Paper Topic:

Conflicts between Staff and Line Managerial Officers

Conflicts between Staff and Line Managerial Officers

1 ) The Main Aims Of The Article

Melville Dayton , the author of the critiqued article , states in the opening section that despite scholarly effort directed at the investigation of union-management relations , the processes occurring within the ranks of industrial management remain largely poorly investigated . Dayton 's study is an attempt to cover this gap by exploring the relations between two groupings of industrial management `staff ' managers responsible for research and advice and `line ' managers that directly control production operations (p .342

Staff personnel

and departments began to grow relatively recently , as a vast pool of various experts entered the industry to assist with problem areas . The author of the tries to question how willing staff personnel are to function without authority over plant operations and to what degree line personnel will be willing to accept their recommendations . Thus , the seeks to investigate whether there are tensions between the two divisions

2 ) Summary Of The Key Arguments

Dayton attributes arising tensions between line and staff personnel to three key areas . First , the author points to the ambition inherent in many representatives of staff personnel and their drive to move up through the ranks . If the organization failed to give such opportunities to staff officers , they often tended to look elsewhere and change jobs

Second , Dayton points to the need for recognition in staff officers willing to prove their worth . Many line officers regard their staff colleagues as an agent on trial rather than as a managerial division that might be of equal importance with the line organization (p .347 Staff officers can , therefore , be hurt by this perception , which contributes to tensions

Third , in most plants top line officers have authority over appointments to top staff positions . This power makes staff personnel susceptible to the need to build a reputation among line executives . A part of the rapport with top line executives of the company has to be grounded in the ability to understand ' their informal problems without being told (p .348 . At the same time , staff , too , has some power that comes with control of funds allocated by the top management for staff research and implementation of suggestions . This control can also cause tensions with line officers , exacerbating the fear that staff innovations can challenge compensation or break up informal cliques that are treasured by top-level line officers

3 ) The Main Theoretical And /Or Empirical Findings Of The Article

After performing research in three industrial plants to test the validity of the original hypothesis about persisting tensions between staff and line officers , Dayton arrives at the conclusion that these tension do exist . The general conflict between line and staff employees can hinder the attainment of organizational goals , so top managers can consider implementing measures in to reduce the opposition that consumes energy of employees

In line managers , the scholar found desire to obtain greater control of staff groups or to achieve the elimination of these groups (p . 350 . In contrast...

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