The Effect of Organizational Structure on Leader Power in Educational and Security Organizations: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Organizational structure affects individuals’ perceptions in organizations. Different organizational structures, such as mechanistic and organic structures, lead to different organizational cultures and different cultures can have different effects on the perception of individuals including leader power; this study aims to identify the differentiation of leader power perception in organizations with mechanistic and organic structures. In this context, educational and military organizations were selected to identify and interpret the difference of leader power perception of individuals. Data was gathered from army and school settings, for the characteristics of these organizations are considered to be different. Analysis results partially supported the hypotheses. It was concluded that difference of structures caused different perceptions of leader power.