Organisational dehumanisation: Authority as remedy

Abstract

According to orthodoxy, the human relations movement was a watershed in rehumanising scientifically managed workplaces. In the wake of such purported reform, pundits (theorists and practitioners alike) have typically taken for granted that 21st century approaches to workplace superintendence, birthed in the wake of the Hawthorne Studies and refined with the rise of human resource management, exemplify the enlightened path. However, and paradoxically, it has recently been observed that organisational dehumanisation is on the rise. In this article, the case is made that a distinctive form of authority, flowing from Carl Friedrich's view of the construct, provides insight into why organisational dehumanisation occurs and, from a practical perspective, what employers can do about it. In making this case, it is shown that 21st century employment arrangements have not, as is often argued, entirely jettisoned dehumanising aspects of superintendence which have origins in classical‐era management theory.