The Bureaucratic Competency: A Source of Power? An Exploration of International Organizations Staff Through the Notion of Competency in Organizational Sociology

Abstract

Bureaucratic competency arises from an approach combining a concept from organizational sociology (functional competency by Crozier) and a research in political science on individual competency in international organization (IO). The article shows that IO agents must master areas of uncertainty inherent in the career in IOs. To deal with this, they develop a multi-form bureaucratic skill. The analysis of this competency reveals individual strategies, far from a vision of competency as a collective resource for IOs.