Power in and Around Organizations

Mintzberg provides a complete framework to support the reflection and comprehension on how networks of external and internal inffluence take place in organization general decision systems. The main players in and around the organizational scenario are analysed and grouped according to their general interests. There results a comprehensive cartography of the games these players and respective interests play in the construction of organization objectives, structures and strategies. Organizations are then classified, according to the way power is distributed among different players, into cathegories or "power configurantions". The discussion on the environment and on the nature of the decision system for each of the configurations is rich and produce valuable insights for those who leave inside and among organizations of varios kinds. The book is particularly useful for those who deal with very complex organizations, helps understanding organizational changes, the possibility of success in change inniciatives and programmes and also provides useful information on the issue of social control of organizational behaviour.