When Hierarchy Helps: Exploring Positive Outcomes of Social Hierarchies at Work

Abstract

Social hierarchies—vertical differences among individuals in relation to a socially valued resource (Anderson & Brown, 2010)—are a fundamental feature of organizations (van Kleef & Cheng, 2020). The main two types of hierarchical differentiation in organizations are power, which refers to control over valued resources, and status, which refers to respect afforded by others. These social hierarchies may emerge both formally (e.g., receiving a promotion to a leadership role wherein one has authority over subordinates) and informally (e.g., referent power in a team from one’s expertise) (Magee & Galinsky, 2008). Although there are recognized benefits for organizations of formal social hierarchies (e.g., division of labor, motivating performance through hierarchy-related incentives; Halevy et al., 2011), at the individual and team levels, social hierarchies have traditionally been viewed through a negative lens by scholars and practitioners alike. This is demonstrated through maxims like “power corrupts” and “heavy is the head that bears the crown,” and supported through empirical studies. For example, studies have suggested that feeling powerful is associated with negative outcomes such as less trust in others (Schilke et al., 2015), greater abuse of subordinates (Foulk et al., 2018), overconfidence in decision making (Fast et al., 2012), and reduced connection with others (Galinsky et al., 2006; Lammers et al., 2012). At the team level, hierarchy may hurt team effectiveness (Greer et al., 2018) and hinder collective learning (Bunderson & Reagans, 2011). Summarizing these ideas, Fleming and Spicer (2014, p. 3) remarked that “power generally has negative connotations when it comes to understanding organizational life.” Despite their negative reputation, social hierarchies may not always be detrimental in organizational settings (e.g., Foulk et al., 2020; Tost & Johnson, 2019). Recent work has suggested that the effects of social hierarchies may be more nuanced than previously recognized (e.g., Foulk et al., 2021), and therefore, in this symposium, we seek to explore ways that power and status may be beneficial to individuals and teams, in addition to the more traditionally recognized costs of social hierarchies. In highlighting some positive effects of power and status, we contribute to management scholarship by bringing more balance to the literature on social hierarchies, underscoring the complex impact of social stratification in organizational settings. Taken together, the papers in our symposium suggest instances where power and status may be a welcome resource for enhancing work performance, wellbeing, and team functioning. The Influence of Negative Gossip about The Supervisor on Gossipers’ Work Engagement Presenter: Rui Zhong; Sauder School of Business, U. of British Columbia Presenter: Pok Man Tang; Texas A&M U., Mays Business School Presenter: Stephen Lee; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Power is Sticky: The Complicated Nature of Power for the Powerholder Presenter: Daniel Kim; U. of Florida Presenter: Remy E. Jennings; Florida State U. Presenter: Klodiana Lanaj; U. of Florida At the Intersection of Power and the Underdog Presenter: Tyler Sabey; Arizona State U. Preoccupation or Internalization? Pruning Perspectives on Decoupling Conflict Presenter: Ryan Scott Hemsley; Eli Broad School of Business, Michigan State U. Presenter: Zhiya Guo; Michigan State U. Presenter: Ajay Somaraju; Michigan State U. Presenter: Brian Alan Burgess; Michigan State U.