A recent interest in the organizational literature has been to identify the circumstances under which people exercise upward influence in order to achieve individual and organizational goals. To examine the circumstances under which administrators in a variety of firms exercised upward influence, i.e., influence on their superiors, to achieve individual and organizational goals, 113 managers completed a questionnaire. Managers who exercised upward influence to achieve organizational goals were self-confident, directed non-routinized work units, and had power in their organizations. Staff managers exercised upward influence to achieve individual goals more often than line managers. Influence strategies used by managers varied as a function of outcomes sought from their superiors. The findings suggest that the manager's pursuit of individual and organizational goals is not mutually exclusive and that influence is exercised far more frequently for organizational than individual reasons. (Author/JAC)