Abstract
This chapter emphasizes the centrality of power to management and organization. Management is a practice of power, framing management as a form of government whereby the conduct of individuals can be influenced and people can create arrangements permitting the distribution of work and responsibilities. It is also a capacity to construct infrastructures of power within which people can accomplish their tasks. Moreover, it is a practice of debate and deliberation around the means, ends and meanings of the workplace. On this basis, the chapter strives to highlight and illustrate the interrelations between management as power and some historical infrastructures within which power is concretely exercised. More specifically, it addresses the fundamental tension between centres and peripheries, suggesting that managing power is mostly about regulating the balance between the autonomy of local actors and the necessities of respecting central rules of operation.