Reaching agreement in a management team : a study of social influence

Abstract: This thesis deals with the question of how agreements are reached without consensus in management teams. It is argued that agreements should be viewed as a social influence phenomenon and that attention should be directed to the process of reaching agreements. The issues of who is involved in the process and who is kept out; who is allowed to exert influence and who is not, are central to an understanding of how agreements are reached, The thesis is based on a study of a management team at a production unit in a multinational company. The overall character of the team's agreement-reaching processes is described in terms of an 'organisational conformity' mode of influence, and agreements are characterised as social agreement or compromise agreement. This mode of influence mediates differences of opinion into agreement mainly by reducing both the number of active participants and the expression of differences of opinion. Implicit 'rules of the game', mirroring general ideas of organising, guide social interaction and communication during the reaching of agreements. These rules are of particular importance for understanding the way that the 'organisational conformity' mode of influence mediates differences of opinion. Hierarchy, distribution of responsibility, and encouragement of action are three organising ideas in this mode of social influence. Rules of the game are partly an outcome of the way that the organising logic is translated. The business contexts and members of the team affect how the general ideas are translated into rules of the game.