“Power is the medium through which conflicts of interest are ultimately resolved. Power influences who gets what, when, and how.”

—  Gareth Morgan , book Images of Organization

Source: Images of Organization (1986), p. 158

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Power is the medium through which conflicts of interest are ultimately resolved. Power influences who gets what, when, …" by Gareth Morgan?
Gareth Morgan photo
Gareth Morgan 24
Organizational theorist 1943

Related quotes

Cordell Hull photo

“There will no longer be need for spheres of influence, for alliances, for balance of power, or any other of the separate alliances through which in the unhappy past the nations strove to safeguard their security or promote their interest.”

Cordell Hull (1871–1955) American politician, U.S. Secretary of State from 1933 to 1944

1945 Testimony before the U.S. Congress hearings on the United Nations Charter

Brian Wilson photo

“When people hear music that is spiritual it gets through. Music that is Godlike and loving gets through. I don’t have any power in this world, but I have spiritual power. I think God gave me my music and my talent. I’m trying to get across a feeling of spirituality; I think I have a spiritual influence on people.”

Brian Wilson (1942) American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer

OffBeat interview (2005)

Hans Morgenthau photo

“We must distinguish between military and political power.
Political power is a psychological relation between those who exercise it and those over whom it is exercised. It gives the former control over certain actions of the latter through the influence which the former exert over the latter's minds. That influence may be exerted through orders, threats, persuasion, or a combination of any of these.”

Hans Morgenthau book Politics Among Nations

Source: Politics Among Nations (1948), p. 27 (1954 edition)

Jon Cruddas photo

“The main problem with current neo-liberal globalisation is that it detaches economic and political power from locality, tradition and interpersonal relationships. That’s because it makes a fundamental assumption about human nature: that we are essentially selfish, greedy, isolated individuals who seem to maximise our own individual happiness or short-term pleasure. Purely individual interests ultimately clash. This conflict is then supposedly resolved by the ‘invisible hand’ of the market and the visible hand of the state. In consequence we are left with an increasing centralisation of power, a growing concentration of wealth and an ever-more atomised society.”

Jon Cruddas (1962) British politician

The Common Good in an Age of Austerity Lecture, 9 July 2014 http://joncruddas.org.uk/sites/joncruddas.org.uk/files/ebor%20a.pdf

Ilana Mercer photo

“Ultimately, the State has overwhelming power when compared to the limited resources and power of an accused.”

Ilana Mercer South African writer

"Flynn's Sin Was Lying To Liars, Not Colluding With Russia," http://www.wnd.com/2017/12/flynns-sin-was-lying-to-liars-not-colluding-with-russia/ WND.COM, December 7, 2017
2010s, 2017

Daniel Boone photo

“Curiosity is natural to the soul of man and interesting objects have a powerful influence on our affections.”

Daniel Boone (1734–1820) American settler

As quoted in the opening lines of "The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon; containing a Narrative of the Wars of Kentucke" in The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke (1784) http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/3/ by John Filson
Context: Curiosity is natural to the soul of man and interesting objects have a powerful influence on our affections. Let these influencing powers actuate, by the permission or disposal of Providence, from selfish or social views, yet in time the mysterious will of Heaven is unfolded, and we behold our conduct, from whatever motives excited, operating to answer the important designs of heaven.

“There are several methods of conflict resolution. First, there's the market mechanism -- let the highest bidder be the one who owns and decides how the land will be used. Then, there's government fiat, where the government dictates who gets to use the land for what purpose. Gifts might be the way where an owner arbitrarily chooses a recipient. Finally, violence is a way to resolve the question of who has the use rights to the coastline -- let people get weapons and physically fight it out. At this juncture, some might piously say, "Violence is no way to resolve conflict!"”

Walter E. Williams (1936) American economist, commentator, and academic

The heck it isn't. The decision of who had the right to use most of the Earth's surface was settled through violence (wars). Who has the right to the income I earn is partially settled through the threats of violence. In fact, violence is such an effective means of resolving conflict that most governments want a monopoly on its use.
1970s, Economics for the Citizen (1978)

Wassily Kandinsky photo

“Colour is a power which directly influences the soul.”

Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) Russian painter

Source: Concerning the Spiritual in Art

Glen Cook photo

“The power to kill becomes the ultimate power in the hands of a man who has no reservations about employing it.”

Glen Cook book Water Sleeps

Source: Water Sleeps (1999), Chapter 32 (p. 121)

“Integrative power [is] the ultimate power”

Kenneth E. Boulding (1910–1993) British-American economist

Source: 1980s, Three Faces of Power, 1989, p. 109

Related topics