Bureaucracies remember, post-bureaucratic organizations forget?
By: Pollitt, Christopher
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ArticlePublisher: Malden : Wiley-Blackwell, June 2009Public Administration: An International Quarterly 87, 2, p. 198-218Abstract: The paper examines the hypothesis that post-bureaucratic forms of organization perform less well than traditional bureaucracies with respect both to organizational memory and learning from experience. First, the paper discusses the meanings of the main terms and concepts to be used in the argument, and delimits its domain. Second, it identifies a series of mechanisms that are likely to bring about memory loss. Third, it examines the empirical literature in search of evidence to confirm or disconfirm the existence and effects of these mechanisms. Fourth, it reflects on its own limitations. Finally, it sets out some broad conclusions concerning the state of organizational memories in the public sector. The aim is to develop new theory, identify relevant generative mechanisms, set this model alongside such evidence as is available, and suggest lines for further research.
The paper examines the hypothesis that post-bureaucratic forms of organization perform less well than traditional bureaucracies with respect both to organizational memory and learning from experience. First, the paper discusses the meanings of the main terms and concepts to be used in the argument, and delimits its domain. Second, it identifies a series of mechanisms that are likely to bring about memory loss. Third, it examines the empirical literature in search of evidence to confirm or disconfirm the existence and effects of these mechanisms. Fourth, it reflects on its own limitations. Finally, it sets out some broad conclusions concerning the state of organizational memories in the public sector. The aim is to develop new theory, identify relevant generative mechanisms, set this model alongside such evidence as is available, and suggest lines for further research.
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