Leiding en macht in de moderne onderneming

Samenvatting

A study of the leadership and distribution of power in modern business enterprises, based on an examination of the relevant literature, mainly Dutch. The business enterprise is analyzed as a form of social organization. It is contended that there is an increasing concentration of powers in the hands of top management, due to a growing functionalization, coordination, and 'finalization' (adaptation of means to ends). Top management gains power at the expense of the shareholders, whose role recedes. It tends to form a closed elite who use institutional means to enforce its position. However, outside the enterprise, the position of this top management is checked by a number of countervailing forces, eg gov and labor unions. I. Langnas.