ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a rough picture of the disparity between the formal and informal authority of the major executives. It provides only one set of struggles for dominance that is between managers of the production and maintenance branches of the line, and between the entire Milo unit and its Office over the same issue. The existence of informal power positions creates a pressure on the formal framework to accelerate new positions and reassignments beyond the "normal" rate of promotion and retirement. At Milo, cost meetings were the point at which top officers relieved their feelings on the need for greater economy. The informant's inclusion of "everybody" was an exaggeration. This condition bore directly on the struggles between Operation and Maintenance as production chiefs searched for loopholes in the tightening cost system. In terms of low maintenance costs and "smooth" operation, the two groups were reversing the positions they held before entry of the Field Work Department (FWD).
