Abstract EN:

Influence and control are a primary goal of individuals across time and situations, the subject of "power" has been treated as early as the days of plato but the work of Machiavelli was the defining moment of how one translates philosophy into pratice. We have chosen to investigate how business executives attempt to exercise both influence and control in achieving and maintaining power through executing their strategy and using tools at their disposal. Our work on focused on small and medium enterprises in the Yucatan penninsula of Mexico. It is important to regnize that the subject of power, specially in the business world, cuts across a number of disciplines. Profits and financial consideration cannot be ignored. But similary the psychology and the organizational behaviour, of individuals cannot be ignored. The theoretical foundation for this work therefore is not only set within the context of business but draws upon the seminal works, inter alia, in psychology of Freud, the philosophy of Plato, Hobbes and Machiavelli and the sociology of Weber and Crozier in attempting to group the relevant elements in explaining how executives achieve, exercise and maintain power. This is ground-breaking for Mexican organizational behaviour litterature. The field research for this work draws upon interviews conduced with thirty executives in small and medium enterprises (SME) in the Yucatan penninsula.