The Return of the Machine Bureaucracy? Management Control in the Work Settings of Professionals Linh Dang Nghia Tran

Agenda 1.Summary a.Purpose of the analysis b.Researching RIFs c.Case analysis Beta Pharma Comparison – Similarities and differences 2.Critiques

Purpose of the analysis 1.Reveal how 2 cases suggest that the organization and management of KIFs may be not toward de- bureaucratization 2.Unfold the potential of critical and reflexive orientation in much organizational writings 3.Draw attention to complexity, variation, and local meaning of the cases, contributing to a conceptualization of organization and management of KIFs

Knowledge-Intensive Firms Key aspectsKnowledge Intensive Firms Mode of productionAd hoc problem solving Dominant control logicNegotiated order Environmental contingencies providing relative advantage Turbulent, disruptive change Nature of product and servicesAmbiguous Leveraging capitalIntellectual Locus of powerProfessional

Researching KIFs Antithesis of bureaucracy? Departure from the bureaucratic form Ambiguity as one central aspect of KIFs Complex nature Societal organizational trends

Beta Consulting Ltd Background information Fast growing global company Over 30,000 employees Management and IT consultancy Bureaucratization Four-basic level hierarchy Standardization of work procedures Predictability of work outputs Interchangeability of parts (individuals)

Pharma Inc. Background information: Large research-intensive pharmaceutical company Acquisition of another big player in pharmaceutical Bureaucratization “Rational drug discovery” Standardization of work processes Centralization and the emphasis on management control

Case company comparison Similarities Ambiguity nature of knowledge work Size and environmental stability Differences Beta – bureaucracy as shared meaning Pharma – bureaucracy as the extension of managerial control Understanding managerial control in KIFs Adoption of bureaucratization to an appropriate level Beta and Pharma as exceptions or common examples of KIFs?

Critiques

Sample size & case choices Big companies vs. small sample size  Bias toward large firms  No relationship between size and bureaucracy The bureaucratization of pharmaceutical firm  On-going process  Assumption of success Exceptions

Literature support Authors against the world  Both current and past research  The organizational and societal trends Lack of relevant reference and supports in some claims  KIFs are becoming more bureaucratic industrial in their functioning  The claims are drawn only from two cases

Arguments Assumptions  It is possible for Pharma to success in their bureaucratization  KIFs can be managed and organized by explicit technical principles Culture is an evidence of bureaucratization or debureaucratization The matter of human resource The extend to which bureaucracy is selected or still accounts for a vital space in organizational activities

Conclusion Raise awareness of bureaucracy in KIFs against common academic beliefs The idea of selective bureaucracy The difficult position to be against the world Provide clear points of literatures and trends

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