Control Over Policy by Attendants in a Mental Hospital

A central problem in the study of organizations is the extent of participation in policy decisions by organization members. On one extreme are autocracies, in which policy is formed almost completely within the superior group; on the other, examples of dominance or control by subordinate groups: bureaucratic sabotage in government, and restriction of production by work groups in industry are two examples. Whether the situation is that of autocracy, control by subordinate groups, or codetermination, these different modes of policy formation may be used to illustrate the social bases which underlie decision processes in complex organizations.