Intangible Resources and Management Authority Legitimization

Intangible Resources and Management Authority Legitimization

Intangible Resources and Management Authority Legitimization

Introduction

The following essay aims to critically evaluate the extent to which intangible resources can be used to legitimize management authority in organizations.

The development of the knowledge society and the impact of organizational structure on knowledge sharing

The genesis of the concepts round the emergence and development of a knowledge humanity are most broadly credited to the writings of Daniel chime in the key publication entitled The approaching of mail developed Society, first published in 1973. Bell's work has provided a foundation for many contemporary writers attempting to analyze the impact of the knowledge economy.

Bell created a typology of societies characterized by their dominant mode of employment. Industrial societies are recounted as mainly goods-producing societies. In post-industrial society he suggests, although, that the superior source of paid work is the service sector. He goes on to state, “A mail industrial humanity is founded on services. Hence, it is a game between persons.” (Alvesson, Deetz, 2000, 125-56). Bell further develops this view when he comments, “Information becomes a central resource, and within organizations a source of power” (Clegg, Kornberger, Pitsis, 2008, 555-601).

Bell's analysis of the development of the knowledge society represented a significant shift from previous analysis of societal behavior, offered at the onset of the industrial age from the 1870s onwards in Western society. Although Bell's writings have created recognition of the changing drivers for organizational and societal success in the “information age”, there is also awareness that the ways in which organizations are structured and employees managed still reflect an earlier industrial age characterized by, for example, the hierarchical/bureaucratic model of command and control discussed by Max in some depth. It can be seen that the bureaucratic/hierarchical organizational model has been utilized widely during the 20th century, especially in large public sector organizations. These organizations typically have exhaustive documented rules and regulations that are ostensibly designed to: achieve organizational objectives; and control and monitor employees working towards achievement of these objectives.

It is now proposed to address this by looking a little further at knowledge and power, and why/how knowledge is seen as a source of power in the organizational context.

The connection between information and power in organizations

Before discussing the connection between power and information, it is helpful first of all to offer a definition of power. characterises power easily as follows:

…a question of who gets their way, how often they get their way and over what issues they get their way (Alvesson, Deetz, 2000, 125-56).

However, power can only be workout through the use of power resources. Power resources are described by Hales as, “those things which bestow the means through which the behavior of others may be influenced and modified” (Jackson, Carter, 2000, 598-625).

Hales moves on to provide an exceedingly helpful typology of power resources, as glimpsed in. Hales points out that these resources can be available through either personal possession or through an organizational position allowing access to them, and thus the way in which ...