The Structural Embeddedness of Resistance among Public Managers

Abstract

The study of resistance in organizations has been dominated by two perspectives. From a managerial perspective resistance is dysfunction that managers learn to "cope with." Most radical/critical perspectives see resistance as a weapon in the class struggle. Contrary to managerial characterizations we find that bureaucratic resistance is a common and varied mode of organizational behavior. Contrary to critical views it is often enacted to support, rather than undermine, the goals of the organization. Neither view adequately accounts for resistance by managers who are caught in conflicting role obligations. The many forms of resistance are largely unstudied, yet the informants in our ethnographic study have illuminated a variety of strategies and richly detailed accounts. We present a structural model of the relationships between resistors' strategies and antecedent conditions. Two cases from our research illustrate the model. We conclude with implications for managers, researchers, and recent prescriptions to "reinvent" government.