An archetypal approach to bureaucratic and post bureaucratic managements: the case study of a French public service establishment

Abstract

Under various influences, the public managers are often criticized because of their general incompetence, sometimes unproven. Beyond the considerations of ideology and the politician speeches, what could be the causes of this declared incompetence in public managers? Today, post-bureaucratic management practices can still be considered a recent occurrence in the domain of French public services. However, these practices keep raising a certain number of questions. Here, we explore bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic archetypes in public service enterprises. We want to know to what extent this cohabitation between two archetypes in a public service organisation affects the management system and the human resources system. How do the personnel feel about these changes? And what is the role played by organisational values? We undertook the case study of a French public service establishment. La Poste is undergoing a period of major reorganisation and reorientation and a significant upheaval of its traditional services and markets.