Bücher von Herbert Kaufman

The environment of modern organizations is so complex and volatile that we take for granted that organizational change is necessary for organizational survival. Yet the literature on organizations has for years described manifold obstacles to such change. First published in 1971, this book extracts from that literature and from experience a comprehensive yet concise overview of those barriers. Because these elements of the analysis are as valid now as when they were originally written, The Limits of Organizational Change is still widely read and cited nearly a quarter-century later.

"Death, taxes, and red tape. The inevitable trio no one can escape. That wry sense of reality colors Herbert Kaufman's classic study of red tape, the bureaucratic phenomenon that all of us have encountered in some form-from the confounding tax form filled out annually to the maddeningly time-consuming wait at the driver's license bureau.The complaints about red tape, Kaufman concedes, are legion. It's messy, it takes too long, it lacks local knowledge, it is out of date, it makes insane demands, it increases costs, it slows progress. It is, in short, a burden and many times there is no measurable positive outcome.Kaufman takes us on an unblinking tour of the dismal landscape of red tape. But he also shows us another side of red tape, one we often forget. Red tape is how government protects us from tainted food, shoddy products, and unfair labor practices. It guarantees a social safety net for the elderly, the disabled, children, veterans, and victims of natural disasters. One person's red tape is another person's protection.This reissue is a Brookings Classic, a series of republished books for readers to revisit or discover, notable works by the Brookings Institution Press."

Most of the people who keep tabs on the workings of the federal government, no matter what the reasons for their interest, seem to take for granted the power and autonomy of the chiefs of the bureaus that make up the executive branch.