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Multidimensionality of Power Use in Organizations and its Correlates

The present study was conducted to examine power use patterns and general power use strategies in organizations multidimensionally (i.e., downward, upward, and lateral directions of power use), to extend and explain previous findings by Kipnis et al. (1980), with reference to situational effects on multidimensional power use. The samples in this study consist of 230 full-time managers who were from eight local businesses, and a second sample of 140 college students who worked over 15 hours a week at the time of the study. Two exploratory factor analyses resulted in five commonly used power patterns and two general power use strategies based on the eight factors found from Kipnis et al. (1980) factor analysis. Significant differences between the manager's level and manager's power tactics use were not found in downward, upward, or lateral power tactics use when three corresponding MANOVA analyses were conducted. Two different measures of work unit size were used, and the relationship between the work unit size and manager's power tactics use was significant when tested by a stepwise multiple regression analysis. A final multivariate analysis with repeated measures found no significant difference between the two response formats used on the questionnaires given to the college student sample. The important implications and contributions of the present study are discussed as well as future research directions.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:pdx.edu/oai:pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu:open_access_etds-5233
Date01 January 1992
CreatorsDong, Weizhong
PublisherPDXScholar
Source SetsPortland State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceDissertations and Theses

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