They are functionaries dealing with customers and the public. Police and teachers are prime examples. We can add bank and post employees, front office staff in hospitals and public utility concerns.
Since they deal with a variety of situations, they have to solve problems, react on the spot. They are mostly on their own. They are the final representatives of their respective organizations. It is not possible to anticipate and prepare for everything they are going to face on the ground. Therefore they enjoy a degree of autonomy.
This is a formulation by the labour economist Michael Piore. What are its implications and what change do they lead to in organizational design?
I do not know. Need to think more about this.
However, reading about street level bureaucrats was nice. I used to experience a peculiar kind of fatigue while dealing with students. The variety of human minds I encountered was baffling. Before I developed a deadpan expression and a brusque approach, I used to be conscious of judgmental errors: unnecessarily tough with unknown good students and giving in to false students who cultivated charm.
No teacher talked about it. So reading Piore was a relief.
