The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) creates numerous organisational changes. New technologies and their influences are studied; however, hardly any research focuses on studying the unconscious systems psychodynamics (SPs).
The purpose of the study was to explore and understand feelings in an organisational 4IR context from a SP perspective.
Scholars have recently issued calls to shift attention from describing the 4IR processes in terms of rapid structural, technological and disruptive changes towards the understanding of subjective ‘lived-through’ feelings and experiences and
This article presents findings from a qualitative study conducted in a technology organisation, analysing 16 interviews with managers in middle and top management positions.
The findings show SP playing out in terms of splitting, projection, projective identification and idealisation. Findings with regard to the five fundamental systemic behavioural conventions (dependency, flight/fight, pairing, me-ness, one-ness or we-ness) are also presented.
Managers experience anxiety and excitement as strongly influential in the 4IR transformational processes and as playing an important role in SP processes.
Organisations and employees need to be made aware of the new trends in the 4IR and the underlying unconscious processes within the organisation. Employees could undergo training to improve their understanding of intra- and inter-psychological and organisational processes and the impact on organisational change and transformation within the 4IR contexts.
The introduction of new digital technologies in industrial companies is creating new socio-technical interactions between physical and virtual elements, leading to human-related, technical and organisational changes (Becker & Stern,
Kiefer (
The purpose of the study was to explore and understand feelings in an organisational 4IR context from a SP perspective.
Systems psychodynamics are founded in social psychoanalytic, group relations, object relations and open systems theory (Colman & Bexton,
The system needs to be rescued by an omnipotent leader. Dependence shows in employees’ relatedness to an inventive, ‘fantasised’ and caring parental figure (Campbell,
The system is under threat and needs to fight an aggressor or needs to get away from danger. These experiences are happening in the (collective) unconscious mind of the system. Fight or flight shows the fighting against or flight away from an imagined enemy (the foe within the intellect) (Bion,
The system’s survival depends on the connection between two powerful objects to create a father or mother (authority figures/‘objects representing authority in the mind’) and figure and saviour. Pairing alludes to employees’ collective oblivious uneasiness related to inventiveness and progression. It shows the pairing up of seen capable objects based on the confident wish for the birth of a saviour to take the psychic torment away (Colman & Bexton,
The system’s wish to become part of an undifferentiated, homogenous, omnipotent and powerful yet passive union without individuality, differentiation or diversity. One-ness or we-ness shows when employees yield their distinction and mentally connect in a non-existent effective union with a supreme drive in order to encounter well-being and wholeness (Turquet,
The system’s fear of destructive group processes leads to individual disconnectedness. Me-ness is seen as a versatile resistance showing when individual employees perceive their group’s conduct or impact as undermining and scaring. People at that point detach themselves from their group association and depend on their independence and self-reliance to manage the demands of their feelings (Bion,
Systems psychodynamics postulate an organisational theory concerning the perception and elucidation of systemic configurations and its connection to deep contained, unconscious and tacit individual, social and organisational anxiety (Armstrong,
In this research, anxiety is demarcated as the organisation’s unconscious propelling energy (Huffington et al.,
According to Klein (
Splitting of the ego is followed by the projection of the sadistic part of the ego onto external reality so that it is perceived as part of someone else’s identity (Diamond,
Projective identification is essentially a primitive defence mechanism. The subject projects intolerable intrapsychic experiences onto an object, maintains empathy with what he projects, tries to control the object in a continuing effort to defend against the intolerable experience, and, unconsciously, in actual interaction with the object, leads the object to experience what has been projected onto him (Kernberg,
Melanie Klein (
If the organisation can manage the anxiety of the 4IR successfully towards the incorporation of its effective and ineffective elements into a resilient entity and reject the idea of the perfect entity, the organisation can retain its real behaviour and repair its entity and employee relationships (Cytrynbaum & Noumair,
Excitement is originally not a common feeling that is described in SP; however, it is a feeling that occurs under the surface in this research and is part of the dynamics that play a role in the 4IR transitions because it is mentioned as a driving force in the 4IR and becomes part of the SP in the way that participants refer to it in strong connection with the anxieties they experience personally and within the group dynamics. Therefore, excitement is an important part of the group dynamics that impact the processes within the organisation.
Excitement includes cognitive, emotional, behavioural and physiological components, including stimulation. These components incorporate: (1) centring attention on the source of the excitement, for example, an energising movement, (2) feeling energised and lively, (3) acting with vigour, (4) having raised excitement, including increased heart rate and blood sugar and (5) having a by and large positive subjective involvement (Cannon,
Excitement is a conceivable way to high positive influence, which in turn is related to numerous positive characteristics and results (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen,
Studies have indicated that it is conceivable to extend the level of positive affect. Meta-analyses of the impacts of mediations found that such interventions have noteworthy impacts on positive influence or the related development of happiness (Bolier et al.,
The study used a post-modernist, qualitative research approach (Creswell,
Systems psychodynamics are a systemic paradigm – it interprets collective behaviour – the individual represents the team. The interpretations given here are about managers and not the system.
A qualitative study reflects that the diversity of individual viewpoints on the specified topic of anxiety and excitement in the 4IR will potentially reveal new or dissimilar themes (Yin,
The study was conducted in a German world-leading, innovation organisation, working particularly with fabricating. The organisation creates specific pumps and mechanical valves and centres on the zone of water and water waste administration, gives state-of-the-art mechanical applications, with respect to process designing, extraordinary processes, chemical businesses and marine applications, as well as warming and cooling frameworks. The yearly benefit income of the organisation is within the extent of €2200 million euros. The organisation alludes to the German Corporate Administration code and values a corporate culture, which incorporates professionalism and commitment, proactive planning, trust, genuineness and responsibility, as well as appreciation. The organisation’s central values incorporate excellence, unwavering quality and innovation-driven victory and it is working in over 100 nations around the world.
One of the researchers was working as a leadership specialist for the German head office. During the counselling sessions, the thought was born to conduct qualitative interviews with managers within the organisation to advance the understanding of the managers and their views with respect to the change towards the 4IR. The research group comprises two researchers, one German female and one South African male researcher.
Only one organisation participated in this study, to be specific, the South African appropriation of the German designing organisation. The managers working in the organisation were included in the study (Shaheen & Pradhan,
Demographical data.
Interviewee number | Duration in organisation | Age (years) | First language | Sex | Ethnicity |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
P1 | 10 years | 35 | English | Male | White person |
P2 | 12 years | 37 | English | Male | Indian person |
P3 | 13 years | 47 | English | Male | White person |
P4 | 25 years | 47 | English | Male | White person |
P5 | 11 years | 34 | Afrikaans | Male | White person |
P6 | 7 years | 58 | English | Male | Indian person |
P7 | 6 years | 33 | Afrikaans and English | Male | White person |
P8 | 5 years | 35 | Afrikaans | Female | Mixed person |
P9 | 4 months | 56 | German | Male | White person |
P10 | 13 years | 43 | Afrikaans | Male | White person |
P11 | 2 years | 32 | English | Male | White person |
P12 | 20 years | 47 | English | Male | White person |
P13 | 13 years | 43 | Afrikaans | Male | White person |
P14 | 14 years | 57 | English | Male | White person |
P15 | 18 years | 55 | English and Afrikaans | Male | White person |
P16 | 14 years | 60 | English | Male | White person |
The researchers conducted 60–75 min interviews, which were semi-structured in nature and contained 20 interview questions. The rationale of the interviews included the exploration of the underlying group dynamics within the organisation and the feelings that play a role in these dynamics based on SP theory. One of the main questions investigated in this article was, for example
Data were recorded through field notes and audio recordings as indicated by participants’ inclinations. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim, and data are stored electronically for a period of 5 years in password-encrypted data files. Printed copies were stored safely by the university under the examination arrangements and methodology of the university with no entrance to the research by the general population.
Managers shared rich and detailed information, through subjective encounters that lead to meticulousness in the quality of the information, its investigation and translation (Johnson, Adkins, & Chauvin,
The analysis of information was conducted through five steps as depicted by Clarke and Hoggett (2009): (1) the information was subjected to an introductory, preparatory and all-encompassing evaluation, (2) topics were produced, (3) information was coded, (4) the body of the content was broken down into important sections that were named and (5) close consideration was given to the nuances and subtleties of the meaning inalienable within the information by the researchers (Clarke & Hoggett,
The findings are reported in a qualitative reporting style, which supports the insight into the research into SP.
Ethical approval to conduct the study was obtained from the ethics committee at the Division of Industrial Psychology and People Management of the University of Johannesburg. The organisation gave permission to conduct the investigation and members gave written consent. All members were educated regarding privacy and their rights as members.
The findings indicated that managers in the organisation refer to positive and negative feelings during their interviews on transformational processes with regard to the 4IR. Negative feelings are more frequently mentioned in the data set than positive feelings. In the ‘Negative emotional experiences’ and ‘Positive emotional experiences’ sections, the findings with regard to positive and negative feelings towards the 4IR are presented and the findings are interpreted in the ‘Discussion’ section. Overviews of the feelings mentioned by the managers are presented in
Negative feelings towards the fourth industrial revolution.
Negative feelings | Participants |
---|---|
Fearful, anxious, scared and trepidation | P1, P2, P6, P7, P8, P10, P11, P13 |
Concerned and worried | P4, P9, P10, P11, P13 |
Stressed and threatened | P7, P10, P11, P13, P15 |
Challenged | P2, P9, P13, P15 |
Frustrated | P6, P13, P15 |
Negative mindset | P12, P13, P15 |
Panicked | P11 |
Shocked | P7 |
Uprooted | P14 |
Loss of faith | P13 |
Positive feelings towards the fourth industrial revolution.
Positive feelings | Participants |
---|---|
Excitement | P1, P3, P5, P7, P8, P9, P12, P15 |
Positive in general because of new advantages | P1, P7, P8, P9 |
Happy and positive about new learnings | P1, P8, P9 |
Not scared at all | P5, P9 |
Motivation to overcome negativity | P13, P16 |
Love for new era | P12 |
Empowerment | P12 |
Altogether, managers gave 32 statements with regard to negative emotional experiences within the 4IR changes of the organisation. Eight out of 16 managers pointed out that they are very excited about the times they live in and the changes the 4IR brings.
Managers also provided 21 statements on the 4IR changes and their emotions that are defined as positive.
Exploring the feelings that are experienced as positive, it can be stated that half of the managers interviewed expressed excitement when talking about and experiencing the 4IR changes. Usually, they are excited, because they experience new and unknown territory, being part of the process of something new, of a new era and intriguing organisational developments. Several managers did not describe feeling as such but they are ‘positive’ about the 4IR advantages, and some highlighted happiness and positivity about new learnings. Two individuals expressed their positive attitude by not feeling anxious or scared. Two other managers felt motivated by the changes and one manager felt love for the era and empowerment. It is important to notice that several of the managers indicated that they experience both positive and negative feelings and emotions with regard to the developments of the 4IR.
P1 pointed out that the employees are very scared about the changes happening within the organisation:
‘I think, originally, they were a bit
At the same time, P1 pointed out that, for himself, personally, the changes of the 4IR are positive and exciting:
‘For me? It’s positive personally; because, maybe because, more so because of the type of work I do. I like seeing new technologies, I like doing research. So, I think for me, it’s all positive. Because it’s something new that anything new is always exciting. And it’s a bit fearful on the one side. Ja, but it’s more excitement because I get to see things that you probably would never ever have thought about before.’ (P1)
P1 explained that employees feel scared by the changes. By highlighting this, he emphasised that employees should not feel scared but rather assured that they are still needed to make sure the system runs effectively and to do the controlling of the machine processes. At the same time, he said that he is positive about the 4IR processes based on the work he does and because of his passion to work with new technologies and to do research. Therefore, his positive feelings are connected to excitement about novel processes and he admitted that he is only a bit fearful. He thereby splits himself from the common employee’s feelings and experiences by differentiating between their jobs and his job.
A similar statement was given by P7 who highlighted that he experiences trepidation with regard to the 4IR changes, but also that his own excitement is bigger than his fear:
‘If I think about the fourth industrial revolution, I do actually have a sense of trepidation. But, a big but, I’m actually quite excited. I mean, if you go and think about the amount of technologies that are coming forward, the amount of opportunities coming forward.’ (P7)
Similar to P1, P7 admitted that he has a sense of trepidation about the future, but also his primary feelings are positive and excited with regard to the advances and opportunities ahead. Even the following participant pointed out that the future is insecure, challenging, interesting and exciting at the same time. P9 also indicated what both sides of the coin of the 4IR were for him:
‘As a person, I do not know what will come in the future, but I think it is challenging and it’s interesting for me, I’m really very positive about that I like changes, whenever they occur and… it’s there. We should grab it. We should look for it. I’m very positive about it. Ja.’ (P9)
P9 was generally positive about the changes and highlighted that when changes occur, people should look at them carefully and grab their opportunities. It means that people should behave proactively towards the changes and use them for their own betterment. P7 emphasised that he is actually very positive about the 4IR as well, but he can also empathise with individuals who lose their jobs and feel shocked and stressed about the 4IR processes:
‘I would actually say positive for the most part. As we say, if we run with our hypothesis that it will allow more freedom, more efficient working gives more freedom, more freedom gives more personal time and that takes away a lot of
P7 connected the experienced positivity to values that are important to him and that are supposed to come with regard to 4IR, namely freedom, efficient working and more personal time. In this sense, 4IR processes may decrease stress for the participant himself, but it might be very stressful for employees who are replaced by robots. P16 referred to stress – not caused by the fear of being replaced, but rather by his idea of having to move with the pace of the 4IR himself:
‘It makes you more stressed. Because it’s just too quick; they can find you anywhere, you’ve got to – expect you to answer emails. If I go outside the country, now I can bring my computer with me whereas before it was impossible. So, provided I can access emails, I’ve got to return to where I’m staying and then download emails and answer them.’ (P16)
This manager is worried and stressed by always being accessible and available all over the world. He is stressed that there is no external boundary, but that he has to set the boundaries himself in demarcating the influences coming to him through digitalisation and, in future, probably even more through 4IR technology.
P14, being asked about his feelings with regard to the 4IR, said:
‘It’s definitely resistance to change. I do pick that up a lot, but it’s a case of, you know, winning them over. You’ve got to explain, explain it in depth. Explain the advantages. And in the long run, what are the benefits to the company to get them to buy into it. But it’s a lengthy process. And I don’t think it will happen overnight. But I think the main thing for digitisation, lean manufacturing, is to communicate and to get their cooperation.… You know a lot of the people will be uprooted. It’ll maybe take a few of their jobs away.’ (P14)
This manager picks up feelings of resistance to change in the employees and he provides ideas for how to motivate employees to overcome their resistance (personal motivation, advantages and organisational benefits). He emphasised that many employees will be ‘uprooted’ and many will lose their jobs. By presenting his opinion, it is obvious that he sees himself as a positive force of the 4IR and the employees carrying a negative mindset, who need to be convinced to adopt a positive mindset.
This is in contrast to P13’s comment when he highlighted that 70% of the employees, including himself, have lost faith in the new technology because of failures in the broader systems of society (Internet systems, etc.). P13 is very critical about the 4IR process and comments:
‘I would say 70% of us have lost faith in technology in the company – because we’ve always had this internet problems and problems. So, nobody believes that the next step up is going to be any better. So, I think, that is going to be a big challenge … I think that’s part of the reason why people are scared about it, because I think they don’t realise what the potential is. And when you start talking about the potential, they feel threatened as, as, as maybe a race or a species or – no, we don’t want to make that happen.’ (P13)
P13 feels that the move into 4IR is a huge challenge and because people are aware of the failure and problems in the wider societal systems, people are scared of the changes to come. He also then separated himself from the normal employee by highlighting that he can point out the advantages and potentials of the 4IR technology, but he said that employees are, on the one hand, scared to hear about the potential changes and, on the other hand, scared about the consequences of the changes in and the influences on their own life.
Finally, P15 repeated the stress of previous speakers and pointed out that he is stressed because of the situation with his staff, not because of the 4IR itself:
‘I say this to you: I’m a stress ball in the moment. And why am I? It’s my staff. They been with me for 18 years, 16 years, 14 years, 10 years minimum. Okay. And I look at what they went through at the moment – and this is not proper. Ai, this is just moving information to another place for them to do their jobs – and they don’t know what’s going to happen to them. Now I stand there and I say to them, “Your jobs are secure; you might not be working in this department maybe. But you have got jobs,” because …! They have not retrenched once. But, there’s always a first time. And that’s what I fear.’ (P15)
In this comment, it is obvious that this manager is stressed for the long-term employees in the organisation who struggle to adjust to new information systems. The manager realised that these employees still struggle with 3IR digitalisation processes whilst the world has moved on to 4IR. He thereby positions himself as knowledgeable of 4IR processes and as prepared to take the route, but he feels that particularly the older generation of employees is not adjusting to the changes that they should have adjusted to long ago. He personally fears that the day will come when the organisation will start retrenching employees whilst he has promised them for some time that the company will not do this. So, he actually does not fear the 4IR himself, but for the consequences the employees will have to cope with 1 day.
The study aims to explore the ‘lived-through’ experiences in this study from a SP viewpoint, because subjective feelings have hardly been explored in empirical studies in 4IR transformations up to now and those, being part of SP perspectives in the 4IR, have also hardly been recognised in the sciences.
It was assumed in this study that in the organisation, it is not only anxiety that plays a major role in the group dynamics of transitioning into the 4IR, but excitement as an important feeling and counter-actor of anxiety also plays a major role in ensuring the survival of the group and keeping the drivers in this organisation together to cope with the 4IR changes.
The findings showed that within the dynamics and changes in the organisation to meet the expectations and challenges of the 4IR processes, the group of managers experience a split in their emotional experiences regarding the 4IR with regard to the rapid and disruptive changes within the organisation. On the one hand, they are excited and view the experiences positively; on the other hand, they are anxious and view the experiences negatively. The feelings all relate to different processes within the organisation, which are rapidly changing because of the 4IR, such as the turn towards automation and digitisation and the development of new products. Anxiety most certainly causes an individual to be anxious (Huffington et al.,
From the findings, it could be seen that managers highlighted that the new and omnipresent leader is not a person anymore, but because of technological change with all the processes and dynamics that evolve because of new technological inventions, technology is the unconscious leader of organisational dynamics. Underneath the surface, the findings further showed that anxiety leads unconscious group dynamics and steers how individuals in the system react to the changes and how they foster or reject the technological processes (refer to
Technological change and emotions.
The manager (working group) in the organisation promotes the transformation, whilst the employees (Bion,
Finally, the findings confirm previous research studies that emphasised that anxiety needs to be contained in an effective way to create resilience (Cytrynbaum & Noumair,
The findings showed that managers described both a flight and a fight reaction, experiencing the rapid change as an aggressor and a danger for their own and the organisation’s survival. They highlighted that, on the one hand, they fight for the process of transforming towards 4IR, mentioning feelings of excitement, happiness, empowerment and motivation, whilst on the other hand, describing the fear that leads them to retract (at least intra-psychically) from the change and process. This is shown by splitting the group of managers based on the described feelings towards the 4IR. On the one hand, interviewees described the experiences as exciting and fascinating in terms of advantages, whilst on the other hand, they experienced deep group anxiety. Here the splitting is primarily shown by describing the fear and anxiety of the employees and the excitement of the managers themselves (refer to
Splitting of managers’ and employees’ mindset and emotions towards the fourth industrial revolution.
The findings showed that managers presented the technological change and advancement as the omnipresent leader of the organisation, whereby they experience a split mind about the technological leader’s benevolence towards the employees. They are unsure whether the new leader is good or bad for them and they unconsciously search for saviours within the system. These saviours in the process are defined as the proactive, well-skilled managers, as well as the newcomers and the new, technologically affine generation of employees within the organisation. The ones (hopefully) saved are the unskilled, passive employees and the older generation employees who are not knowledgeable of state-of-the-art technology. The technologically knowledgeable, skilled new generation is viewed as the saviour, together with the new technological advantage and the unskilled are those to be saved. The managers unconsciously pair with the ‘technologically advanced new generations’, or the upskilled (refer to
Pairing.
This pairing process of different ascribed characteristics, feelings and representations is based on projections (Diamond,
A few, but not many, of the managers emphasised that the 4IR is a global force and that the entire organisation has to manage the rapid changes and new technologies to be part of the global process. Thereby, managers, as elements of the system, unconsciously aim to present a one-ness of the organisational system, on the one hand, and of the global community, on the other (refer to
One-ness.
Furthermore, managers try to create a union between themselves (as knowledgeable representatives of the organisation) and the advanced global 4IR community. Here, managers become ‘one’ within the 4IR processes whilst describing their excitement for the new technologies and the new worlds that are open to be explored in a ‘union of excitement’. However, this could also be interpreted as part of identification. The negative union through anxiety brings all the employees together, whilst the positive union connects the managers with other managers and pioneers abroad. There is also a split between the negative and positive emotions, keeping the emotionally negative-based one-ness within the organisation, aiming to balance it by connecting globally and creating a positive-based one-ness with potential global players of the 4IR community.
Managers also presented the dynamics of we-ness during the interviews, thereby displaying their need to join with the powerful and omnipresent force (Lawrence,
We-ness and projective identification.
In this case, managers further projected their intolerable feelings in terms of projective identification (Diamond,
Managers described the fear (projected mainly on the employees; however, some managers also describe their own ‘little anxiety’) to be disconnected; not to be part of the 4IR process; and not to be ‘good enough’, strong enough, educated and informed enough of technological processes. However, a destructive process is described in several of the statements in which managers emphasised that they hope that the organisation would not retrench employees. At the same time, however, they emphasised that they fear that the organisation might release employees, disconnecting themselves unconsciously from the organisation and from the processes at play by indirectly highlighting that they, as managers, do not have a say in this process (refer to
Me-ness.
Finally, the data showed a strong idealisation across all the different levels of analysis (Klein,
The findings showed high levels of fear within the organisation (Huffington et al.,
The experience of managers of 4IR carries inherent anxiety that can only be coped with by splitting and comparing it with another (Czander,
The idealisation of the past and blaming the present 4IR reality illustrated the fundamental split between past, present and future management (Cytrynbaum & Noumair,
Coping with anxiety around management is based on trusting the universal, systemic and unconscious life forces towards equilibrium, linked with an inner strength to survive the impact of the 4IR (Greyvenstein & Cilliers,
Future research needs to focus in more depth on feelings and their unconscious impact on the 4IR transformational processes. Thereby, culture- and context-specific research are needed to explore the differences and similarities of 4IR processes and their unconscious transformation underneath the surface of the organisation. On a practical note, organisations and managers need to be made aware of the new trends in the 4IR and the underlying unconscious processes within the organisation. On the one hand, managers within the organisation could undergo training to improve their understanding of intra- and inter-psychological and organisational processes and the impact on organisational change and transformation within the 4IR contexts. On the other hand, consultants, researchers and others who work with 4IR conscious and unconscious crescendos, organisational composition and strategy, and the collaboration between the two need to become aware of the systems-psychodynamic processes occurring underneath the surface of an organisation to adjust their interventions to not only address dynamics above the surface but also to address dynamics below the surface. Thereby, they need to pay special attention to the feelings of all processes and the containment of anxiety, as well as the potential energy of excitement.
This study comes with certain limitations. It presents findings from one selected German multinational organisation. It is biased in terms of hierarchical levels within the organisation, having managers from only middle and top management responding to the interview questions. Furthermore, the data might be culturally biased and gender-biased because 15 male managers and 1 female manager participated in the study, representing the gender inequalities in the organisation as being a rather male-dominated, white field of work, particularly in management. In addition, the data were collected during an economically unstable and challenging time in post-apartheid South Africa, with growing crime rates and decreasing foreign investments. These external circumstances might have influenced the findings and the high anxiety and fear levels unconsciously within the organisation.
Systems psychodynamics research comprehends and fosters knowledge concerning the conscious and unconscious psychodynamics of working in an organisation. In this article, we focused on the feelings that managers experienced during the transformation towards 4IR in a selected organisation and their meaning-making within the SP framework. Findings indicated that more negative than positive feelings are experienced. Feelings that are predominantly experienced in the organisation are anxiety and excitement. Systems psychodynamic defences include splitting, projection, projective identification and idealisation. Thereby, managers create a split with regard to the employees’ anxiety and excitement towards the 4IR processes.
The authors sincerely thank the German engineering organisation operating in South Africa and particularly the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the participating employees.
The authors have declared that no competing interest exist.
C.-H.M. was the project leader. Both R.M.O. and C.-H.M. wrote the manuscript.
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Data sharing is applicable to this article as new data were created and analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.