Organizational decentralization reduces power to mere veto power that informal networks then compensate for.

Evidence

If one does not relate these points to increases in production, as research in organizational sociology does, but rather to increases in power, one can then ask whose power really profits from increasing reciprocities. How do power opportunities between superiors and subordinates change under such conditions, if the complexity of their possible relationships increases? Obviously the ability of the superior to absorb complexity is narrowly limited. Since precisely this is the source of the subordinate’s power, one must suppose that each increase in complexity alters the power relationship in favour of the subordinate, with the result that the more complex an organizational system, the less susceptible it is to leadership. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 799 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Withholding cooperation becomes power under high interdependence; Organizations are not merely the extended arm of a power-holder; Rising organizational complexity shifts power toward subordinates. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 799 (+1 more)

Related

• Withholding cooperation becomes power under high interdependence (similarity 0.91)
• Rising organizational complexity shifts power toward subordinates. (similarity 0.86)
• Personnel power thrives precisely where formal rules are weakest (similarity 0.85)
• Power catalyzes action chains that reduce the complexity of coordinating many parties (similarity 0.83)
• Organizations are not merely the extended arm of a power-holder (similarity 0.79)
• Organizations can differentiate power bases but not power’s subject matter, blocking negotiated balance. (similarity 0.78)
• Treating power as relational redistributes agency toward the subordinated. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Rising organizational complexity shifts power toward subordinates. #expands (0.75) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 799
• Organizations are not merely the extended arm of a power-holder #expands (0.60)