Tasks with clear outputs fit bureaucracy better than ambiguous, people-intensive work.
Wilson's 1989 typology of production, procedural, craft and coping agencies. Its practical claim is that measurable-output agencies can be managed by targets and the others cannot.
In practice
- A licensing agency can be judged on turnaround times; a diplomatic service given the same treatment reports on meetings held.
- A refuse service can be run on metrics; a child protection service run the same way produces the metrics and not the protection.