Publications
Publications
- 2017
Empowering Bureaucracy: Achieving Non-Hierarchical Control and Employee Autonomy Through Dynamic Formal Roles
By: Michael Lee
Abstract
Hierarchy and formal structure are conventionally viewed as two tightly coupled dimensions of organization design. As organizations move from more hierarchical to less hierarchical authority structures, they also tend to reduce formal structure. However, organic designs—which combine less hierarchical authority with less formal structure—reduce the mechanisms for coordination and control, leaving them limited in their applicability. I present an inductive qualitative case study of an organization that adopted a new management system that simultaneously reduced hierarchical control while increasing the degree to which roles were formalized. The newly formalized roles, which could also be easily changed, served as dynamic resources for supporting coordination and control, essentially substituting for managerial authority. At the same time, individuals used the same formal roles as resources for enacting and reinforcing the decentralization of authority. In this way, formal roles served as janus-faced resources, enabling both freedom and control. This study suggests that hierarchy and formal structure should be viewed as two distinct dimensions of organizational design, highlighting the possibility and logic of designs that sit on the off-diagonal – low hierarchical authority but highly structured. In such designs, the loss in control from less hierarchical authority is replaced by control from visible, legitimate, and amendable formal roles. Implications of this design are discussed.
Keywords
Organization Design; Autonomy; Decentralization; Self-Managed Organizations; Formalization; Roles; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Management Systems
Citation
Lee, Michael. "Empowering Bureaucracy: Achieving Non-Hierarchical Control and Employee Autonomy Through Dynamic Formal Roles." Working Paper, August 2017.