Handy C. -1993- Understanding Organizations |verified| Jun 2026

:In the executive wing, the founder makes every major decision over coffee. Like Zeus at the center of a spider’s web, power radiates from him personally. When a crisis hits, this department moves faster than any other because there is no red tape—just the founder’s word. However, young managers are burning out because they have no autonomy; they are merely "strings" on Zeus's web.

: Centralized power located with a few individuals. Influence spreads out like a "web" from the center. It is fast-acting but depends entirely on the capability of the leader. handy c. -1993- understanding organizations

Born the son of an archdeacon in Clane, County Kildare, Handy graduated with first-class honors in "Greats" (a study of classics, history, and philosophy) from Oxford University. After a stint as a marketing executive with Shell, he studied at MIT's Sloan School of Management alongside luminaries such as Warren Bennis, Chris Argyris, and Edgar Schein, before returning to launch and run the Sloan Programme at the London Business School where he became a professor. :In the executive wing, the founder makes every

Handy’s discussion of power is unusually honest. While many management texts treat power as something slightly embarrassing – a necessary evil to be minimized – Handy recognizes it as an inescapable feature of organizational life. The question is not whether power will be exercised but how. However, young managers are burning out because they