Bureaucratic Management
Max Weber gave the theory of Bureaucratic Management in 1915. Bureaucracy is a specific form of organization defined by complexity, division of labor, professional management, and hierarchical management control. Weber's theory has two essential elements - organizational hierarchy and rules-based management. Weber made a distinction between authority and power and advocated that authority must be given to the most competent and qualified people.
Bureaucratic management as one of the schools of classical management emphasizes the need for organizations to function based on professional management and hierarchical management control.
Weber (1864-1920), was a contemporary of Fayol and was one of the major contributors to the management school of thought. He observed that nepotism, which is the hiring of relatives in the organization, based on their relationships with owners and regardless of their professional competence, capabilities, and qualities was prevalent in most organizations. Weber (1915) felt that nepotism was not the right way of running an organization, was grossly unjust, and eventually hindered both the progress of individuals as well as growth or organizations. He, therefore, identified the characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy. According to Weber, bureaucracy represents the most efficient organizational design. Taylor emphasized the separation of planning and doing tasks.
Bureaucracy word is derived from the German word 'bur' and means “office”, referred to organizations that operated on a rational basis. According to Weber, "bureaucracy is a highly structured, formalized, and impersonal organization. In other words, it is a formal organization structure with a set of rules and regulations". Many leaders follow the bureaucratic leadership style.
Advantages of Bureaucracy
Nowadays, the term "bureaucracy" is used to denote excessively complicated administrative procedures with multilayered systems and processes. Clubbed with rigidness in operations with mountains of paperwork, procedures, and rules bureaucratic model is believed to slow down an organization's capacity to achieve stated goals. However, the bureaucratic characteristics of organizations outlined by Weber have certain advantages.
- It helps remove ambiguities and inefficiencies that characterize many organizations.
- Undermine the culture of patronage that he saw in many organizations.
- Competence and creativity thrive within a bureaucracy as bureaucracy demands a higher level of education and self-direction.
- The structure of bureaucracy creates more job security and provides a better work-life balance to the employees.
- In a bureaucracy impersonal relationships are formed, equality is respected and provides everyone an equal opportunity to succeed.
- In a bureaucracy, specific roles and duties are assigned that enable managers to supervise work and facilitates a team-based environment.
- It encourages specialization and promotes problem-solving and cost efficiencies by putting the best people at the best jobs.
Sources of Power
Weber also made a distinction between authority and power. Weber believed that power educes obedience through force or the threat of force which induces individuals to adhere to regulations. According to Max Weber, there are three types of power in an organization:-
- Traditional Power
- Charismatic Power
- Bureaucratic Power or Legal Power
Features of Bureaucracy:
- Division of Labor.
- Formal Hierarchical Structure.
- Selection based on Technical Expertise.
- Management by Rules.
- Written Documents.
- Only Legal Power is Important.
- Formal and Impersonal relations.
Suggested Reading and Resources
Related Links
You May Also Like
-
Quantitative Theory of Management
The quantitative management approach is given by the mathematical school that recommends the use of computers and mathematical techniques to solve complex management issues and assist in the managerial decision-making process. Managers observe historical quantitative relationships and use quantitative techniques such as statistics, information models, and computer simulations to improve their decision making.
-
Theory Z also called the "Japanese Management" style is a leadership theory of human motivation focused on organizational behavior, communication, and development. It assumes that employees want to enter into long term partnerships with their employers and peers. Offering stable jobs with an associated focus on the well-being of employees results in increased employee loyalty to the company.
-
Thinking & Problem Solving Skills
Today's dynamic business world demands that you make decisions that significantly boost productivity and drive competitive advantage. But how do you know whether a decision will benefit the organization? And how do you know that the decisions are based on rational and statistical reasoning? Explore how to become a dynamic problem solver with the skills to make accurate decisions.
-
Productivity is defined not in terms of the number of goods produced, but in terms of value-added per employee. Customers don’t really buy goods and services but in fact, they buy a value - something they value. The future is all about tangible products fulfilling intangible needs. Ideas like this can transform a business and provide them a competitive advantage to thrive in the future.
-
Tools for Developing Your Team
If a manager has too many weak spots in the talent of the team, the ability to empower the team members to independently execute the project is impaired. Assignments fall behind schedule or stretch out because the needed skills or knowledge are not in place when needed. To successfully execute important projects, hiring talented people, and increasing the talents of existing staff are most important.
-
All the teams are dynamic in nature and they take time to come together, they form, develop, and grow in stages, over a period of time. Teams go through five progressive stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning. In this article, we want to introduce you to these stages of team development and certain strategies that you can use to help the team grow and develop in each of these stages.
-
Process & Stages of Creativity
Creative ideas do not come just like that. There is a process to it. There are a number of techniques of creativity to support the generation of ideas but the widely practiced ones are brainstorming and lateral thinking. Most innovations are not so much the product of sudden insights as they are the result of a conscious process that often goes through multiple stages. The creative process can be divided into four stages of preparation, incubation, evaluation, and implementation.
-
Management Principles by Fayol
Henri Fayol (1849-1925), a French industrialist and a prominent European management theorist, developed a general theory of management. Fayol outlined the fourteen principles of management.
-
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory that explains that people are motivated by five basic categories of human needs. These needs are physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. There is a little scientific basis for this concept of a hierarchy of needs.
-
Taylor’s Scientific Management
Taylor’s theory of scientific management aimed at improving economic efficiency and labor productivity. Taylor had a simple view that money motivated people at work. He felt that workers should get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, and that pay should be linked to the amount produced. He introduced the differential piece rate system, of paying wages to the workers.
