Assignment O N Bureaucracy
Page |2 Bureaucracy A bureaucracy is a form of organization based on logic, order, and the legitimate use of formal authority. Bureaucracies are meant to be orderly, fair, and highly efficient. The Bureaucratic approach to management was developed around the start of twentieth century by an important writer, Max Weber, a German Sociologist. The bureaucratic approach depends on five principles that are; 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Specialization of work Formal Rules & Procedures Impersonality Well-defined hierarchy Employee selection and promotion . Specialisation of work Any piece of work must be broken down into a few clearly defined tasks. This describes the degree to which activities in an organisation are divided into separate jobs. An entire job is not done by one individual but instead is broken down into steps, and each step is completed by a different person. So that members of an organisation will know what is expected of them and will develop special skills for their own tasks. Managers saw other efficiency that could be achieved through work specialization.
Employee skills of performing a task successfully increase through repetition. Less time is spent in changing tasks, in putting away one’s tools and equipment from a prior step in the work process, and in getting ready for another. Equally important, training for specialization is more efficient from the organization’s perspective. It’s easier and less costly to find and train workers to do specific and repetitive tasks 2. Formal Rules & Procedures A comprehensive set of rules and procedures that provides the guidelines for performing all organizational duties is clearly stated.
All administrative acts, functions and decisions are found by rules which are formulated and recorded in writing. Rules are designed to ensure uniformity of action and equality of treatment. They save time and effort by obviating the need for deriving a new solution for every problem or case. Written rules and work procedures serve as guides to action by managers and workers. Page |3 This explains what is expected from an employee in any particular organisation; for example, retail companies have rules and procedure telling workers how to handle customer complaints. 3. Impersonality
As a matter of principle, the members of the administrative staff should be completely separated from ownership of the means of production. In addition, the organization’s property which is controlled within the spheres of the office is completely separated from the personal property of the officials. This principle focuses on treating everyone in the same way, no matter who they are, because there are formal rules and procedures in the organization. An example of this would be if a manager and a lower-level manager both failed to hand in a report on time, the same disciplinary action would be taken against both of them. Well-defined Hierarchy In an Organization with a well-defined hierarchy there are several levels of authority with clearly defined reporting structures and relationships. Through a series of delegations a hierarchy is created under which each lower office is under the control and supervision of a higher one. That is an Organization has a pyramid-shaped hierarchical structure that ranks job positions according to the amount of power and authority each possesses. Power and authority increase at each higher level, and each lower-level position is under the direct control of one higher-level position. ) 5. Employee selection and promotion Career development involves managing someone his/her career within an organizations. It includes learning new skills, and making improvements. Thus, there is a meritocracy system that involves, all employees are selected on the basis of technical competence and promotion is assessed on. This process lead to an equal opportunity system that allow merits to be exploited and rewarded. Both employer and employee may come out as winners. Thus, the organizational goals of an organization is achieve more efficiently with motivated and competent employees.
Page |4 Benefits and Drawback of Bureaucratic Management. Like an double-edged sword, one side we have precision, speed, unambiguity, knowledge of the files, continuity, discretion, unity, strict subordination, reduction of friction and of material and personal costs-these are raised to the optimum point in the strictly bureaucratic administration, and especially in its monocratic form. As compared with all collegiate, honorific, and avocational forms of administration, trained bureaucracy is superior on all these points.
And as far as complicated tasks are concerned, paid bureaucratic work is not only more precise but it is often cheaper than even formally unremunerated honorific service. And on the other side, we have a more complex and rigid system that lead to an unnecessary delay in implementation of policies and initiatives, as everyone must follow the established rules and procedures. This affects decision making in the organizations, especially in the absence of one or more decision makers for the system.
Also, it does not allow for individual development as workers are expected to follow the established routine. In summary, it resists change and creativity. The major benefits promised by the Bureaucratic Management Hierarchical authority promises control and responsibility. According to organizational design theory, a major benefit promised by the bureaucratic form is that the top executive would have control over the entire organization, and the outside world would know who to hold responsible. Today’s industrialized nations were switching from agrarian societies to industrial societies.
Prior to industrialization, organizations tended to be smaller, education and experience had not been so available or important, and management skills were seldom required, except at the very top. So, in an organization in which the senior people were educated—and the workers were less so—it seemed vital to concentrate on control. Management by rules promises control and consistency If the entire organization was managed by rules, then top management could be sure that the organization would be controlled by their decisions.
And, top management could be sure that no arbitrary “judgment” was introduced into the operation to make things Page |5 inconsistent. The top executive could decide how things would be done, and forever after they would be done that way. Consistency seemed desirable because the world prior to the industrial revolution was marked by inconsistency. People were discriminated against because of class, education, race, religion or creed. People were given advantages because of wealth, class or education. In a world where people were treated very differently from one another, consistency must have seemed very desirable.
Specialization of sub-units promised accountability, control and expertise. If specialists were in charge of each function of the organization, then top management could be certain that an educated or trained person was responsible for that function. In addition, top management could be reasonably certain that the people handling that function were expert in that function. Both of these benefits promised more certain control and effectiveness. So, having specialists handle functions seemed like a big improvement over having people manage things because they were the boss’s son, or the family had contacts.
Being impersonal promises objectivity, consistency and equality. If you treat everyone identically, as though they had no individual differences, then you could ensure fairness through equal treatment. You could also ensure consistency. This was highly valued in those days because many people felt they didn’t get treated equally with those of wealth, power or position. In the various European and North American cultures of the early twentieth century, customers were not always treated equally by businesses, and citizens were not treated equally by government.
Bureaucracy promised fairness and equality. Employment based on technical qualifications promises equal opportunity, and protection from arbitrary dismissal. Equal opportunity meant that a middle class educated person had the same opportunity of entry into government as an upper class or wealthy person. That was highly valued in an era when government tended to be controlled or dominated by those with money, power or position. Job security was little known in the early twentieth century, but highly valued and highly prized.
Bureaucracy promised protection against arbitrary dismissal. Page |6 Major Drawbacks of Bureaucratic Management. Inside the organization, employees live with the red tape and some very negative by-products of the bureaucratic form. 1. Becomes an Iron Cage of Control . 2. Red Tape from all the rules and sign offs 3. Hard to change this form 4. Divisions of labor compartmentalize attention and response. 5. Hierarchy can mean silos (e. g. must go up and down chains of command to get things done). 6. Certain irrationalities result.
When employees are asked to give examples of things they think of as being bureaucratic, they frequently cite the following: • Each department has its own agenda, and departments don’t cooperate to help other departments get the job done. • They are treated as though they don’t have good judgment. • They are treated as though they won’t work hard unless pushed. • Their work environment includes large amounts of unhealthy stress. • The tendency of the organization is to grow top-heavy, while the operating units of the organization tend to be too lean. Promotions are more likely to be made on the basis of politics, rather than actual achievements on the job. • Top managers are dangerously ill-informed and insulated from what is happening on the front lines or in “the field. ” Page |7 • Information is hoarded or kept secret and used as the basis for power. • Internal communications to employees are distorted to reflect what the organization would like to be, rather than what it really is. • Mistakes and failures are denied, covered up or ignored. • Responsibility for mistakes and failure tends to be denied, and where possible, blame is shifted to others. Policies, practices and procedures tend to grow endlessly and to be followed more and more rigidly. • Senior managers become so insulated from the realities of the front line that they may use stereotypical thinking and out-of-date experience in making decisions. • Quantitative measurements are favored over qualitative measurements, so the concentration is on quantities of output, with less and less concern for quality of output. • Both employees and customers are treated more as numbers than people. Personal issues and human needs are ignored or discounted.
Overall:Bureaucracy is the dominant organizational form in society and has achieved its distinction because it works best with type of technologies and environments the most organizations have. Importantly, it is also consistent with maintaining control in the hands of the organization’s dominant coalition. However, bureaucracies are better for some tasks than others. In particular, bureaucracies are not well-suited to industries in which technology changes rapidly or is not yet well understood. Bureaucracy excel at businesses involving routine tasks that can be wellspecified in writing and don’t change quickly.
