In their classic paper published in 1992, sociologists Stephen Barley and Gideon Kunda demonstrated that management ideology has oscillated between normative and rational control for over a century, in phases of approximately 30 years.

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The real issue, Usdin suggests, is the tension between whistleblowers who can play a critical role when there is genuine malfeasance and the possibility of junior scientists, motivated by ideology, money or both, trying to circumvent the legitimate responsibility of senior management to make final decisions.

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