ServicePolice is a more harmful form of SubsidizedServicesDepartment. Both are OrganizationalPathologies.

Usually starting out as a SubsidizedServicesDepartment that delivers low-quality services, the department will notice the workarounds that people use to get things done in spite of the service department. When large enough in number, these workarounds threaten the existence of the service department: if people do it by themselves, why do we need a department for it? But ah! there you are wrong. The service department will argue to management that it is inefficient if everyone reinvents the wheel themselves. It is much more cost effective if a centralized department invents the wheel for the entire company. This sounds reasonable and the workarounds are forbidden by management: the ServicePolice is born.

The irony is that the argument that is used to create an OrganizationalPathology, actually makes sense. However, the hidden assumption is that the service department is able '''and motivated''' to deliver a range of high quality services that serve the company's needs. If they do, then there will be few need for workarounds, and these will therefore not be a threat. Instead, the service department could learn from them and use them to update its portfolio of services. Alas, a SubsidizedServicesDepartment will optimize on costs, not services, and workarounds will be a necessity.

Anecdotal evidence: "We must use Lotus Notes for e-mail, but since I need something more flexible and powerful, I set up a POP3 server. Luckily, it has not been discovered, yet."

---- EelcoRommes