COMMITMENT AND CONFLICT IN A NORMATIVE ORGANIZATION.

This paper retorts upon an empirical study of a normative organization (Mobilization for Youth (MFY), a prototypical anti-poverty program) which was subject to virulent outside attack and consequently rent by internal conflict. Contrary to explanations found in the literature, internal discord within MFY was not caused by lack of cohesion prior to the attack or by excessive strain upon the participants during the organization's crisis. The study found a striking relationship between a participant's initial commitment to MFY's values and his negative reaction to its official defense posture. The greater the commitment, the more negative the reaction. Since an outside threat endangers organizational values (and these are differentially held depending upon hierarchical level and organization function), the findings suggest that complex normative organization's, when subject to an external threat, are particularly vulnerable to the development of dissensus or internal conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]