Parkinson's Law Revisited

Episodes

First
Broadcast
RepeatedComments
20130617

Does work expand to fill the time available for its completion? Do bureaucracies bloat of their own accord? These are some of the insights offered by Cyril Northcote Parkinson whose essay "Parkinson's Law" made him a famous commentator on organisational structures in the 1950s. But Parkinson's Law might have more to offer us in a world where bureaucracies are being slimmed down, as Matthew Sweet discovers.

Matthew Sweet re-examines Parkinson's Law. Does work expand to fill the time allocated?

2013061720130728 (R4)

Does work expand to fill the time available for its completion? Do bureaucracies bloat of their own accord? These are some of the insights offered by Cyril Northcote Parkinson whose essay "Parkinson's Law" made him a famous commentator on organisational structures in the 1950s. But Parkinson's Law might have more to offer us in a world where bureaucracies are being slimmed down, as Matthew Sweet discovers.

Matthew Sweet re-examines Parkinson's Law. Does work expand to fill the time allocated?