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Union Influence on Internal Organizational Decisions: An Empirical Analysis
Author(s) -
Fields Mitchell W.,
Thacker James W.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1991.tb00546.x
Subject(s) - affect (linguistics) , hierarchy , psychology , social psychology , rank (graph theory) , organizational commitment , public relations , political science , law , mathematics , communication , combinatorics
The development of appropriate models of organizational decision making requires a complete determination of the different groups that affect the decision‐making process. The present investigation examines the influence of union officials as a group on internal organizational decisions. The rank and file membership of three local unions ( N = 1324) and their first level supervisors ( N = 205) were surveyed regarding the perceived influence of five different groups within the organizational hierarchy. A methodology developed by Tannenbaum (1968) and his associates was modified to include lower‐level union representatives as one of five groups who potentially wield influence over organizational decisions. The results of this investigation determined that union representatives are seen as possessing significant levels of influence regarding microlevel organizational decisions. Additional analyses revealed that first‐level supervisors believed that union representatives possessed more influence in organizational decisions than they possessed as a group. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.