ABSTRACT
The introduction of the new public management, as well as other factors, means that these organizations are now being judged in terms of quantifiable parameters. It may not come as a surprise that, under these circumstances, or so Watson argues, managers are often ‘pressured to be technical experts, devising rational and emotionally neutral systems and structures to “solve problems”, “make decisions”, “run the business”’ (Watson 1994: 13). They are encouraged to view the organization as ‘organized’ in a traditional way, that is, as the static outcome of a determined plan, at least for the time being. Despite the flexibility of the current streamlining, the managers are to make ‘it’ work and to make sure that ‘it’ reaches its targets as intended. Accordingly, and in a manner of speaking, the organization can be treated as a machine.
