Control of Workflow in Organizations: Perspectives from Markets, Hierarchies, and Collectives

Abstract

Three types of control bases, namely, dependence, routinization, and collaboration, are identified as means of controlling workflow in organizations. These bases are seen to reflect the dominant methods of control used in market, bureaucratic, and collective organizations, respectively. It is hypothesized that the total amount of control bases available will lead to effective control, but as organizations will tend to economize upon control costs, it is also hypothesized that these three bases tend to be mutually exclusive. Other hypotheses suggest that the greater the complexity of a transaction the less likely that routinization, but the more likely collaboration, is used as a control base. These hypotheses are investigated in the setting of an aerospace research establishment where users of equipment have to link their activities with providers of technical services.