Superior compliance-gaining strategies, subordinate resistance, and superior follow-
up strategies were studied in a survey of 176 superior-key subordinate dyads repre
senting a wide spectrum of organizations, positions, and hierarchical relationships.
Results suggest that process variables (the types of resistance offered by subordinates)
are the most important influence on managerial choice of compliance messages.
Reasoning was the most frequently employed strategy, and its use was associated with
high levels of formalization in organizations. Power was an important influence only
on the use of assertiveness, probably because high power over subordinates lowers the
costs of using assertiveness so that benefits of use outweigh costs. Other variables had
little impact. The findings support a functional rather than a "causal" model of com
pliance message selection in organizations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Babb, H.W., & Knopp, D.G. (1978). Application of behavior modification in organizations: A review and critique. Academy of Management Review, 3, 281-292.
2.
Bacharach, S.B., & Aiken, M. (1977). Communication in administrative bureaucracies . Academy of Management Journal, 20, 365-377.
3.
Bartol, K.M., & Wortman, M.S. (1975). Male versus female leaders: Effect on perceived leader behavior and satisfaction in a hospital. Personnel Psychology, 28, 533-547.
4.
Brewer, J. (1971). Flow of communications, expert qualifications, and organizational authority structures. American Sociological Review, 36, 475-484.
5.
Burawoy, M. (1979). Manufacturing consent: Changes in the labor process under monopoly capitalism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
6.
Burgoon, J.K., & Hale, J.L. (1987). Validation and measurement of the fundamental themes of relational communication. Communication Monographs , 54, 19-41.
7.
Burgoon, J.K., Pfau, M., Parrott, R., Birk, T., Coker, R., & Burgoon, M. (1987). Relational communication, satisfaction, compliance-gaining strategies, and compliance in communication between physicians and patients . Communication Monographs, 54, 307-324.
8.
Cashman, J., Dansereau, F., Graen, G., & Haga, W. (1976). Organizational understructure and leadership: A longitudinal investigation of the role-making process. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 15, 278-296.
9.
Clark, R.A. (1979). The impact of selection of persuasive strategies on self-interest and desired liking. Communication Monographs , 46, 257-273.
10.
Close, J.M. (1975). Dogmatism and managerial achievement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 395-396.
11.
Cody, M.J., & McLaughlin, M.L. (1980). Perceptions of compliance-gaining situations: A dimensional analysis. Communication Monographs , 47, 132-148.
12.
Cody, M.J., Woelfel, M.L., & Jordan, W.J. (1983). Dimensions of compliance-gaining situations. Human Communication Research, 9, 99-113.
13.
Dansereau, F., Graen, G., & Haga, J. (1975). A vertical dyad linkage approach to leadership within formal organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 13, 46-78.
14.
Day, D.R., & Stogdill, R.M. (1972). Leader behavior of male and female supervisors: A comparative study. Personnel Psychology , 25, 335-360.
15.
Dillard, J.P., & Burgoon, M. (1985). Situational influences on the selection of compliance-gaining messages: Two tests of the predictive utility of the Cody-McLaughlin typology . Communication Monographs, 52, 289-304.
16.
DiSalvo, V.S., & Larsen, J.K. (1987). A contingency approach to communication skill importance: The impact of occupation, direction, and position. The Journal of Business Communication, 24, 3-22.
17.
Downs, C.R., & Pickett, T. (1977). An analysis of the effects of nine leadership-group compatibility contingencies upon productivity and member satisfaction. Communication Monographs, 44, 220-230.
18.
Falbo, T. (1977). Relationships between sex, sex role, and social influence. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1, 62-72.
19.
Fairhurst, T.G., Rogers, L.E., & Sarr, R.A. (1987). Manager-subordinate control patterns andjudgments about the relationship. In M. L. McLaughlin (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 10, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
20.
Hall, R.H. (1986). Dimensions of work. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
21.
Hall, R., Haas, F., & Johnson, N.F. (1967). Organizational size, complexity, and formalization . American Sociological Review, 32, 903-911.
22.
Harper, N.L., & Hirokawa, R.Y. (1988). Acomparison of persuasive strategies used by female and male managers 1: An examination of downward influence. Communication Quarterly, 36, 157-168.
23.
Haynes, R.B., Taylor, D.W., & Sackett, D.L. (1979). Compliance in health care. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
24.
Hirokawa, R.Y., & Miyahara, A. (1986). A comparison of influence strategies utilized by managers in American and Japanese organizations. Communication Quarterly, 34, 250-256.
25.
Hirschman, A.D. (1970). Exit, voice, and loyalty, responses to decline in firms, organizations, and statesCambridge: Harvard University Press.
26.
Instone, D., Major, B., & Bunker, B.B. (1983). Gender, self-confidence, and social influence strategies: An organizational situation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 322-333.
27.
Jablin, F.M. (1979). Superior-subordinate communication: The state of the art. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 1201-1222.
28.
Jablin, F.M. (1982). Formal structural characteristics of organizations and superior-subordinate communication. Human Communication Research, 8, 338-347.
29.
Kelley, H.A. (1967). Attribution theory in social psychology. In D. Levine (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
30.
Kipnis, D., & Cosentino, J. (1969). Use of leadership powers in industry. Journal of Applied Psychology, 53, 460-466.
31.
Kipnis, D., & Schmidt, S.M. (1982). Profiles of organizational influence strategies, influencing your subordinates. San Diego: University Associates.
32.
Kipnis, D., & Schmidt, W.M. (1983). An influence perspective on bargaining in organizations . In M. H. Bazerman & R. J. Lewicki (Eds.), Negotiating in organizations . Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications (303-319).
33.
Kipnis, D., Schmidt, S.M., & Wilkinson, I. (1980). Intraorganizational influence tactics: Explorations in getting one's way. Journal of Applied Psychology, 65, 440-452.
34.
Kipnis, D., Schmidt, S.M., Price, K., & Stitt, C. (1981). Why do I like thee: Is it your performance or my orders? Journal of Applied Psychology, 66, 324-328.
35.
Liden, R.C. (1985). Female perceptions of female and male managerial behavior. Sex Roles, 12, 421-432.
36.
Lincoln, J.R., & Kalleberg, A.L. (1985). Work organization and workforce commitment: A study of plants and employees in the U.S. and Japan. American Sociological Review, 50, 738-760.
37.
Marwell, G., & Schmitt, R.D. (1967). Dimensions of compliance-gaining behavior: An empirical analysis. Sociometry, 30, 350-364.
38.
McLaughlin, M.L., Cody, M.J., & Robey, C.S. (1980). Situational influences on the selection of strategies to resist compliance-gaining attempts. Human Communication Research, 7, 14-36.
39.
McQuillen, J.S. (1986). The development of listener-adapted compliance-resisting strategies. Human Communication Research, 12, 359-375.
40.
Meeker, B.F., & Weitzel-O'Neill, P.A. (1977). Sex roles and interpersonal behavior in task-oriented groups. American Sociological Review , 42, 91-105.
41.
Miller, M.D. (1982). Friendship, power, and the language of compliance-gaining . Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 1, 111-121.
42.
Miller, G., Boster, F., Roloff, M., & Seibold, D. (1977). Compliance-gaining message strategies: A typology and some findings concerning effects of situational differences. Communication Monographs, 44, 37-51.
43.
Penley, L.W., & Hawkins, B. (1985). Studying interpersonal communication in organizations: A leadership application. Academy of Management Journal, 28, 309-326.
44.
Pfeffer, J. (1981). Power in organizations. Boston : Pitman.
45.
Pugh, D.S., Hickson, D.J., Hinings, C.R., & Turner, C. (1968). Dimensions of organization structure. Administrative Science Quarterly, 13, 65-105.
46.
Redding, W.C. (1972). Communication within the organization: An interpretive review of theory and research. New York: Industrial Communication Council.
47.
Roloff, M.E., & Barnicott, Jr., E.F. (1978). The situational use of pro- and anti-social compliance-gaining strategies by high and low Machiavellians . In B. R. Ruben (Ed.), Communication Yearbook II. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
48.
Schenck-Hamlin, W., Wiseman, R.L., & Georgacarakos, G. (1982). Amodel of properties of compliance-gaining strategies. Communication Quarterly , 30, 92-99.
49.
Tedeschi, J.R., Schlenker, G.R., & Bonoma, T.V. (1973). Conflict, power and games. Chicago: Aldine.
50.
Turner, L.H., & Henzl, S.A. (1987). Influence attempts in organizational conflict. The effects of biological sex, psychological gender, and power position. Management Communication Quarterly, 1, 32-57.
51.
Wiseman, R.L., & Schenck-Hamlin, W. (1981). A multidimensional scaling validation of an inductively derived set of compliance-gaining strategies . Communication Monograph, 48, 251-270.
52.
Yukl, G.A. (1981). Leadership in organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
