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4.2 Bureaucracy - Coggle Diagram
4.2
Bureaucracy
Introduction: principles of bureaucracy
Conceptualisations of power
Bureaucracy is:
"a form of business administration based on formal rational rules and procedures designed to govern work practices and organization activities through a hierarchical system of authority. Bureaucratic organization is often thought to be rigid, inflexible and overburdened by hierarchical rules sometimes pejoratively referred to as ‘red tape’."
Knights and Willmott, 2017, p.536.
Max Weber and bureaucracy
Weber identified the
key characteristics of bureaucracies
Formal Selection
of technically qualified personnel
Technical competence is the basis on which employees are hired (rather than through family ties or favouritism).
Rules and Procedures
These enable employees to know exactly what is expected of them, meaning they can perform their duties in a predictable manner.
Authority Hierarchy
This provides a mechanism for supervision and control
Impersonality & Impartiality
The separation of post from post holder helps to create distant and impersonal relationships, and ensures individuals do not own or have any inherent right to the job.
Job Specialisation
Each employee has a clear task to perform and has a specific place within the organisation.
Recording
Written records help to record organisational knowledge and provide continuity over time.
For Weber the bureaucratic system had a number of virtues:
The logical and rational form of organisation typical of a bureaucracy can reduce or eliminate the inefficiencies of pre-bureaucratic forms of organisation.
Formalised recruitment and selection mean that staff are more likely to be recruited on the basis of their competence
Its inherent capacity to deliver ‘due process’ prevents personal patronage and nepotism.
or Weber, bureaucracy was “a form of organization that emphasized speed, precision, regulation, clarity, reliability and efficiency” (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2017, p.524).
Consequences of bureaucracy
Bureaucracy and the vocabulary associated with it has many negative connotations
Positive and Negative consequences of Bureaucracy characteristics:
Formal Selection
Positive
Most appropriate person appointed to a position and promoted
Negative
Individuals
Can restrict the psychological growth of the individual in their job
Organisations
Individuals in the company are promoted based on their success and competence in previous jobs, until reaching a level where they might not be competent enough
Rules and Procedures
Positive
Employees know what is expected of them
Negative
Individuals
Introduces delays; stifles initiative and creativity
Organisations
Leads to individual and sub-unit goals replacing organisation objectives; rules define minimum levels of acceptable performance
Authority of Hierarchy
Positive
Clarifies who is in command
Negative
Individuals
Prevents employees contributing to decisions
Organisations
Allows errors to be hidden
Impersonality & Impartiality
Positive
Fosters efficiency, reduces bias
Negative
Individuals
Dehumanises those it purports to serve
Organisations
Creates a climate of alienation through the firm as employees come to see themselves as small cogs in a wheel
Job Specialisation
Positive
Produce efficient, repetitive working
Negative
Individuals
Overspecialisation of employees’ skills and knowledge prevents them recognising or caring about problems not in their domain
Organisations
Inhibits job rotation and hence flexible use of personnel, and thus can reduce overall productivity
Recording
Positive
Creates an organisation history that is not dependent on individual memory
Negative
Individuals
Employees come to see record-keeping as an end in itself rather than a means to an end
Organisations
Recorded precedents stifle attempts at company innovation; inhibits flexibility, adaptability and responsiveness
Bureaucracy and authority
Type of authority 'domination':
Charismatic
authority is based on the belief that the ruler has some special, unique virtue, either religious or heroic.
Legitimate (rational/legal)
authority is based on formal written rules which have the force of law.
Traditional
authority is based on the belief that the ruler has a natural right to rule.
Is bureaucracy still relevant?