The "Assistant-to" in Four Administrative Settings
1960; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 5; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/2390778
ISSN1930-3815
Autores Tópico(s)Management and Organizational Studies
ResumoThe use of a personal assistant (assistant-to) by the high-level executive has excited controversy among management consultants and well-known business executives. An earlier study of the assistant to the president of a business firm described the role of the assistantto and revealed why he is controversial and how his presence can affect communications and power relationships in the management hierarchy. The present study extends the study to the military establishment, the federal government, and city management. The purpose is to learn which dimensions of the assistant-to role persist and which change in organizations with widely varying goals, sizes, and tasks. The study reveals (1) wide variation in the task content of the assistant-to, (2) long use of the role, (3) dominance of the communication dimension of the role, and (4) differences in the role related systematically to differences in the organizations studied. Several propositions about this role in relation to organizational conditions are presented. Thomas L. Whisler is associate professor of industrial relations, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago.1
Referência(s)