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Understanding hierarchy in contemporary work
Lund Univ, Dept Business Adm, Sch Econ & Management, Lund, Sweden.
Lund Univ, Dept Business Adm, Sch Econ & Management, Lund, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5320-6155
Lund Univ, Dept Business Adm, Sch Econ & Management, Lund, Sweden.
2012 (English)In: Reinventing hierarchy and bureaucracy - from the bureau to network organizations / [ed] Diefenbach, T By, RT, Emerald , 2012, p. 113-140Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

The chapter aims to bring out the dynamic nature or hierarchy in organizations and presents a conceptual framework for making sense of hierarchy in contemporary work. We describe hierarchy as the result of a contradictory dynamic that incorporates both vertical and horizontal practices of organizing. The vertical practice, verticalization, draws on and reproduces the formal organization, whereas the horizontal practice, horizontalization, orders people on the basis of their knowledge and initiatives. The dynamic between these two practices varies, we argue, depending on the social and epistemic distance of formal managers' from the operative work process. Three different dynamics between verticalization and horizontalization - loose coupling, translation, and integration - are identified and illustrated, drawing on three ethnographically inspired studies of knowledge work. Through these three dynamics, the chapter casts light on and provides nuances to the current discussion in the literature on postbureaucracy.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Emerald , 2012. p. 113-140
Series
Research in the Sociology of Organizations, ISSN 0733-558X ; 35
Keywords [en]
Hierarchy, postbureaucracy, knowledge work, vertical and horizontal practices, managers, subordinates
National Category
Business Administration
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-80306DOI: 10.1108/S0733-558X(2012)0000035007ISI: 000319938800005ISBN: 978-1-78052-782-6 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-80306DiVA, id: diva2:2010759
Available from: 2025-11-03 Created: 2025-11-03 Last updated: 2025-11-03Bibliographically approved

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Rennstam, Jens

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  • apa
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  • nn-NB
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