Preview

Bureaucracy and Organization

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
7061 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Bureaucracy and Organization
JOKO1102 Introduction to Management and Organization
Bureaucracy

Fabrizio Bertoglio fbertogl@ulapland.fi (Numbers of words 6952)

Introduction
As Etzioni puts it “we are born in organisations, educated by organizations, and most of us spend much of our lives working for organisations”.
This simple sentence let us understand the importance of bureaucracy in our daily life and the reason that push me to study them.
I’ve been interested in it and decided to more deeply study the characteristic of this type of organizations, interest that drive me in writing this essay. The writing was constantly following my research of information, this give to my essay the following structure:
1. HISTORICAL OUTLOOK
2. DEFINITION OF BUREAUCRACY AND MAIN CHARACTERISTIC
3. THE CLASSICAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF BUREAUCRACY: Weber Political Sociology
4. CONCLUSION ON WEBER
5. BUREAUCRATIZATION AND RATIONALIZATION: INTO THE IRON CAGE
6. THE POST-WEBERIAN THEORIES OF BUREAUCRACY: Taylorism
7. SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT AND THE MCDONALD CASE
8. THE HUMAN RELATION SCHOOL
9. TOWARDS A BROADENING SCOPE
The structure of my essay follow different theories of organization, each of them found numerous advantages or disadvantages of certain system. I will deeply them and end with a general conclusion.

1 HISTORICAL OUTLOOK
Bureaucracy is nowadays a terms associated with a negative meaning. The word is often utilized to describe inefficient organisation incapable to take rapid decision, costly and paralyzed by their complex system of work. In few words a “clock-work-orange” moving a lot of gears in a synchronized manner, but producing no movement at all.
It has not always been like that, on the opposite the bureaucratic system was introduced by Napoleon for the exact opposite reason.
Decisions had to be taken, also in the huge macro system of the national state French organisation:
• Within the state legal system,
• Within a hierarchical organisation,
• With


References: A GENERAL THEORY OF BUREAUCRACY Elliot Jaques 1981 Heinemann ORGANIZATION AND BUREAUCRACY Nicos P. Mouzelis 1975 International Library of Sociology edited by John Rex THE MCDONALDIZATION OF SOCIETY George Ritzer 1992 Pine Forge Press
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Bureaucracy in Catch-22
    • 2052 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Bureaucracy in Catch-22

    When the word “bureaucracy” first appeared over one hundred years ago, it actually indicated something positive. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, governments were run via the simple exercise of power by ruling authorities. However, as growing populations made this process unwieldy and inefficient, it became clear that a new kind of administrative system was necessary. It was German political economist Max Weber who coined the term “bureaucracy” to describe a new theory of administration that brought the same logic to government work that the assembly line brought to the factory – a rational and effective method of organization. Bureaucracy began as an administrative system of bureaus and departments staffed with a hierarchy of nonelected officials who discharged their authority by following fixed policies and procedures. However, as bureaucratic administrations grew to match the needs of government, these policies and procedures became characterized by excessive red tape and routines so rigid and complex that they impeded effective action instead of facilitating it. In time bureaucracies became not only ineffective, but problematic. Eventually the term “bureaucracy” became associated with administrative systems so complex and unwieldy that they had come to dominate and even abuse the people they were intended to serve. That this aspect of modern postwar life is given so much weight in a novel set during World War II indicates just how destructive an influence Heller felt bureaucracy had become in our lives. Too often in the satiric black comedy of Catch-22, the workings of bureaucracy seem to have a more deadly influence on the Fighting 256th Squadron than “all the … grisly connivers in all the beer halls in Munich and everywhere else.”…

    • 2052 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Trustee vs. Delagate
    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Trustee vs. Delagate

    Modern Bureaucracy in the United States serves to administer, gather information, conduct investigations, regulate, and license. Once set up, a bureaucracy is inherently conservative. The reason the bureaucracy was initiated may not continue to exist as a need in…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Project Schedule
    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Project Schedule

    Bureaucracy consists of an organization characterized by: specific job functions and a strict vertical hierarchical structure. Bureaucratic structure introduced a shift in the archetype of society just before the 19th century. Max Weber, known for his thoughts on capitalism and bureaucracy, contributed greatly to this archetype. The classic bureaucratic model, according to Weber, is described as having such characteristics as: political neutrality, vertical structure, specific job responsibilities, and well-written impersonal documentation, which is used to ensure functional reliability. (Weber M. , 1978) This essay will concentrate on the vertical structure and the rigid tasks and knowledge of the bureaucratic model, to show that an organization can become too big and rigid to be effective in daily tasks.…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Texas Bureaucracy
    • 1796 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Essay On Texas Bureaucracy

    Body: Bureaucracy in chapter 8 of the textbook is defined as the complex of offices, tasks, rules, and principles of the government that are employed by all large-scale institutions to coordinate the work of their personnel. Bureaucracy oversights and control the legislation outputs. The…

    • 1796 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Progressive Era Bureaucracy
    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Progressive Era Bureaucracy

    Bureaucracy may seem like something that was made during the modern times, but actually it has served in our government for almost as long as the government has existed. As a result of the use of bureaucracy in our government, it is also embedded into the people’s everyday lives. The people rely on bureaucracy every day, when you deposit financial aid check sent to you by the Department of Education, the use of medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration, or even driving to school in a car that meet safety demands by the Department of…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cyrus The Great Monarchy
    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cyrus The Great Monarchy

    “Bureaucracy is a way of a administratively organizing large numbers of people who need to work together.” (handout) Bureaucracies are not as wasteful as you think . They help ensure that thousands of people work together in compatible ways. This helps define people's role with hierarchy. The king was the supreme head of state.…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Dysfunctions in Bureaucracies-Alienation
    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Dysfunctions in Bureaucracies-Alienation

    Our book defines bureaucracy as, "a formal organization with a hierarchy of authority and a clear division of labor; emphasis on impersonality of positions and written rules, communications, and records"(177). There are five characteristics of bureaucracies, which are, "1. Clear levels, with assignments flowing downward and accountability flowing upward. 2. A division of labor. 3. Written rules. 4. Written communications and records. 5. Impersonality and replace ability"(177-178). Unfortunately, things rarely work as one intends. When there is a noticeable difference in the way a bureaucracy is intended to operate and the way the bureaucracy actually operates, this is known as, "ideal versus real bureaucracy"(179). It is when we get the real and not the ideal, where we run into the dysfunctions of bureaucracies.…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    The Ideas of the Classical Theorists, Particularly Those of Bureaucracy and Scientific Management, Are Generally Considered as Rather Old Fashion and Out of Date, and of Little Relevance to Work and Organization Today. Is This Really the Case?
    • 2652 Words
    • 11 Pages

    The Ideas of the Classical Theorists, Particularly Those of Bureaucracy and Scientific Management, Are Generally Considered as Rather Old Fashion and Out of Date, and of Little Relevance to Work and Organization Today. Is This Really the Case?

    The classical theory is the earliest form of management that perceived that a set of universal principles would apply to all the organizations in all situations to achieve efficiency and organization's goals. Scientific management and bureaucratic theory were one of the several components of the classical school of organization. Important pioneers among them are Frederick Taylor and Max Weber. The classical theories have been contested of little relevance to work and organization today simply because today’s organizations have moved from industrial revolution to the information age due to the fast-paced change in technology (Toffler, 1984). Although bureaucracy has been synonymous to red tape and has negatives effects such as “rigidity, alienation and low commitment” (Adler, 1999, p.37) and dehumanizing people (Grey, 2009), the characteristics of bureaucracy such as specialization, hierarchy of authority, system of rules and impersonality (Stewart, 1986) as well as evidence of ongoing existence of this management method, bureaucracy is proved to remain noteworthy. This essay will examine the situation presented in organization today, and determine whether bureaucracy and scientific management can be considered as old fashioned, out of date and of little relevance to work and organization today.…

    • 2652 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Congress and Bureaucracy
    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Congress and Bureaucracy

    In ordinary usage, “bureaucracy” refers to a complex, specialized organization composed of non-elected, highly trained professional administrators and clerks hired on a full-time basis to perform administrative services and tasks. Bureaucratic organizations are broken up into specialized departments or ministries, to each of which is assigned responsibility for pursuing a limited number of the government's many official goals and policies those falling within a single relatively narrow functional domain. The departments or ministries are subdivided into divisions that are each assigned even more specialized responsibilities for accomplishing various portions or aspects of the department's overall tasks and these divisions are in turn composed of multiple agencies or bureaus with even more minutely specialized functions. Bureaucratic organizations always rely heavily on the principle of hierarchy and rank, which requires a clear, unambiguous chain of command through which “higher” officials supervise the “lower” officials, who of course supervise their own subordinate administrators within the various subdivisions and sub-subdivisions of the organization.…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Organization and Management Anaylsis
    • 1547 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Organization and Management Anaylsis

    Organizational and management analysis is an integral part of any organization that desires to be successful. In the world we live in today and its environment, teamwork, delegation, information technology has a lasting impact on any organizations core and character. This type of characteristic lends to an organization’s cost reduction, waste reduction, employees satisfaction as well as the overall efficiency of the company. To possess the ability to have an organizational and management analysis and review with departmental managers, senior executives are necessary. This lends to a multi-dimensional examination and gives a detailed insight of how the organizations actually functions and were it needs to be restructured if necessary, (Jones, 2006). Understanding and identifying the various styles of organizational theories can aid any organization in preparing for its future success. For managers, it is imperative that they have the capability to adapt their managerial styles in order to push through and keep the success of the organization intact. This paper is designed to give a description of the different styles of organizational theories; a comparison of management styles and theories and which style currently describes the writer’s present organization theory and management style.…

    • 1547 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Bureaucratic Reform
    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bureaucratic Reform

    Government bureaucracy is a vital part of the American political process. Bureaucracy helps regulate certain aspects in the government, especially in the executive branch, by creating strict regulations that must be followed. These regulations help keep the agencies more fair to all people. However, many Americans frequently criticize the government bureaucracy because of its slowness and its unfairness to the American people.…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Bureaucracy Essay

    • 611 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Bureaucracy Essay

    According to dictionary.com, bureaucracy in sociology is defined as, “A formal organization marked by a clear hierarchy of authority, the existence of written rules of procedure, staffed by full-time salaried officials, and striving for the efficient attainment of organizational goals.” When people think of a bureaucracy, they think of the government. However, there are bureaucracies all over the place in many different businesses and organizations.…

    • 611 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cons of Bureaucracy
    • 260 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Cons of Bureaucracy

    One of the major weaknesses of bureaucracy is that it would eliminate the autonomy that the workers are used to having by standardizing work procedures, and by adopting clearly defined rules that instruct that them on how to work in every possible situation. This ‘standardization’ leads to the formation of routine tasks, which may eventually lead to the creation of a dissatisfied work force due to low levels of job-enrichment and self-actualization being achieved from completing the task. Moreover, bureaucracy leads to an obsessive concern with following the rules, which inhibits modification and hence restricts people from exercising intelligent judgment causing problems in situations that don’t precisely fit the rules. Therefore in the case of the instrument assembly team of Agem Electronics Corporation, bureaucratic measures would be unsuccessful as the tasks done by this team involve constant and spontaneous changes and modifications as various different problems arise repeatedly. Thus, the implementation of bureaucratic measures would make it harder for the team to exercise the judgment and rather they would be forced to comply with the rules set by the organization, which may not work well in certain situations. Additionally, bureaucracy would lead to an exponential increase in the number of administrative functions and make the organizational structure more vertical; there would be an increased formalization and departmentalization, with centralized authority and narrow spans of control which would inherently cause communication issues and inter-departmental conflicts of interest leading to serious problems in the day to day running’s of the company in the long…

    • 260 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Public Admin
    • 2486 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Public Admin

    This paper examines the relationship linking ethics and bureaucracy. At the start, two main points are made. First, although bureaucracy vilification is accepted, such assertions are typically out of place. Bureaucracy is only a means of managing and organizing citizens, and, therefore, it is subject to similar kinds of analysis done on any other type of organizational structures. Whilst bureaucracy may be subject to analysis, determining whether the bureaucracy fault are intrinsic in its structures, outcomes from improbable expectations, or are merely groundless, is important. Second, contemporary bureaucracy is a creation of the enlargement of the public growth in the belatedly 19th century. The aim behind its acceptance by the administration was to purge extensive political corruption and professionally organize nationalized and local and administration services (Napier, 2010).…

    • 2486 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Bureaucracy and Modern Organization
    • 3354 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Bureaucracy and Modern Organization

    Abstract: The theory of bureaucracy was proposed and published by Marx Weber (1947). Although there are some studies on this perspective were discussed before him, those theories did not form as systematic theory. After Weber, the issue of bureaucracy becomes a hot topic in the field of social organization. Almost all well-known scholars such as Martin and Henri have published their views on it. Bureaucracy adapted as the traditional organizational model during industrial society, essentially, bureaucracy could exist rational. This essay firstly will review the principle of bureaucracy in organization based on organizational design perspective. Secondly, it will analyze the strengths and weakness of bureaucracy made by Weber, focusing on Weber’s contribution for large contemporary organization design their structure and consider the attitude of those organizations toward bureaucracy: confirmed, rejected, adapted or added to. Finally it will consider the performance of bureaucracy organization in modern society with examples.…

    • 3354 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More

Related Topics