The Public Authority of the Managers of Private Organizations

Abstract

This article examines the public authority or power of managers of private business organizations. The fact that people need to make a living, and thus must do what they are told by employers, does not establish that the managers of private corporations exercise legitimate authority. It merely establishes that they possess directive power. This article suggests that the managers of private corporations can only be regarded as exercising legitimate authority only if their authority is understood as a subordinate form of cooperation facilitating authority.

Corporate responsibility and the plurality of market aims

“…But taking a final stand on it is actually not necessary for the distinction between what I have been calling the market's efficiency and design aims. Efficiency, whether instrumentally or intrinsically valuable, remains one of many “morally important social values” that are furthered by the operation of the market (McMahon, , ). Our endorsement of the market is premised on its constitutive aim of minimizing the social costs associated with the production and allocation of other goods, thereby leading to an improved level of preference satisfaction among individuals.…”

“…If this account is persuasive, it begins to explain why some have been inclined to think of corporate managers as exercising a kind of delegated, executive authority (DeGeorge, ). McMahon (, ) is perhaps the most obvious example of someone who maintains that managers exercise authority because of the high degree of discretion that they have been institutionally granted over the production and distribution of certain goods and services. Managers of corporations direct the actions of individuals to engage in joint efforts of production and distribution and it is typical that the market incentivizes the formation of corporate forms, which involve hierarchical forms of coordination that exhibit various agency and authority relationships between managers and other stakeholders.…”

Leadership Multiplicities before and during the Post-Truth Era

“…Government retrenchment in the form of giving up social space to the market has increased the legislative power of corporations. For example, some corporations-which are not accountable to the public-have substantially increased their power to shape culture (and this does not only refer to media corporations) (Mcmahon 2012). Coincidentally, this is happening at a time at which the extent and legitimacy of democratic 'control' by elected officials are being increasingly questioned worldwide.…”

“…(Boje 1991); (b) deconstruct narratives by examining their premises, strengths, and weaknesses (Derrida 1973); (c) translate narratives, making them intelligible for the audiences concerned (Butler et al 2000); and (d) re-construct narratives, both individually and collaboratively. In addition to taking part in learning, the latter may be based on participative processes that will, collectively, formulate and enact feasible and desirable worlds (Emery and Purser 1996;Boje 2001;Mcmahon 2012).…”

“…(3) Given that the increased retrenchment of nation states and that the corresponding decrease in their social responsibilities has been accompanied by the increased legislative power of corporations, and an increased impact of social media on shaping culture (Mcmahon 2012), nation states ought to bestow greater responsibility on and limit the effects of corporations, in general, and on social media giants, in particular, by, among other actions, regulating the quality of information. (4) Our most valuable resource is probably the potentiality that could be realized from being engaged in continuous, open, respectful, and well-informed conversations, that is, by conjointly creating narratives.…”