Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Contingencies and roles in structuring corporate power
- 1 Contingencies of corporate power structures
- 2 Performing the “infinite job” solo: executive dilemmas, roles, and actions
- 3 Roles and relationships as parameters of corporate power structures
- Part II Small numbers at the top
- Conclusion: From small numbers to corporate governance regimes
- Appendix
- References
- Index
1 - Contingencies of corporate power structures
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Contingencies and roles in structuring corporate power
- 1 Contingencies of corporate power structures
- 2 Performing the “infinite job” solo: executive dilemmas, roles, and actions
- 3 Roles and relationships as parameters of corporate power structures
- Part II Small numbers at the top
- Conclusion: From small numbers to corporate governance regimes
- Appendix
- References
- Index
Summary
The executive who must work with the human materials around him must also work with the human materials in himself.
Glover and Hower, 1963, p. 4We believe that socio-psychological attitudes of chief executive officers and general managers are a critical contingency in organizational design and strategy that has not been developed sufficiently in previous studies.
Lewin and Stephens, 1994, p. 183In the introduction we presented some examples of duos, trios, and other constellations at the governance level of corporations. These examples reveal combinations of role separation, role-sharing, and role integration that differ from the standard solo occupancy of corporate governance positions. They also challenge the common assumption held in corporate governance regulations and codes of best practices that affective and trust-based interpersonal relationships among top executives are to be viewed with suspicion. How then we do account for the abundance of small numbers at the top?
If a structure is not congruent with the main contingencies in its internal and external environments, performance results will be less than optimal or unsatisfactory, and will, perhaps, even lead to failure. This is a fundamental tenet of the contingency theory of organizational design. A second fundamental assumption of contingency theory, based on the principle of equifinality (Katz and Kahn, 1978; Gresov and Drazin, 1997), is that any organization can reach the same final state (e.g. a sufficient or satisfactory level of adaptation to the environment) by a variety of paths or, in this case, by different structures.
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- Information
- Sharing Executive PowerRoles and Relationships at the Top, pp. 29 - 62Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005