Orthodox or Heterodox Modernization of the Support Services: Is Standardization the Best Way?[Modernisation publique orthodoxe ou hétérodoxe : faut-il standardiser les fonctions support ?]

The creation of shared services centers (SSC) represents one of the most typical and recent forms of modernization. Originating from classical industrial management principles, SSC aim to extract the support functions which are dispersed among operational services, to use enterprise resource planning systems (ERPs), and to install the new specialized agencies in dedicated workplaces. At the French Ministry of Justice, our observation during a ten-month period showed that SSC are planned as a way to standardize work practices and tools. But existing work practices were gained from a long term accumulation of experiences. According to the participants, replacing those practices with imposed standardized procedures would cause performance losses. Encouraged by the project management team, they struggled to conserve specific tools and methods. In addition to that, SSC adapted to prior embryonic forms of shared services. Facing counter dynamics and different contexts, different forms of shared services emerged. Contrary to institutional discourses, standardization does not lead to uniformed reality, and therefore does not allow the wanted return on investment. For public managers, it means that other ways are possible for modernization, less orthodox, and less risky.