AN INCOMPLETE TRAJECTORY TOWARDS POST- BUREAUCRACY: THE CASE OF QUÉBEC UNIVERSITIES

Chloé Adler
Carole Lalonde
University Laval

ABSTRACT

This research is based on a synthesis of official reports produced by meta-stakeholders
from academia and aims to determine whether a pluralistic organization such as the university
may evolve towards a post-bureaucratic configuration. Based on the Québec experience, the
research design integrates the content analysis proposed by Schreier (2012) and the discursive
analysis (Keller, 2013) stemming from the configuration perspective of Greenwood and Hinings
(1988,1993). The results indicated that Québec universities have been progressively led to form a
configuration by sedimentation, combining the interpretative schemes of social democracy and
financial rationalization. In pluralistic organization, this cohabitation is difficult, indeed, fragile,
but necessary to establish a consensus on common principles to guide the university mission. The
evolution towards a post-bureaucratic configuration would require: a diversity of faculty profiles,
a renewal of the roles of local administrators and new partnerships with representatives of
industry. The constructivist perspective of configurations put forward by Greenwood and Hinings
is particularly suited to the comprehension of pluralistic organizations in which stakeholders with
potentially divergent views coexist. Finally, the research attempts to determine some conditions
leading to a post-bureaucratic configuration without disrupting the existing cohabitation.
Keywords: Pluralistic organization, Québec universities, Government, administrators, faculty, students