Superior-Subordinate Conflict in Research Organizations

Abstract

A legal or jurisprudential perspective on organizational phenomena generates new research problems, one of which is the effect of procedural due process of law on superior-subordinate relations. In a governmental and an industrial research organization, nonsupervisory engineers and scientists, first-level supervisors, and second-level supervisors were asked about conflicts with their superiors. The incidence of superior-subordinate conflicts is positively associated with organizational position in both laboratories. There is a tendency for technical conflicts to decrease and administrative conflicts to increase with organizational position. Despite the absence of a formal appeal system in the industrial laboratory, an unexpectedly high proportion of respondents perceive the institutionalization of a due-process norm, which suggests the functioning of an informal appeal system. The emergence of an informal due-process mechanism in the industrial laboratory is probably a response to pressures to constitutionalize the corporation. William M. Evan is associate professor of sociology and industrial management in the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.'