IESE Research Papers
No D/566:
The principle of subsidiarity in organizations. A case study
Domenec Mele ()
Abstract: The principle of subsidiarity holds that a larger and
greater body should not exercise functions which can be carried out
efficiently by one smaller and lesser, but rather the former should support
the latter and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the
whole community. According to some authors, businesses ought to be
considered as human communities and, consequently, the principle of
subsidiarity should be an ethical premise for designing business
organizations. However, this principle has rarely been applied to business
organizations as yet. This paper presents the bases and contents of the
principle of subsidiarity, and the ethical requirements for the design of
business organizations that flow from it. Subsidiarity is an ethical
framework for employee autonomy, initiative, entrepreneurial spirit, and
responsibility. It bears some similarities to the managerial concepts of
"decentralization" and "empowerment," but differs from them both in its
foundation and in its application. A case study of a medium-sized firm
describes an organizational change which takes the principle of
subsidiarity into account. Reflection on the subsidiarity principle and the
use of appropriate managerial tools proved successful in improving various
aspects of this organization. The paper concludes by presenting some
suggestions for effective implementation of the subsidiarity principle in
business organizations.
Keywords: subsidiarity; entrepreneurial spirit; empowerment; catholic social teaching; organizational design; (follow links to similar papers)
20 pages, September 3, 2004
Before downloading any of the electronic versions below
you should read our statement on
copyright.
Download GhostScript
for viewing Postscript files and the
Acrobat Reader for viewing and printing pdf files.
Full text versions of the paper:
DI-0566-E.pdf 
Download Statistics
Questions (including download problems) about the papers in this series should be directed to Silvia Jimenez ()
Report other problems with accessing this service to Sune Karlsson ()
or Björn Thodenius ().
Programing by
Design Joakim Ekebom
