Automation and Bureaucratic Structure
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2207025 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marshall W Meyer (0009-0009-1317-5559, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1968 |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 256-264 |
| Publication date | 1968-11-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9602 • E-ISSN: 1537-5390 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/224639 |
| OpenAlex | W2093895744 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
Most studies of automation in organizations show its effects on human relations, but they neglect changes in formal organizational structure. Data from a study of 254 city, county, and state departments of finance show that the data-processing sections are quite different from other parts of organizations: they have more levels of hierarchy, a wider span of control for first-line supervisors, fewer employees under the direction of higher supervisors, and fewer supervisory responsibilities for members who are nomianlly in supervisory positions. These findings suggest that the consultant's role and horizontal channels of communications are institutionalized in automated organizations. The implications of these findings for classical organizational and human relations theories are discussed
Automation · Bureaucracy · Business · Control (management) · Economics · Hierarchy · Institutionalisation · Knowledge management · Management · Neglect · Organizational structure · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · State (computer science) · Complex Systems and Decision Making · Computer Science · Engineering · Information Systems Theories and Implementation · Management and Organizational Studies · Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1977 - 2023 (47) |
| Highly cited | No |