Withholding cooperation becomes power under high interdependence
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: Effective power requires asymmetrical preferences over avoidable alternatives — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 620; Power arises only at the moment positive rewards are threatened with withdrawal; Rising organizational complexity shifts power toward subordinates. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 799 (+10 more)
Related
- Organizational decentralization reduces power to mere veto power that informal networks then compensate for. (similarity 0.91)
- Rising organizational complexity shifts power toward subordinates. (similarity 0.85)
- Personnel power thrives precisely where formal rules are weakest (similarity 0.84)
- Power catalyzes action chains that reduce the complexity of coordinating many parties (similarity 0.83)
- Treating power as relational redistributes agency toward the subordinated. (similarity 0.82)
- Increasing decision interdependence reveals intrinsic limits on organizational power (similarity 0.82)
- A superior’s dependence on cooperation becomes exploitable leverage for subordinates (similarity 0.82)
- Power arises only at the moment positive rewards are threatened with withdrawal (similarity 0.79)
- Organizations can differentiate power bases but not power’s subject matter, blocking negotiated balance. (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Rising organizational complexity shifts power toward subordinates.
#expands(0.55) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 799 - Organizational decentralization reduces power to mere veto power that informal networks then compensate for.
#qualifies(0.45)