It is still about bureaucracy in German faculties

Abstract One of the main discussions in higher education is whether universities have appropriately adapted their structures and processes response to New Public Management (NPM) reforms Bologna Process. There are no profound empirical investigations on extent which faculties take elements into account terms administrative organizational structure dimensions according bureaucracy approach. This article examines how German faculty managers perceive bureaucratization by evaluating dimensions. For this, we interpret interviews with 16 experts through qualitative content analysis extract in-depth manifestations these Our results show that formalization, standardization, specialization, configuration, internal support functions, team self-coordination, (de)centralization reflect NPM perception staff. These complemented decoupling mechanisms, i.e., discrepancies between formal common practice, hinder reform implementation. Besides, identify post-NPM approaches like network governance neo-Weberianism supplementing We highlight (dys)functional effects assessing them criteria effectiveness. foster a deeper understanding organization demonstrating levels using examples interviewed persons.