The use of power in Aboriginal organisations

Abstract

The discipline of Organisational Behaviour aims to equip managers with the skills and knowledge necessary to predict and control people’s behaviour in organisations. For this reason, the use of power within organisations is a major theme in this discipline. While the use of power is a well-documented phenomenon in the management literature and is recognised as central to the management and leadership of organisations, there is little agreement over what it is or where it comes from. One of the research questions addressed by this thesis relates to the source of power. Specifically, what is power and how is it used in an organisational context. In the current research, the subject of inquiry is the use of power in the organisational behaviour and management practices of Aboriginal organisations. The purpose of this inquiry is to enhance understanding of the management and leadership of organisations, especially those managed by Aboriginal Australians, and to provide insight into those aspects of best practice that result in more effective organisational management. This research aims to reveal how Aboriginal management might be differentiated, if at all, from normative Western management. Guiding this examination is a broad-based theoretically derived descriptive framework of the nature of power in organisations.Many observers of Aboriginal organisations, including politicians, public servants, and Aborigines themselves, have expressed concern over the practices adopted to manage these organisations. Moreover, many Aboriginal leaders maintain that the management of their organisations must be done in a culturally appropriate way. Unfortunately, there is little in the management literature to indicate what such a practice might be and there is no research that examines Aboriginal management. Nonetheless, other literature reveals that many Aboriginal leaders are refined politicians, quite adept at securing what they seek. They readily use their power to control people, organisations and events. In response to the lack of understanding of power in Aboriginal organisations, the second research question examined in this thesis is what is culturally appropriate (Aboriginal) management?Four Aboriginal organisations representing a range of organisational contexts were selected to develop in-depth case studies of the use of power by organisational members, managers and leaders. Consistent with the ethical standards applicable to this research, information about organisational participants was either gathered from material available in the public domain or through the method of participant observation. The anonymity of participants is maintained with the use of fictitious initials, including the data gathered from the public domain.One of the clear findings of the research was that the type of power used did not predict whether the outcome for the organisation, as assessed against its mission statement, was positive or negative. Analysis of Case 1 (Aboriginal Health Service) (AHS) revealed that power was being used to legitimise the actions of the manager and to act as a gate keeping mechanism to mask his covert activities. Analysis of Case 2 (Aboriginal Legal Service) (ALS) revealed that power was being used in the internal environment for the public good. In contrast, examination of the external environment revealed that a hostile coalition had used its power in an attempt to undermine the reputation of the ALS. Analysis of Case 3 (The radio station) revealed that the manager was using his power to improve the commercial performance of the organisation. There was considerable resistance to the change process, but that resistance was being effectively managed for the sake of the organisation’s survival and growth. Case 4 (Aboriginal Land Council) revealed that power was being used to suppress legitimate demands of staff and clients for the benefit of the ruling elite.Overall, the Aboriginal managers in each of the four cases were applying the management functions of Mintzberg (1973), which is consistent with Australia’s industrialised society. Examination in the context of contemporary Aboriginal culture was not possible because there is no body of literature to describe what that culture might be. The analysis did reveal, however, that there was little evidence of any of the values, beliefs and customs of traditional Aboriginal society being carried forward into the organisational behaviour or the management of these organisations. To the contrary, the cases revealed that there was little in the management and leadership practices of these organisations that set them apart from other organisations in Australian society. Consequently, the case studies did not support the notion of a culturally appropriate management practice for Aboriginal organisations that is differentiated from Mintzberg (1973).Although uncontroversial understanding of the nature and origin of power remains an elusive goal, there is some empirical evidence on how and why it is used. Much of the management literature argues that power is or can be the independent variable in an organisational process. However, analysis of the data obtained in this research supports a different conclusion, namely, that leadership style is more likely to be the prime independent variable and the control mechanism, with power being a mere conduit through which the Aboriginal managers realised their goals. While the origin of power remains debatable, its use in this context by the Aboriginal staff and managers was to facilitate their desired organisational outcomes.