MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

‘Legitimate’ managerial actions - stakeholders
information. You are never actually sure that you are getting it
all. It builds up a distrust. I find that hurtful. (Interviewee N)
A view which is supported in a rather more colourful way:-
What we've tried to stop the Executive doing is to say - look. It
can cost you up to £50/60,000 to keep this officer in the field. If
any of you have just been to a local fete and seen an Aunt Sally
set up, we've just set up the most expensive Aunt Sally you've
ever seen. This guy's costing you £50k so you can throw wet
sponges at him. Is that a good use of his time and our money? I
think, no it isn't. Executive members will sometimes want to
exercise power and some of the most vulnerable targets can be
the full time officers. They can be accountable to the Executive
so they can sometimes present an easy target. We keep
reminding them we do not cause the problems in the industry,
we are not the employers. It's Barclays Bank that cause the
problem which we're trying to deal with in the best way we can,
trying unsuccessfully. So this person's not there to have a pop at
because you happen to have a particular burn under your saddle
about it (Interviewee A)
However, relationships are not generally portrayed as conflictual as a
matter of course:-
In terms of the union there is no doubt that the relationship of the
moment on the Finance and General Purposes Committee
between the lay activists and the senior management team is
better than I think it has ever been. (Interviewee O)
The relationship seems to be quite good but I have got the
feeling now where I do not think I have to go every time because
I don't think there would be that blame culture again and also
because there are a number of NEC members who phone me
up and ask questions or find out what's going on rather than pull
the power base at the NEC. There are still some who won't and
you still get questions when you could have sorted it out quite
happily and they think they have got something on the full-time
official and will have a crack at it whereas they haven't got the
full picture and go down in flames but I think the relationship's
quite good. It's quite a constructive working relationship.
(Interviewee D)
One manager describes what seems to be something of a partnership,
at least in his own case:-
It is a very informal relationship. I am one of them but I have
more time on the job than they do, is the kind of approach. It is
not stratified like some of our committees. In some committees I
think you'll find that the full time official is the servant and is
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