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While status systems are an integral part of the structure and culture of most organizations, they tend to play an especially crucial role in traditional, bureaucratic organizations.
It should therefore be expected that the current movement toward flat, egalitarian organizations (in which status differences are minimized) could be threatening and disruptive to those whose self-worth is primarily derived from the status of their positions. However, such disruption can be held to a minimum.
The Meaning of Status
Status, a social phenomenon that depends on the unique standards and values of a group, refers to a person's relative position or rank within that group. Status is not solitary nor uniform. High status in a street gang might depend upon a member's physical prowess while high status in an executive suite might depend on organizational skills.
Status Systems
A status system is the dynamic process by which status is established, acknowledged, and maintained within an organization. A major function of a status system is to make known the relative authority of different organizational members. It also recognizes differences in ability and in the importance of different tasks. Because status systems provide a visible means of identifying powerholders, they help supervisors get the attention of subordinates. They also provide a means of rewarding desirable behavior. Status pay, for example, contributes to self-esteem and security thereby giving additional value to status systems.
To convey status upon specific persons and reinforce the status system in general, a variety of formal practices are used-for example, inaugurations, honors and awards programs, and induction, promotion, and graduation ceremonies.
Leaders convey status on selected subordinates by granting them seats of honor, publicly praising them, and providing them with a variety of status symbols. Those symbols include honorific titles, opportunities to perform not merely difficult but important work, and the routine sharing of insider information.
Status Symbols
A variety of symbols indicate the relative status of members in...