Power and Role Specificity in Organization Theory

Abstract

AINYONE WHO HAS HELD an administrative position knows that is a real phenomenon. It seems to be a factor in most important organizational decisions. But, until recently, organization theorists have not focused upon power. Two exceptions are the work of the economist, Anthony Downs, and the French sociologist, Michel Crozier.2 Anthony Downs writes that . . the single most important determinant of whether a bureau can establish autonomy (and how fast it can do so) is the character of its power setting. If its suppliers or beneficiaries are strong and well organized in comparison with its rivals and sufferers, then it will probably quickly gain a clearly autonomous position. 3 Downs does not use the power concept only for describing the relationship of a bureau to its environment. In his discussion of the internal characteristics of a bureau he postulates a law of which states, in effect, that a hierarchy of authority is necessary to control the conflicts that inevitably will arise in any organization. And, in his description of the relationship among bureaus in an organization, he writes: bureau will resist [encroachments by other bureaus] since they tend to diminish its power. However, it will simultaneously attempt to increase its influence over decisions of other social agents that affect its own operations, thereby pushing many of its current zone boundaries outward. 94 The sociologist, Michel Crozier, uses the power concept much more directly in his theory to describe interpersonal relationships in addi-