The ‘problem’ of the office
Scientific management, governmentality and the strategy of efficiency
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8420565 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ingrid Jeacle (0000-0002-0779-446X, University of Edinburgh, corresponding author), Lee D Parker (0000-0002-2335-6857, University of South Australia), Lee Parker |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 1074-1099 |
| Publication date | 2013-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Business History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-6791 • E-ISSN: 1743-7938 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00076791.2013.838034 |
| OpenAlex | W1965764933 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 55 |
The office is a ubiquitous feature of daily life. This paper examines a particularly important period in its history: the early decades of the twentieth century. Our contemporary conceptions of the routines conducted within this organizational form, or indeed the structure of the space which houses it, were significantly shaped during this era. Within this time frame, we witness the rise of the office skyscraper alongside the systematisation and rationalisation of office tasks. Drawing upon the instructional office manuals of the age, this paper seeks to provide a comprehensive review of the detailed dictates associated with the application of science and system to administrative routines. Further, by adopting a governmentality framework, the paper presents an alternative account of this significant period of historical transformation. Govermentality sets the initiatives of the individual office worker within the broader context of a national programme of efficiency. It links the actions of private enterprises with the priorities of the state. Such insights, we believe, shed further light on the forces which shape organizational strategy making and hence suggest the importance of a historically situated approach to understanding the concept of strategy
Context (archaeology · Governmentality · Political science · Professionalization · Public relations · Rationalisation · Situated · Social science · Sociology · State (computer science · Witness · Accounting and Organizational Management · Computer Science · History · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research
Strategy and Structure
Commercialization of Intimate Life
The Competitive Advantage of Nations
Control through Communication
The Visible Hand
All they lose is the scream’
Governmentality, power and organization
Bureaucratic Democracy
Systematic Management
Systematic Management
Railways and Scientific Management in Japan 1907–30
The Early Application of Scientific Management by Cadbury
The Emergence of a New Regime
Consultancies, Institutions and the Diffusion of Taylorism in Britain, Germany and France, 1920s to 1950s
Technological networks and industrial research in Britain
Becoming fully functional
Calculating failure
Productivity and patriotism
British business and the telephone, 1878–1911
The Treatment of Space and Place in the New Strategic Spatial Planning in Europe
Bringing Space Back in
Completing the Practice Turn in Strategy Research
Political power beyond the State
The Taylorized Beauty of the Mechanical. Scientific Management and the Rise of Modernist Architecture
Organizing Political Life
Light Manufacturing
Women, Work and the Office
Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation
Learning and Knowledge in an Office Workplace
Governing economic life
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,38 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2026 (14) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |