The development and exercise of power by leaders of support units in implementing information technology-based services

This paper reports on three case studies of support units: medical libraries whose directors transformed the role of the libraries by implementing new information technology services. This study explains how the leaders developed and exercised power and transcended the limits of their organizational position. Most research on power has taken either a behavioral or a structural perspective. This study maintains that these perspectives are complementary rather than alternative approaches to the study of power. The analysis suggests that behavior and structure interplay in the exercise of power to achieve desired objectives. Behavioral power tactics at the individual level gained macro structural sources of power, such as grants and connections with other units. Structural position can hinder as well as facilitate the exercise of power. Finally, this paper shows that the leaders of the support units used a non-possessive conception of power and non-threatening power tactics to achieve their vision of a transformed library.