The “bandmaster” at the risk of the “man-orchestra”: project managers in the paradoxical individualization of collective work
Bataille, Nicolas
The “bandmaster” at the risk of the “man-orchestra”: project managers in the paradoxical individualization of collective work - 2021.
80
Project-based organizations promote discussion and adaptation as organizational principles. They thus place project managers, who are local managers dedicated to the coordination of groups, at the heart of the system. However, an ethnographic survey reveals that they are becoming “one-man bands” rather than “conductors”. This article shows how the “project” logic leads to contradictory effects, due to compromises with the industrial and commercial logics of the company, that are handled by the project managers. A double pressure from the front office and the back office makes them assume individually a work thought to be collective. Undergoing an intensification of work, they contribute to its horizontal diffusion among the employees.
The “bandmaster” at the risk of the “man-orchestra”: project managers in the paradoxical individualization of collective work - 2021.
80
Project-based organizations promote discussion and adaptation as organizational principles. They thus place project managers, who are local managers dedicated to the coordination of groups, at the heart of the system. However, an ethnographic survey reveals that they are becoming “one-man bands” rather than “conductors”. This article shows how the “project” logic leads to contradictory effects, due to compromises with the industrial and commercial logics of the company, that are handled by the project managers. A double pressure from the front office and the back office makes them assume individually a work thought to be collective. Undergoing an intensification of work, they contribute to its horizontal diffusion among the employees.
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