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Chapter 2 Organizational structure, design, and bureaucracy: From control to flexibility – Web links
From small beginnings
In Section 2.2, some examples are given of how familiar, large-scale organizations grew from small beginnings. Some examples are:
Greggs the Bakers: https://www.greggs.co.uk/about
John Lewis Partnership: https://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/about/who-we-are/our-history.html
Brittany Ferries: https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/information/about/brittany-ferries
Aldi: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10343032/Aldi-a-history-of-the-low-cost-supermarket.html
Organization charts
See Section 2.3 Bureaucratic structure and hierarchy
This website will show the hierarchy for many large companies. There is a free membership whereby more detailed charts for 15 companies can be seen (see pages 32-8):
www.theofficialboard.com
Some examples of organization charts include:
British Army: https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/
Harvard University: https://oir.harvard.edu/fact-book/org_chart_central
Skoda: https://www.skoda-js.cz/en/organizational-structure/
Sony: https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/Data/organization.html
Job descriptions
See Section 2.3 Bureaucratic structure and hierarchy
For an example of job descriptions, the UK National Health Service (NHS) has a website with its current vacancies (www.jobs.nhs.uk). Click on any of the jobs and, scrolling towards the bottom, the job description is available amongst other documents supporting the application.
Red tape
See Section 2.8 Dysfunctions of bureaucracy
The UK government’s Red Tape challenge to identify and
minimize unnecessary red tape (mentioned on p. 47 ) can be seen
at:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20150522175321/http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/home/index/
Examples of where red tape gets in the way of people performing their work can be seen in a number of professions and areas of activity:
Post-Brexit red tape
Lorry drivers: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60161094
Farming and fisheries: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55887043
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/14/mps-fishing-areas-criticise-government-brexit-red-tape
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2021/mar/24/how-brexit-added-layers-bureaucracy-meat-exportshttps://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/westminster-news/daffodil-producers-hit-hard-by-brexit-rules-7845146
Small business: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/29/small-business-exports-fall-eu-survey-brexit
Charity and humanitarian aid: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/mar/09/brexit-red-tape-stopping-small-charities-getting-supplies-to-ukraine
Visas for Ukrainian
refugees
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/07/ukrainians-hampered-by-bureaucracy-from-reaching-safety-in-uk
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/08/ukrainian-family-describe-trauma-of-uk-visa-processing
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/14/a-humiliating-process-ukrainians-caught-in-red-tape-trying-to-reach-uk-relatives
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/20/homes-for-ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-beset-by-unworkable-bureaucracy
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/apr/16/robert-jenrick-criticises-uk-red-tape-taking-ukrainian-family
Health and social care
Munro, Eileen. (2011) The Munro Review of Child Protection. Department for Education, London. Available at: https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/CM%208062
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-10788737
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55516277
https://hbr.org/2017/10/bureaucracy-is-keeping-health-care-from-getting-better
Police and law enforcement
Berry, Jan. (2010) Reducing Bureaucracy in Policing. Home Office, London. Available at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/police/reducing-bureaucracy/reduce-bureaucracy-police
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10471566
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jul/27/kenneth-clarke-probation-service
Adams (2015)
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/9-10-teachers-say-job-has-adversely-impacted-mental-health
Dysfunctions of bureaucracy
See Section 2.8 Dysfunctions of bureaucracy
Jobsworth stories where officials have implemented rules that seem
petty, and where people have been punished for seemingly minor
infringements of the rules, often make the news. For example, in
2011 a pensioner with a disability in Nottinghamshire, UK, was
fined £35 for parking in a disabled parking bay with the
relevant accreditation badge displayed in the windscreen, but upside down (BBC News, 2011).
On one hand, the rules state that the badge must be legible. Following the rules to the letter, it was correct to issue the fine. However, the overall aim of the rules is to prevent people without the correct accreditation parking in a disabled bay. Here, we can interpret a mismatch between the spirit and aim of the rules, and their rigid implementation. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-13891422 for the full story.
The contemporary environment
In Section 2.9, the
changeable nature of the contemporary environment is discussed.
This video is from Peter Cheese, CEO of the Chartered Institute
for Personnel and Development, talking about how human resources
in organizations are affected by contemporary developments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsATNv2ZGgE
Matrix structures at CISCO
See Section 2.9 From bureaucracy to post-bureaucracy
CISCO’s experiments with organizational structures are
detailed in the following links:
http://www.centerod.com/2012/02/matrix-management/
http://www.economist.com/node/14303574
See also this article about matrix structures at Unilever: https://hbr.org/1992/09/inside-unilever-the-evolving-transnational-company