Operating Rules in Organizations: Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Analyses

195 Pages·2002·0.865 MB·English

by  Bénédicte Reynaud (auth.)

Operating Rules in Organizations
Also by Bénédicte Reynaud
LE SALAIRE, LE RÈGLE ET LE MARCHÉ
LES THÉORIES DU SALAIRE
LES LIMITES DE LA RATIONALITÉ: Les Figures du Collectif
Operating Rules in
Organizations
Macroeconomic and Microeconomic
Analyses
Bénédicte Reynaud
Research Director, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
CNRS–Cepremap, Paris
© Bénédicte Reynaud 2002
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2002 978-0-333-75441-2
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First published 2002 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-41328-7 ISBN 978-1-4039-1442-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781403914422
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reynaud, Bénédicte.
Operating rules in organizations/Bénédicte Reynaud.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Industrial management. 2. Industrial organization. 3. Industrial
management – France – Case studies. 4. Atelier de maintenance des
équipements électroniques (Régie autonome des transports parisiens)
I. Title.
HD31 .R4694 2002
330’.01–dc21 2002074833
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02
To Jean-Louis
‘Rules do not follow from an act of comprehension.’
—Ludwig Wittgenstein,Wittgenstein’s Lectures, Cambridge
1932–5
Contents
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xiii
Acknowledgements xv
List of Acronyms xvii
General Introduction 1
1 Trust and the Wage Relationship 9
The difficulty of establishing trust: the problem of
intentions 10
Codes and the establishment of trust 14
The conditions for stabilizing trust 19
Conclusion 23
2 Wage Disindexation in France and the
Incompleteness of the Employment Contract 25
The credibility of the disindexation of wages relative
to prices 26
Rules as instruments of disindexation 33
Conclusion 43
3 The Introduction of a Wage Bonus in a Workshop
of the Paris Métro 45
An interpretative rule 46
Transforming an interpretative rule into a
‘ready-to-use rule’ 50
Conclusion 60
4 Following the Rules: Definition and Practical
Implications 61
The incompleteness and plurality of rules 62
Routines in evolutionary literature 68
vii
viii Contents
Routines and ‘the void at the heart of rules’ 74
Conclusion 78
5 How Rules Operate in Practice: The Team
Productivity Bonus, Productivity and Work
Quality at AME, 1992–2000 79
The slowdown in labour productivity following the
introduction of the team productivity bonus 80
The comparability of the teams 82
EK1: maximizing the bonus through amendments
to the team contract 87
EK3: from maximization of WOUs to the forward-
looking management of debt sheets 98
The micromechanics team: guaranteeing 50 per cent
of the maximum bonus 105
Conclusion 112
6 Rules, Routines and Habitus 117
A critique of the mechanistic concept of rules 117
The interpretation of rules and the power of custom
and practice 122
‘Rule-following’ and the construction of strategies
for applying rules 127
Conclusion 132
Notes 135
Annex A-1: The AME Teams in 1992 143
Annex A-2: The DEC Agreement 145
Annex A-3: The Minimum and Maximum DEC Ratios 149
Annex B-1: The Levels of Maintenance in the AME 151
Annex C-1: EK1: Regressions Between Debt Levels and
Fault Recurrence Rates 153
Annex C-2: EK1: Number of Amendments Concluded
between 1992 and 2000 155
Annex C-3: Content of Amendments Negotiated by EK1 157
Annex C-4: All EK1 Amendments Relate to DEC in t–1 161
Annex C-5: Content of Amendments Negotiated by EK3 163
Contents ix
Annex C-6: Evolution of the Fault Recurrence Rate and of
the Minimum and Maximum DEC Thresholds (EK3) 165
Annex C-7: EK3: Regressions Between Labour Productivity
and Debts 167
Annex C-8: Regressions in the Micromechanics Team 169
Annex C-9: Amendments Negotiated by the Micromechanics Team 171
Annex C-10: Chronology of Changes to Coefficients and Other
Parameters Affecting Productivity 173
Annex C-11: Evolution of Labour Productivity in Volume Terms 177
Bibliography 179
Index of Names 189
Index of Subjects 191