the possibility of
establishing a central data processing center in the
Company was being discussed for the nth time# he
concluded that finally the time had come. He recognized
that if it were established# it would necessitate the
formation of a special group of computer programmers
and planners in the Manufacturing Department. Anticipat
ing this requirement# he juggled the man power authoriza
tions for his group and gathered a number of people with
the appropriate skills. When the discussions turned out
to be empty again, he was left with a staff he could not
176
begin to justify. This condition reflected negatively
upon his managerial abilities, and it may have been
involved in a demotion he suffered some months later.
Other tactics.— Most of the tactics which were
observed during the study were not as general as the
ones described above. However, several others did have
some degree of generality. Two of these will be
described without illustration.
First, it was often tactical for an actor to
own a "Christmas Tree.1 1 All of the larger organizational
units included simple, lower-level groups which provided
services such as typing, art layout, and document
reproduction and distribution. Middle-level power
actors often attempted to include some of these groups
somewhere in their organizations so that they might use
them as sources of special favors for other actors who
were important to them. In addition, such groups some
times would come into possession of "intelligence" about
the activities of the actors who used their services.
Strong actors, however, were careful not to become too
closely identified with the management of groups of
"clucks."5
Second, power actors always tried to "avoid the
^Read "clerks."
177
can of worms." Some assignments allowed an actor to
sparkle in his performance. Other assignments were
merely dull, but manageable. Still other assignments
were nearly impossible to execute without discredit.
Whenever an actor saw an assignment coming up in his
area which could not be executed with credit, he avoided
it as a can of worms. He usually effected this by
finding an urgent need to be elsewhere.
Power Strategies
Power strategies were long-range plans for actions
and movements which would bring an actor a successful
career. It was difficult to learn very much about power
strategies during the study. Only a few informants would
or could discuss the subject at any length. Most
respondents who were at or aspired to the middle level
of management, however, were agreed that men had to have
strategies if they were to get anywhere in their lives.
When these actors were asked to describe power strategies,
though, they usually floundered or resorted to cliches.
The most frequently used cliche was to the effect that:
“Up is through, around, over, or out." The first three
objects of reference are superiors; the last is the
Company. The respondents seemed to agree that it was
preferable to go through, permissible to go around.
178
dangerous to go over, and always advisable to be ready
to go out.
For the most part, interviewed actors reported
only very simple strategies. The most frequently
suggested idea was the joining of an appropriate "animal
club" or some special social set and then to "play it
by ear." A few actors testified to the importance of
having belonged to certain fraternities during their
university years. Others reported that fraternities
had been a waste of time. Only five or six strategies
were reported in detail by respondents and informants.
Just one of these will be outlined here. It was reported
by a successful manager in the Research and Development
Department. While it had many features in common with
the other reported strategies, it is inpossible to
determine whether or not it is typical. The respondent,
however, averred that it was typical of successful
managers, and he might very well have known.
This manager reported that at the age of 32,
while working at another company, he realized that "up
was a long way away." It was then that he saw for the
first time that he was "just a balding engineer in a
large company, nine years out of school, and forty miles
from the general manager's office." He knew that he had
exceptional technical ability in his field, but he had
179
never had the right “breaks." At about that same time,
he ran into an old friend from on his first engineering
job. The friend was the executive vice president of an
important small company, with his friend, the manager
discussed his situation. They outlined several ways
in which he might improve his career.
The manager and his wife (a graduate of a
refined girls' college) discussed the situation for
several months, then they decided upon a course of
action. She was as much interested in "getting out
of the rut" as he was.
The manager sought and found a new position with
a managerial title in a small company. The pay in this
position was actually a little less than he had been
making simply as an engineer in his previous position.
His wife enrolled in a "charm school" which they had
heard about. On his job, the manager performed well.
In addition, he brought constant pressure upon the
upper management of the firm to make his title sound
even more important. In the charm school, his wife
learned or polished the detailed social graces, patterns
of behavior, and expectations of the people who appear
on the society pages in newspapers. Together, the
manager and his wife studied newspapers and magazines
for information on a selected set of corporations which
180
employed a great many engineers. After nearly a year
of planning and study, they selected the Company as a
promising possibility.
The manager arranged for a transfer in his firm
to the city where the Company was located. He and his
wife then borrowed heavily on their life insurance, and
purchased a home in a "classy" neighborhood which included
several middle managers of the Company. During the next
year, the manager's wife slowly established social
contacts with the wives of several of these managers.
In due course, the manager became acquainted with the
men, but he appeared to make no special point of it.
As time passed, at the occasional parties at
which these men met, they began to share some of their
management problems. The manager took pains "not to
come on too strong." After being acquainted with the
Company managers for nearly two years, the manager
casually mentioned that he was frustrated by the lack
of perspective and wisdom on the part of the upper
management of his own firm. He reported that he was
discontented because the firm tended to deal with
symptoms rather than with the elements of the problems
it faced. He timed these remarks to coincide with an
announcement that the Company was undergoing expansion.
Predictably, one of the managers offered him a position
with the Company.
The manager "considered" the offer for nearly
two months before accepting it. He was "hesitant to
leave his firm in a hole." When he did finally accept
the offer, he came into the Company and worked briefly
in a temporary assignment. Soon he was named as the
manager of a new section in the Research and Development
Department.
The rest of the manager's strategy called for
him to work at the Company for three or four years, and
then to seek a vice presidency in one of the small firms
which dealt with the Company. From there he would
"ratchet" his way up through a series of ever larger
6
companies•
Concluding Comment
Something of the interrelationship between
power tactics, power ploys, and power strategies may be
illustrated by outlining the counsel offered by one
veteran middle manager to a young friend. The veteran
had just learned that his young friend had been asked
to appear in the general manager's office to outline a
6It was learned later that the manager did indeed
leave the Company to become a vice president of a small
firm in the aerospace industry. At this writing he was
the executive vice president and general manager of the
firm.
182
new management proposal. The young man and his superior
had been developing the proposal over a period of several
months. On that particular date, however, the young
mem's superior was away from the Company on vacation.
As the younger man was leaving his office for the
appointment with the general manager, the veteran power
player, acutely aware of the role of co-optation in
industry, counseled him: "Don't be nervous! Don't be
scared! Just remember: Sell yourself first, your
ideas second, and your boss down the river!1 1
If the young man did attempt to sell himself
first, he was following a standard tactic. If he tried
to sell his boss down the river, he was executing a
ploy. His receiving the counsel from his friend bespoke
a tactical alliance, and it may have been part of a
two-way strategy.
As the terms have been used here, there are
no really clear dividing lines between ploys, tactics,
and strategies. All three are forms of behavior which
are built around cores of conscious deception. Usually,
the deception is effected by manipulating appearances
or information. The people deceived may be the direct
victims or targets, or they may be third parties, such
as superiors, who must take action with respect to both
the power actors and their victims. In general, power
183
struggle activities are directed toward inducing other
actors to conceive of situations other than they really
are and then to predicate action upon the misconception.
In words borrowed from Parsons and from Goffman, power
struggle activities appear to be attempts at instrumental
impression management by actors as they strive for status
7
in a co-optative social system.
7
See Talcott Parsons, The Social System (Glencoe,
111.: The Free Press, 1951), p. 49; and Erving Goffman,
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (New York:
Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1959), pp. 208-212.
CHAPTER VII
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
During the early stages of this study most
attempts to develop an explanation for the occurrence
of power struggle activities met with limited
success. On the basis of observational data alone, power
struggle activities appeared to occur randomly in space
and time. The interview responses to the question
on what caused power struggle activities revealed very
little more. Only after a considerable amount of the
field work for the study had been completed were
meaningful correlates of power struggle activities dis
cerned. These correlates, however, suggested a
general hypothesis which appeared to account for a great
many of the power struggle activities that had been
observed during the study. Moreover, a preliminary
examination of the hypothesis by means of further
observations and informal interviews disclosed that it
had a certain amount of predictive efficiency. This
hypothesis served as the core of a middle-range theory
of power struggle activities in formal organizations.
This chapter describes the principal correlates
184
185
of power struggle activities and indicates how they were
used in the general hypothesis. The extension of the
general hypothesis into a middle-range theory of
power struggle activities is then outlined. The chapter
concludes with an enumeration of observations which
have been offered by other writers which appear to con
verge with the proposed theory.
Correlates of Power Struggle Activities
While a great many apparent correlates of power
struggle activities were considered in the course of
the study, only five of them appeared to have a significant
degree of explanatory value. These five correlates were
modes of supervision, technological changes, available
power prizes, new competition, and contract completions.
The discovery and importance of each of these correlates
will be described briefly.
Modes of supervision.— It was observed that
groups which were closely similar in structure, assign
ments, and location often varied considerably in the
amounts of power struggle activities which were present.
Some groups were relatively calm in terms of power
struggle activities; other groups were relatively active.
Attention was drawn to variations in modes of supervision
when it was observed that the reassignment of the manager
186
of a calm group to manage an active group sometimes was
followed by a reduction of power struggle activities
in the active group. In a similar manner, reassignment
of a manager from an active group to manage a calm
group appeared sometimes to be followed by an increase
in power struggle activities in the calm group.
When these observations were discussed with
informants, several of them suggested that the presence
or absence of power struggle activities in a group de
pended to some extent upon whether the group had a
"weak" or a "strong" manager. In pursuit of this
suggestion, special informal interviews were arranged
with managers of both active and calm groups to ascertain
whether they were aware of power struggle activities
among their subordinates, and if so how they handled
such conditions. All of these managers reported that
they had observed power struggle activities from time
to time among the members of their groups. They appeared
to differ markedly, however, in how they approached the
problem.
Several of the managers of groups which were
relatively active in terms of power struggle activities
reported the need for firmness on the part of
supervision. These managers seemed to feel that they
were "strong" managers. More than one of these
187
respondents, in discussing power struggle activities,
commented to the effect that, "you have to lay down
the law on this sort of thing or it gets out of hand."
Though these men were aware that there were power
struggle activities within their groups, they tended
to think that there would have been many more of them if
they had not taken strong positions. Most of these
men also thought that there were just as many power
struggle activities in the groups around them as there
were within their own groups.
Only a few of the managers of groups which
were relatively calm in terms of power struggle activities
mentioned a need for firmness by supervision. Most
of these managers simply reported that they did not have
to worry very much about the problem. When they were
asked how they kept power struggle activities under
control in their groups, they usually could not say. A
few of them, however, did offer some suggestions for
handling specific cases. One manager reported that if
one of his men started shaping power ploys against
another, it was a sign that the man was not being kept
busy enough. The obvious solution, he said, was to
"keep the man so busy that he would not have time for
playing politics." Another manager of a relatively calm
group had a similar suggestion. He said that a would-be
188
power player should be given a more difficult assignment
so that he would not have any extra energy to use in
attacking his associates. Both of these managers reported
some degree of success with these techniques. Another
manager of a relatively calm group suggested that,
"supervision has to keep people focused upon their jobs
and not upon each other." He averred that a man who
was kept interested in what he was doing would not be
seeking another man's job.
The critical factor which emerges here is not
one of "weakness" or "strength" in modes of supervision.
Rather it is the difference between command and
leadership. All of the managers had the formal authority
to command. Some of them were inclined to be firm in
their exercise of this authority; others were less so.
Those managers who followed the firm mode of supervision
tended to have more power struggle activities among
their subordinates than did the managers who placed less
emphasis upon firmness. It was apparent that the latter
were effectively controlling power struggle activities
in some other manner.
A key factor in leadership in the industrial
setting is the ability to keep subordinates interested
in their assignments. All managers may command their
subordinates to perform their assignments; but not all
189
managers are able to lead their subordinates by
intensifying their interests in their assignments.
Apparently there is a certain amount of variability in
the amount of this ability possessed by managers. Very
few of the managers had any conscious awareness of
the need for this ability, but many displayed it in one
form or another. The managers who had the ability,
either consciously or unconsciously, were leaders; those
who lacked it were only commanders. Power struggle
activities appeared to be more pronounced under commanders
than under leaders.*
Technological changes.— A correlation between
certain types of technological changes and the occurrence
of power struggle activities also was observed. It ap
peared that the development of significant technological
advancementpin some area of especial concern to a given
group within the Company was sometimes followed by an
increase in the extent and intensity of power struggle
activities in that group. This condition was most
noticeable within the Research and Development Department,
lAmitai Etzioni also finds it necessary to
distinguish between commanders and leaders in his analysis
of complex organizations. In his theoretical structure
he refers to them as "officers" and "formal leaders."
See A Comparative Analysis of Complex Organizations
(Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, Inc., 1961), pp. 93-95.
190
but it also obtained to some extent in other areas
of the Company.
One of the first observed instances of this pattern
occurred in a small design engineering group in the
Research and Development Department. The principal
assignment of this group was to work out the intricate
detailed designs for protective sheet metal cases used
to hold and enclose certain clusters of electronic
parts. Such clusters were included in nearly all of the
units produced by the Company. These sheet metal cases
supported the parts and protected them from atmospheric
degeneration. Over the years the members of this
design group had developed highly specialized techniques
for forming and securing sheet metals in unusual forms
and sizes. The designs coming from the group were
highly regarded by all persons who were concerned in
any way with the finished product. The design
engineers in the group were widely respected in the
industry. Reportedly, the group had always been relatively
calm in terms of power struggle activities.
Quite suddenly there appeared on the market a
technical service for encasing clusters of electronic
lparts in a special plastic material. Several engineers
in the Company experimented with this new approach in
the designs for their units. It became apparent from
191
their experiments that such encasements had all of the
advantages of the metal cases and the additional
advantages of ease of manufacture and economy. It was
immediately clear to all design engineers that from that
time afterward a great many of the clusters of small
electronic parts would be assembled and encased in this
plastic material rather than in sheet metal. Within a
few weeks after the experiments with the new approach
had been completed, the design group appeared to be rife
with power struggle activities.
The manager of the group discussed with his
subordinates a plan for learning the new plastic
technology, but his efforts were in vain. The firm which
offered the new approach had the process and its materi
als well covered by patents, and it was interested in
bringing work into its own plants. Power struggle ac
tivities appeared to spread in the design group.
Ultimately, the group was disbanded, and many of the
engineers in the group left for other companies.
Another situation in which a technological change
was associated with the occurrence of power struggle
activities was observed in a payroll group in the Central
Offices Department. This group was charged with handling
the payroll records and wage and salary disbursements
for all parts of the Company. Over the years the group
192
had developed a set of conventional but highly efficient
procedures. The group performed its work well. At the
time, the group numbered over 100 employees, with seven
designated managers on three levels. According to
informants the group always had been relatively calm in
terms of power struggle activities.
When the Company was reorganized following the
discovery that the government had been overcharged, one
of the first acts by the new general manager was an order
that a central computer facility be established
immediately. He specifically directed that its first
order of business would be the handling of inventory and
payroll data. Within days after this announcement all
of the subordinate managers in the payroll group were
engaged in power struggle activities with each other, and
the manager of the group itself was shaping ploys
against other group managers in the Central Offices
Department. Most of the subordinate managers left the
Company while the computer system was being installed.
Changes in the demands for a particular
technical competence apparently were followed by power
struggle activities. In the case of the engineers, a
whole area of design competence had become suddenly
obsolete. Special skills accumulated by the engineers
over many years were no longer valuable. These men had
193
been relatively calm in terms of power struggle activities
in the past, but with the change they became quite active.
The case of the payroll group was similar. The
managers of this clerical function were suddenly faced
with replacement of many of their subordinates by new
highly technical machines. Their achieved managerial
status was jeopardized. For the most part they lacked
the ability either to understand or manage the computer,
and they had committed themselves to supervisory
skills in an area of specialization which was being
completely transformed. Calm in terms of power struggle
activities in the past, these managers became very active
when the shift to the computer operations was announced.
Available power prizes.— A variant form of the
correlation between technological change and power
struggle activities was also observed. However, under
closer examination it was found to be a special case
of a more general pattern. This general pattern centered
around the availability of power prizes.
In its special form the pattern sometimes
involved the development of a technological "breakthrough"
by some relatively small group. If the significance
of the breakthrough were great enough, it could foster
considerable expansion in the size and importance of the
group. In some cases breakthroughs gave rise to new
194
departments and even divisions in the Company. When
such conditions prevailed they attracted power players
from all over the Company, and they sometimes seemed to
stimulate power struggle activities within the affected
groups.
The most pronounced example of this pattern to
be observed during the study was the case of the
extended system activity. A single research engineer,
with occasional assistance from a small group of
design engineers and draftsmen, conceived of and planned
an entirely new system, the extended system. When he
presented his conception to management it became apparent
to nearly everybody that a government contract for
development of the system would require that the
Company be nearly doubled in size.
Immediately, veteran power players from all over
the Company began taking an active interest in the
affairs of the extended system activity. Managers from
every department in the Company found ways to become
involved with the group and its work. Upper management
appeared to be slow in deciding what to do with the
activity. Some of the engineers in the group began
claiming substantial credit for the original conception.
Within a short time a power melee prevailed. One upper-
middle manager characterized the situation as "a school
195
of sharks in a feeding frenzy."
Ultimately, an alliance of skilled middle-level
power players from the Manufacturing Department and two
engineers from the original research group managed to
"steal" the activity from the engineer who had conceived
of the system. The engineer was reassigned to a
"resting place," and the alliance consolidated its control.
The activity was named as a new division of the Company
by upper management, and power struggle activities
around it appeared to subside.
In its general form this pattern simply related
the occurrence of power struggle activities and the
presence of attractive power prizes which appeared to
be available for seizure. Usually, the prizes became
available during a time of expanding conceptions or
operations. Apparently, certain managers observed the
need for new and important organizational units, and
they became involved in power struggle activities with
each other as they sought to win managerial assignments
over these promising units.
Some available power prizes, however, were
organizational units which had been in existence for a
long period of time. Often in complex organizations,
groups are formed around the unique abilities of particular
managers rather than in accordance with organizational
196
logic. When the managers of such groups are promoted
or shifted to other assignments, new managers for the
groups must be found. Not infrequently attempts are
made to promote the principal subordinates of the
departing managers. When these subordinates are as
able as their superiors have been, all may go well.
Frequently, however, it becomes obvious that the
subordinates simply cannot match the unusual abilities
of their predecessors. When this occurs, the groups
become available power prizes, attracting men who view
themselves as more capable or more deserving than the
promoted subordinates.
New competition.— Not all patterned relationships
between conditions in the Company and power struggle
activities involved increases in the latter. One
pattern related decreases in power struggle activities
with the emergence of new competition for the Company.
The most notable instance of this was observed in connec
tion with the activity which handled the microstate
precision products. This activity had been formed to
develop the commercial possibilities of several of the
early technological achievements made by the Research
and Development Department.
For a period of time the microstate precision
activity had been the sole source of supply for an
197
important set of items which were required throughout
the whole aerospace industry. No other firm produced
a similar set of items which compared in quality and
price. During most of its existence the microstate pre
cision activity had been relatively active in terms of
power struggle activities. Engineering, manufacturing,
and sales managers were constantly jousting with
each other. A number of the higher managers of the
activity had come and gone, and still the power struggle
activities continued.
When a large firm announced in the trade magazines
that it was entering the market with a new line of
competing items, very few people in the microstate
precision activity gave it much serious thought. The
previous efforts by this firm had not been threatening
in the least. However, within a few months it was real
ized throughout the industry that the new items being
offered by the large firm were as good as those which
were made by the Company. With this realization came
a sudden change within the microstate precision activity.
Engineering people concentrated upon improving the
product designs, the manufacturing groups effected
important economies, and the sales people actively
pursued new markets. The many power struggle activities
which had been so apparent in the past virtually
disappeared. Apparently, the threat of serious competi
tion appeared to unify the members of the activity.
Contract completions.— The last correlate of
power struggle activities to be reported here was also
the last to be discerned. Clearly, however, it should
have been the first pattern to have been noticed. This
pattern related the conditions of Company contracts with
the extent and intensity of power struggle activities. It
was observed that when a contract had been made for
one of the increments in the governmental procurement
process, power struggle activities usually approached
a minimum in the groups which were charged with working
on the project for the contract. However, as the work
for such contracts neared an end, power struggle
activities sometimes appeared to increase in the groups
working on the project. When contracts for new incre
ments of work had been made well in advance of the
completion of work on any single increment, power struggle
activities in the affected groups tended to be minimal.
It appeared that when organizational units had
plenty of contract work in front of them, they tended
to have fewer internal power struggle activities. When
they had no work in front of them, they tended to have
more internal power struggle activities.
A General Hypothesis
With the exception of the first correlate
described above, all of the patterned relationships
between power struggle activities and other conditions
in the Company involved the element of change. Techno
logical breakthroughs, new power prizes, new competition
for the Company, and the completion of contracts were
all alterations in the situations which confronted
the actors involved. These relationships suggested the
general idea that the extent and intensity of power
struggle activities changed when actors were confronted
with a need to redefine their situations. However,
because changes in extent and intensity of power
struggle activities had direction, the idea needed re
finement. Technological breakthroughs, new power prizes,
and completion of contracts were associated with
increases in the extent and intensity of power struggle
activities. New competition for the Company, on the
other hand, was associated with decreases in power
struggle activities.
The first correlate described above connected
power struggle activities with modes of supervision. It
had been observed that some managers (called "leaders")
were able to minimize power struggle activities
within their groups while others (called "commanders")
200
were not. Several of the managers of groups which
were relatively calm in terms of power struggle activities
had offered comments to the effect that good supervisors
kept their subordinates "focused" upon their
assigned tasks, and that this action tended to keep
them from engaging in power struggle activities. It
also had been reported that when an individual's tasks
did not challenge him, he might engage in power
struggle activities. These comments suggested that
perhaps actors were prone to engage in power struggle
activities when they did not have sufficient interest
in what they were doing. By extension, it could be
assumed that when actors had nothing to do, they would
engage in power struggle activities.
This latter thought served to tie all of the
patterned relationships together into one general
hypothesis: when an actor has a clear set of acceptable
group goals before him, his participation in power strug
gle activities tends to be at a minimum.
Taken all together in this framework the
correlations between power struggle activities and other
conditions formed a coherent set of relationships.
Further, the set was consistent with respect to direction
in the extent and intensity of observed power struggle
activities. Actors who were subordinate to managers who
201
were not able to interest them in the goals of their
groups tended to engage in power struggle activities.
Actors who were in groups which were threatened with
technological displacement or transformation had had
their group goals removed; they tended to engage in
power struggle activities. Actors who were exposed to
newly available power prizes abandoned their old group
goals and pursued the new and more interesting goals;
they tended to engage in power struggle activities.
Actors who were in groups which were suddenly faced with
significant competition fran outside the company had had
their group goals intensified; they tended to engage in
a minimum of power struggle activities. And finally,
actors who were in groups which had completed their
contractual work had achieved their group goals; if they
lacked further group goals they tended to engage in
power struggle activities.
Once this set of patterns had been worked out it
was used as a system of hypotheses to guide further
observations of power struggle activities. It soon
became apparent that the set of patterns facilitated a
certain amount of prediction with respect to the
occurrence of other power struggle activities within
the Company.
Subsequently, on several different occasions,
202
advance information about coming contract cutbacks was
obtained by the researcher. The groups which were to be
affected by the cutbacks were observed closely. In each
case the extent and intensity of power struggle activities
appeared to increase as expected. Several important
technological breakthroughs were noted, and the
affected groups were observed closely. The level of
power struggle activities in the affected groups tended
to be as predicted. A number of power prizes were
observed when they became available. Nearly all of them
became centers of power struggle activities. The
predictive utility of competitors for the Company and
variation in modes of supervision were somewhat less
efficient than were the other three correlates.
Only four clear instances of new competition for
the Company were observed after the hypothesis was
formulated. In three of these instances the amount of
power struggle activities appeared to decrease as
predicted. In the fourth, the amount of power struggle
activities appeared to increase. However, in this latter
instance the competition which was offered was by two of
the undisputed giants of the affected sector of the
industry. The situation probably appeared to be
hopeless to many of the actors in the affected group.
Later, the Company withdrew from competition in the
203
markets for these particular products.
In connection with modes of supervision, attempts
to predict the occurrence of power struggle activities
often were not accurate. In the particular instances
wherein managers of relatively calm groups in terms of
power struggle activities (leaders) were reassigned to
groups which were relatively active in terms of power
struggle activities, predictions were usually accurate.
Also, predictions with respect to reassignment of managers
of relatively active groups (commanders) were usually
accurate. However, there appeared to be some sort of
interaction between the respective abilities of leaders
and commanders and the type of managers they were assigned
to work with. The settling influence of leaders and
the unsettling influence of commanders often obtained
only for their immediate subordinates. Sometimes a
calm group under a leader could include a subgroup,
presumably under a commander, which was relatively active
in terms of power struggle activities. In a similar
manner, a commander might have all of his subordinate
managers engaging in power struggle activities with one
another, but some of these subordinates (who might be
leaders) might be maintaining calm subgroups under their
own leadership.
204
A Theory of Power Struggle Activities
It was apparent from these observations that the
extent and intensity of power struggle activities within
the Company were associated with one or another of
several recurring conditions. When any of these condi
tions was observed to be present, it was possible to
predict with some degree of efficiency that the level
of power struggle activities would change.
The main themes running through these recurring
conditions centered around the formal goals which were
presented to the actors by the groups to which they
belonged. The existence of clear and attractive formal
group goals appeared to keep individual actors oriented
toward their assigned tasks, and power struggle activities
tended to be at a minimum in the group. In the absence
of clear group goals actors apparently became oriented
upon goals of interpositional and interpersonal advantage.
The competition and jousting for these interpositional
and interpersonal advantages were power struggle
activities. in the absence of clear group goals, actors
still might be oriented toward prescribed behavior by
effective leaders who were able to imbue them with their
own apparent sense of purpose and direction. But lacking
both clear group goals and effective leadership, actors
tended to engage in power struggle activities.
205
The relationship between power struggle activities
and formal group goals may be stated directly: Power
struggle activities within a group tend to increase when
formal group goals are removed, altered, or rendered ambig
uous. Power struggle activities within a group tend to be
at a minimum when formal group goals are stable and clear.
When emphasis is shifted from the power struggle
activities to the actors, a slightly different
perspective is afforded: Actors appear to be given to
power struggle activities when their conditions of per
sonal commitment to their groups, to the goals of
their groups, or to the leaders of their groups are
changed or made unclear.
Social organization obtains to the degree that
the members of a formal group engage in prescribed
behavior. The presence of power struggle activities in
a formal group, then, would appear to indicate a degree
of social disorganization. Absence or obfuscation of
group goals either is or contributes to social dis
organization.2 The social organization of the groups
^Talcott Parsons has observed that, "A stable
system of action requires above all the internalization of
value-orientations to a degree which will sufficiently
integrate the goals of the person with the goals of the
collectivity." See "Personality as a System of Action,"
Toward a General Theory of Action, ed. Talcott Parsons and
Edward A. ShiIs (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers,
1951), p. 149.
206
studied here appears to have varied directly with the
clarity and attractiveness of the goals perceived
by the actors in their situations of reference.
Attractive formal group goals tended to impart direction
and consistency in the behavior of the actors in the
groups. Unattractive formal goals or an absence of
clear goals fostered power struggle activities. It
appears, therefore, that power struggle activities cure
a primary symptom of or a form or condition of social
disorganization.
In summary, power struggle activities occur in
social situations which include formal groups of actors,
the formal goals of these groups, and the orientations
of the actors with respect to the formal goals of the
groups. Actors tend to refrain from power struggle
activities when they have positive orientations toward
the formal goals of their groups. They tend to engage
in power struggle activities when their orientations
toward the formal goals of their groups become less pos
itive. The orientations of actors toward the formal
goals of their groups are functions of the attractiveness
of those goals, the charismas of the leaders of the
groups, and the attractiveness of other goals outside of
the groups. The presence of power struggle activities
in groups bespeaks some degree of social disorganization.
Related Observations
207
A number of writers have referred in one way or
another to the crux of the theoretical position set
forth above. In some cases they simply have reported
similar sets of conditions which they had observed in
their own researches. In other cases they have offered
interpretations of similar observations. In a few cases
they have suggested relationships which go beyond those
described here. Several of these writers and their
observations will be discussed briefly here.
Relationships between.changing organizational
goals and the behavior of the people within the
organizations have been reported by several observers.
Caudill, in a study of administrative problems in
psychiatric hospitals made one such observation. He
noted that there was a relationship between a "collective
disturbance" and a change in a hospital's goals:
From an analysis of the observations on the ward
and elsewhere in the hospital during the months prior
to the collective disturbance, it became evident that
a much more complex process involving an unsettled
state among all role groups, and not only the patients,
had been developing. This unsettled state was related
to the transition from a diagnostic to a psychodynamic
treatment program in the hospital.3
3William Caudill, "Perspectives on Administration
in Psychiatric Hospitals," Administrative Science
Quarterly. I (September, 1956), 170.
208
The collective disturbance described by Caudill appeared
to embrace types of behavior which have been termed
power struggle activities in the present study.
In discussing power struggle activities among
executives, Jennings offers a passing observation which
comes very close to stating the same theoretical
explanation of power struggle activities as is offered
in this study. He observed that:
An individual who has a strong drive for power,
but who does not have a strong purpose to which he
can attach that drive, would necessarily appear more
power seeking than he might actually be. There is,
of course, a lot to be said for the argument that
his power drive mav tend to increase in the absence
of an objective goal that will give it form and
sanction.4
In discussing conflict and adaptation, Ross long
ago noted the tendency for competition to be relatively
unstructured in "young" societies as compared with the
"older” ones. Substituting a young sector of industry,
electronics, for the young society, his remarks are still
appropriate:
In the early frontier communities and in certain
isolated American communities today biting and
gouging are accepted methods of fighting. In
earlier American political contests, "rough-and-
tumble” was the rule, while rival newspapers resorted
to a scurrility now unknown. In old societies on
the other hand the recognized forms of competition
are hemmed in by standards, so that in most arenas
^Eugene E. Jennings, An Anatomy of Leadership
(New York: Harper and Brothers, I960), pp. 223-224.
(Emphasis added.)
209
honorable young men may compete without losing
their self-respect. The rearing of a ring fence about
every competition indicating just what is and what
is not permitted is a moral achievement which takes
time. 5
Of especial interest is the fact that Ross suggested
that a normative order would emerge in a conflict situa
tion of apparent anomie. The system of norms governing
power struggle activities found in the present study
would have come as no surprise to Ross.
Sherif examined experimentally the relationship
between the presence of group goals and the level of
intergroup conflict. He arranged experiments in which:
(1) Groups were formed . • .; (2) tension and
conflict were produced between these groups . . .;
and (3) the attempt was made toward reduction of
intergroup conflict . . . through introduction of
superordinate goals. . .
Sherif found that the presence of superordinate goals
which were compelling for the groups involved had the
effect of reducing "intergroup conflict, hostility, and
7
their byproducts." The theory offered in the present
study would have predicted exactly such results for
5
Edward A. Ross, Principles of Sociology (New
York: The Century Co., 1930), pp. 171-172.
g
Muzafer Sherif, "Superordinate Goals in the
Reduction of Intergroup Conflict," American Journal of
Sociology, LXIII (January, 1958), 352.
7Ibid., p. 356.
210
o
these experiments.
Thompson, in developing a theoretical foundation
for administrative behavior, examines some of the
problems which confront organizations as they adapt their
goals to changing technologies. He observes that
changes in technology sometimes give rise to power
struggle activities. In illustration he suggests that
such situations occur generally with the:
Appointment of the competent individual to a
permanent, or tenured position— as director, manager,
dean, vice president, or superintendent— with no
provision for termination short of death or retire
ment. . . . If changes in technology or task
environment call for new or adjusted competence in
the position, and the individual fails to match
it, the organization may be crippled or required to
build around the individual. . . . This is a situa
tion which frequently results in internal feuding
climaxed by showdown struggle for power.9
Many writers have commented upon the tendency
of groups to subordinate their internal conflicts in the
interest of coping with external threats. Stouffer has
made one of the best statements of this set of conditions.
With only a few word changes his comment could be an
^Unfortunately, Sherif does not report on the
influence of compelling superordinate group goals upon
intragroup conflict. It would be interesting to see his
experiments extended to examine the relationships between
goals and both intergroup and intragroup conflicts.
9James D. Thompson, Organizations in Action
(New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1967), p. 130.
211
explanation of many of the power struggle activities
which were observed during the present study:
The history of warfare has proved repeatedly
that as long as there is an outside threat to a group
or a collective goal to be achieved, internal
antagonism and individualist concerns are subordinated
to the safety and interests of the whole group. But
when the outer threats are removed or the collective
goal achieved or abandoned, the individual concerns
and the individual antagonisms come to the surface.
Then the unity of the group may become seriously
weakened.10
Finally, it is interesting to note parenthetically
some of the similarities in the behavior of the complex
electro-mechanical search-and-action systems produced
by the electronics industry and that of human power
players. One of the principal engineering problems to be
overcome in designing search-and-action systems is that
of progressively damping their searching movements after
they have located targets. When the detection
mechanism of such a system is in searching movement its
momentum tends to carry it on past alignment with any
target which it finds. Consequently, the system must
reverse its searching movement and swing back toward the
target. Again its momentum may carry it on past align
ment with the target. Efficient systems are able to damp
these searching sweeps very rapidly and "fasten" upon their
10Samuel A. Stouffer et_al., The American Soldier:
Combat and Its Aftermath (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1949), p. 552.
212
targets. Malfunctions in such systems are often
reflected in uncontrolled violent searching movements.
This problem is especially complex for systems which
must cope with more than one target at a time.
Of particular interest here is the fact that when
such systems are activated in the absence of targets
they tend to go into wild oscillations as they "hunt"
for targets which are not there. Without special design
features these oscillations may become so violent that
they destroy the systems. This behavior appears to
be comparable in some ways with the "hunting" behavior
exhibited by human actors as they engage in intense
power struggle activities in the absence of clear organi
zational goals.^1
A related form of the above analogy has been
used by Parsons in discussing the stability of social
systems:
We have compared pattern-maintenance with
inertia as used in the theory of mechanics. Goal-
attainment then becomes a "problem" in so far as
there arises some discrepancy between the inertial
tendencies of the system and its "needs" resulting
H-An excellent discussion of search-and-action
systems and similarities between their behavior and
that of human beings is offered by Norbert Weiner,
Cybernetics (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,
1948), see especially pp. 113-136.
213
12
from interchange with the situation.
Perhaps someday a naturalistic sociology will
analyze social interaction in terms of human actors who
are viewed as complex goal-seeking organisms. A
"social physics" may be developed which describes the
orientations and movements of actors in terms of the
positive and negative aspects of fields of goals and
their strengths and distances from the actors. In such
a scheme, power struggle activities might be viewed as
the direct results of eddy currents in the fields of
goals.
12
Talcott Parsons, "An Outline of the Social
System," Theories of Society. Vol. I, ed. Talcott Parsons
et al. (Glencoe, 111.! The Free Press, 1961), 39.
CHAPTER VIII
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of this study has been to discern
and analyze the principal forms and correlates of power
struggle activities as they were observed in an industrial
firm. For the purposes of the study, power struggle
activities were conceived of as behavior effected by in
dividuals for the purpose of advancing themselves in
status or power by means which were not legitimate parts
of their formal roles. The study has been based primarily
upon materials gathered by means of incognito participant
observation and covertly structured informal interviews,
supplemented with information obtained from selected
informants and an examination of Company documents.
This chapter summarizes briefly the main features of the
study and sets forth its major conclusions.
Summary
Once the general characteristics of the firm and
its setting were learned in the study, attention was
focused upon power struggle activities. Through
observation it was found that nearly always somewhere in
214
215
the Company there were informal rivalries occurring between
some actors and some factions. Often these rivalries
appeared to be no more than petty striving and they
were confined to single sets of individuals. At other
times they appeared to be institutionalized to some
extent and to obtain between whole organizational units.
Sometimes these power struggle activities would subside
as suddenly as they had appeared; at other times they
would obtain over long periods of time. Often, power
struggle activities were followed by organizational
changes, transfers, and resignations.
Informal interviews were held with many actors who
had been involved in one way or another with power
struggle activities. These interviews disclosed that
managerial employees, for the most part, were aware of
the existence of power struggle activities in the firm,
and they could be induced to discuss them. It was found
that most of the respondents thought that there were
comparatively more power struggle activities in the
Company than in other firms for which they had worked.
Nearly all of the respondents could describe instances
of power struggle activities which were known to them,
either in the Company or in other interaction settings.
All of the respondents professed to have negative
attitudes toward the subject of power struggle activities.
216
It was found, however, that the lower managers tended
to have attitudes which were more negative than did
the managers who were higher in the Company. The atti
tudes of persons who did not engage actively in power
struggle activities were the most pronouncedly negative.
A variety of terms were used by respondents to
refer to power struggle activities. The most frequently
used words were power and politics. Other terms often
used were ploy, tactic, strategy, maneuver. and rivalry.
In many cases, the respondents supplied negative tonal
inflections with the terms they used.
The explanations of power struggle activities
offered by the respondents also varied widely. Some
respondents simply attributed power struggle activities
to ill will. A few respondents reported that power
struggle activities were traditional between the engineer
ing, manufacturing, and front office sectors of
industrial firms. A number of respondents offered psy
chological explanations which centered around a human
"pecking order." For the most part, the explanations
suggested by respondents were of little use in
developing the explanation offered in the study.
In the open-ended portions of the interviews it
was learned that many of the active power players
conceived of power struggle activities as taking place
217
in a familiar but ill-defined arena in accordance with
a fairly clear set of norms. These norms served to
distinguish acceptable power struggle activities from
those which were not acceptable. Important among the
norms were an appearance of rectitude, a willingness to
take risks in order to gain power, and some degree of
respect for the inviolability of people who did not
actively engage in power struggle activities.
Literally hundreds of power struggle activities
were observed or reported during the course of the study.
Many of these power struggle activities, however, bore
similarities with each other. Most of them could be
fitted into a descriptive typology with four major
categories: power ploys, power tactics, power strategies,
and power maneuvers.
In this scheme, power ploys were viewed as direct
power actions in immediate situations. Power tactics
were contingency plans for power actions in fairly immedi
ate situations. Power strategies were long-range career
plans which involved power actions. And power maneuvers
were viewed as large-scale power activities which were
extended over considerable amounts of time and space.
The study was delimited to a concern with the first three
categories.
Each of the first two major categories, power
218
ploys and power tactics, were broken down into several
subcategories. The principal subtypes of power ploys
were: unintentional flags, assignments of credit, in
direct surgery, and manipulation of information. The
principal subtypes of power tactics were: form alliances,
catch stars, support preferential regulations,and
anticipate staff needs. Examples of power struggle
activities which were actually observed during the study
were used to illustrate the first three major categories
of power struggle activities, with case illustrations
provided for each of the indicated subcategories.
The various instances of power struggle
activities observed during the study suggested that, at
base, all of them were forms of instrumental impression
management.
After studying actual power struggle activities
for several months, it was observed that in most cases
they were associated with particular sets of recurring
conditions. Among the most important of these recurring
conditions was the approaching completion or revision of
contracts. When contract projects neared completion and
the affected organizational units did not have backlog
assignments, the members of the organizational units often
engaged in power struggle activities.
Other important conditions associated with power
219
struggle activities were differences in modes of
supervision, and changes in technology. Inept managers
appeared to invite flurries of power struggle activities
below them. When new technical developments rendered
whole areas of designing, manufacturing, or managing
competence obsolete, the principal members of the
affected organizational units often engaged in frenzied
power struggle activities.
The common theme running through the sets of
conditions associated with the occurrence of power
struggle activities was found to be the formal goals
which the organizational units or their managers
presented to the actors. It appeared that power struggle
activities occurred most frequently when organizational
goals were removed, altered, or rendered ambigous.
Actors and whole organizational units apparently were
prompted to engage in power struggle activities when their
definitions of their situations were subjected to
significant revision.
Power struggle activities among individuals and
among organizational units tended to be at a minimum
when clear and commanding formal goals were present.
Attractive organizational goals apparently kept actors
polarized, and minimized the extent of power struggle
activities. Lacking both clear organizational goals and
220
effective leadership, actors oriented themselves upon
smaller-scale goals, such as simple interpositional and
interpersonal advantages. The pursuit of these
interpositional and interpersonal advantages constituted
power struggle activities. The degree of social organiza
tion apparently varies directly with the clarity and
attractiveness of the goals perceived by the actors in
their situations of reference. Within this framework,
power struggle activities were interpreted as forms or
conditions of social disorganization.
Conclusions
There are many factors involved in the social
phenomenon referred to here as power struggle activities.
It has been possible to consider only a few of these
factors in the present study. The conditions associated
with power struggle activities that are described here
do not account for the occurrence of all such behavior.
It is entirely possible that a certain level of power
struggle activities is "normal" in all formal and informal
social groups. And undoubtedly, some actors are by nature
more prone to engage in power struggle activities than
are others. However, the theoretical formulation offered
here does appear to be supported by the observations
made in the study. Power struggle activities are a form
221
or manifestation of social disorganization, and they
occur when clear and acceptable organizational goals
are lacking.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
222
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abramson, E. and others. "Social Power and Commitment:
A Theoretical Statement," American Sociological
Review, XXIII (February, 1958), 15-22.
Adams, Richard N. and Preiss, Jack J., eds. Human
Organization Research. Homewood, 111.: Dorsey
Pre ss, Inc., 1960.
Allee, W. C. The Social Life of Animals. Rev. ed.
Boston: Beacon Press, 1958.
Barnard, Chester I. The Functions of the Executive.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1938.
Barnes, Harry Elmer, ed. An Introduction to the History
of Sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1948.
Becker, Howard S. "Problems of Inference and Proof in
Participant Observation," American Sociological
Review, XXIII (December, 195b), 652-660.
Berliner, Joseph S. "A Problem in Soviet Business
Administration," Administrative Science
Quarterly. I (June, 1956), 86-101.
Bierstedt, Robert. "An Analysis of Social Power,"
American Sociological Review. XV (December,
1950), 730-738.
Blau, Peter M. Exchange and Power in Social Life. New
York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1964.
________ , and Scott, Richard W. Formal Organizations.
San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Co., 1962.
Blumer, Herbert. "Social Structure and Power Conflict,"
Industrial Conflict. Edited by Arthur Kornhauser,
Robert Dubin, and Arthur M. Ross. New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1954.
223
224
Bruyn, Severyn T. The Humanistic Perspective in
Sociology; The Methodology of Participant
Observation. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-
Hall, Inc., 1966.
Caplow, Theodore. Principles of Organization. New Yorks
Harcourt, Brace, and World, Inc., 1964.
Cartwright, Dorwin. Studies in Social Power. Ann Arbor,
Mich.: University of Michigan Press, 1959.
Caudill, William. "Perspectives on Administration in
Psychiatric Hospitals," Administrative Science
Quarterly. I (September, 1956), 155-170.
Cicourel, Aaron V. Method and Measurement in Sociology.
Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1964.
Coleman, James S. "Foundations for a Theory of Collective
Decisions," American Journal of Sociology. LXXI
(May, 1966), 615-627.
. Introduction to Mathematical Sociology.
Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1964.
Coser, Lewis. The Functions of Social Conflict. Glencoe,
111.: The Free Press, 1956.
Dalton, Melville. "Conflicts Between Staff and Line
Managerial Officers," American Sociological
Review, XV (June, 1950), 342-351.
________ . Men Who Manage. New York: John Wiley and
Sons, Inc., 1959.
Drumond, Roscoe. "The President Sees Red," Mirror-News.
Los Angeles, December 31, 1957.
Etzioni, Amitai. A Comparative Analysis of Complex
Organizations. Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press,
1961.
. Complex Organizations: A Sociological
Reader. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
Inc., 1961.
225
Goff man, Erving. Asylums. New York: Anchor Books,
Doubleday and Co., 1961.
________ • The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.
New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1959.
Gold, Raymond L. "Roles In Sociological Field Observa
tions," Social Forces. XXXVI (March, 1958), 217-
223.
Hall, Edward T. The Silent Language. New York: Double
day and Co., Inc., 1959.
Hammond, Phillip E. Sociologists at Work. New York:
Basic Books, Inc., 1964.
Harsanyi, John. "Measurement of Social Power," Game
Theory and Related Approaches to Social Behavior.
Edited by Martin Shubik. New York: John Wiley
and Sons, Inc., 1964.
Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Everyman's Library ed.
London: J. M. Dent and Sons, 1914.
Homans, George C. The Human Group. New York: Harcourt,
Brace and Co., 1950.
________ - Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms. New
York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1961.
Hunter, Floyd. Community Power Structure. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1953.
Jennings, Eugene E. An Anatomy of Leadership. New York:
Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1960.
Kahn, Robert L. and Boulding, Elise, eds. Power and
Conflict in Organizations. New York: Basic
Books, Inc., 1964.
Lasswell, Harold D. and Kaplan, Abraham. Power and
Society: A Framework for Political Inquiry.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1950.
Lazarsfeld, Paul F. and Henry, Neil W. "The Application
of Latent Structure Analysis to Quantitative
Ecological Data," Mathematical Explorations in
Behavioral Science" Edited by Fred Massarik and
Philburn Ratoosh. Homewood, 111.: Richard D.
Irwin, Inc. and the Dorsey Press, 1965.
226
MacDonald/ John D. "The Trap of Solid Gold," reprinted
in John D. MacDonald, End of the Tiger and other
Stories. Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications,
Inc., 1966.
Machiavelli, Niccold. The Prince and The Discourses.
Modern Library ed. New York: Random House,
Inc., 1940.
Maclver, R. M. The Web of Government. Rev. ed. New
York: The Free Press, 1965.
March, James G., ed. Handbook of Organizations. Chicago:
Rand-McNally and Co., 1965.
Martin, Norman H. and Sims, John Howard. "Power Tactics,"
Harvard Business Review. XXXIV (November-
December, 1956), 25-36, 140.
McDonald, John. Strategy in Poker. Business, and War.
New York: W. W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1950.
Mead, Shepherd. How to Succeed in Business Without
Really Trying. New York: Ballantine Books,
Inc., 1952.
Merton, Robert K. Social Theory and Social Structure.
Rev. ed. Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1957.
Neumann, John von and Morgenstern, Oskar. The Theory of
Games and Economic Behavior. Princeton, N.Y.:
Princeton University Press, 1944.
Orth, Charles D. 3rd; Bailey, Joseph C.; and Walek,
Francis W. Administering Research and Develop
ment. Homewood, 111.: Richard D. Irwin, Inc.
and The Dorsey Press, 1964.
Packard, Vance. The Pyramid Climbers. New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1962.
Parsons, Talcott. "An Outline of the Social System,"
Theories of Society, Vol. 1. Edited by Talcott
Parsons and others. Glencoe, 111.: The Free
Press, 1961.
227
Parsons, Talcott. "On the Concept of Political Power,"
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society,
CVII (June, 1963), 232-262.
________ , and Shils, Edward A. "The Social System,"
Toward a General Theory of Action. Edited by
Talcott Parsons and Edward A. Shils. New York:
Harper Torchbooks, Harper and Row Publishers,
1951.
________ . The Social System. Glencoe, 111.: The Free
Press, 1951.
Peabody, Robert L. Organizational Authority. New York:
Atherton Press, 1964.
Phillips, Bernard S. Social Research. New York: The
Macmillan Co., 1966.
Powdermaker, Hortense. Hollywood: The Dream Factory.
Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1950.
Presthus, Robert. The Organizational Society. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, Publisher, 1962.
Rapoport, Anatol. Fights. Games, and Debates. Ann
Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, 1960.
Rashevsky, Nicolas. Mathematical Biology of Social
Behavior'.- Rev. ed. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1959.
Rogow, Arnold A. and Lasswell, Harold D. Power.
Corruption, and Rectitude. Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1963.
Ross, Edward A. Principles of Sociology. New York:
The Century Co., 1930.
Ross, Irvin. "Everyman's Guide to Office Politics,"
Pageant. May, 1957, pp. 6-13.
Riesman, David and others. The Lonely Crowd. Abridged
ed. New York: Doubleday and Co., 1953.
Rubenstein, Albert H. and Haberstroh, Chadwick J.
Some Theories of Organization. Rev. ed.
Homewood, 111.: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. and
The Dorsey Press, 1966.
228
Russell, Bertrand. A History of Western Philosophy:
And Its Connections with Political and Social
Circumstances from the Earliest Tiroes to the
Present Day. New York: Simon and Schuster,
1945.
________ . Power: A New Social Analysis. London: George
Allen and Unwxn, Ltd., 1938.
Schulberg, Budd. What Makes Sammy Run? New York:
Random House, Inc., 1941.
Sherif, Muzafer. "Superordinate Goals in the Reduction
of Intergroup Conflict," American Journal of
Sociology. LXIII (January, 1958), 349-356.
Shubik, Martin, ed. Game Theory and Related Approaches
to Social Behavior. New York: John Wiley and
Sons, Inc., 1964.
Simmel, Georg. Conflict and The Web of Group-Affilia
tions. Translated by Kurt H. Wolff and Reinhard
Bendix. Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1955.
________ • The Sociology of Georg Simmel. Translated and
edited by Kurt H. Wolff. Glencoe, 111.: The
Free Press, 1950.
Smith, Bruce L. R. The Rand Corporation: Case Study of
a Nonprofit Advisory Corporation. Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1966.
Stouffer, Samuel A. The American Soldier: Combat and
Its Aftermath. Princeton University Press, 1949.
Stryker, Perrin. The Character of the Executive. New
York: Harper and Row, 1961.
Sullivan, Mortimer A., Jr. and others. "Participant
Observation as Employed in the Study of a
Military Training Program,” American
Sociological Review. XXIII (December, 1958),
660-667.
Sutherland, Edwin H. White Collar Crime. New York:
The Dryden Press, 1949.
Sutton, Francis X. The American Business Creed.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956.
229
Tannenbaum, Robert; Weschler, Irving R.; and Massarik,
Fred. Leadership and Organization. New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1961.
Thompson, James D. Organizations in Action. New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1967.
Thompson, Victor A. Modern Organization. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1961.
Timasheff, Nicholas S. "The Power Phenomenon,"
American Sociological Review. Ill (August, 1938),
499-509.
Weber, Max. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology.
Translated and edited by H. H. Gerth and
C. Wright Mills. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1946.
________ . The Theory of Social and Economic Organiza
tions. Translated by A. M. Henderson and Talcott
Parsons. Edited by Talcott Parsons. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1947.
Weiner, Norbert. Cybernetics. New York: John Wiley and
Sons, Inc., 1948.
Whyte, William H., Jr. The Organization Man. New York:
Simon and Schuster, 1956.
Wohlstetter, Albert. "The Delicate Balance of Terror,"
Foreign Affairs. XXXVII (January, 1959), 211-234.
Williams, J. D. The Compleat Strategyst. New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1954.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

An Analysis Of The Changing Focus Of Marriage Counseling

PDF

Some Characteristics Of A Selected Sample Of Free Methodist Pastoral Dropouts

PDF

Power Relationships In Marital Discord

PDF

An Investigation Of Complementary Needs Between Marital Partners

PDF

Social Stratification In A Selected Community

PDF

Attitudes Toward Sex In Marriage And Patterns Of Erotic Behavior In Dating And Courtship Before Marriage

PDF

Role Perception, Empathy, And Marital Adjustment

PDF

A Comparison Of Perceptions Reported By Nondelinquents And Delinquents Regarding Their Identification With Selected Socialization Agents And Normative Prescriptions

PDF

On Becoming A Parent: Attitude And Feeling Changes

PDF

Communication Between Engaged Couples

PDF

Dying And Death Role-Expectation: A Comparative Analysis

PDF

The Selfish Self: A Social Psychological Study Of Social Character

PDF

Alienation, Structural Strain, And Political Deviancy: A Test Of Merton'Shypothesis

PDF

Group Factors And Individual Internalization Of A Value

PDF

A Study Of The Relationships Between Religious Affiliation, Religious Practices And Marital Adjustment

PDF

Adjustment In Special Residential Settings For The Aged: An Inquiry Basedon The Kleemeier Conceptualization

PDF

A Study Of Group Development In Purposive Groups

PDF

A Study Of The Attitudes Of Mothers Of Mentally Retarded Children As Influenced By Socioeconomic Status

PDF

Social Factors Related To Dentistry As A Career

PDF

The Major League Professional Baseball Player: A Sociological Study

Asset Metadata

Creator Crowther, John Franklin (author)

Core Title Power Struggle And Organizational Goals: A Case Study Of An Industrial Firm

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Sociology

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,Sociology, general

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Lasswell, Thomas E. (committee chair), Peterson, James A. (committee member), Wilson, Donald E. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-600817

Unique identifier UC11359928

Identifier 6807178.pdf (filename),usctheses-c18-600817 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 6807178.pdf

Dmrecord 600817

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Crowther, John Franklin

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA