105: Manifest & Latent Roles -- Alvin Gouldner (Summary of Episode)

Talking About Organizations Podcast

We will discuss a two-part article by Alvin Gouldner titled “Cosmopolitans and Locals: Toward an Analysis of Latent Social Roles.” Before 1957, studies on work roles focused solely on manifest roles that emerged directly from the positions held. The hidden or unstated work roles had not been studies. Gouldner’s article argued that this was a major research gap and proposed six latent roles exhibited among workers in a university to kickstart the research agenda.