RUcore Resource Object
RUcore Resource Object
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TitleTrust and control in counterpoint
NameKhodyakov, Dmitry (author), Clarke, Lee (chair), Roos, Patricia (internal member), Carr, Deborah (internal member), McLean, Paul (internal member), Misztal, Barbara (outside member), Rutgers University, Graduate School - New Brunswick,
Degree Date2008-05
Date Created2008
SubjectSociology,
Trust,
Control (Psychology),
Teams in the workplace
DescriptionCan a large organization be successful without a single leader? Common wisdom suggests that organizations need a leader to control and be ultimately responsible for decision-making and guarding against inefficiency and vulnerability to the behavior of employees. Nonetheless, my case study of two large conductorless orchestras -- Persimfans and Orpheus -- suggests otherwise. Such apparently leaderless organizations reject the idea of hierarchical control because it violates their fundamental goals of artistic freedom and creativity. Yet the absence of a single leader does not mean that conductorless orchestras are, in fact, leaderless. More so than conventional orchestras, they benefit from the talent, commitment, and professionalism of all their members. In contrast to rigid hierarchical control, both Persimfans and Orpheus rely extensively on trust-based governance mechanisms that are essential for collaborative decision-making. Nonetheless, they have also developed a number of less formal control strategies that facilitate the search for consensus and help create and maintain trustworthy relationships among musicians. Reliance on trust and less formal control mechanisms, however, blurs the line between these two governance strategies. To use a musical analogy, trust and control in conductorless orchestras create counterpoint, or the combination of different melodies into a more beautiful polyphonic whole. Besides offering insights into intra-organizational trust and control, my research also contributes to the literature on post-bureaucratic organizations, leadership, power, and collaboration.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references (p. 207-224)
Noteby Dmitry Khodyakov
Genretheses
Persistent URLhttp://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.000051087
Languageeng
CollectionGraduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.