Robotic Bureaucracy: Administrative Burden and Red Tape in University Research

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bozeman, Barry; Youtie, Jan
• 署名单位: Arizona State University; Arizona State University-Tempe; Arizona State University; Arizona State University-Tempe; University System of Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology; University System of Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3352
• DOI: 10.1111/puar.13105
• 发表日期: 2020
• 页码: 157-162
• 关键词: user satisfaction

摘要

This Viewpoint essay examines university research administration and the use of software systems that automate university research grants and contract administration, including the automatic sending of emails for reporting and compliance purposes. These systems are described as robotic bureaucracy. The rise of regulations and their contribution to administrative burden on university research have led university administrators to increasingly rely on robotic bureaucracy to handle compliance. This article draws on the administrative burden, behavioral public administration, and electronic communications and management literatures, which are increasingly focused on the psychological and cognitive bases of behavior. These literatures suggest that the assumptions behind robotic bureaucracy ignore the extent to which these systems shift the burden of compliance from administrators to researchers.