Leveraging the Dimensions of Power– How Apparently Low-Power Actors Drive Organisational Change in a Multinational Company

Adopting the perspective of Hardy’s four dimensions of power, this paper investigates how a team of apparently low-power actors within a multinational company (MNC) were able to create a new organisational structure and take responsibility for the company’s Facility Management services, outsourcing this across the whole of Europe. Although resource-poor, key the team succeeded in leveraging the wider narrative within the MNC, constructing processes to exploit extant power relations, and focused upon building trust and credibility. As such, this paper moves the focus of the MNC from that of organisational units to the individual managers, highlighting the dynamic nature of power in the organisation. Furthermore, by highlighting the key role of social relationships in giving the team members the power to shape the project outcomes, it suggests that there are key aspects of power not fully reflected in Hardy’s model