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Defining the post\u2010bureaucratic organization as a hybrid form provides insight into the intrinsic difficulties involved in the refurbishment of large complex organizations. The purpose of this paper is to examine these difficulties empirically.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>The paper describes the case of an Australian public sector agency, subject to \u201ccorporatization\u201d \u2013 a metamorphosis from a strictly public sector outlook to one that was imputedly more commercial. It focuses on the transition from personnel management to strategic HRM in the HR function.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>A series of difficulties affected these changes: difficulties in inventing a new identity; differences in perception of that identity; organizational philosophy towards strategic HRM; unsuitability of extent networks; and identity conflicts. Two factors emerge as the core explanation for the difficulties encountered: the \u201cstickiness of identity\u201d and the difficulties associated with network development.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>The paper outlines the difficulties experienced in the putative \u201crefurbishment\u201d of a large public sector agency as it made its way to \u201ccorporatization\u201d.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/09534810610643686","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2006,6,29]],"date-time":"2006-06-29T22:57:10Z","timestamp":1151621830000},"page":"54-64","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":71,"title":["From bureaucratic to post\u2010bureaucratic: the difficulties of transition"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Emmanuel","family":"Josserand","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Stephen","family":"Teo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Stewart","family":"Clegg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2022012120480475100_b57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Allen, D.A., Freeman, D.M., Reizenstein, R.C. and Rentz, J.O. 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