The Loose Coupling of Jobs

There are many changes under way in organizations and employment that pro-foundly affect the nature of society. Organizations are said to be increasingly knowledge-based (i.e., populated by highly educated and technically trained workers; Drucker, 1988), boundaryless (i.e., open and permeable; Hirschhorn and Gilmore 1992), interconnected (via partnerships, alliances, and networks; Hamel, Doz, and Prahalad 1989; Johnston and Lawrence 1988; Kanter 1989), engaged in customized production (the flexible organization; Piore and Sabel 1984), both global and diverse (Ohmae 1995; Reich 1991), and subject to continuous discontinuous change (Limerick and Cunnington 1993). In other words, organizational hierarchy is being dismantled and decoupled—“de-differentiated” according to Clegg (1990; see also Heckscher 1995). Furthermore, global enterprise webs spill out of formal organizational boundaries (Granovetter 1985; Miles and Snow 1986; Orton and Weick 1990; Reich 1991), creating new issues regarding accountability and evaluation. Limerick and Cunnington (1993); call this the “new” organization.

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