A. Hirst
Configurable bureaucracy and the Making of the Modular Man
Hirst, A.; Humphreys, M.
Authors
M. Humphreys
Abstract
The flexibility of people in modern societies rests upon their capacity to divide themselves into separate modules of thought and action, and deploy them in ways that fit their purposes. The practice of ‘informatizing’ work by converting tasks into software-based processes entails the modular design of work, because software has a modular form. We use the concept of modularity to analyse the implications of informatization in the empirical context of a ‘shared service centre’ providing professional services. We make three contributions. First, informatization enlarges the scope for organizational flexibility, because the organization can be treated as a configuration of modules which can be reshuffled to suit changing circumstances. Second, employees must attempt to deploy enhanced modular capabilities, by executing any given set of processes, in a flexible, unemotional and time-efficient fashion. Third, given the ability to informatize complex service work, and the existence of organizational templates which accommodate it, the modular design and management of other services may become more common.
Citation
Hirst, A., & Humphreys, M. (2015). Configurable bureaucracy and the Making of the Modular Man. Organization Studies, 36(11), 1531-1553. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840615593585
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Online Publication Date | Nov 2, 2015 |
Publication Date | Nov 1, 2015 |
Deposit Date | Jul 2, 2014 |
Publicly Available Date | Jul 15, 2014 |
Journal | Organization Studies |
Print ISSN | 0170-8406 |
Electronic ISSN | 1741-3044 |
Publisher | SAGE Publications |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 36 |
Issue | 11 |
Pages | 1531-1553 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840615593585 |
Keywords | Bureaucracy, Flexibility, Informatization, Modular man, Professional service work, Public sector reform, Role. |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1448516 |
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Copyright Statement
Hirst, A. and Humphreys, M. (2015) 'Configurable bureaucracy and the making of the modular man.', Organization studies., 36 (11). pp. 1531-1553. © The Author(s) 2015. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.
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