Preferred Interaction Styles of Managers of Different Status

Abstract

Members of three levels of management from a major New Zealand manufacturing organization rated their preferred participative or decision-making styles: Tough Battler, Friendly Helper or Logical Thinker. A two-way analysis of variance indicated a significant simple effect establishing logical thinking as the over-all preferred style and an interactive effect between selected style and the status of the manager. When major problems or conflicts have to be dealt with, top management become tough battlers, whereas junior managers respond by being friendly helpers