Comply while keeping your autonomy, or the art of managing paradox through dialogue
| Published date | 01 December 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00208523231158244 |
| Author | Aurélien Ragaigne |
| Date | 01 December 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Comply while keeping your
autonomy, or the art of
managing paradox through
dialogue
Aurélien Ragaigne
CREM, University of Rennes, France
Abstract
Our paper analyses the role of dialogue in managing the autonomy and compliance para-
dox within a public authority. The literature on paradoxes presents management as
being characterised by the coexistence of contradictory elements. We propose to
build on this work by drawing on the literature on the concept of ‘dialogue’. By focusing
on the case of a French Departmental Council that set up a procedure to manage travel
authorisations for its staff, we study the way in which the dialogue between stakeholders
ensured both the application of the framework prescribed by the procedure and the
autonomy of the management teams when it came to managing these rules on the
ground. Using a longitudinal analysis methodology combining semi-directive interviews
and observations of working group meetings, we show that this space for dialogue pro-
vides an important opportunity for a face-off between the demands for compliance and
autonomy and their further evolution.
Points for practitioners
The research raises awareness among public managers of the importance of establishing
forums as a way of managing the complementarity of the logics of autonomy and com-
pliance. Discussion offers opportunities to explore together the different possibility of
management. Our paper thus underlines the importance of the art of interaction and
discussion between the stakeholders, by creating opportunities for brainstorming and
convergence.
Corresponding author:
Aurélien Ragaigne, University of Rennes, CNRS, CREM UMR6211, F 35000 Rennes, France.
Email: aurelien.ragaigne@univ-rennes1.fr
Article
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
2023, Vol. 89(4) 1116–1130
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/00208523231158244
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