Rule regimes and backstage processes: Organizing production and justice*

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Tropea, Joseph L.^a | Sterniczuk, Henryk^b

Affiliations: [a] Dept. of Sociology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA | [b] University of New Brunswick, Division of Administration, Saint John, Canada

Note: [*] The paper has been presented at the Annual Conference of the Academy of Management, New Orleans, August 1987.

Abstract: This article argues that ‘backstage’ processes and rules are deep-seated organizational phenomena. They provide guides for organizational actors who, in ‘real-life’ situations, face dilemmas in implementing official rule regimes. Cases from Polish industry and criminal justice systems in the United States provide a comparative approach in illustrating how these backstage processes – socio-political and negotiated exchange – overcome the rule-imposed dilemmas of bounded rationality and insufficient exclusivity.

Keywords: Rational domination, rule regimes, backstage processes and rules, rule system theory, bounded rationality, insufficient exclusivity, rule-produced dilemmas, socio-political processes, negotiated exchange, bargaining

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-1988-7308

Journal: Human Systems Management, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 243-251, 1988