In this thesis we study the effects of two policy instruments, the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) and the full Economic Costing (fEC), on the management and the work of academics on English departments. From four case studies of four departments in two universities and two disciplines —Geography and Informatics—, this thesis shows that the two instruments studied have a structural effect on the formal organization of departments. Both instruments introduce financial language and monetary calculation in the relations of actors, they require the development of management tools and more broadly, they are involved in the managerialisation of universities. The RAE and the fEC, through the work of interpretation by the academics, simplify the demands of the environment vis-à-vis the departments. This allows the implementation of management tools whose objective are not only to legitimize the department vis-à-vis the external evaluators, but also to coordinate the work of academics. However, the RAE and the fEC have effects mainly in an indirect way. Instruments are not only interpreted at the departmental level, but they are also operationalized through management tools that open new spaces of academic freedom. The department organization is not determined by national instruments, but by negotiations that depend on the ability of academics to bring material and symbolic resources to the university. It can be collegial-managerial in departments that get good funding and good results in the RAE or hierarchical-managerial in those that are struggling to meet the expectations of the management of the university. In both cases, the academics retain a degree of autonomy.