Styhre Alexander. The Innovative Bureaucracy

Routledge, 2007. — 246 p. — ISBN 0-203-96433-0.Bureaucracy has been largely criticized throughout much organization theory and management literature, having been seen as inefficient and incapable of being able to respond to external changes. Contrariwise, Alexander Styhre argues that an empirical study of bureaucracy underlines the merits of a functional organization, the presence of specialist and expertise groups and hierarchical structures. Styhre examines the literature of bureaucracy and the new forms of postbureaucratic organization and shows that the discourse on bureaucracy includes a number of competing and complementing themes. His two empirical studies, of the Volvo Car Corporation and AstraZeneca, offer affirmative views of bureaucracy and a final chapter, drawing on the bio-philosophy of Henri Bergson, presents a vitalist model of bureaucracy, capable of both apprehending its functional organization and its continuous and ongoing modifications and changes to adapt to external conditions. This book will be of great use to advanced students of organization and management theory, seeking alternative views and perspectives on bureaucracy and its relative merits. It will also be of considerable interest to managerial strategists and decision-makers world wide.