Rainer Kattel and Errki Karo write,
we can argue that the history of innovative public sector organizations starts from a Weber Type I organization that is dynamic, innovates often in policies and regulations, and resides outside of typical government operations, and then moves then to a Weber Type II organization that is professional, and centrally governed with substantial funding and policy means.
Pointer from Alberto Mingardi. The entire post is interesting.
I think that it is natural for organizations, particularly in business, to take more risks early in their life cycle. When you are just starting out, the upside of a gamble is more important than downside. When you are established, the reverse holds. Within an organization, a major purpose of bureaucratic rules and habits is to tamp down on risk taking. For the most part, this is a good thing.
For my part, I’ve observed that the kind of people and ‘corporate cultures’ that build the original foundation of organizational capital are very different from the kinds that maintain it after the original establishment, and eventually take over the institution. I think this is an important part of the mechanism behind Conquest’s Second Law. Eventually most organization get handed off to new professional managerial bureaucrats who conform to the latest zeitgeist.