Process Management, Red Tape and the Frankenstein Parable

Rainer Erne 08.12.2019

One of the risks of Process Management is to be found in Red Tape.

The term "red tape" has been chosen deliberately instead of the term "bureaucracy". The latter one has been coined by Max Weber in order to describe froms of legal and rational power - opposite to forms of power which are legitimised by tradition or charism (Weber 1980). By "red tape" we denote ineffective rules not fulfilling their original intentiions and/or inefficient rules involving high efforts for complying (Wegmann & Cunningham 2010).

How does "red tape" emerge? According to our perspective and experience by overemphasising processes and neglecting process management. If process rules are not tested diligently prior to their implementation and not evaluated, revised and also discarded after their implementation, they continue to exist largely untouched. With repect to a large number of regulations especially in big organisations, for example, nobody is able to disclose why a "fourfold check" or an overwhelming flood of documents for travel allowances or travelling compensations is being carried out. "Due to an audit" may be frequently the answer stemming rather from helplessness and frustration.

Since it seems to be extremely difficult to discard process regulations as soons as they have been implemented it may be more effective to keep a strict "diet" in institutionalising general rules, at least in big organisations. In other words, "an insufficient number of rules" is a forgivable, "far too many rules" a cardinal sin in Process Management.

A parable to the described penomenon ist to be found in Mary W. Shelley's novel "Frankenstein or The modern Prometheus" written in 1818 (Shelley 2018). In this novel, Viktor Frankenstein develops with his best intentions, namely creating life, a "creature". Said "creature" escapes instantly from the realm of governance of it's creator and causes a lot of harm. A "creature", once created, develops an independent existence in social contexts and can hardly be revoked. This parable can also be applied for Process management in modern, large organisations.

Literature:
Shelley, M.W. (2017) Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. New Jersey, J.P. Piper
Weber M. (2013) Economy and Society. Berkely, University of California
Wegmann,M. & Cunningham, S. (2010) Reducing red tape: a facilitation and management manual. Eschborn, GTZ