AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF SOCIAL POWER IN TERMS OF DECISION THEORY1

The paper presents an extension of decision theory to the analysis of social power. The power of a person, A, over another person, B, is viewed in terms of the effect A has on B's decision. The analysis is based on the idea that B's decision regarding the performance of alternative behaviors is a function of 1) B's utility for the consequences of the behaviors and 2) B's subjective probabilities that the behaviors will lead to these consequences. In these terms, A's power over B lies in A's ability to mediate various consequences for B, contingent upon B's compliance or noncompliance. Subjects were asked to consider eight situations in which hypothetical individuals had to make a choice between two courses of action. In each situation another person (A) was attempting to induce the hypothetical individual (B) to choose one of the alternatives, while various situational factors were influencing B to choose the other alternative. The subjects were asked to consider B's utilities and subjective probabilities in each situation and to indicate whether or not B should comply with A and to make ratings of A's power. The decision theory analysis did well in predicting whether or not subjects would indicate that B should comply with A. Also, subjects generally were able to correctly specify whether A or the situational factors had more influence over B's decision. Finally, the subjects' ratings of A's power in the eight situations were highly related to the decision theoretic measure of power.     

The ritual of reorganization in a public bureaucracy

Cultural aspects of complex organizations have recently captured the attention of scholars, yet empirical studies in this area remain rare. This paper explores the paradox that reorganizations are common in modern bureaucracies even though they have been found to have few instrumental effects. The present study of a state regulatory agency found that while reorganization had little instrumental consequence, it did provide the context for a power struggle between the administrative and occupational spheres of authority. In fact, reorganization proved to be a highly ritualized arena for significantly altering the agency's informal structure by replacing an entrenched dominant subculture. By examining the symbolic and ritualistic nature of this process, this paper looks beyond the ineffectual manifest functions of reorganization to uncover its power latent functions.Donald D. Stull is Associate Professor of Anthropology and a research associate with the Institute for Public Policy and Business Research at the University of Kansas. Steven Maynard-Moody is Associate Professor of Public Administration in the Division of Government and Director of the Policy Analysis Program in the Institute for Public Policy and Business Research at the University of Kansas. Jerry Mitchell is Assistant Professor of Public Administration, Baruch College, City University of New York. Support for this research was provided by a grant from the General Research Fund of the University of Kansas. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Denver, Colorado, in November 1984. We wish to thank F. Allan Hanson for his critique of an earlier version of this paper. We are grateful for the patience and openness of those working in the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.     

THE IMPACT OF EXTERNAL PARTIES ON BRAND-NAME CAPITAL: THE 1982 TYLENOL POISONINGS AND SUBSEQUENT CASES

An examination of the 1982 Tylenol poisonings reveals stock market losses to Johnson & Johnson that far exceed direct costs and losses shared with other pain-reliever producers; this evidence provides support for the Klein and Leffler [1981] theory of brand names as quality-assuring mechanisms. Of the subsequent cases, only the 1986 Tylenol poisonings were associated with significant stock market losses. Prior to the 1982 and 1986 Tylenol poisonings, Tylenol was the number one pain reliever, whereas the other pain relievers that were poisoned had a much lower level of brand-name capital to lose.     

Volunteers in charity retailing: Recruitment and training

Volunteer activity has received considerable research attention in recent years. There is, however, little academic research to date into volunteer issues in charity retailing. This article examines volunteers in charity shops and reports, in particular, on how volunteers are recruited and trained in the charity retailing. This article examines volunteers in charity shops and reports, in particular, on how volunteers are recruited and trained in the charity sector. The authors conclude that in an increasingly competitive market, charity retailers need to reexamine their recruitment and training policies in order to attract and retain a diverse core of volunteers.     

The evaluator as program consultant

This paper presents a model for the role of the evaluator in which the evaluator acts as a Program Consultant who operates in three domains: Program Development, Planned Change, and Evaluation Technology. This permits the performance of evaluations that have greater validity and utility. The model is presented both from the theoretical perspective of linkage and from the context of the evaluation of a Case Management program operated by a Community Action Agency. Each of the domains is discussed with examples from the Case Management Evaluation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the contexts in which the model is best applied.