Unobtrusive Control in a Leadership Organization: Integrating Control and Resistance

This study examined decision making by members of a volunteer organization as a duality of unobtrusive control and resistance. A central premise of the organizationthe need for aggressive economic development-was isolated from field observations of the organization's meetings. Grounded theory analysis of interviews with organizational alumni revealed that both the control and resistance features of the identification construct help to describe how they enacted or resisted the organization's premise in their political orientation. Findings revealed that the gap that occurs between individuals' understanding of the organization's premise and individuals' decisions based upon that premise is an opening in which other identifications may influence them. These influences result in decisions that may or may not be in the best interest of the organization.