Managers’ Conflict: Democratic Management versus Distrust of People's Capacity

Abstract

A questionnaire developed by Haire and others (1963, 1966) was adapted to investigate the discrepancy between managers’ endorsement of democratic-participative management and their distrust of the average individual's capacity for initiative and leadership. Results showed that managers’ belief in their subordinates’ capacity for initiative and leadership was significantly greater than their belief in the average individual's capacity. Hence, in terms of subordinates, the discrepancy is lessened, suggesting that part of the discrepancy was an artifact of the original questionnaire. But even when this artifact is removed, managers still show a relative distrust of their subordinates’ capacity.