The Individual and Organization: Some Problems of Mutual Adjustment

Ideally, healthy development in our culture involves growth from being passive as an infant to being active as an adult; from being dependent to being relatively independent; from being in a subordinate position to achieving equal or higher position than friends achieve; from expressing few and shallow abilities to expressing many and deeper abilities. If formal organization is defined by the use of such principles as task specialization, unity of direction, chain of command, and span of control, then employees work in a situation in which they tend to be dependent, subordinate, and passive to a leader. This type of situation may create frustration, conflict, and failure for the employee. He may react by regressing, decreasing his efficiency, -and creating informal systems against management.' The author is a member of the faculty of the Department of Industrial Administration, Yale University.