This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0170840605054627v1 26/11/1603    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (6) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Davenport, S. Articles by Leitch, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Circuits of Power in Practice: Strategic Ambiguity as Delegation of Authority

Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Shirley Leitch

University of Waikato, New Zealand

Most power relationships between organizations and stakeholders are episodic circuits of power whereby resource dependence is exacerbated by prohibitive rules. Such relationships are usually constraining rather than empowering and generate resistance and reluctant compliance rather than co-operation and creativity. Clegg's (1989) concept of facilitative circuits of power, however, suggests that some power relationships, particular where high amounts of discretion are delegated, can result in innovation by stakeholders. Public sector agencies have multiple and diverse external stakeholder groups that they need to influence in order to implement their strategies. In this paper, we explore a facilitative circuit of power using a case study of a public sector research funding organization that employed strategic ambiguity to delegate considerable authority to stakeholders, stimulating a variety of creative responses during a period of major system restructuring. Risks associated with such a practice include the generation of active and passive resistance as well as a propensity for the system to revert to an episodic power circuit over time. Despite these risks, we propose that the deployment of strategic ambiguity is a previously unrecognized mode of high discretionary strategic agency in authority delegation that can generate creative responses on the part of stakeholders within a facilitative circuit of power.

Key Words: circuits of power • authority delegation • strategic ambiguity • stakeholders • resistance

This version was published on November 1, 2005

Organization Studies, Vol. 26, No. 11, 1603-1623 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0170840605054627


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Dick Resistance, Gender, and Bourdieu's Notion of Field Management Communication Quarterly, February 1, 2008; 21(3): 327 - 343. [Abstract] [PDF]

				P. Jarzabkowski and J. Sillince A Rhetoric-in-Context Approach to Building Commitment to Multiple Strategic Goals Organization Studies, November 1, 2007; 28(11): 1639 - 1665. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. R. Greve and H. Mitsuhashi Power and Glory: Concentrated Power in Top Management Teams Organization Studies, August 1, 2007; 28(8): 1197 - 1221. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. A.A. Sillince Organizational Context and the Discursive Construction of Organizing Management Communication Quarterly, May 1, 2007; 20(4): 363 - 394. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Leitch and S. Davenport Strategic ambiguity as a discourse practice: the role of keywords in the discourse on 'sustainable' biotechnology Discourse Studies, February 1, 2007; 9(1): 43 - 61. [Abstract] [PDF]