Ch.6-Resistance: Challenging Organizational Power & Control

Organizational power, control and domination “foregrounds the many ways that individuals are controlled by modern-day organizational forms and practices.”(184). In other words, organizational power has influenced our personal lives in several different ways. Consider grooming standards for example. Some companies and government agencies require that their employees dress, groom their hair, wear their make-up and jewelry according to specific standards of the organization. Many employees are beginning to challenge organizational grooming standards as a violation of their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and privacy. Depending on the circumstances surrounding certain grooming standards, employees have challenged that the organizations policies infringe on their religious beliefs. The Supreme Court has intervened in some of these cases attempting to draw the line between personal privacy and religion vs. organizational policies.

Another example of organizational power is the restriction of visible tattoos in the workplace. Some government agencies such as police and fire departments restrict the visible display of any tattoos while on duty. Public safety employees have resisted and challenged this grooming standard on the grounds of freedom of speech and privacy. However, the courts have not always remained so liberal depending on the circumstances of the tattoo. Some employees have claimed religious affiliation, while others believe it is a personal expression. The court has upheld in the past that government agencies involved in public safety have an expectation to remain professional, impartial, and maintain an integral sense of “esprit de corps” for the organization and the community. The court has not made a firm ruling either way on whether visible tattoos at work are a constitutional matter, each situation brought before the court is treated on a case by case basis.

The overall theme of this article is that organizations do practice some power and influence in our personal lives. Right or wrong, my belief is that most of us know what we are getting into when we are hired by an organization, or at least we should. In knowing what the expectations of an organization are beforehand, people can make better decisions as to whether they want to work for the organization or not. This may reduce some resistance in the workplace. While the workplace can be dynamic and ever changing, employees need to know when the right time to practice resistance is in order to avoid accepting a dominant practice that may not be beneficial to the employee or the organization.