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Configurable bureaucracy and the making of Modular Man

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-08-30, 14:17 authored by Alison Hirst, Michael Humphreys
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.

History

Refereed

  • Yes

Volume

36

Issue number

11

Page range

1531-1553

Publication title

Organization Studies

ISSN

1741-3044

Publisher

SAGE

File version

  • Accepted version

Language

  • eng

Legacy posted date

2016-06-15

Legacy creation date

2018-12-07

Legacy Faculty/School/Department

ARCHIVED Lord Ashcroft International Business School (until September 2018)

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