Alienation at the top

RESEARCH

Geert Hofstede large European nation

corporation

of three

months.

Distressed

totally unexpected, sulting views

psychologist with

within

two

to. All three

their

entire

so far

careers

with

the same large employer,

to conduct men.

asked a conpostexit inter-

Were

related?

been

very well paid,

in their new jobs were minor job security

the psy-

of feedback-from-

former

a-distance

to

employer.

interviews

revealed that on a direct cause-and-

effect level, their almost simultaneous

of im-

or nonexistent;

In fact, they appeared

this kind

prospects

proved earnings

they

The

resigna-

was less in the

new job than in the old. All three were quite positive

chologist very willingly.

and

the three

the president

The three men all received

had liked their jobs,

Did

was unaware?

their

virtually

and had been highly successful. All three had

signal a serious crisis of which

about

their

former

employer:

a great company.

What

them.”

However,

all three complained

being

increasingly

bureaucracy

“It is

I am now, I owe ta

frustrated

by

as they had moved

three moved to new positions

about

company

up, and all

that involved

a

bigger job in a smaller company.

tions were a coincidence. They had not been influenced by each other, and their new jobs were with different companies.

No specific organizational crisis, then, caused these executives to resign; instead, the cause was a midcareer crisis in their per-

However, in many ways their three cases were strikingly similar. All three men

mon

were in their early forties-an

and powerlessness

age that nor-

mally is the peak of a man’s working life, when he has both a past to build upon and a

44

to look forward

the president

in any way

eager to supply

future

had spent

by these losses, which were

the three

resignations

suffered the resig-

key executives

This study was supported

sonal orientations feeling

toward

of frustration,

com-

meaninglessness,

that seemed to have grown

parallel to the increase as measured by their

by a grant from executive search consultants Berndtson

their work-a

in their formal power hierarchical positions.

International

S.A., Brussels.

Alienation is something that happens to rank-and-file workers harnessed to simple, repetitive tasks. Not excltlsively, says Hofstede. Research shows that managers at headqzrarters also believe their jobs to be meaningless. The remedy? Executive job enrichment.

They felt less and less able to make the impact

which

his life and

on the company

feeling

is by no means

that they wanted

and for this they blamed dividuals

not particular

but a conglomerate

forces generated

to make, in-

bureaucracy.”

THE ALIENATION PHENOMENON

to make a meaningful

however

modest,

common

to most

nowadays

about

trial and o&e repetitive

impact,

in one’s life environment men.

Many

people

the state of mind

is

worry

of indus-

workers who have to do simple,

tasks

devoid

of any

meaning

to

them. The word alienation is used to describe the effect of these jobs on people. Alienation is a term borrowed from sociology and used by different authors to include

different

attributes,

ters on an individual’s ness and meaninglessness, fluence

but it always cen-

feeling

or even understand

of powerless-

his inability

to in-

the forces upon

This

to industrial

Over the past five or ten years, the

of mind

of students

Feelings

of alienation

at American

the state

universities.

may be found,

though

to different extents, at all levels within cratic organizations.

bureau-

The The ambition

depend.

limited

term has also been used to describe

of impersonal

by “company

workers.

happiness

parlance, notation-but

word

bureaucracy,

has acquired

a strong

in its original

text, it refers to any formal fying the management activities.

in popular negative

con-

sociological

con-

system for simpli-

of large and complex

As such, it applies to public as well

as private organizations,

the shop floor as well

as the executive suite. Bureaucracies are born of necessity; without them, large-scale human activities would be unmanageable. The paradox is that, by their very existence, they call forth forces that defeat their own ends. The main problem appears to be that the models of people on which bureaucratic structures are built

are too different

from

real people.

45

Bureaucracies

ask people

to behave

in stan-

a person’s feeling able to make some contribu-

dardized

ways, whereas real people are never

tion to the overall company

standard.

If we force them to behave as if they

fore asked (among

were, the consequence executives

is alienation.

The three

who blamed their move on bureau-

cracy in the large corporation the alienation

moved to escape

they had begun more and more

real contribution pany?”

survey

I would

now like to describe

employee

In Figure

corporation countries.

an example

of

in many

This corporation a subsidiary

markets

its prod-

in each country.

and

It

locations : sales country

are coordinated

by a head office in each coun-

headquarters.

try. All country

head offices report directly

an international

headquarters

located

to

in Eu-

conducted

1969, this

a series of attitude

employees seemed

1968 and and

corporation

surveys of all its

managers.

These

to show an alienation

surveys

problem

surprising

place-within

the corporation’s

ternational

headquarters.

Moreover,

problem

not

only

quarters’ rank-and-file managers.

in-

than

for

national

Attitude-survey statistics,

crets about

results,

the functioning

satisfied

Also,

than

far from befascinating

se-

of organizations.

professionals,

where

clerks

are

In fact, the

level of managers

headquarters

the country

in the inter-

(47 percent

satisfied)

headquarters

(48 percent)

is in

and for

clerks in the sales offices (46 percent). with

their

managers

opportunity

are

more

satisfied

to contribute

to the

company’s success than clerks was to be expected because, by definition, they have a more central role in the organization. the international headquarters

I shall present some of the main corporate findings on the alienation phenomenon so that the reader can judge for himself. (Those who

central

want to take my analysis for granted

This level increases

can skip

man-

more than clerks, except in

headquarters,

That

can reveal

de-

almost exactly the same as for professionals

other categories of employees. ing dull

is a consistent

satisfaction

head-

profes-

from the sales offices to

the

but also its

headquarters

for all three

headquarters.

are more

international

international

that

and clerks-there

and professionals

are

countries),

the

employees-managers,

international

agers

Results

(within

more satisfied than professionals.

more serious for managers

international

offices

this alien-

In fact, there were reasons to con-

sider the problem at the

affected

employees

at a

(noncollege-

to three kinds of work

1 reveals

of

person-

and accoun-

personnel).

crease of satisfaction the

specialized

offices, and

Figure categories sionals,

In

head

for

professional

employees

according

of

responsible

engineers,

clerical

also divided

operates sales offices in the major cities, which

rope.

46

(college-level,

level, administrative

European

of answers

for three groups

(anyone

nel such as salesmen, tants),

in a large multinational

that operates

ucts through

ation

1 the distribution is shown

the work of others),

employees

alienation

to make a

to the success of the com-

to this question coordinating

Attitude

“How satis-

fied are you with your opportunity

employees : managers

to feel.

result. We there-

other things),

role, its satisfaction

head o&es,

But although also has a level

is lowest.

as we go to the country

and from

there to the sales of-

Figure 1 through Figure 5 and begin reading again at “The Price of Alienation.“)

fices.

In composing the survey questionnaire, we believed that one yardstick for determining the meaningfulness of a job would be

therefore, is least present at the sales offices and reaches a peak at the international headquarters.

Dissatisfaction

indicating

alienation,

Figure 1 SATISFACTIONWITH OPPORTUNITY TO CONTRIBUTE TO COMPANY SUCCESS

Percent Scoring Neither SatisDissatisfied or

fied nor Dissat-

Satisfied or

Very Dissatisfied

isfied

Very Satisfied

Managers in : Sales offices

5

18

77

Country head o&es

9

31

60

14

39

47

International headquarters Professional employees in: Sales o&es

6

32

62

Country head o&es

16

36

48

International headquarters

24

50

26

Clerical employees in: Sales offices

14

40

46

Country head offices

17

42

41

International headquarters

21

46

33

Other survey results

The

attitude

faction

with

contribution tended

questions implies that the two other questions should show differences between managers

surveys

also showed

opportunity

to

that satis-

make

a real

to the success of this company

to go hand

in hand

with

on other aspects of job content. analysis

of the survey

various

categories

satisfaction

In a statistical

quarters

a close cor-

two other questions, “How satisfied are you with the challenge of the work you do-the extent to which you can get a personal out

of it?”

and

sense “How

sales ofices and head-

similar to those shown by satisfaction

with opportunity

to contribute.

lows us to verify

this

Figure

2 al-

(for simplicity’s

sake

only percent satisfied answers are shown). Figure

scores for each of the

of employees,

relation was found between satisfaction with opportunity to contribute and the answers to

of accomplishment

and others and between

ferences between

2 reveals the same kind of difmanagers,

clerks and between

professionals,

sales offices, country

and head

offices, and international headquarters that Figure 1 showed. However, the differences in Figure

2 tend to be smaller

Especially

for managers,

than in Figure

1.

there are greater dif-

satisfied are you with the extent to which you

ferences between sales offices and headquarters on satisfaction with opportunity to contribute

use your skills and abilities on your job?” The three questions together form a statistical

than on challenge or use of skills. This suggests that the differences in managers’ feelings

“cluster” that indicates, with

the intrinsic

in general,

nature

job. The close relationship

satisfaction

or content

between

of the

these three

of challenge sequences

opportunity

and use of skills may be the conof their different to contribute.

satisfaction

with

47

Figure 2

INTRINSIC JOB INTEREST Percent Scoring “Satisfied” or “Very Satisfied” Challenge of the

Use of S&Us and Abilities

Work

Managers in : Sales offices Country head offices International headquarters

77

65

66 56

61 55

71 53 39

57 48 37

53 46 34

46 42 36

Professional employees in: Sales offices Country head offices International headquarters Clerical employees in: Sales offices Country head of&es International headquarters

The subjective

importance

of contributing

to

corn pan y success

portunities.

Satisfaction

with opportunity

subjectively

more important

to contribute

is

the item

highest importance

members.

This

was

in the above-mentioned

atti-

set of questions

to

the satisfaction questions; these parallel questions tried to elicit the importance of various work aspects to the employee. Instead of “How satisfied

are you with . . . ?” the questions with

“How

important

is it to you

to . . . ?” (for example, have a job that allows you to make a real contribution to the success of your company). All in all, there were 22 importance

48

and 22 covered a person pact on personal

allowed

to them by a certain

than

organization

tude surveys by a parallel

attached

gory of employees.

to managers

it is to other

began

questions

us to rank these 22 items in order of the importance

disclosed

The importance

satisfaction questions; the 22 items the entire field of the relationship of with his job-such as earnings, impersonal life, learning, security, interrelationships, and advancement op-

that,

Rank

cate-

1 would be given to

on the average,

received

the

score; rank 22, the lowest.

The relative importance

attached

to contribut-

ing to company success by our various categories of employees is shown in Figure 3. Figure

3 proves

above: Managers

what

distinguish

was

themselves

stated from

others by attaching much higher importance to contributing to company success. Whereas for professionals

and clerks this issue ranks

from 12 to 18 out of 22, for managers it ranks fifth in the sales offices, third in the country head offices, and second headquarters.

in the international

In the international

headquar-

ters, the only work aspect managers rate important than contributing to company cess is challenging work. In the country o&es, managers view challenging work

more suchead and

Figure 3

IMPORTANCE OF CONTRIBUTING TOCOMPANYSUCCESS Average Rank Order

Managers in: Sales offices Country head ofices International headquarters

5* 3 2

Professional employees in: Sales offices Country head o&es International headquarters

14 15 12

Clerical employees in: Sales offices Country head ofIices International headquarters

16 18 18

* Ran&gs: 1. most important; 22, leastimportant.

a good working ager as being uting

relationship more

to company

with your man-

important

than

the four items rated more important agers are, in order of importance, work,

considerable

contrib-

success. In the sales offices,

freedom

by man-

challenging

to adopt

own approach to the job, an opportunity advancement, and training opportunities. If we compare centages

(Figure

ings (Figure

the satisfaction

1) and the importance

for

making

perrank-

a real contribution

to the success of the company-is

particularly

acute for the international-headquarters agers by a combination (ranked

second)

of high attached

im-

(47 percent

satisfied). It is much less pressing, for example, with clerical employees who, while not very satisfied, indicate by their low

of satisfaction

with opportunity

many other for the lack to contribute

as such

Alienation

does affect one’s self-image

necessarily

one’s image

but not

of the organization

one works for. In fact, the two may be negarelated.

The

surveys

also contained

a

question about the image of the company as such (not in terms of one’s personal contribution to it): extent

“How

to which

satisfied

are you with the

this company

is regarded

as

successful ?” The results for managers

man-

and low satisfaction

importance scores that to them aspects of the job can compensate

Images of the organization

tively

3), we can see that the problem

of alienation-not

portance

your

to company success. This way out is not open to most managers.

in Figure

are shown

4. As the overall level of answering

was very favorable,

we have taken

the cutoff

point between very satisfied and satisfied. It is clear that in this case the highest success ratings come from international headquarters and the least high from the sales of&es. This is the opposite of the trend for the question about the managers’ personal contribution to

49

Figure 4

??

International

headquarters

give people in our country

SUCCESSOF THE COMPANY AS SUCH

doesn’t

head offices enough

support. Percent Scoring

??

International

headquarters

No

People in the sales offices were asked

Feeling

with regard to both inter-

the same questions

01

Dis-

Very

satisfied

Satisfied

Satisfied

national offices.

headquarters

and the country

18

53

29

1. Those 15

52

OY

33

frequently

managers 11

45

exceed one-third

or professionals headquarters

about country

of satisfaction

of the international-headquar-

with international

a great company

level), but they had

head office as country

with

headquarters. were some-

what more frequently

mind

port rather than as too much interference.

my job, but it is

seen as not enough

4. In all cases, problems

to be in.”

what more frequently of “red tape”

their

head ofices had

3. In all cases, problems

contribution

with

were dealt

by a sense of pride in

Motivational consequences

sup-

were some-

felt by managers

than

by nonmanagers. However,

a more important

finding

When they were presented with the survey data, some people were surprised; they had

(not visible in Figure 5) was that the answers

expected

in the subsidiaries

to the questions

on support

would be the least satisfied because they would

were statistically

only weakly related to those

be frustrated

about other aspects of the managers’ or profes-

that respondents

by the headquarters

tions. This expectation plicit (“red

assumption tape”)

were

interven-

was based on the im-

that

bureaucratic

invented

systems

by people

in

sionals’ job satisfaction. port or too much trating,

and interference

Feeling

interference,

a lack of supalthough

did not seem to affect too much

frusthe

should like what

way people felt about their work. In the total

they were doing. Our data show this assumption to be wrong. In fact, it is a gross oversimplification of the origins of bureaucracy. The surveys did address the issues of the relationships between subsidiaries and headquar-

picture of the attitude of people toward their jobs it stayed at the level of a minor irritation. The feeling of alienation that we related to

headquarters

50

(these

the same level of problems

success. It seems that the lack

compensated

of the

questioned.

2. Sales offices had few problems

44

the company’s

the company-“Never

very frequently

answering

never

with at country-head-office

with their personal

in Fig-

ure 5:

international

is partly

head

The answers are summarized

Managers in: Sales offices Country head of&es International headquarters

ters managers

inter-

feres too much.

who obviously

ters, however. Managers and professionals in the country head offices were asked how frequently (if at all) the following problems occurred :

not feeling able to make a real contribution to the company’s success goes much deeper. There is no real adversary to blame; the system in which one is absorbed is unclear and the individual feels he is wasting his time, although working very hard.

Figure 5 DISTRIBUTION

OF RESPONSES TOTHE “SUPPORT”AND“INTERFERENCE” QUESTIONS From

Country

Not Enough 5 vpp art

Head

Too

From

Office

offices

Professional employees Sales offices Country head offices (Expressed

The

in percentages.

32 _-

24 __

27 __

27 __

13 31

59 29

7 26

72 42

30 __

27 __

23 _-

34 -_

5 25

75 34

3 21

a3 47

of those

Th e percentages

answering

pect

more

“sometimes”

intrinsic

jobs and will want pays for the alien-

as possible.

They

are

jobs are available.

employee.

employees

will lower

tions to perform because formance as meaningless

In

em-

general,

their

aspira-

they see their peranyway. They are

People

in which

326 par-

executive

training

tion

program

were followed

sales offices reported more did

voluntary managers

spending

overtime

confirms

on their

in country

head offices (observation that sales o&e

considerably

and

jobs than

international

of managers

in action

managers

do spend

longer :hours working). In spite of this, sales office managers did not claim to be overloaded any more frequently

than did head office man-

agers, . ;I considerably greater fraction of sales o&e managers would accept these long hours without

feeling overloaded. Other things being equal, employees

with higher skill and education

levels will ex-

after training. training

in a study

the same company of an in-company

in country

who have experi-

This fact was demonstrated within ticipants

managers

more likely

and if alternative

enced success in the past are more frustrated by alienation than are less successful people.

less likely to exert an extra effort. An illustraSurveyed

their

to use their skills as fully

to company,

job to job, and individual

shown.)

from

are, therefore,

to quit if they feel alienated

to individual

not

satisfaction

ation of its employees will vary from company

of this:

Much

Interference

in:

The price an organization

alienated

Too

Enough Support

----

price of alienation

ployee

Headquarters

Not

Much

Interference

---Managers in: Sales offices Country head

International

and follow-up

this period,

through

their careers

The average time span between was four years. During

20 participants

pany (a very low turnover

had left the comfigure).

However,

out of these 20, 16 had been rated by their trainers

as being among

the top third of their

class. This means that the one-third of most successful trainees were eight times as likely to quit ones. trainers

as the two-thirds

of less successful

Even if we discount the fact that are not infallible in their judgment,

it is still a reasonable

assumption

that these

51

stuck

with

achievers,

a residue who

of disillusioned

in turn

expand

cracy of which they themselves In the previous assumed

a potential

make a contribution in all people; tion

paragraphs

tional behavior at the European Advanced

and to success

Belgium and at INSEAD,

and department

includes

manager,

for whom

six years

stafl of a multinational corporation, Switzerland.

and

even

entire

howcultures

and their

Jobs with a low potential

to the company’s

a process of natural

selection,

success will, by attract

the need to contribute

persons

is low. Our

data suggest that such people are more likely

of behavioral research on the international years of teaching at IMEDE,

persons

to contribute

ten years in Holland as an industrial worker, foreman,

We also recognize,

need to contribute.

Brussels,

Fontainebleau,

France. His earlier work experience

the situation

when this contribu-

differ in their need for achievement

Institute for

Studies in Management,

we have

to the company’s

we have blamed

was missing.

ever, that

currently serves as a professor of organiza-

are the victims.

need to achieve

rather than the employees Geert Hofstede is a native of Holland. He

low

the bureau-

to stay in headquarters

and two

Lausanne,

jobs than

are strong

achievers.

He holds a master’s level degree

in mechanical engineering tute of Technology,

from Delft Insti-

Holland and a doctorate

in social psychology from Groningen

JOB

Univer-

ENRICHMENT FORHEADQUARTERS

EXECUTIVES

sity, also in Holland. His publications, research interest, and teach-

On the shop and ofice

ing and consulting activities are all related to

alienation

on the behavior of their members.

being made to restore humanity

winning

His award-

dissertation in 1967, in particular,

dealt with the eflects of budgetary

control

systems on people. At present he is working

are called “job enrichment,”

Some

explore the extent to which national culture

mainly

more successful trainees would also tend to be

more successful

turnover:

The

people tend to leave. The de-

of the three executives

the introduction

to this

use

Frederick approaches

Herzberg’s to job

on the structure

These

terminology.

enrichment

focus

of individual

jobs,

the dominant trend in the United States. In Europe, especially in Sweden and Norway,

the better performers in their day-to-day jobs. This study therefore shows how alienation

parture

to jobs that

efforts generally to

may lead to selective employee

and efforts are

process dehumanized.

on a comparatioe study among employees of

behavior.

has been recognized

of

the bureaucratic

the same corporation in various countries, to a#ects organizational

52

floor, the danger

the impact of the design of large organizations

article

mentioned upset

in their

president because they, too, were star performers. There is a real danger that a company headquarters by this process may become

job enrichment has concentrated on changing group tasks rather than individual jobs. Is job enrichment possible in the headquarters of large corporations? It is unlikely in this case that restructuring individual jobs will be sufficient because in the forces that lead to alienation,

the entire bureaucratic

tem of the organization

is involved.

sys-

Job-en-

richment approaches here should include not only individuals but also groups and the role of entire departments.

Let us first look at the kind of jobs we

among

all headquarters

employee attitude

usually find in headquarters. There is a great variety : top executives with their personal

these activities,

staffs;

those who

bution

behalf

of the corporation;

deal with

the outside those

on

who

plan

the satisfaction

to company satisfied”

those who look after the execution

agers,

professionals,

write

policies

who

check

lowed;

those who

together).

and

vestigate

for the corporation whether

those

who

funds, materials,

these

policies

coordinate

the

those

possess unique

expertise

tion to do by themselves. becomes,

of

unique

The bigger the headthe number

in the sales offices than ters? What

is different

be so much

of itself

??

jobs

feedback

about

contain

are noteworthy:

a much

results-ne

one has worked successfully ??

The headquarters

a direct

In the same

in-

felt alienated study,

supplied quarters survey,

I

the head-

the alienation decided

Now both direct feedback

the

and a cliby job en-

personnel

head offices looked

at

how people in country

the job done by their international

headquar-

This survey, carried out half attitude

survey, be-

as the “Headquarters

Effective-

ness Study.” In this study, the departments the international

headquar-

headquarters of

came known

or customer

on the

to carry out a study

a year after the employee

than

are recognized

of his international

ters counterparts.

attitude

feedback

He asked the corporate

head-

or not. client

he wanted

department

that

data, the chief head-

direct

whether

corporation

executive, after the employee

operation. research

multinational

with

relationship-there is a visible person, customer, who is either satisfied or not. ent relationship

further

eflectiveness study

more

knows

Sales of&e jobs more

ters jobs involve

lower

in such a headquar-

Sales office jobs compared

quarters

cor-

about jobs in sales of-

fices? At least two differences

employees

therefore,

who in headquarters

effectiveness Why, then, in our multinational alienation

clerical

man-

and those who

running. would

and

We should,

(taking

shall first describe another quarters effectiveness study.

those necessary to keep the headquarters

poration

or “satisfied”

70

scoring

flow

are not in a posi-

the greater

from

and who not, and why. For this purpose,

or perform

services that the subsidiaries

“contri-

are fol-

people, orders, and ideas be-

tween the various subsidiaries;

quarters

of these

with

success” varied

“very

subsidiaries;

In fact, the

percent to only 20 percent of personnel

ahead for the short and for the long term and plans by the various

activities.

survey recorded that among

headquarters

into seven main functions search, finance, divided

the person

of

divided

(such as market

and personnel)

into 49 departments

each activity,

were

re-

and then subor activities.

acting

For

as the main

“customer” in each country head ofice was presented with a written questionnaire to be

richment experts to be among the key requirements Eor an “enriched” job. Headquarters

returned to the corporate personnel research department. Anonymity of answers was guar-

jobs, on the other hand, usually receive little or

anteed

no feedback on their success, and it is generally

their identity

less clear who their o&es,

higher

have clients at all? It is evident containing alienation

client

management

is-the

subsidiary

. . . or do they

that, with headquarters

such a mixed bag of roles, the phenomenon will not be the same

unless

customers to be known.

1100 questionnaires (73 percent)

expressly

wanted

Of the more than

mailed out, more than 800

were returned.

The questionnaire

contained some forced-choice questions along with a number of write-in questions. The responses to the latter were assembled for each of the 49 international headquarters activities

53

and sent to the person responsible

for that ac-

Among

other

choice questions

things, activities

of support

dimensions

the

forced-

rated their own jobs).

on the two

and control.

would

whether

show up between

the seven main international

Support

specific

make a real contribution

problems,

Support

in the past 12 months

ated

by the

from

the points

country

quality.

Control

vision;

and

in-

monitoring

auditing;

head

was evalu-

with the meaningfulness

country

function

as “staff super-

country

practices,

international

and so on-all

high level of overall tomers

were asked

amount

of control headquarters

any way related

and of

performance.”

a

The

custhe

from their inter-

counterpart

over the past

results

revealed

that

and quality of support generally hand, making index

headquarters, strongly

including

Control related

to quantity

and

a support

of the international both

quantity

support

were

(if at all, control

of support

quantity

went hand in

it possible to compute

for each activity

quality.

or dissatisfac-

headquarters

employees

of their jobs be in

to the way in which

their

by their customers

Figures

6 shows the results of a com-

tional areas in international been

coded

A through

headquarters

have

G according

to the

rank order of their employees’ scores on “satisfaction

with the opportunity

the company’s

to contribute

success.” Thus

alienation)

and

satisfaction

(high alienation).

tional

G with

areas have been

their ratings

able.

Self-ratings

high in support

and low in control

ratings their

support

alienation

that this headquar-

ters effectiveness study (in which people in the country head offices rated the international headquarters) followed closely after the employee attitude survey (in which people both in the country head offices and in international

run

study-that by their cus-

received

Such a similarity

6 are remark-

headquarters

with

almost

customers

in Figure of

tribute

or low in

effectiveness

The results

and control,

support and high in control.

to

and control

tomers.

in both support

I have already mentioned

according

is, in the way they are perceived

ees on satisfaction

and control and headquarters

ranked

less

but others were

(low

average

The same func-

in the headquarters

but not to quality).

between perceived

the lowest

and

was related

to

A is the func-

received on support

Some headquarters activities were seen as high in both support and control and some as low

Relationships

at

headquarters?

tion with the highest average satisfaction

12 months. The

to

parison of both surveys. The seven main func-

how they felt about received

the

to the success of the

was perceived

policies,

coordination;

aimed at ensuring

within

varied considerably

Could the satisfaction

tion of international

office customers

was defined

company.

survey,

with their opportunity

headquar-

of view of quantity

procedures;

national

answers,

given by the international

ters activity

and

expert

that helps you to do a better job.”

re-

of the

attitude

groups

headquarters

in their satisfaction

formation

the outcome

functional

was defined as “advice and counsel, help with

The

any relationship

two surveys. In the employee

tried to have the customers

rate the headquarters

54

headquarters

searchers wondered

tivity.

opportunity

perfectly

parallel

on support

to conto the

as perceived

in the country in ranking

employ-

head

by

offices.

is extremely

un-

likely to occur by chance. On the other hand, no consistent relationship is visible between satisfaction with opportunity and ratings received on control.

to contribute

This gives us a clue as to why not all parts of headquarters show equal alienation: Where the function is able to establish an effective support relation with its customers in

Figure 6

COMPARISON OFOUTCOMES OFTwo SURVEYS

Headquarters

Employee Attitudes

Main Functions

Survey1

A

14

Headquarters

Control Score

1

2

B

2

2

6

C

3

3

4

D E F G

4

4

3

5

6

5

6

5

1

7

7

7

of satisfaction with opportunity to contribute to company’s a Rankings of ratings by country head ofice counterparts. ’ Quantity plus quality. ‘Rankings: 1, high.

Whether

headquarters,

the function

is, formal

power)

alienation

is less.

exercises control

does not appear

(that

to be re-

lated to feelings of alienation. closely.

Function

on control, ple)

in

manned

has the

with opportunity

and support but also a high score is a relatively

charge

small office (13 peo-

of customer

by ex-customer-service

are well aware of the problems countries.

in Figure

A, which

highest scores on satisfaction to contribute

It maintains

and

succeu.

control,

group;

fective functioning.

all the differences

For example, with

functions

relatively

engineers

who

Function

the marketing that

time

G supplies

Function

area basically

than

budgets.

Therefore,

the engineers

staff has

in the countries

neers are supposed

toward

that these engi-

to show toward

their cus-

tomers: Calls for help are always honored. Most people in the countries feel that the headquarters’ targets tough but realistic. Function

for

G, scoring

tion with opportunity

productivity

are

low on satisfac-

to contribute,

support,

quarters

the

groups.

and control

service.

area is much

more people

service

are needed marketing

most of them are experts

in

in the same way

customer

to deal with

6,

scores,

small

A does to customer

complex

the headquarters

functions.

alienation

fairly

support

the marketing

the same service attitude

does not

between

unfavorable

same

has

and ef-

E and F in Figure

However,

However,

group

I will come back to the

productivity of the customer-service activities in the countries because it has a say in their maintained

suggests

issue of size later on; size, however, explain

are at the

on the

functional

to do with both alienation

It is

a tight control

single

75 people. This

that the size of the headquarters

service.

in the various

is the largest

it comprises

something

Let us look at the extremes 6 more

Study2

Support Index3

1 Ran&g

the country

Eflectiveness

more area.

at headproblems;

in their own area,

but as experts they often have trouble communicating with subsidiaries. Also, the rapid growth and frequent reorganizations of this part of the headquarters staff has led to a lack of clarity as to responsibilities both in the subsidiaries and among the headquarters staff themselves.

A relatively

large part of the staff

55

control

and

this kind of work. People in the subsidiaries,

support

are also possible,

who do not think that headquarters

to be alienating

is new at headquarters

and inexperienced

at

can really

quarters about

consequently,

the head-

what

goes on in the subsidiaries.

cause of this lack of information,

Be-

policies

is-

is a diagram

show support

ficiently

of the subsidiaries

to formalize

take

the reality

account;

subsidiaries’

this,

in turn,

confidence

more. It was remarkable G,

diminishes

in headquarters

international

which

had

been

un-

to company

reflected

in the

and whose

Control,

as previously

but, on the

quarters

effectiveness

success.

we may conclude

headquarters

always

imaginary.

functions

scores on support

that the

ing a high

easier

However,

in organizations,

that the importance

satisfied with its opportunity

received favorable

practice

than support.

knowledge

role was clear, was not dissatisfied

In general,

control

this kind

It is common of a job is not

organization

defined study,

level of overall

of

it does not

It is much

that one small group

by most reorganizations

to contribute

in actual

relationships.

is often

Function

chart, for ex-

of the distribution

of control

affected

highly

rather than support

even

within

contrary,

the

about organiza-

formal control in an organization;

staff may not suf-

without

but they are likely

The organization

sued by the headquarters into

chart.

in the head-

aims

at “ensur-

performance.”

It

can do this only if it has an influence

on how

things

support

are done. But control

that have

is an extremely

are com-

like suppressing

without

blunt weapon. It can do things an expenditure

or replacing

a

parable to the sales of&es in which, as we have

person. However,

this in itself does not ensure

also seen, alienation

high performance

or solve a problem.

is a supportive that,

is low. In both cases, there

relationship

to the members

ment,

involves

a constant

doing. If the customer salesman

and natural

departfeed-

of what they are

really feels helped, the

feels rewarded.

seen (Figure

with the customer

of the selling

back on the meaningfulness

We

have

already

5) that people in the sales offices

and in the country

head

problems

with not enough

quarters

than

with

of&es

Support,

the replacing

solution

in the case of business

often

frequently through

control, and power

alienation. If headquarters departments get a role in which they are able to give true supdefined by its receivers), their memnot likely to feel alienated. It is imwhether they simultaneously exert It is perfectly possible to combine

at all. The

that the very act of shifting

support from headinterference-

no solution

of people-a

In parpopular

problems-is people

may

change, but the problems survive. (The case of Function G as described above shows even

fluence

Our analysis leads to a very important conclusion for the battle against headquarters

port (as bers are material control.

ticular,

more

too much

have

that is, an excess of control.

56

ample,

roles

thinking

tions has stressed control relationships.

staff feels isolated and is uninformed

Control

to the role incumbents.

Traditional

help them, will not so easily take their problems to headquarters;

support.

breeds new problems.)

on how things

are done

a process of support

trol: supplying becoming time.

people around

too

A real inis obtained

rather than con-

new know-how

aware of the problems

or tools and at the same

This analysis would not be complete if we did not look at something that underlies both control and support-power. Control, as we described it, can be equated with formal

power, We

but this is only one side of the coin.

owe

Crozier

to the French

sociologist

a study of the phenomenon

in bureaucratic

organizations.

power-quite events

become

relates

of the formal or-

uncertainty.

chart-to

have

of power

Crazier

independently

ganization

Michel

completely

alienation

production

process, or a perfect bureaucracy,

position”

Real

command

power

power

a well-planned

however

rests with

Strategies for reducing

Effective

in an organization,

high

who

cratic tradition.

agement

the main

In our

source

with customers.

A (customer

of uncertainty These

relationship

headquarters problem that

them

in direct

source of uncertainty; of their

power.

(marketing), mainly

the a the

this is the real source the

uncertainties

G arise

at the sales office level. In this case,

however,

the lack of a support

in the eyes of the people cuts the international

tribution lated

This

kind

of power

to make a meaningful

is that such power

to control

study

con-

(formal

is scarcely re-

power)

at all, but

That

conducted

it

did matter. A reflecting study is to the headquarters what a

of customer

office. The

satisfaction

headquarters

is to a sales

effectiveness amount

was further

level of each separate Unfortunately, amount

to what is going on. What our study

has shown

headquarters of this kind

which

in the above sense, is the op-

of alienation.

means the ability

top management

The

described

at all represented a recognition that the opinion of the people in the subsidiaries about

feedback,

they have no real power. posite

the company’s

in the countrieswhich means

study

earlier in this article was such a mirror.

an enormous

staff off

it coordinates.

effectiveness

generated

from the sources of uncertainty, Power,

Reflecting means presenting headwith a periodic mirror to reflect its

relationship-

headquarters

manreward-

??

image with the subsidiaries

with

of difficulty,

headquarters recruiting,

headquarters

In the case of Function again

jobs : reflecting,

quarters

procedure

contact

of four strategies, order

for enriching

of its

in whenever

really serious-a

I can think

at the

the countries,

staff is called

becomes

keeps

with

efconflict-

ing, and restructuring.

is problems

by virtue

is formidable,

“R’s,” in increasing

as techniques

service),

are dealt with

local oflice level. However, support

with the

case of international

Function

data,

ing as it does with the essence of the bureau-

the personnel leader.

headquarters

it, the entire organization-more

four

headquarters

for reducing

will, as shown by the previous

fective. The challenge

well-planned production process, this may be the union leader who can authorize a strike or union

strategies

through

In the

ofhcer who negotiates

headquarters

at the same time make the headquarters-and

his

those

the sources of uncertainty.

of a support

alienation

certain

or

on the existence

relationship.

Whenever

predictable

no one has much

that it depends

study

of qualitative handled

headquarters

at the activity.

I do not possess data on the

of change brought

back. However,

an analogy

about by this feedwith

the process

of change after regular employee attitude surveys (something that has been researched rather extensively) makes me suppose that the crucial factor in determining further change is the setting of priorities by higher management. This relates the strategy of reflecting to recruiting ??

quarters

and rewarding. Recruiting

management

importance

of personnel for headjobs is obviously of key

for the role that headquarters

will

57

fulfill

in the organization.

previously

have

noted

headquarters

that, by a process of natural

selec-

It probably

tion, low achievers

We

assignment

is very

important.

takes an average of two years for

may be the ones to stay

a headquarters

manager

whereas the most successful people may leave.

sary personal

contact

We have also seen the importance

he only starts to be fully effective

cruiting

of the re-

policy in the headquarters

A case, where all managerial

Function

service

field,

a practice

fective support quarters only

that

from

knowledgeable

ing. In many headquarters training.

is an essential

be the period

and

two other

companies,

years may

needs

However,

with

six to eight

direct on-line exposure to problems.

to headquarters.

are rethis pre-

reasons

for

??

ward

often prevents

serving

a term

relationship.

part of a person’s

to have

of

The

more

formal

headquarters

the building

re-

operations

up of a support

Headquarters

face upward-they toward

after

experience

is a crucial aspect of the

role dilemma.

structure

and shelv-

Such a trainee is usually not the ideal

he/she

Retuarding

headquarters’

training

at

four

years. An upper limit is less easy to mandate;

gets stale and

cruited

in headquarters:

for a headquarters

it is essential that experienced

thus

after that

is not less than

manager’s

as supporters

a conflict

therefore,

his clients;

which the headquarters

to be accepted

recruiting

ef-

If head-

enough sents

the

led to an

role for headquarters.

has to give support,

people

point. The ideal duration assignment,

and professional

jobs were filled by expractitioners

to establish the neceswith

people

typically

are magnetically

drawn

the power center of the organization,

supporter for the subsidiaries; it is often by the blunders he makes in his dealings with

which they expect their rewards

these subsidiaries

of decisions on their careers. It is important

to

be visible

to

that

he really

other reason for recruiting shelving : Managers,

learns.

to headquarters

especially

higher

agers, who have become redundant in the organization no equivalent conveniently

employment stored

is available,

in a headquarters

a job title whose length related to its real content.

Recruiting means

man-

are posi-

generally

that

training

be well distinguished

assignments and limited

those positions where expertise is less necessary and that attempts at shelving should be vigorously

resisted.

Last,

the length

of the

however,

relationship means

and mostly downward headquarters tification-they

boss and

are not Top

with the sub-

a facing

outward

in the hierarchy.

people believe-with are not against

support

management

Many

ample jus-

rewarded

their rewards lie elsewhere, priority.

to

and from in the form

to one’s headquarters

A support sidiaries,

They

for a support role at head-

close to them

the higher bosses, up to the president.

elsewhere

is inversely

should

is

and for whom at the time

tion, with

quarters

The

which is physically

but,

for

that.

because

they accord it low in headquarters

communicates through its reward policy the kind of behavior it considers desirable. If the way to be promoted

is to serve your boss (“He

needs this report before Monday”) rather than serve your clients in the subsidiaries, this will be the headquarters’ be paid is alienation. In a study

priority;

but the price to

I did of budget

control

systems in five Dutch companies, I compared the attitudes of lower line managers about co-

58

operation with the budget department to the budget department’s criteria for performance

appraisal.

The latter were determined

ing the budget criteria their

people

in the order

in which

boss used them

performance.

to rank when

It appeared

agers thought

about

they thought

appraising

department

as a performance

the company

where the cooperation people thought

their

cooperation,

The company

their

with the worst

minimum

with

necessary.

other

From

Kahn of the University

. . . treat every coordinative which

it is. For

how

independent

ask how autonomous minimum

to support.

ship,

of other

of with

with

minimal the

that

only

requirements

or systemic

communica-

were the best of the five

studied.

common with

fault

the

and

. .

The

coordination

contrasts

of centralized from

risk

chart.

this principle

to reduce headquarters alienation; it may also be the most effective one. It means that in any

nomy

would

not

would

not have grown

case where a headquarters

role leads to alien-

ation, it should be determined

whether

or not

not regard

ful contribution

to the success of the company,

maybe his job should not be done at all. In the cases of the headquarters

functions

The be

haphazardly

alienation

a

aesthetics, and beauties organization

small,

ecobut

it

and it would

blessing.

flat and lean, a federated

It would rather

structure.

In such an organization, headquarters

up

of coordinative

necessarily

than a lofty hierarchical

this role can be eliminated completely. If a manager thinks he does not make a meaning-

and

size as an unmixed

be decentralized,

points

a preoccupation

symmetry

organization

source.

by functional

on the regularities

follows

source

to that

also

of management,

which

is the hardest

leadermaximum

a central

justified

way

??

and

return

when

organizational

which

activities

information

and an emphasis of

Restructuring

originate

is the

with

are essential.

ultimate

Coordination

must

and maximum

be of

what

positions

notions

the idea

it can

For each position,

and for what

the connections

advocacy

in the or-

it can be made,

number be connected,

sharply

as a cost,

unit

and of top management.

purposes

the

ask

functional

to call these

companies

L.

and four

requirement

each

about the staff

Staff/line

a study of organi-

tions :

the staff man’s boss was requested performance.

to the

others drew a number of conclusions on how to limit the need for coordination in organiza-

control

tions in this company

groups

of Michigan

staff man was supposed to serve. When it was time for the yearly performance evaluation,

man’s

to

stress in the early sixties, Robert

it must

were whom

clients and ask their opinions

important

groups small and to reduce

coordination

that wants

jobs, this company

who the clients

their

others

that I would

to give high priority

For staff or headquarters

It is therefore

keep headquarters

ganization,

that placed tactfulness

for any organization

its personnel determined

in appraising

policy

ber of people.

with the num-

was

placed fourth.

first had an interesting recommend

that their tactful-

In the company tactfulness

In

was best,

with the line managers)

boss’ first criterion

performance.

criterion.

itself, increase disproportionally

zational

people placed

“tactfulness” the budget

their

that what line man-

the budget

was related to where the budget

ness (in dealing

by ask-

ten possible

would

the risk of be

greatly

reduced.

A and G,

we saw that size has something to do with alienation; not so much the size of the entire organization, as of the units in which people work. Making a meaningful contribution is easier in a small group with face-to-face contact than in a large one; the needs for coordination,

which

detract

from

the contribution

59

CONCLUSION

A based

This

article

in private

has been business

in alienation us recognize zations,

after

many

business

all,

are

of the

regardless

business

flexibility. new

and

increase

the periph-

public

organi-

so different.

The

quent

them.

have

to

a tradition

of

in business

bureaucratization

stop

with

forms enriching

and office workers;

the failures

of job enrichment

may

stem

enrichment

from

philosophy

tion-including

a conse-

experimentations

of manual levels

is doomed

with

organization

cannot

and

Game

an

Hofstede

with is essen-

the

Control

by Harper

and

Row)

the attitudes

departments

and

agers

(Chapter

portance superiors

the jobs

stress the im-

kind

(Management

organiza-

departments

60

orare

scarce. A very readable,

recent book by an Ameri-

can sociologist,

Charles

Perrow,

ganizations:

Critical

Essay

1972).

Part

is Complex

I, “Why

Or-

Foresman Bureau-

Review,

discusses

personnel

the way

people

that give personnel

has been written A concise

and

people

on the subject summary

is found

(Harvard

September-October

job enrichment

generally

concentrates

European

approach

in the on

tends

States

jobs,

the

to stress restructuring

tasks. A good summary

of

1974).

United

individual

toward “semi-autonomous inspired pioneer is found “Democratization

by the

in Freder-

“The Wise Old Turk”

Review,

of this approach

groups” by its most in Einar Thorsrud’s

Work

as

a

Process

of

Change Toward Nonbureaucratic Types of Organizations” (European Contributions to Organization

This

Theory,

volume,

cracy,” shows how bureaucracies work and presents in a balanced way their advantages over

Europeans

other solutions

organizations.

as well as their disadvantages.

their

of Personnel

International

view

Whereas

group

Company,

do they think

of job enrichment

ick Herzberg’s Business

SELECTEDBIBLIOGRAPHY

(Scott,

for staff person-

their success and failure experiences.

CD and

system

of behavior

the kinds of activities

readership

to the way

In the article “Frustrations

“prophet”

A

related

11). His findings

other

of bureaucratic

other

of controllers’ by line man-

of a job

management.

a management

they

States

among

will reward?

Much

for

The

Gorcum/Tavi-

in the United

Vol. 13, 1973), Geert Hofstede

in the entire

Good texts on the functioning

(Van

book

were perceived

of the reward

nel: What

headquar-

His

discusses,

how

these departments

studied

in organiza-

of members

of job enrichment.

ganizations

in them.

projects

its headquarters

environ-

in international

people

Managers”

absence

8 com-

cultural

has previously

in fact, some of at those

of bureaucracy

of staff departments

of Budget

things, the pes-

(The

1964, 1971). Chap-

stock, 1968, 1972; distributed

to experiment

of organization

Geert

ters,

However,

is Michel

ments.

tions, not necessarily

problems

Press,

American

in com-

have

such

and

the functioning

society

tial. We

French

of French

system, and Chapter

business.

view that our entire alienation,

pares

bureaucracy

Phenomenon

ters 6 and 7 give a full analysis as an organizational

in

to adopt

less bureaucratic

of Chicago

executive

If we do not want to increasing

University

Bureaucratic

apply

than in government. simistic

The

Crozier’s

on

case studies organizations

do

It is easier

forms

makes

classic

government-controlled

servant

of who owns

organizations

greater

The from

not

civil

organizations

mon,

collected

of such organizations

a headquarters

Large

with

we move

that

stereotypes

on data

enterprises.

when

ery to the center

based

European

on two extensive

Sami Kassem,

Van Gorcum, edited

by Geert

contains

relevant

other

1975, Chapter Hofstede articles

to the functioning

14).

and M.

by leading of large