This paper reports on two processes used to begin a long-term series of studies on educational power structures in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Purposes of the study were to determine if (1) substrata or pools of power undergird educational power structures, (2) certain paths to power are…

Researchers interviewed 83 subordinate employees and 70 supervisory employees to investigate the ways subordinates try to influence their supervisors. Supervisors and subordinates reported similar agents and methods of influence, causes of success, and outcomes of attempts at upward influence, but different causes of failure. (Author/RW)

Describes a survey that examined the role of chief information officers (CIOs) in service and industry organizations. The findings discussed include prevalence of CIOs and their level in the organization, scope of authority, control of resources, involvement in corporate strategy, and personal backgrounds. Conclusions about the actual and intended…

A survey of 601 managers and workers in 10 German manufacturing companies studied the implications of workers' participation for the exercise of control. Statistical analysis of data on control over work environments, production organization, personnel, and finance indicated that, in more participative companies, distribution of control is more…

Higher education--particularly the research-intensive university, which is the focus of this article--is the subject of global/national/local effects, and is shaped by hierarchy and uneven development on a world scale. The article theorises social competition in higher education, and traces inter-university competition and stratification on the…

Interviews and observations at the Children's Center, a Bronx (New York) psychiatric hospital, yielded data about the effects on individual power of network relations at the individual and work-unit levels. Regression analysis indicates individuals' participation in work units that are integrated into organization-wide networks enhances individual…

Investigates the language choice and code switching behavior of the councilors and officials in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong during 1991-95, within the context of the upcoming transfer of sovereignty in 1997 and the challenges to the old political power relationship. Points out that code switching behavior is part of the negotiation…

A study of why disproportionate numbers of male and black high school students are suspended or expelled examines student and school characteristics and teacher attitudes. This document reports results on student characteristics. In eleven high schools in two large, urban, midwestern school districts, researchers used interviews, student records,…

The effects of a three-year Organization Development (OD) intervention on power equalization were examined in seven experimental and seven control schools. The principals and teachers from experimental schools participated in OD workshops, in a project-coordinating council for planning and policy, and in school goal-setting activities. The power…

Describes a study that (1) compared the amount of professional input into the decision-making process between board administered and municipally integrated public libraries, and (2) examined the relationships between levels of centralization (participation in decision making and hierarchy of authority), complexity (occupational specialties,…

A conceptual approach to studying interpersonal influence is outlined as a framework within which results of a study of purchase decisions in business firms are presented. Data concerning the bases of influence in these organizations--especially data showing the importance of a person's stake in the decision--do not fit neatly into the well-known…

Data from a sample comprising 46 superintendents and 95 principals in 83 New York State school districts indicate that, for each role, different factors hindering task completion (including bureaucracy, supervision, decision-making power, work demands, and district and individual characteristics) will predict administrator dissatisfaction with…

Based on an institutional-contingency view, this study focuses on ways in which public and private school sectors in six San Francisco area counties embody different organizational logistics and authority principles, including rational-legal, traditional, and local-market. Results suggest that, among other characteristics, nonreligious private…

This study examined selected aspects of the exercise of influence in educational organizations. Power motivation, characteristics of the exercise of influence, and influence effectiveness were studied. A sample of elementary school principals indicated their perceptions and behavioral intentions relevant to the exercise of upward influence in…

This survey of 164 assistant academic library directors at comprehensive and liberal arts institutions was conducted to analyze the professional characteristics and role of assistant directors. Findings indicated similar characteristics within this group and differences in administrative and service responsibilities, depending on the preferences…