Sociological analysis of organizational power: comment to Stewart Clegg

Samenvatting

Suggestions by S. R. Clegg in "A Sociological Critique of an Organizational Theory of Power," (an abstract of which appears elsewhere in this journal) are applied to M. Crozier's analysis of a cigarette factory in The Bureaucratic Phenomenon (see SA 13:2/65B5078). Crozier noted that, despite the overrigid organization of the factory, rank & file maintenance men had managed to retain a large amount of "parallel" power. The application of Clegg's insights to the situation yields the following points: (1) power differences among workers must be understood as consequences of the overall power structure, (2) such power differences can only be small & the result of applying different rules to different participants, (3) applying L. Karpik's logic of action (see SA 21:4/73G3244) allows to determine that 'production' logic best describes the operation of the factory. Next, it is argued that it is the seniority system & their fixed salary that is the reason for the maintenance worker's power. Finally, an appeal is made to M. Weber to help understand the bureaucratic nature of the factory organization. A. Orianne.