Trade routes: The manager's network of relationships

The lateral relationships in a manager’s network- that is, peer relationships both be his or her most valuable asset. in- and outside the organization -may The varied paths such relationships can take are described in . . .

Trade Routes: The Managerk Network of Relationships Robert E. Kaplan

[B. J. Sparksman] mentor-protege his peers, record.

had a good working relationship

relationship

with his four bosses and a close

with one of them. He had cordial-to-good

some of whom were friends and all of whom

. . . He also had a good working relationship

of his peers (hundreds and strong working they respected

of people)

relationship

him, because

based mostly

on his reputation.

B. J. had a close

he had promoted

. . . B. J. also knew the vast majority

because some

of his sub-

the fact that he was the boss, and the

fact that he tried to treat them fairly and with respect.

Outside

the firm, B. J. main-

tained fairly strong relationships

with dozens of top people in firms that were impor-

tant clients for his organization.

. . . He also had relationships

important

cy)

with many of the subordinates

he was the boss, and because

if only by reputation,

with

of his track

with all but one of his main direct reports

of them into their current positions. ordinates’ subordinates,

relations

were aware

people in his local community.

with. dozens of other

(from The General Managers

(Free Press,

1982) by John I? Kotter)

CJCot all managers

have a network that explodes in all directions like this one. But it is increas-

as well as vertically, as Exhibit 1 shows. The

ingly the fate of modern managers at all levels of today’s institutions to work with a large and varied set of people in- and outside

not only boss and immediate subordinates,

their organizations. A network is a recipro-eating set of relationships that stabilizes the

encompasses people at the same level (peers) and at lower and higher levels (lateral subor-

manager’s world and gives it predictability. Networks can stretch horizontally

dinates and lateral superiors). The lateral relationship also includes people who are

vertical sector of a network often includes but also one’s boss’s superiors as well as one’s subordinates’ subordinates. The lateral sector

Organizational Dynamics, Spn’ng 1984. 0 1984, Periodicals Dioision,

American Management Associations. All rights reserved. 0090-2616/84/00;!3-0037/$02.00/0

37

Exhibit 1 THE SECTORSOF A MANAGER’SNETWORK

Superior’s Superior

E

Lateral Superiors

X t e

Lateral , Superiors \

r n

\

0 I

Peers

-

-

-

Peers

C

0,

/

n t a

Lateral / Subordinates

C t s

’

Lateral Subordinates

Subordinates’ Subordinates

Lateral

outside

Sector

the organization The

management

literature

Vertical

(external on

has been preoccupied

perior-subordinate

relationships

paid much less attention

contacts).

leadership

to lateral

and

with suand

has

relation-

ships. Because of this and because most managers spend most of their time not with superiors and subordinates but with people outside of the vertical channel, this article will highlight managers’ lateral relationships. Lateral relationships are important to the manager, whatever the manager’s line of work and station in organizational life. Take the case of a lower-level manager in an inner-city manpower agency who directed a 38

program that taught job-search skills to unemployed adults. In addition to his superior

Sector

Loterol

Sector

and his program staff, several peers were also indispensable

to him and his program.

To

send participants to his program along with the appropriate paperwork, he depended on two managers who ran skill-training programs and another who was in charge of the agency’s intake function. He also sorely needed the cooperation of the payroll clerks (lateral subordinates) to put the new participants who trickled into the program on the payroll, to pay both participants and staff, and to clear up any payroll snafus promptly. Furthermore, he depended on the purchasing manager to authorize him to buy equipment and supplies-made difficult by the fact that it always took several calls to get through to the purchasing manager. The program man-

ager could not function his lateral

without

relationships.

recourse

(Note:

to

This exam-

ple, and all other examples

in the text not at-

tributed

to other authors,

come from 55 in-

terviews

we conducted

from informal

with

observations

management-development From an entirely organizational

managers

and

made during

ten

programs.) different walk of

life, the chief executive

of Lockheed,

Daniel Haughton,

on lateral

relationships.

Newhouse

(“The Sporting

officer

relied no less

According

to John

Game:’ The New

pay

for all further

extend

the corporation’s

ment; and Congress that guaranteed house

wrote,

complishing lomatic

manager’s

to design and manu-

important

engine company

facture

the huge jet engine,

the aircraft.

the job half completed ahead

the RB211, for

By early 1971 Rolls-Royce,

with

and costs running

of projections,

nearly

went under.

this feat ‘by tireless efforts, dip-

from

into months

of negotiations

tacts,

all

of

them

These included Secretary

British

Haughton

to

Lord Carrington, Minister;

Lockheed’s

24 bankers,

point

relationships

up

are in a

and they also show how

reciprocity

is to lateral

relation-

are the manager’s

TRADE?

enter trade relationships

reason:

members

They depend

with lat-

for one compelling

on these people and lit-

erally can’t get their jobs done without

the British

Like nations,

a syndicate

who had

examples

Lockheed.

of State for Defence; Edward Heath, Prime

lateral

network,

eral network

with lateral con-

external

the British whether

the

plunged

of these

To

Managers

backing

with ac-

far

newed

This quest

a bill

As New-

trade routes.

WHY

financial

loans.

is credited

ships. These relationships

save the contract, Lockheed, itself in financial crisis, had to help Rolls-Royce secure regovernment.

approved

Lockheed’s

Both

for the British

aircraft

narrowly

prorepay-

skill, and the fact that he was trusted

how important

the L-1011, and in 1969

Rolls-Royce

guaranteed

Haughton

a wide-bodied

plane,

the

line of credit,

vided the U.S. government

by all sides.”

with

of supplying

lines agreed to pay $140,000 more for each airplane; Lockheed’s creditor banks agreed to

Yorker, July 5, 1982), in the late 1960s Lockheed Corporation began its program to build contracted

costs

engine; Lockheed agreed to pay $180,000 more for each engine; the six customer air-

of

to decide

to save the L-1011 or put Lockheed

and

must

what tions,

managers engage

in “foreign

they need. R,eferring Rosabeth

Moss

them.

are not self-sufficient trade” to get

to large corpora-

Kanter,

Women of the Corporation,

in Men

and

observed

that

into receivership; and the six U.S. airlines that had ordered L-lolls and were alarmed at the

“Beyond the people in the most routine

func-

prospect

or being asked to agree to a higher price. The

of the things he or she needs to carry out his or her job? Managers may be influential, but

U.S.

they cannot

of either not receiving

government,

interested

their planes in supporting

tions, no one has within

a small domain

escape being dependent.

all

An ex-

the aerospace industry during the 1971 recession, also got involved through President

ecutive interviewed by John l? Kotter for Power and Management described the plight

Richard

Nixon

of the manager:

Defense

David Packard. After six months

and

Assistant

Secretary

of feverish

of

travel-

ling and innumerable meetings, Haughton put together an agreement acceptable to his corporation and all the lateral parties involved. The British government pledged to

My son, my wife, and many of my professional friends have very inaccurate conceptions of what I really do for a living.

. . . Most of these mispercep-

tions are based on the implicit assumption

that I

somehow have control over all or most of the resources I need to do my job.

. . In reality, of course,

39

arrangements less and study

managers

ineffective.

are rendered

power-

In an anthropological

of informal

relationships-which

he

called cliques - many of which were horizontal,

Melville

Wiley,

Dalton

(Men

19.59) found

“adroit at moving

Robert E. Kaplan is a behavioral scientist and Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina. Be-

eventually

necessary

mal

School of Management of Case Western Re-

other spheres

organization devel-

opment, management development,

larger

repairing

cooperation

over

their

accentuates

counterparts

in

the need for man-

some basis for cooperation.

or the resources

to command

they need, man-

agers resort, in most cases, to trade: They obtain what they need by providing what

work relationships, and preventing harm to

official

have little or no for-

Because they are in no position

and change. He has published pa-

pers on team development,

authority

agers to create

One of his major research interests has been development

for

That managers

Yale.

. . . were

managers]

action:’

professor of orgunizational behavior at the

Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior ure from

were

unable to form cliques or to participate in clique behavior to win the informal strength

fore coming to the Center, he was associate

serve University. His B.A. in English and a

Manage,

managers

in and out of clique activi-

ties, [but less effective

project manager at the Center for Creative

Who

effective

they, in turn,

others with

require.

participants in intensive training programs. A second major interest has been managerial work. In this area he has written on creativity

RECIPROCITY:THE FIRST PRINCIPLE

in the managerj job and on decision making.

OF TRADE

He and Morgan McCall have recently completed a book on decision processes in management, to be published by Prentice-Half. He is currently doing an intensive study of executives, their performance

deficits, and opportun-

ities for self-development. At the Center, Kaplan is a management programs. In particular, he has been in charge of one of the Center’s major offerings, the also

Di-

rector of the Looking Glass project, built around a sophisticated management simulation.

in addition to my direct subordinates, there are hundreds of people whom I have no direct control over but who can affect the performance of my job. At

. . All

of this adds up, and leaves me in a much more VI.& nerable position than most people realize.

Managers

40

their

peers because

managers

open trade routes with without these informal

usually

do

themselves

for the services

require. What kinds

not

Put another

way: Managers trade power, or the ability get things done. They provide services

of services

to to

that they do mana-

gers need from their lateral sector? They need people to provide accurate information, make technical expertise available, give advice, provide political backing, authorize changes,

least two dozen of these people are crucial.

nations,

trade goods; they trade services.

others in exchange

trainer and a manager of management training

Workshop in Managerial Action. He is

Unlike

and lend

moral

support.

Because

managers are often pressed for time, they usually need these things quickly. As one manager told us: “I’ve worked at building my contacts in other departments so that when I need something done that invoIves another department, I have someone who will give me a fast, cooperative answer:’ Managers obtain these services by

setting

up

reciprocal

relationships.

come to the lateral sector with “salable modities.” agents, learn

Dalton

found

for example, about

that

deal with company it: ‘You persist

By developing

com-

tion, this executive

so that

engineers

that

purchasing

go to great lengths

the products

As one manager

They

to

they

can

power

sources

care field put

and, hell, you make a lot of

When

one corporation,

zation

that:

Peer alliances often worked through direct exchange of favors. On lower levels information on higher levels bargaining

was traded;

and trade often took

job becomes available. A list of candidates is generated. That’s refined down to three or four. That is

with

not

readily

available

managers

trade,

coalesces

danger-for control ously

to fend

re-

they

may

example,

off a common

a threatened

or the introduction system.

These

lend each other

reorgani-

of an unwanted

managers

simultane-

support

for the com-

mon cause.

place around good performers and job openings. In a senior executive’s view, it worked like this: A good

to the person

are

sometimes give and get at the same time. Dalton described how a horizontal clique of managers

found

of informa-

on the principle

elsewhere.

friends in this business. I do things for them and they do things for me.” In her study of Kanter

sources

operated

accrues

that

on equal terms.

in the health

exclusive

But managers

often do not recipro-

cate a service at the time that it is given. Because it is only over time that a balance

circulated to a select group that has an opportunity

to be struck,

managers

can take turns

has being

to look it over. Then they can make bargains among

of service to each other. The giver obligates

themselves. A manager commented, ‘There’s lots of

the receiver,

‘I owe you one.’ ” If you can accumulate enough

tion.

chits, that helps you get what you need; but then, of course, people have to be in a position to cash them in.

who later discharges

A university

for a state appropriation struction

project

series of favors Managers

get what they want,

pro-

state

official:

on campus,

“When

they have what their fellow managers

ment,

need.

Commodities

head of a community

are relevant manager

to another

A, for example,

succession

planning

needs.

is responsible

and influences

careers, but manager longer power

person’s

proportion

managers

can only

If for

people’s

B, in his mid-forties,

yearns for rapid promotion, in this respect is lost on B. Because

if they

no

then A’s

to what they can give, they work

hard to accumulate valued resources. One executive told us how he built a knowledge base when he took over corporate employee relations:

cashed in on a

done

for a former

he left state

govern-

agency

and then as a

for a Congressional

committee.

the fight for the appropriation,

he be-

came a key guy for me. He was instrumental in getting the Catholic church to apply pressure to the Governor.” network

get in

a con-

I had helped him get a job first as the

staff member During

lobbying

to support

he had

vided

have value only

the obliga-

administrator,

members

Managers

to open

charge

so long as the debt is later repaid

will allow accounts in needed

services. They exchange help for the promise of future help. In addition to promises, managers will also accept another kind of intangible return for services

rendered:

groups reporting to me had and also from what my

party completes the exchange by expressing appreciation. Peter M. Blau (Bureaucracy in Modern Society, ‘Wiley, 1964) found that law enforcement agents regularly exchanged intangible for tangible commodities by consulting on difficult cases:

other American industries until I knew on a firstname basis my counterpart at IBM, TRW, Procter & Gamble, DuPont, and General Electric, and I could get their input-input ganization didn’t have.

which the people in my or-

a favor,

One

party

superiors had so I established a series of contacts in

does another

recognition.

I wanted a base that was different from what the

and the other

41

By asking respect

for advice

to

the

.

league.

he is willing

consultation

whose

gains prestige,

it to disrupt

advice

[also] obtained

of

pays his

can slip into manipulation.

his

the cartoon

col-

in return

to devote some time to the

and permit

The expert

implicitly

proficiency

The consultant

for which

leagues

[an agent]

superior

his work.

was often sought

social evidence

...

by col-

of his supe-

rior abilities.

Similarly,

saying

showing

to a colleague

managers

who

give

(his hand

over

“It’s the copier rep asking

my

are-must

children

When the psychic tempt

at giving

is

on the phone

mouthpiece):

be contract and insincere,

the how

time.”

or social satisfactions

offers are self-serving

experienced

A wry example

a manager

one the at-

backfires.

advice and counsel to a junior manager get confirmation of their status as well as the satisfaction

of bringing

a promising

individ-

TRADEADVANTAGES

ual along. Managers other

also place a value on an-

sort of recognition-

fects their reputation, reers. One manager mance

rating

superiors

the kind that af-

job security,

stated flatly: ‘My perfor-

depends

on the feedback

by higher-level

agers. So if recognition tial form

of payment

into quite tangible The

seems an insubstannow,

returns

principle

an instinctive

appreciation

gram because inexplicably people.

that,

being

clusion

don’t have

of it. A manager

accounting

firm,

a management

for ex-

training

of this threatening

his relationships within the firm fered. He discovered in the training mindedly

extremely

pursued of what

ambitious,

his own agendas anyone

pro-

quality, had sufprogram he singleto the ex-

else might

want

or

need. He didn’t create reciprocal relationships: His relationships were long on take and short on give. He learned that to reduce the threat to others and to build connections, he needed to invest in other people’s agendas. A cautionary

importance

managers

their willing-

vis-a-vis

their reputation,

their

further trading

their alliances,

of their position

the

to the organiza-

tion, and their favored standing

with the net-

member.

Reputation may

he had been told that he was, to other to him, “threatening”

Because

networks,

in kind. Four factors

work

later on.

of reciprocity

but some managers

attended

from peo-

it can translate

seem obvious,

a Big Eight

man-

of their

ness to respond partners:

formed

sector

power beyond

receive from my lateral contactsl’ It that careers rise and fall with

go after services

they may bring empower

the impressions

ample,

managers

my

is well known

from

and ca-

When

ple in the lateral

note:

Giving

is al-

ways, at some level, self-interested, done to tuck away an expectation of later return or to reap a psychic reward. None of this is objectionable or counterproductive, although it

Power goes to those managers

with a reputa-

tion for using power well-that ing things

happen

able to them. individuals better

with

is, for mak-

the resources

People are quicker

who consistently

a person’s reputation,

one’s investment

get results.

earn

The

the more likely

in that person

Managers

avail-

to support

will pay off.

a good

reputation

to the extent that they have succeeded at extraordinary and visible assignments. Those managers

who

ects-pulling spin,

presiding

take on extraordinary an organization

proj-

out of a tail

over the development

of a

new product, redefining the organization’s mission-win recognition that, in turn, makes it easier for them to mobilize support for their next undertaking. Managers also earn and preserve their reputations by linking themselves, as much as possible, to winning causes. As one executive counselled: You have to know enough

about your place in the or-

ganization

that

you

don’t

take

Managers

on the impossible

task. Even if the idea is a good one, it may be an idea ahead of its time, or it may be beyond

your scope in

the organization.

By taking

a realistic

view

of how

power they have and by gauging project’s build

prospects

for

a track record

tractiveness

accurately

success,

partners,

opportunity

vancement,

or real,

perceived

on the lookout themselves

hitch themselves managers the

themselves

can also enpeople

are more

than

to ally

ready

to

to a rising star. In this case,

moving

promise

for ad-

Other managers,

for powerful

with,

their at-

thus increas-

ing their power. A manager’s

hance his or her reputation.

a

managers

that enhances

as trading

found

much

up gain power because

of future

power

of

accruing

to

and to those who join forces with

them.

can operate

laterally

to

the extent that they are well-connected elsewhere. In his study of gangs, William Whyte that a gang leader’s reputation

community

depended

gang (the converse launching

in the

on his standing

in the

was also true). Managers

innovative

projects

success in recruiting

enjoy

more

peers as collaborators

they have won the support ment for the project-and

if

of top manageagain the converse

is also true. Alliances

help

they give potential incentive

If other

a project,

bet to someone general,

an added

powerful

people

then it looks like a better

being approached

allies are a reason

a request

because

trade partners

to help.

support

managers

for help. In

to go along with

lest one lose favor with these peo-

ple and hurt one’s trading

relationships

with

them.

Alliances

Position

As managers

enter

one person,

their

want derives, to others.

a transaction power

to get what example

ton Post, who worked Franklin

can industry Graham

was Philip

in a small group

Roosevelt

the eve of World

War II to mobilize

described

that

put together

for the war effort.

Halberstam

they

of the Washing-

later the publisher

President

any

in part, from their connections

A glamorous

Graham,

with

on

Ameri-

As David

the activities

of Philip

The Powers That Be

in his book,

(Dell, 1979):

Managers are only as important tions they occupy. If the position the organization,

then the manager

a kind of legitimate on others

as the posiis critical to acquires

power to make demands

for cooperation.

As one manager

said to us: “My peers are responsive because lifeblood people

the functions

of the organization. who provide

to me

that I manage readings

signs, and consequently

are the

I manage

the

on their vital

my presence

office implies that there’s a vital-sign

in their concern

. . . that needs to be dealt with.” He was brilliant getting

things

at his job, cutting done,

slipping

through

past the bureaucracy

which was in no way as passionate preparing

America

and fearless

phone

as he was about

for war. He was smart and clever

and dazzlingly

was also Frankfurter’s son-in-law

red tape,

well connected.

protege

and important

people

tended

to take his

calls as they did not take the phone

most twenty-five-year [Felix Frankfurter the Supreme industrial

. . He

and Eugene Meyer’s calls of

olds.

was at that time Chief Justice

of

Court, and Eugene Meyer was a wealthy

magnate

who later bought

Post and made Graham

publisher.]

the Washington

Many times a critical position accrues power because the position is located in a function indispensable to the organization. This puts the manager contingency:’

as Gerald

in charge of a “critical R. Salancik

and Jef-

frey Pfeffer put it (Organizational Dynamics, Winter, 1977). Kanter has noted that “For the system, the most power goes to those people in those functions that provide greater control over what the organization currently finds problematic:

sales and marketing

peo-

43

ple when

markets

are competitive

on].” In a computer example,

the

products

company

engineers

so

like IBM, for

who

and the production

get the products

[and

design

new

ple on whom they must depend.

managers

who

track record is enhanced

out are one-down

to the

marketing managers who, in the highly volatile computer industry, find and create the demand

for new products.

function

of strategic

ganization

Managers have a leg up if they share a common work history with the peo-

Managers

importance

in a

to the or-

can make claims on the coopera-

tion of their peers in the name

of service

to

when

those

same successes.

trading

a sort

Managers

managers

nation

status.”

have an edge if they are on friend-

work

graphic

partners,

of “favored

ly terms with lateral mon

history,

contacts, or share

characteristics. Several mayors

share a comsimilar

demo-

friendship.

relationships Acquaintances

ager leverage, vated

although

numerous

an evening

in the study on

the

done created

basis

of

also give the man-

as follows: with

acquaintances

44

deputy

“I spend

controller

closely and we

We still have. That’s

he stayed here with me till mid-

and utility

a fair

about

accomplishing

the payroll together

for

other’s styles. spond

amount

of time

department

manager

wards,

man-

the good response

payroll

culti-

functions.

task

life easy for the manager. The program manager mentioned in the beginning of this ar-

many

gained,

a difficult

together. A history of successfully working together creates a responsiveness that makes

who

agers develop personal as well as work connections with colleagues, Kotter has argued. A high-level manager in a hospital commented:

from

in City Hall

“For two years I worked

the current

binding

spent

mayors

at social and political

For the satisfaction

gained

sponse he gets from accountants

ticle explained

by John I? Kotter and Paul Lawrence cooperative

This is power

the

night last week working on those audits.” There is something almost romantically

Favored Standing some

to achieve

“past cooperative victories:’ as Dalton put it. A financial manager explained the good re-

one reason

achieve

worked

had a good relationship.

the organization.

With

others

A manager’s

in the eyes of others

he got from

in these terms:

and I have worked

some

time

Usually

and

shell

know

each

lean over back-

and I’ll do the same. to my secretary’s

“The

closely

She’ll even re-

requests.”

A shared history one step removed -holding the same job at different timescan also pay dividends. A manager reported being

on the same wave-length

with a peer

who succeeded him in a planning and development job: “Because I had his job before I

knowing the personal and professional side of the people I work with. Ill know that they play golf or that they are working on such and such system. It’s never all business.” In a study of the lateral relations of purchasing agents, George Strauss (Administrative Sci-

got this one, I understand

ence Quarterly, June 1962)found that most agents prefer to deal with friends, that friendship gets proposals accepted more quickly, but that it is a mistake to rely on friendship alone.

practice

his problems

in a

way that I don’t understand some of the other problems:’ This peer obviously gained an advantage with the manager, who identified so closely with the peer’s situation. Herein lies the logic of job rotation, a common in some Japanese firms. When a manager enters an exchange, it is more likely to go well if, other things being equal, the demographic characteristics of the other party match up with

those

of the manager.

color, gender, socio-economic each party

Similarities

in skin

age, country of origin, and status smooth the way for

to identify

with

and reach

the

This is not to say that demographic differences

inevitably

case, a black manager

raise barriers. formed

with a white manager

a strong

rela-

the same

“We both went to college in the ’60s

and share enthusiasms make references

from

that time.

We

that go over most other peo-

ple’s heads.” Their generational overrode

In one

at his level be-

cause they both came of age during period.

and

they

commonality

trade

they handle requisite talent

other.

tionship

services by making

contact with one another,

no more

successfully

the interpersonal

diplomatic

The

skills all boil down

for give-and-take

accompanied

sense of when to use which

to a by a

skill. One man-

ager, adept at having brief, productive conversations, was described as having an “excellent quick-contact

style.” But invariably

the same mode adeptly,

using

no matter

how

leads to ruin, or at least to impaired

effectiveness. vised:

of contact,

One

high-level.

manager

ad-

‘You have to have good communica-

tion skills, but you also have to know to key in on some skills and when

the racial difference.

than

medium.

when

not to.”

Some factors that empower managers lie outside the relationship to the other

need to call upon several skills, each of which

individual

entails

- the manager’s

reputation,

ances, and position. Other factors the relationship itself-favored with the other party

stemming

ship, shared work history, graphic characteristics.

alli-

lie within standing

from friend-

and similar demo-

Yet another

asset, dis-

cussed next, is the skill that managers to interpersonal transactions.

bring

To

trade

managers

versatility.

Varying One2 Participation in Conversations To achieve managers

give-and-take

be

in conversations,

must be able to talk and to listen,

as the occasion to

divided

ducers,” who DIPIOMATIC SKILL

successfully,

producing “elicitors”

requires. into

ideas,

specialize

beings seem

categories-“pro-

in conversations

words, who

Human two

specialize

information; in

in and

bringing

out

As in foreign trade, trade among managers depends on the diplomatic ability of those

other people. Managers who overspecialize in either of these roles hurt their effective-

involved.

ness. They must be able both to hold up their

Managers

strike deals and deliver

“Managers strike deals and deliver- services by making confact with one another, and fhey trade no more successfully fhan fhey handle fhe infer-personal medium, ”

45

end of a conversation tributions

and to take in the con-

of others.

needs

One manager ple, prided

himself

we know,

for exam-

in being a good commu-

nicator.

“KISS” was the way he put it: Keep

It Short

and Sweet. He had even developed

his own ABC’s of effective -A

(for

Accurate),

D (for Direct),

skilled

and,

in spite

producer

elicitor

and listener.

maining

impassive,

forcement, ignored

of his credo,

a long-

as good an

He had a habit giving

other

no

people

disagreed

the comment

deficiency

C (for

and so on. He was a

but not nearly

when

when someone

Brief),

of re-

facial

rein-

spoke.

And

or bristled

visibly.

ner; he dealt out a good deal better

This part-

than he

took in. dimension

tional

flexibility

length

of a conversation.

of

is the ability

comfortable.

conversa-

to vary

Some

Others

conversations,

the

managers

are notori-

no matter

the

issue. The trick is to be equally at ease in either mode. Frederick Richardson (cited by Sayles)

offers the following

words

Beware of overly regular

contact

subordinates

out of distaste

heavy

con-

to associate

with

their

for the conflict

and tension touched off by lateral relationships. The rub is that neglected relationships won’t produce agers need.

any of the things

Repertoire of Influence As they go in quest

that man-

Contact Time distribute

the time they

Tactics of help, managers

en-

counter a wide range of interpersonal situations that require a wide repertoire of behaviors for reaching ships managers

people.

In lateral

relation-

are not in a position

orders, so they resort to persuasion, negotiation,

built

bargaining.

put a premium

to act tough into

to give camarad-

Lateral

on knowing

(for example,

the situation)

when and

relawhen

conflict

when

is

to use

softer methods (for example, when there is basic agreement). The program manager mentioned

spond,

can spend with other people? While, as we have seen, managers must invest in relationships, job demands should determine how the manager apportions contact time. Form

46

phobic

at the same level, but they

instead

into:

How do managers

are

have jobs that dictate

according

rhythms.

Apportioning

who

may choose

tionships

of wisdom:

Managers

tact with people

erie,

Leonard

managers

that make them un-

about people with greater power may neglect upward relationships. Managers of staff

before

ous for lengthy

emotional

may avoid relationships

favor a hit-and-run approach: Sit people down, hit them with your issue, and run off they can respond.

to their

of to job demands,

with him, he either

hurt him as a conversational

Another

Responding

instead

functions

communication

B (for

Clear), winded

managers.

previously to how

“Depending

varied

much on how

his approach

resistance other

I can go from being pleasant

dominating.” In Kotter’s

study

he ran

people

of general

re-

to very man-

agers, the better performers used a larger set of influence tactics and did so with greater skill. “The ‘excellent’ performers asked, en-

should follow function. The 15 general managers that Kotter studied did invest most heavily in the relationships they needed most. But, like conversational handicaps,

couraged, cajoled, praised, rewarded, demanded, manipulated, and generally motivated others with great skill in face-to-face situations.” The managers’ arsenal also typically included references to sports and family as well as liberal doses of joking and

distortions

humor.

in contact

patterns

can hamper

Mixing the Mode of Contact

where way

In doing business, of options written

managers

available

have a number

Among

to them - the telephone,

communication

(including,

meetings

held in groups

or on a one-to-one basis. Face-to-face contact

is an immedi-

important

dence

to suggest

purposes, that

the sine qua non of managerial son found and

that

the more

development

spent

45to-65

percent

Peter against

is

life: Richard-

effective

managers

to-one contact.

contact

research

in his sample

of their time in one-

On the other side of the coin,

Drucker

has

spending

cautioned

more

than

managers of

their time in group meetings. The smart money is on using

the

individuals

to line up support

meeting check-ins to smooth any when necessary,

huddles

to clarify action taken and ruffled feathers. Memos, are more likely to get results

when

accompanied

warn,

clarify,

explain,

Fluency in a Number

by

a conversation

prod,

to

sell, or soothe.

of Languages

On the international scene, it pays to know the languages of other countries. In organizational

life, it helps to speak

and

the capacity

interpersonal

of the community

varied

lan-

greatly.

one extreme was a mayor who always like a corporate executive, no matter

toire

At the other was Richard Connecticut,

was extensive.

Kotter When

he is with

At

acted what C. Lee

whose

reper-

Lee was described

and Lawrence

by

as follows:

the Irish,

his ethnic

background

comes out and he looks like he grew up in Dublin. When he is at the university, Over at the Chamber the unions

he is a wise old man.

he is a shrewd capitalist.

he is a cigar-chomping

tough

With

guy. He’s

not just “acting” either. He really knows how to talk the language

of each of those groups.

out of thin air:

It was born of a broad range of developmenferent

major

tensive

including institutions

contact

with

jobs in several difin the city and in-

the city’s major

ethnic

and racial groups.

with key

and by post-

Kotter

for example,

different

tal experiences,

different mediums not singly but in happy combinations, Group meetings should be acby premeeting

whom

Lee didn’t acquire this fluency

40 percent

companied

guages

the

of New Haven,

but there is evi-

one-to-one

studied,

speak

all the

to neurosurgery.”

the 20 mayors

the setting.

ate and powerful medium. Of the various forms of such contact, group meetings serve some

to

of services

housekeeping

Lawrence

in some

companies, electronic mail), and face-to-face contact, which can take the form of scheduled or unscheduled

we have an array from

Managers ly skilled to be. cramped heavily

are only as interpersonal-

as their organizations

allow

them

One organization we know of the style of its managers by dealing in one medium

of too much face-to-face

written contact,

- the memo. contact

Because

and too little

the pace of managerial

work slowed to a crawl. Whatever the predispositions of the individual managers, they became

captive

next section,

to the overall pattern, we look

at other

In the

restraints

of

trade.

the specialized

languages of the organization, however haltingly. A highly placed manager in a medical setting said: “With a systems person I talk a little differently than when I talk with a professor in obstetrics and gynecology or to a dean, or a clerk, or what have you. This is particularly important in this organization

TRADEBARRIERS

In trying to establish lateral trade relationships, managers sometimes come up against formidable barriers. People don’t get along; they are rivals;

they work

for different

or-

47

ganizations;

they

demographic

differences.

ble barriers,

are separated

by potent

whose accomplishments manufacturing

Of the many possi-

executive

we look at just three: functional

differences,

functional

combined,

and

quality

and level differences

disparities

in

degrees

pushing,

are

dependence.

-the

as he should,

people

responding

coming

to different

chief executive

president-you

the

And then there is the sales for finished,

units he can self to the customers.

tives

of

may or may not support

executive.

high-

So execu-

from

different

places,

pressures.

Whoever

you are

officer, the president,

have to build networks

or a vice-

with all those

people.

Functional

Differences

It is no mean

task

As we have already in

networks

“the no man’s land of interdepartmental

rela-

vices-that

tions:’ in Sayles’s phrase.

to a

action.

cross-functional with

goals,

cultures,

belong

different

and

the gap. Finally,

dif-

languages.

people,

further

they may have lit-

tle occasion

to interact

opportunity

to accommodate

across jurisdictions

and therefore

little

to each other’s

Functional plus Level Differences Trade barriers tional

climb

difference

higher

inherent

ships is augmented

styles of working and relating. In an interview with the author, one executive described

life

the

how key players

a chemical

at high levels assumed

dif-

postures in the following

way: Here you

have

a vice-president

whose performance

of manufacturing

is measured

by the “numbers’

how many good pieces the factory box, rework

and scrap figures,

tion schedules

whether

the produc-

are met at the end of the month.

then you have a human responding

gets into the tote

to a different

resources

executive

set of measurements

And

who is and

difficult

for plant,

manager

supervisors corporate

agement symbolized

when

it is

second-

were separated rule

beyond

without

differ-

significance.

for example,

third-level

ascending

relation-

is sure to make

with organizational

unwritten from

the func-

by a hierarchical difference

charged

when

in lateral

ence. The added

ferent organizational

is to swap ser-

is, to find a basis for reciprocal

to units

interests,

different

They often report to different widening

business

The parties

relationship

different

ferent

to transact

seen, the key to building

an

that

by an

kept

people

second-level

man-

engineering

degree,

by a ring made of iron and worn

on the right pinkie finger-thus

the “iron ring

syndrome:’ As a result, most second-level managers had woiked their way up from the

“Trade barriers climb [even] higher when the funcfional difference inherent in lafeval relationships is augmenfed by a kievavckical difference. The added difference is sure 48

In and

make life difficult for the manager

I

.

B I9

ranks of the workers

and were going no fur-

ther, and all third-level

managers

educations

degrees of opportun-

further.

ships between

second-

often give managers al relationships number

on the two levels had

diagon-

can be troublesome itemized

for a

by Rosemary

superiors]

so making

can be important

an unfavorable

to one’s career,

impression

can matter

more than with peers: They may be in a position trim down a project that one is putting may be more demanding requirements;

forward;

to they

than peers in their service

and they will probably

be less familiar

than one’s own boss so that it will be harder

relationships.

develop

The

may be inaccessible

superior’s the lateral

and unrespon-

sive. A woman manager in charge of her organization’s affirmative action program desneeded

support

and

currying tionship

favor,

can I

with them?” relationships

they may only

in the normal

set the rela-

an assignment

manager’s

such a re-

course of one’s work

serving

on the same task in the other

area. Special projects put the man-

ager in touch with lateral the manager an example

a chance

superiors

and give

to shine. Kanter

of how a relationship

eral superior

a customer

might

gives

with a lat-

unfold:

mand.” The person his problem in hierarchical cedure.

he wanted

have a formal

chain

rank but according he would

over a series of sales meetings,

occasion

that “He is one of the worst for resent-

ing somebody who’s not on his level communicating with him or feeling like they have a right to.” Powerless because of a combination of gender, function, and level, she had no recourse with him. “I get practically nothing from his subordinates, either; any informaby

to build lateral up-

ward relationships, managers are often hampered by scanty opportunities to interact. A manager in a food-service firm worried that his underdeveloped relationships with lateral superiors would hurt his chances for promo-

person

Air

of com-

who could make the decision

was four steps removed

Ordinarily,

to solve for

Indsco as ‘like the Army,

on

from him, not

to operating

pro-

not be able to go di-

rectly to him, but they had developed

information

has to be okayed

with a problem described

Force, and Navy-we

notion

In their attempts

what

back. It is best to cultivate

force or executing

powerful

them

relationship

key to building

by, for example,

from a lateral superior and his subordinate managers. She attributed his resistance to the

tion I get from him.”

to me than per-

But around

a personal

One salesman

Lacking the immediate responsibility to the individual,

perately

I don’t

something

to judge

how they will react.

superior

sonal

lationship

Stewart: [Lateral

well.

with lateral superiors is finding legitimate reasons for contact. If managers appear to be

with lateral superiors fits. The upward

of reasons,

myself

that I’ve done

things are much less natural

man-

and diag-

degrees of success in meeting

this challenge. Relationships

casually

Thus lateral relationchallenge,

onal pairs of managers

“I don’t promote

and third-level

agers posed a particular widely varying

tion:

mention

great. I don’t joke or tell stories or give presentations to get visibility because those

and varying

ities to advance

had college

a relationship

during which the more

had said, “Please drop by anytime

you’re at headquarters”

So the salesman

found

an

to “drop by,” and in the course of the casual

conversation

mentioned

his situation.

It was solved

immediately.

Unequal Dependence Relationships with lateral superiors are a special case of relating to people who depend on the manager less than the manager depends on them. Managers can’t readily set up a reciprocal relationship unless they are in a position to reciprocate.

The manager’s

influence

with someone is tied to how much the other person depends on the manager. Managers of staff functions that line managers regard as

49

inessential

run into this roadblock.

sult, they have to work ceptable

personally.

harder

They

As a re-

at being

also must

ac-

find a

way to sell their service to their unreceptive peers

and

thereby

offset

their

own

heavy

dependence. Consider

the plight

of a manager

who, as a result of a reorganization, signed

a new position

designed

U.S. domestic

organization

over operations

in other

greater

a gap between

and operations

in South America.

control

arrangement,

over the South

he had to work with. some friends,

control

countries.

was to bridge the matrix

was asto give the His job

headquarters

Organizations managers.

no direct

American

urally.

Asked

It depends

As managers tionships

develop

bridging

to induce

field

almost

requests,

by understanding help. I was more to the sound

a need met with

success.

Building networks is tantamount to gaps. The more differences that co-

incide in a relationship, the greater the gap and the harder a manager must work to form a relationship. Managers cross divides by doing the things described in the last three sections - setting up reciprocity, putting themselves in advantageous positions, and making good contact. No matter what the gap, the only alternative is to set about creating a successful history by getting down to work so that the bits of productive exchanges eventually add up to something worthwhile for the manager.

rela-

How long does it take to develop for getting routine

In fact, he

a

on their own.

tionships

experience.”

I could or every

in my office, I’m cultivating

I was as welcome

welcome if I could bring something party:’ Unfortunately, this manager’s of trying

cultivating. the phone

If there are no big obstacles,

tried to overcome his peers’ resistance by finding a way to be useful to them. “I had to

only limited

cultivat-

said:

network?

But overall

nat-

contact.

sure are another

strategy

he goes about

on what you consider

time someone drops

do delib-

that happens

argue that every time I answer

there, they said: ‘So what?’ I fought the battle

and bringing

managers

to

works.

“I made

for two years, flying everywhere.

their problems

networks

cultivate

one manager

sprout

get inside people’s knickers

that

how

ing relationships,

as a skunk in church. They couldn’t tell me not to come to Peru or Chile-but once I got

it was a very unhappy

grant must

erately and also something

managers

He recounted:

cannot Managers

This is something

Because of

he had

but basically

Growing Networks

almost

strong enough

like weeds.

a

rela-

things done can But relationships

to stand up under heavy presstory.

take time to develop.

Sturdy

relationships

Executives

with many

years in the same organization especially value their long-time contacts. An executive who has so far spent his entire 25year in one textile firm asserted: mate

the importance

relationships. have worked

“I can’t overesti-

of good interpersonal

Growing up in the company, I with all these guys. I know

them; they know me. These relationships tremendously you need

career

in a crisis situation

something

quickly.”

help

or when

History

mat-

ters. Relationships gain strength as both parties show that they can and will come through for each other. keep

Managers have no choice but to growing their networks. They never

have the luxury of sitting back and saying: “Now I can relax: I’ve got all the connections I need.” Networks are dynamic, like the mobile society we live in. Every time managers change jobs, as the upwardly mobile ones do every two years or so, they must rebuild their networks. Kotter found that general managers

spend

the first six months

vesting

heavily

in forming

more different

the network

in a totally

will need.

different

hand,

the more When

into a different

The

when

a manager

next level or a neighboring

work

large

portions

then become

moves

to the

function,

he or

change,

with

net-

the world them.

the rate of change

rates of turnover zation.

put,

and mobility

The job of growing

to

in that organiis never

done.

affected,

calling

ager’s specific

to serve some

relationships-

to define

tors to implement

of a manager. cliche,

only at growing

must

to

of a network is simply which to view the work

Although

the concept

fast

becoming

is nevertheless the manager’s

a

useful berelationships

It affords us a view that is faithful setting in

Man-

their rela-

Leaders call upon what

calls their “executive

lations:’ by forming

CONCLUSION

excel not

but also at harvesting.

selectively. Bennis

and

and collabora-

the project.

The notion lens through

another

the project

of sponsors

vague

To reap the full benefit managers

agers get work done by activating Warren

he al-

the ones he didn’t

but to get help on the mantasks.

of their networks,

tionships

relationships

to the complex and richly textured which most managers work.

Harvesting Networks

global purpose,

the people

have. Innovative projects in particular put a premium on the manager’s ability to activate

cause it portrays

aren’t built

upon

to

done.

he involved

ready had and developing

in context.

Networks

rap-

a web of people and trying

the project,

Faces

linked

networks

and the personal

to get something

To launch

build a coalition

around

knowledge

bring them together

On the

of the existing stay

changes

to use my technical

fiscal, the medi-

on down the line. I had

I was kind of making

portable.

If managers nevertheless

records,

man-

she can get away with less network-building because

medical

was going to im-

port that I had or didn’t have with the individuals.

organization

from scratch.

cal school,

that this project

over-

field, they may need to

their networks

other

new bonds.

pact in one way or another-systems,

experience,

agers parachute rebuild

I knew everybody

the new job is from the man-

ager’s previous hauling

in a new job in-

constel-

task forces for a particu-

A manager’s tentacles,

connections

throughout

often

reach,

the organization

like (and

it). The number of people is striking,

outside

but no less so than

!he diversity.

Network

members

organizational

factors

differ

on

lar assignment and reassembling others for a different assignment. John Friend, John

such as job, level, history, and future in the organization; on sociological factors such as

Power, and C. J. L. Yewlett (Public Planning: The Intercorporate Dimension, Tavistock, 1964)stated that to make effective use of a

age, sex, race, religion,

network,

ence,

managers

“in an intelligently

mobilize selective

their networks way,” which

de-

pends on knowing both the structure of the problem and the structure of the human relationships around the problem. A hospital administrator displayed this sense in talking about how he conceptualized the startup of a new project.

ethnic

background,

education, and socio-economic status; and on personal factors such as openness to influability

to communicate,

and commit-

ment to work. It is no small task to establish reliable relationships with so many different people. As a manager of packaging engineering put it, “The manager’s role is to keep a friendly relationship with strange bedfellows.” Networks, with their emphasis on peer relationships, seem to have special rele-

51

Vance for middle they

managers,

are in a vertical

embedded

channel

work flow. Walter Tornow

and

as

lateral

and Patrick

Pinto

in a (Journal of Applied Psychology, 1976), job analysis of 433 low-, middle-, and highlevel managers,

found

that middle

the efforts of those over whom

one

direct

no

existing

Middle

managers

network,

control”

develop

in Stewart’s

agers exemplify

to

typically

use Apex-type

Stewart,

networks,

The work of four students ships provided

world.

The exearlier leaving,

downward

inter-

in the background.

managers

may

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ac-

managers

relationships,

that over the course

Kotter

of their careers, accumulate

hun-

wrote

about

(Basic Books, 1977) and about peer relationships Middle

Manager

as

Innovator”

1982). John I? Kotter examined dency

1979), and he treated networks search

General Managers

pert

commented

the

Sayles shed light on work-flow

spider-webbed mysterious

will be

off in several directions

by a

in a smaller

managers

may operate

sphere, both vertically

and hori-

explicitly in the re-

Paul Lawrence, (Free Press,

in the manager’s

and in The

1982).

Hill, 1976) investigated

Leonard

relationships

and

job in Managerial

1966). Finally, Rosemary

in Contrasts in Management

(McGraw-

types of networks

as they

vary with types of managers’ jobs.

zontally, but networks still figure prominently in their work lives. The program manager described in the introduction needed equally his staff to run the program and his peers to support the program, not to mention his boss to run interference. (“If my Mastercharge card doesn’t work, I borrow his American Express card.“) Few managers function autonomously, having what Stewart called a solo

with

Behavior (McGraw-Hill, Stewart

cross-hatching.” Lower-level

social contact

(AMACOM,

in Managers in Action (Wiley,

reported

1976) written

(July-August

power and depen-

in Management

in Power

ex-

arrived

and rela-

in a Harvard Business Review article called “The

One management

“who have really

power

in Men and Women of the Corporation

of contacts

that

relation-

for this article. Rosa-

degrees of importance. cited by Packard

of varying

beth Moss Kanter tionships

of managerial

information

dreds, if not thousands,

managers

52

of managers.

which ex-

CEO given

his indispensable

high-level

the

in the organization

into the outside

played up his external

found

“No force

CD

man-

managers.

upper-level

downward

nal relationships

general

are by no means

of the Lockheed

however,

“working

a classic Hub-type

of middle

cording

ample

with greater

of this paper).

preserve

and laterally

apply

than to the world

boundaries”

terms;

But networks

tend primarily

where does John Donne’s poetic dictum, man is an island,”

a

No-

this type (see the quotation

at the beginning exclusive

and

organizational

spend

of their time interacting.

on

“coordinating has

and even these managers chunk

managers

scored higher than the other two groups

across

network, sizeable

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Mignon Mazique a collaborator David

for help as

at an early stage of the research,

DeVries and Michael

Lombard0

for their

comments on an earlier draft, Bill Drath for his help in imposing conceptual order on a recalcitrant subject, and Alice Warren for indefatigably typing and retyping this paper.