A qualitative laboratory research design is used to study coalition formation within the simulated context of a formal organization. The scenario used focuses on an issue shown to produce political activity: executive succession. A content analytic approach was used to analyze the ideas, perceptions, and actions of the participants as reported by themselves. Results indicate that the process of coalition formation involves a much wider range of concerns, objectives, and interconnected behaviors than suggested by previous research on coalition formation. These are presented and implications for future research and theory building are discussed.
ALLEN, R., MADISON, D., PORTER, L., RENWICK, P., & MAYES, B.Organizational politics: Tactics and personal characteristics of political actors. California Management Review, 1979, 22, 77-83.
2.
BACHARACH, S. B., & LAWLER, E. J.Power and politics in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 1980.
3.
BOGDAN, R., & TAYLOR, S.Introduction to qualitative research methods: A phenomenological approach to the social sciences. New York: John Wiley, 1975.
4.
COBB, A. T.A social psychological approach to coalition membership: An expectancy model of individual choice. Group and Organization Studies, 1982, 7, 295-319.
5.
COBB, A. T.An episodic model of power: Toward an integration of theory and research. Academy of Management Review, 1984, 9, 482-493.
6.
COBB, A. T.Coalition identification in organizational research. In R. Lewicki, B. Sheppard, and M. Bazerman (Eds.), Research on negotiation in organizations (Vol. 1). Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press, 1986.
7.
CYERT, R. M., & MARCH, J. G.A behavioral theory of the firm. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1964.
8.
GOETZ, J. P., & LE COMPTE, M. D.Ethnography and qualitative design in educational research. Orlando, Florida: Academic Press, 1984.
9.
KATOVICH, M. A.Symbolic interactionism on experimentation: The laboratory as a provocative stage. In N. Denzin (Ed.). Studies in symbolic interaction (Vol. 5). Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Pres, 1984, pp. 49-67.
10.
KIPNIS, D., SCHMIDT, S., & WILKINSON, I.Intraorganizational influence tactics: Explorations in getting one's way. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1980, 65440-452.
11.
LAWLER, E. J., & YOUNGS, G. A., Jr.Coalition formation: An integrative model. Sociometry, 1975, 381-17.
MADISON, D. L., ALLEN, R. W., PORTER, I. W., RENWICK, P. A., & MAYES, B. T.Organizational politics: An exploration of managers' perceptions. Human Relations, 1980, 33(2), 79-100.
14.
MARCH, J. G.The business firm as a political coalition. The Journal of Politics, 1962, 24662-678.
15.
MARCH, J. G., & SIMON, H. A.Organizations. New York: Wiley, 1958.
16.
MILLER, C., & KOMORITA, S.Coalition formation in organizations: What laboratory studies do and do not tell us. In R. Lewicki et al. (Eds.), Research on negotiation in organizations (Vol. 1). Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press, 1986, pp. 139-154.
17.
MILES, M., & HUBERMAN, D. M.Qualitative data analysis. Beverly Hills, California, Sage, 1984.
18.
MINTZBERG, H.Power in and around organizations. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1983.
19.
MURNIGHAN, J. K.Models of coalition behavior: Game theoretic, social psychological, and political perspectives. Psychological Bulletin, 1978, 1130-1153.
20.
MURNIGHAN, J. K.Organizational coalitions: Structural contingencies and the formation process. In R. Lewicki et al. (Eds.), Research on negotiation in organizations (Vol. 1). Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press, 1986, pp. 155-173.
21.
MURNIGHAN, J. K., & VOLLRATH, D. A.Hierarchies, coalitions and organizations. In S. B. Bacharch (Ed.), Research in the sociology of organizations (Vol. 3). Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press, 1984.
22.
PEARCE, J. L., STEVENSON, W. B., & PORTER, L. W.Coalitions in the organizational context. In R. Lewicki, B. Sheppard, and M. Bazerman (Ed.), Research on negotiation in organizations (Vol. 1). Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press, 1986, pp. 97-115.
23.
PFEFFER, J.Power in organizations. Boston: Pitman, 1981.
24.
PFEFFER, J., & SALANCIK, G. R.Organization design: The case for a coalitional model of organizations. Organizational Dynamics, 1977, 6, 15-29.
25.
PORTER, L. W., ALLEN, R. W., & ANGLE, H. C.The politics of upward influence in organizations. In B. Staw (Ed.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 3). Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press, 1981, pp. 109-149.
26.
RAPOPORT, A.N-person game theory: Concepts and applications. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1970.
27.
STEVENSON, W., PEARCE, J., & PORTER, L.The concept of "coalition" in organization theory and research. Academy of Management Review, 1985, 10, 256-268.
28.
TEDESCHI, J. T., & MELBURG, V.Impression management and influence in the organization. In S. Bacharach and E. J. Lawler (Eds.), Research in tile sociology of organizations (Vol. 3). Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press, 1984, pp. 31-58.
29.
THOMPSON, J. D.Organizations in action. New York: McGraw Hill, 1967.
30.
VON NEUMANN, J., & MORGENSTERN, D.Theory of games and economic behavior. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1944.
