Post‐bureaucracy – control through professional freedom

Abstract

This article develops a framework for understanding autonomy and control in post-bureaucratic organizations. It reviews two dominant discourses on post-bureaucracy -the managerial discourse and the critical management discourse. Whereas the one pictures post-bureaucracy as an emancipating regime based on the personalities and social networks of individuals, the other pictures it as a totalitarian regime, which subordinates individuals' thoughts, emotions and identities to its instrumental schemes. Both discourses are criticized for being grounded in a view of post-bureaucracy as a "total" organization. An alternative conceptualization is developed, which shows that post-bureaucracy neither emancipates individuals from control, nor captures them in totalitarian control. A distinguishing characteristic of post-bureaucracy is that it displaces the responsibility for setting limits between professional and non-professional concerns from the organization to the individual. Via a case study it is shown how this implies a specific form of control that does not restrict individual freedom, but uses it as its prime vehicle.

Struggling with Lack: A Lacanian Perspective on Organizational Identity

“…To pursue this it may also be constructive to build on recent research that explores what happens when a strong organizational identity is missing (Maravelias, 2003). If we examine more closely how individuals fill in for these missing narratives (Maravelias, 2003), we may come closer to understanding how lack is articulated in specific instances and how normative controls serve not just to fill a collective gap (Maravelias, 2003), but a very specific lack of the subject.…”

“…To pursue this it may also be constructive to build on recent research that explores what happens when a strong organizational identity is missing (Maravelias, 2003). If we examine more closely how individuals fill in for these missing narratives (Maravelias, 2003), we may come closer to understanding how lack is articulated in specific instances and how normative controls serve not just to fill a collective gap (Maravelias, 2003), but a very specific lack of the subject. For example, while responses such as "I don't necessarily see how we're going to get there or what we're doing right now…" (Corley, 2004(Corley, : 1162 and "It can all get very confusing" (Corley, 2004(Corley, : 1163 have been interpreted as indicating identity inconsistencies (Corley, 2004), the model developed here suggests that they point to specific instances of how individuals struggle with identity and therefore represent stories and story themes (Brown, 2006) of struggles with lack.…”

Review Article: When ‘life itself’ goes to work: Reviewing shifts in organizational life through the lens of biopower

“…'Mold' or 'design' the worker to hold strong normative alliances with the firm (Kunda, 1992) Capture pre-existing social qualities and informal knowhow of the employee (Maravelias, 2003;Gorz, 2010). Organizational justification Rationalization and the superiority of management science over worker knowledge (Beynon, 1980;Crozier, 1964).…”

Post‐bureaucracy and reanimating public governance

“…' (Lyn Jr, 2001: 144) The demand for flexibility within post-bureaucratic organizations suggests a greater absorption of the individual into the world of work, shifting between different roles and capacities. In this context, personalities, social relations, and individual interests may become subjugated to the instrumental concerns of the organization: extending bureaucracy rather than replacing it (Maravelias, 2003). However, given the ideological push for modernisation of the provision of public services in most OECD countries expressed in the discourses and practices of TPG, has the funeral of public bureaucracy already taken place?…”