In this theory, Gamson wanted to understand how individuals deal with conflict, power, and how people attain power (Bess & Dee, 2008). In an organizational model, Gamson suggested that they were two potential players: the partisans and authorities. The partisans will be defined as members who are impacted by decisions of the authorities. The authorities are the individuals who have legitimate power in making decisions that will affect the partisans (Bess & Dee, 2008). In the Campus Living organizational structure, hall directors will be the partisans, and the senior associate and associate directors will be the authorities in Gamson’s theory. An example will be that hall directors on duty for their residential area must stay within ten minutes of campus to response to any emergencies. The leadership team made this decision, and they hold some legitimate power to enforce this policy by incorporating the ten-minute rule into the hall director’s contract. In this case, the authorities which are the senior leadership team had the power to make a binding decision which will affect the hall directors. A binding decision is not challenged, can be enforced in the department, and not questioned by people outside the organization (Bess & Dee, 2008). This decision affects live-in professional ability to go shopping, or handle any other personal business outside the ten-minute …show more content…
Since the hall directors were under the new proposed limit, they will qualify for overtime pay. Authorities had to figure out does duty situations count as overtime. Partisans started to keep track of their hours to ensure the authorities the long hours they work daily in the residence halls or apartments. There is about 16 full-time live in professionals in Campus Living, which makes raising all their salaries expensive. The partisans which are the hall directors believed they are worth the increase because of their hard work and commitment to the department. Authorities were transparent with the partisans about their decision process about FLSA in Campus Living. The authorities then sought some participation from the live-in professionals and the university’s human resource department to help with the decision-making process. In allowing partisans a chance to participate in the decision-making process, the authorities believe there will be a greater commitment on their decision (Bess & Dee, 2008). The senior associate director stated in an email that full-time staff and the leadership team having been in several discussions about FLSA since the summer. The director of Campus Living decided to attend a team meeting to seek perspective on to best implement the final rule in the department. The authorities gave some options to partisans