INTERACTION PATTERNS IN ORGANIC AND MECHANISTIC SYSTEM.

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Abstract
The research reported here compared actual communication of managers and subordinates in two plants, one organized by an organic, self-managing team philosophy and one by mechanistic, authority-based philosophy. Using a relational control coding scheme to analyze and compare interactions, we found that the use of a variety of question and answer combinations and conversational elaboration, and a lack of managerial orders and commands characterized communication at the self-managed plant. In contrast, competitive interchanges, interruptions, and statements of nonsupport typified interaction at the authority-based plant. These findings provide empirical support for hypotheses suggesting that communicative forms are consultative in organic systems and command-like in mechanistic systems.

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