Ecological correlations and the behavior of individuals.

undermine line authority; and (5) the fact that aspirants to higher staff offices could gain promotion only through approval of influential line executives. If further esearch should prove that staffline behavior of the character presented here is widespread in industry, and if top management should realize how such behavior affects its cost and production goals-and be concerned to improve the condition-then remedial measures could be considered. For example, a corrective approach might move in the direction of (i) creating a separate body25 whose sole function would be the coordination of staff and line efforts; (2) increasing the gradations of awards and promotions in staff organizations (without increase of staff personnel); (3) granting of more nearly equal pay to staff officers, but with increased responsibility (without authority over line processes or personnel) for the practical working of their projects; (4) requiring that staff personnel have a minimum supervisory experience and have shared repeatedly in successful collaborative staff-line projects before transferring to the line; (5) steps by top management o remove the fear of veiled personal reprisal felt by officers in most levels of both staff and line hierarchies (This fear-rising from a disbelief in the possibility of bureaucratic impersonality-is probably the greatest obstacle to communication i side the ranks of management); (6) more emphasis in colleges and universities on realistic instruction in the social sciences for students preparing for industrial careers. 2This body, or "Board of Coordination," would be empowered to enforce its decisions. Membership would consist of staff and line men who had had wide experience in the plant over a period of years. The Board would (a) serve as an arbiter between staff and line; (b) review, screen, and approve individual recommendations submitted; and (c) evaluate contributions after a trial period. Such a body would incidentally be another high status goal for seasoned, capable, and ambitious officers who too often are trapped by the converging walls of the pyramidal hierarchy.