The rise of the ‘network organisation’ and the decline of discretion

This article explores the implications of `networked¿ and `flexible¿ organisations for the work and skills of professionals. Drawing on material from four different case studies it reviews work that is out-sourced (IT professionals and housing benefit caseworkers), work done by teachers contracted to a temporary employment agency and work done through an inter-firm network (chemical production workers). In each of these cases work that was out-sourced was managed very differently to that which was undertaken in-house, with managerial monitoring replacing and reducing employees¿ discretion. New staff in these networks had fewer skills when hired and were given access to a narrower range of skills than their predecessors. By contrast, the production staff employed on permanent contracts in the inter-firm network were given (and took) significant amounts of responsibility, with positive results for both their skills and the work processes. Despite these results, out-sourcing and sub-contracting are a far more common means of securing flexibility than organisational collaboration and the implications of this for skills is considered.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10454/2210

Version

Accepted manuscript

Citation

Grugulis C I, Vincent S and Hebson G (2003) The rise of the ‘network organisation’ and the decline of discretion. Human Resource Management Journal. 13( 2): 45-59.

Link to Version of Record

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-8583.2003.tb00090.x

Type

Article