THE STRUCTURAL EMBEDDEDNESS OF RESISTANCE AMONG PUBLIC MANAGERS

The study of resistance in organizations has been dominated by two per spectives. From a managerial perspective resistance is dysfunction tha t managers learn to ''cope with.'' Most radical/critical perspectives see resistance as a weapon in the class struggle. Contrary to manageri al characterizations we find that bureaucratic resistance is a common and varied mode of organizational behavior. Contrary to critical views it is often enacted to support, rather than undermine, the goals of t he organization. Neither view adequately accounts for resistance by ma nagers who are caught in conflicting role obligations. The many forms of resistance are largely unstudied, yet the informants in our ethnogr aphic study have illuminated a variety of strategies and richly detail ed accounts. We present a structural model of the relationships betwee n resistors' strategies and antecedent conditions. Two cases from our research illustrate the model. We conclude with implications for manag ers, researchers, and recent prescriptions to ''reinvent'' government.