manoj.ghadge_otpr.course [session 13]
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“Bureaucracy: A Closer Look”
Discussion Points
1. What is a close system approach?
2. What is Bureaucracy?
3. Is Bureaucracy still relevant?
2
“Closed System”
Assumes organizations as tools designed to achieve
preset ends, and all of them ignore or minimize the
constraints and opportunities posed by connections
to wider environment.
3
Closed System – “Theorists”
Scientific Management - Taylor (1911)
Bureaucratic Theory - Weber (1968)
Administrative Theory - Fayol (1919)
4
“Bureaucracy”
A form of organizational structure in which people can
be held accountable for their actions because
they are required to act in accordance with rules
and standard operating procedures
5
Bureaucracy: a closed rational system
Rationality refers not to the selection of goal(s) but to their
implementation
Bureaucracy is about functional or technical rationality
It refers to the extent to which a series of actions is organized in such a
way as to lead to predetermined goals with maximum efficiency
Two important element in rationalization –
1. Goal Specificity
2. Formalization
6
Goal Specificity and Formalization
Goals are the conception of desired end
Goals supply criteria for choosing among alternative activities
Formalization can contribute to rationality in many ways…
– Status battles are reduced by formalization
– Make the structure look external to the participating actors
– Functioning of organization is made independent of the feeling of
members
– Structures are independent of participation of any individual
7
Weber’s work on Bureaucracy
“It is about authority and control”
Three types of authority
1. Traditional authority – the belief that ruler had a natural right to
rule. Example: Kings and Queens
2. Legitimate authority – based on formal written rules which have
the force of law. Example: Authority of President
3. Charismatic authority – the belief that the ruler had some special,
unique virtue, either religious or heroic. Example: Religious leaders
8
Weber’s characteristics of Bureaucracy
Job specialization: Jobs are broken down into simple routine well defined task
Authority hierarchy: Positions are in a hierarchy of authority, with each
position under the authority of a higher one
Employment and career : All personnel are selected and promoted on the
basis of their technical qualifications and offered a full-time career
Recording: Administrative acts and decisions are recorded in writing
Rules and Procedure: All employees are subject to rules and procedures that
ensure reliable, predictable behaviour
Impersonality: procedure and rules are impersonal, and apply to managerial
and non-managerial employees alike
9
Weber’s characteristics of Bureaucracy
Job specialization: Jobs are broken down into simple routine well defined task
Authority hierarchy: Positions are in a hierarchy of authority, with each
position under the authority of a higher one
Employment and career : All personnel are selected and promoted on the
basis of their technical qualifications and offered a full-time career
Recording: Administrative acts and decisions are recorded in writing
Rules and Procedure: All employees are subject to rules and procedures that
ensure reliable, predictable behaviour
Impersonality: procedure and rules are impersonal, and apply to managerial
and non-managerial employees alike
10
Dysfunctional Consequences of Bureaucracy
Goal Displacement
Employee alienation
Concentration of Power
Nonmember frustration
Inappropriate application of rules and regulation
11
Threats to Bureaucracy
Growth in size
Increasing diversity
Rapid and unexpected change
Change in managerial behavior
12
Bureaucracy is not dead !
It works
Large size prevails
Social values are unchanging
Bureaucracy maintains control
Natural selection favors bureaucracy
13