Does Perceived Rule Dysfunction Alienate Managers?
Leisha DeHart-Davis University of Kansas Sanjay K. Pandey Rutgers University, Campus at Camden Address correspondence to Leisha DeHart-Davis at lddavis{at}ku.edu’ + u + ‘@’ + d + ”//–>. This study explores the relationship between organizational red tape and work alienation. While bureaucratic controls have long been considered sources of worker detachment, the relationship between red tape and managerial alienation has not been explicitly tested. When managers encounter rules, regulations, or procedures that seem pointless yet burdensome, these encounters may simultaneously trigger the key psychological ingredients of alienation powerlessness and meaninglessness. These in turn are expected to reduce organizational commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction, alienation indicators used in this study. To test these expectations, the study uses data from the National Administrative Studies Project (NASP-II). NASP-II surveyed managers in state health and human service agencies, pr
