ABSTRACT
Most of the models in this book deal with hierarchical organisations in which authority is clearly defined and, for the most part, centralised. Typically, hierarchical organisations undertake routine operations in which the bulk of the workforce is expected to perform the same activities or groups of activities repeatedly. One of the main goals of these organisations is therefore to restrain people from exercising their individual judgement, since deviations from routine patterns may disrupt the entire flow of work. Hierarchy and centralisation are inappropriate, however, when there is a substantial amount of uncertainty present in the production process. If producers must frequently make complex choices, even instruction books may be inadequate and the use of a rule-based Weberian bureaucracy (Weber 1946, 1947) becomes impractical.
