Inflexible and overly bureaucratic

Hierarchies can become too inflexible and overly bureaucratic. The following clip from the movie “Catch 22” demonstrates how upper-level managers can embed policies into organizations with little considerations of their effects “downstream”.  As you watch this video, take some notes of examples you see of the following:

• Bureaucratic Behavior
• Rules, policies, and procedures
• Conflict between individual goals and management goals
• Means-ends inversion*

* Means-ends Inversion: the method of doing something becomes a goal in its own right, which displaces the end state (goal) that the method was supposed to achieve. wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/144/147825/WEBCH15.DOC.DOC

Case Assignment

View the following video:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yeGMaT3PvI

Read the following article about the limitations of hierarchy:

Cable, J. (2012). For innovation to flourish, “Bureaucracy must die”. (This is a PDF file so I can either e-mail or copy and paste to here)

After reading the above article, background material, and reviewing your notes on the video, consider the following questions:

• Are there examples of “bureaupathology” (excessively bureaucratic behavior) in this scene?
• What examples can you give?
• Are there conflicts between Yosarian’s personal goals and those of the hierarchy?
• Has the “means” displaced the desired ends (means-ends inversion)?
• What do you predict would be the effect of this situation on the ability of all parties involved to be flexible and respond to challenges in an innovative manner?

Now, write a 3- to 4-page paper discussing the film clip and the above questions.  A good way to organize your paper would be to divide it into the following sections:

1. Introduction that briefly describes the situation depicted in the clip.  (one paragraph)
2. A description of the rules and policies regarding the required number of missions and rotations, and why this is an example of bureaupathology.
3. How hierarchical decision-making can lead to means-ends inversion.
4. Commentary on a situation where you experienced means-ends inversion or excessive bureaucracy and how it affected your work, and your ability to be flexible and innovative in your approach to making decisions and solving problems.
5. A conclusion summarizing your main argument and suggesting one way that organizations can avoid the negative effects of hierarchy, and foster innovation.

Support your arguments with references to the background readings and use specific examples from the clip to illustrate your main points.