It has been argued that bureaucratic strategies are less effective for organizations operating in turbulent environments. This is particularly true for many volatile high-tech companies that have forsaken bureaucratic structures in favor of more flexible strategies. In this article, a case study of a high-tech firm suggests that the effects of turbulence are paradoxical. Turbulence can enhance the appeal of bureaucracy as well as make it difficult for firms to operate according to bureaucratic principles. The study's findings identify the major factors that were associated with the adoption of a bureaucratic structure by this firm. In addition, the problems encountered by firms choosing bureaucracy are identified and discussed. It is recommended that future research focus on the implications of internal expertise for firms' abilities to resist inappropriate bureaucratization.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aldrich, H.
(1979). Organization and environment. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
2.
Althauser, R.
(1989). Internal labor markets. Annual Review of Sociology, 15, 143-161.
3.
Attewell, P.
(1986). Imperialism within complex organizations. Sociological Theory, 4, 115-125.
4.
Attewell, P.
(1990). What is skill? Work and Occupations, 17, 422-447.
5.
Baron, J. N.
, & Bielby, W. T. (1980). Bringing the firm back in: Stratification, segmentation, and the organization of work. American Sociological Review, 45, 737-765.
6.
Barrett, G. V.
, & Doverspike, D. (1989, March). Another defense of point-factor job evaluation. Personnel, 69, 33-36.
7.
Bell, D.
(1979). The social framework of the information society. In M. L. Dertouzos & J. Moses (Eds.), The computer age: A twenty-year view (pp. 163-211). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
8.
Bellak, A. O.
(1984). The Hay guide chart-profile method of job evaluation. Philadelphia: HayGroup.
9.
Blau, P. M.
(1970). A formal theory of differentiation in organizations. American Sociological Review, 35, 201-218.
10.
Blau, P. M.
(1972). Interdependence and hierarchy in organizations. Social Science Research, 1, 1-24.
11.
Burgan, J. U.
(1985, May). Cyclical behavior of high-tech industries. Monthly Labor Review, 129(5), 9-15.
12.
Cameron, K. S.
, Kim, M. U., & Whetton, D. A. (1987). Organizational effects of decline and turbulence. Administrative Science Quarterly, 32, 222-240.
13.
Candrilli, A. J.
, & Armagast, R. D. (1987, January). The case for effective point-factor job evaluation: Point 2. Personnel, 64, 33-36.
14.
Carruthers, B. G.
, & Espeland, W. (1991). Accounting for rationality: Double-entry bookkeeping and the rhetoric of economic rationality. American Journal of Sociology, 97, 31-69.
15.
Child, J.
(1972). Organization structure and strategies of control: A replication of the Aston study. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, 163-177.
16.
Daft, R. L.
(1995). Organization theory and design (5th ed.). St. Paul, MN: West.
17.
Davis, S. M.
, & Lawrence, P. R. (1977). Matrix. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
18.
DiMaggio, P. J.
, & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48, 147-160.
19.
Du Gay, P.
(1994). Colossal immodesties and hopeful monsters: Pluralism and organizational conduct. Organization, 1, 125-148.
20.
Emery, F. E.
, & Trist, E. L. (1965). The causal texture of organizational environments. Human Relations, 18, 21-32.
21.
Fligstein, N.
, & Dauber, K. (1989). Structural change in corporate organization. Annual Review of Sociology, 15, 73-96.
22.
Gibbs, W. W.
(1994, September). Software's chronic crisis. Scientific American, 271, 86-91, 93-95.
23.
Gomez-Mejia, L.
, & Balkin, D. B. (1985, December). Managing a high-tech venture. Personnel, 62, 31-36.
24.
Gomez-Mejia, L.
, Balkin, D. B., & Welbourne, T. M. (1990). Influence of venture-capitalists on high-tech management. High-Technology Management Research, 1, 103-118.
25.
Gouldner, A. W.
(1954). Patterns of industrial bureaucracy. New York: Free Press.
26.
Gresov, C.
(1989). Exploring fit and misfit with multiple contigencies. Administrative Science Quarterly, 34, 431-453.
27.
Hall, R. H.
(1996). Organizations: Structures, processes and outcomes. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
28.
Heydebrand, W. V.
(1989). New organizational forms. Work and Occupations, 16, 323-357.
29.
Hilbert, R. A.
(1987). Bureaucracy as belief, rationalization as repair: Max Weber in a post-functionalist age. Sociological Theory, 5, 70-86.
30.
Hodson, R.
(1988). Good jobs and bad management: How new problems evoke old solutions in high-tech settings. In G. Farkas & P. England (Eds.), Industries, Finns, and Jobs (pp. 247-279). New York: Plenum.
31.
Hodson, R.
, & Parker, R. E. (1988). Work in high technology settings. Research in the Sociology of Work, 4, 1-29.
32.
Jacky, J.
(1989, September/October). Programmed for disaster. The Sciences, 29, 22-27.
33.
Jaques, E.
(1990, January/February). In praise of hierarchy. Harvard Business Review, 68(1), 127-133.
34.
Kanter, R. M.
(1989). Becoming PALS: Pooling, allying and linking across companies. Academy of Management Executive, 111, 183-193.
35.
Kaplan, R. S.
(1984). Yesterday's accounting undermines production. Harvard Business Review, 4, 95-101.
36.
Kaufman, R. L.
, Parcel, T. L., Wallace, M., & Form, W. (1988). Looking forward: Responses to organizational and technological change in an ultra-high-technology firm. Research in the Sociology of Work, 4, 31-67.
37.
Kleingartner, A.
, & Anderson, C. S. (Eds.). (1987). Human resource management in high technology firms (5th ed.). Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.
38.
Kunda, G.
(1992). Engineering culture: Control and commitment in a high-tech corporation. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
39.
Lawler, E. E.
(1987, January). What's wrong with point-factor evaluation. Personnel, 64, 38-44.
40.
Levitt, B.
, & March, J. (1988). Organizational learning. Annual Review of Sociology, 14, 319-340.
41.
March, J. G.
, & Simon, H. A. (1958). Organizations. New York: John Wiley.
42.
Meyer, J. W.
, & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340-363.
43.
Milkovich, G. T.
(1987). Compensation systems in high-technology companies. In A. Kleingartner & C. S. Anderson (Eds.), Human resources management in high-technology firms (pp. 103-114). Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.
44.
Miller, G. A.
(1987). Meta-analysis and the culture-free hypothesis. Organization Studies, 8, 309-326.
45.
Mintzberg, H.
(1979). The structuring of organizations: A synthesis of the research. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
46.
Morgan, G.
(1986). Images of organization. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
47.
Mowday, R. T.
, Porter, L. W., & Steers, R. M. (1982). Employee organization linkages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism and turnover. New York: Academic Press.
48.
Oakey, R.
(1984). High technology small firms: Regional development in Britain and the United States. London: Francis Pinter.
49.
Osterman, P.
(1987). Choice of employment systems in internal labor markets. Industrial Relations, 26, 46-67.
50.
Perrow, C.
(1970). Organizational analysis: A sociological view. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
51.
Perrow, C.
(1986). Complex organizations: A critical essay (3rd. ed.). New York: Random House.
52.
Pfeffer, J.
(1983). Organizational demography. Research in Organizational Behavior, 5, 299-357.
53.
Pfeffer, J.
, & Salancik, G. (1978). The external control of organizations. New York: Harper.
54.
Plachy, R.
(1987). The case for effective point-factor evaluation. Personnel, 26, 30-32.
55.
Price, J. L.
(1989). The impact of turnover on the organization. Work and Occupations, 16, 461-473.
56.
Pugh, D. S.
, Hickson, D. J., Hinings, C. R., & Turner, C. (1968). Dimensions of organizational structure. Administrative Science Quarterly, 13, 65-105.
57.
Pugh, D. S.
, Hickson, D. J., Hinings, C. R., & Turner, C. (1969). The context of organizational structures. Administrative Science Quarterly, 14, 91-114.
58.
Richards, E.
(1990-1991, December 31-January 6). A system on overload. The Washington Post National Weekly Edition, pp. 6-8.
59.
Roberts, E. B.
, & Berry, C. A. (1987). Entering new businesses. In E. B. Roberts (Ed.), Generating technological innovation (pp. 177-199). New York: Oxford.
60.
Romberg, R. V.
(1986, August). Performance appraisal 1: Risks and rewards. Personnel, 20-26.
61.
Rosson, P. J.
, & Martin, M.J.C. (1985). Managing the high technology firm: Four Canadian electronics cases. In B. W. Mar, W. T. Newell, & B. O. Saxberg (Eds.), Managing high technology: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 57-74). New York: North Holland.
62.
Schellenberg, K. (1991). The pendulum swings: A case study of high-tech turbulence and turnover. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Utah.
63.
Schellenberg, K.
(1996). Taking it or leaving it: Instability and turnover in a high-tech firm. Work and Occupations, 23, 190-213.
64.
Scott, W. R.
(1995). Institutions and organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
65.
Sitkin, S. B.
, & Bies, R. J. (1993). The legalistic organization: Definitions, dimensions and dilemmas. Organization Science, 4, 345-351.
66.
Steinberg, R. J.
(1992). Gendered instructions: Cultural lag and gender bias in the Hay system of job evaluation. Work and Occupations, 19, 387-423.
67.
Stewman, S.
(1986). Demographic models of internal labor markets. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31, 212-247.
68.
Stinchcombe, A. L.
, & Heimer, C. A. (1988). Interorganizational relations and careers in computer software firms. Research in the Sociology of Work, 4, 179-204.
69.
Thompson, J. D.
(1967). Organizations in action. New York: McGraw-Hill.
70.
Tushman, M.
, & Anderson, P. (1986). Technological discontinuities and organizational environments. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31, 439-465.
71.
Virany, B.
, Tushman, M. L., & Romanelli, E. (1992). Executive succession and organization outcomes in turbulent environments: An organization learning approach. Organization Science, 3, 72-91.
72.
Whalley, P.
(1986). The social production of technical work. New York: State University of New York Press.
73.
Zenger, T. R.
(1992). Why do employers only reward extreme performance? Examining the relationship among performance, pay, and turnover. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37, 198-219.
