Intraorganizational Power and Organizational Design: Reconciling Rational and Coalitional Models of Organization

W. Graham Astley and Edward J. Zajac
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W. Graham Astley: Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado 80204
Edward J. Zajac: J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208

Organization Science, 1991, vol. 2, issue 4, 399-411

Abstract: This paper contends that the analysis of organizational design and the analysis of intraorganizational power are inextricably intertwined for all major models of organization. While the coalitional model of organization is often viewed as the only model that explicitly links these topics, we argue that power does in fact play a central role in the traditional, rational model of organization, and that it is only the conception of intraorganizational power that differs between the two models. After contrasting the design prescriptions and power implications of the coalitional and rational models, the paper reconciles these two models by developing an “adaptively rational” model of organization that takes into account both the political dynamics and the task requirements of organizations.

Keywords: organizational design; power; loose coupling; coalitions; inter-dependence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1991
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:2:y:1991:i:4:p:399-411

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