PROJECT PENTAGON: Staff‐Line Relations in Large Organisations—Part I

Abstract

The structure of social relations between staff and line managers is systematically reviewed and staff‐line models are developed on a basis of coalition theory. A typology of staff‐line coalitions is then suggested, including —the “long arm”, the “counsellor”, the “marginal staff” type, —the “servant”, the “brains trust”, and the “autonomous” type. Basic characteristics of a staff‐line coalition are: —its relative independence of the type of organisation structure —its temporal character, acquiring some stability only for the duration of a particular “project” —its multiple network of managerial relationships, most “elegantly” represented by means of a pentagon, a five‐party system.

Citation

Teulings, A. (1971), "PROJECT PENTAGON: Staff‐Line Relations in Large Organisations—Part I", Management Decision, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 168-178. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb000967