This article, based on an exploratory study of Pfeffer's model of management, recommends several modifications to its conception of the relationships between managerial actions and substantive and symbolic outcomes. We suggest that the manager's influence on beliefs is not necessarily greater than on tangible outcomes, but is contingent on managerial motivation, the type of symbolic action employed, and the type of organization involved. Our data indicate that factors affecting the strength of the link between substantive and symbolic outcomes differ with the type of symbolic actions employed and with the existence (or absence) of efforts to make the use of power unobtrusive.
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