Poster by Max Kraus¹, Nick Altenburger¹, Dilara Bulut¹, Jochen Lavall¹, Leo Pöschl¹, Lion Tegeder¹, Severin Hornung¹
¹ Universität Innsbruck, Austria
TIME: Thursday, 16 July, 12:00 – 13:15
Location: Break Room
Session: Poster Session
Abstract
Abstract: The exercise of power and control plays a central role in everyday organizational life. Exercising power and control is accompanied by ambivalence and conflicting demands and experiences. Managers who have only recently taken on such a role for the first time are particularly torn between formal authority, organizational expectations, and moral dilemmas regarding their subordinates. How they subjectively perceive, interpret, and exercise power and control in their everyday working lives, and how they experience and deal with contradictions and ambivalences, has not yet been researched. The aim of this study is to explore the significance, thought processes, and experiences of early career managers in the context of power and control. The study is based on a qualitative research design. A total of nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with early career managers from various industries. The interviews were evaluated using qualitative content analysis. The majority of those interviewed showed an awareness that they exercise power over their subordinates and reflected on how they exercise their power responsibly. All interviewees found themselves in a tense relationship between their subordinates and their own superiors. It became apparent that they act as both a buffer and a medium or amplifier in both directions. Power is not only exercised top-down along the hierarchy, but also in the opposite direction. Many interviewees also expressed the idea of continuing to be part of the team, even though their role vis-à-vis their employees is clearly that of a manager. Many interviewees experience the dilemma of occupying a position of power due to their role on the one hand, and on the other hand, the desire to be understood and accepted by their team members. Various mechanisms for dealing with this ambivalence are evident. The results suggest that early career managers, on the one hand, assume their role as leaders and often strive to handle it responsibly, but on the other hand seek to satisfy their need for belonging within the team. The resulting tensions in some cases lead to a distortion of their own role. Keywords: Young managers, Middle management, Leadership, Qualitative Research