BUREAUCRACY

The Bureaucracy
What is Bureaucracy?

A complex, hierarchically arranged

organization composed of many small
subdivisions with specialized functions
Bureaucracy means rule by officialdom
Bureaucracy is complex
Bureaucracy is hierarchical

The Bureaucracy
Functions of Bureaucrats
Implement the law
Provide expertise
Provide research and information to the
Politicians
Quasi
Quasi--judicial powers and responsibilities

Max Weber & Bureaucracy

First to give a systematic theory of
bureaucracy
Typology of authority can help in
understanding Webers analysis of
administrative systems

Webers Bureaucracy
Weber sought to describe an ideal organisation
One that would be perfectly rational and
would provide maximum efficiency
Webers bureaucratic model was a
hypothetical rather than factual
description of how organization must be
structured

Webers Typology of Authority

Traditional
Traditional--based on traditions & customs
Rational legallegal-impersonal and formal
structures
Charismatic
Charismatic--specific and exceptional
abilities

Bureaucracy is a type of administrative

structure based on legallegal-rational authority

Weber set out six principles for modern systems of bureaucracy,

deriving from the idea of rationalrational-legal authority

1. The principle of fixed and official jurisdictional areas, which are

generally ordered by rules, that is by laws or administrative
regulations.
2. The principles of office hierarchy and of levels of graded authority
mean a firmly ordered system of supersuper- and subsub-ordination in which
there is a supervision of the lower offices by the higher ones.
3. The management of the modern office is based upon written
documents (the files) which are preserved. The body of officials
actively engaged in public office, along with the respective
apparatus of material implements and the files, make up a bureau
In general, bureaucracy segregates official activity as something
distinct from the sphere of private life Public monies and
equipment are divorced from the private property of the official.

4. Office management, at least all specialised office management and

such management is distinctly modern usually presupposes
thorough and expert training.
5. When the office is fully developed, official activity demands the full
working capacity of the official Formerly, in all cases, the normal
state of affairs was reversed: official business was discharged as a
secondary activity.
6. The management of the office follows general rules, which are more
or less stable, more or less exhaustive, and which can be learned.
Knowledge of these rules represents a special technical learning
which the officials possess. It involves jurisprudence, or
administrative or business management.

Webers Characteristics of Bureaucracy

Characteristics:
Division of labor: each persons job is broken

down into simple, routine, and well defined

tasks
Well defined authority hierarchy: A multilevel
formal structure, with a hierarchy of
positions, ensures that each lower office is
under the supervision and control of a higher
one
High Formalisation: dependence of rules and
procedures to ensure supervision and control
of a higher one
Impersonal nature: Sanctions are applied
uniformly and impersonally to avoid
involvement with individual personalities and
personal preferences of members

Bureaucracy
Characteristics (contd.)
Employment decisions based on merit: Selection and
promotion decisions are based on technical
qualifications, competencies, and performance of the
candidates
Career tracks for employees: Members are expected
to pursue careers in the organisation. In return for
career commitment, employees have tenure, that is
they will be retained even if they burn out or if
the skills become obsolete
Distinct separation of members organisational and
personal lives: the demands and interests of personal
affairs are kept completely separate to prevent them
from interfering with the rational impersonal conduct
of the organisation

Webers Characteristics of Bureaucracy

Characteristics

Description

Division of labour

Fixed jurisdictional area

Hierarchy

Lower levels controlled and supervised by

higher levels. Vertical divisions

Rules

Rules & regulations (relatively stable and

exhaustive) govern decisions and actions
(process oriented)

Professionalism

Selection on basis of qualifications,

appointed to offices and compensated by
salary. Performance measured by
impersonal rules

Impersonality

Authority is impersonal & rests with rank

and position

Careerism

Full time employment and long tenuretenurewhich is protected by law against arbitrary
dismissal

Summarizing Webers Contribution

Central theme of the model is standardisation

The behavior of the people in bureaucracies are prepre-

determined by standardized structure and processes

The model itself can be detected into three groups of
characteristics
1. Those that relate to the structure and functioning of an
organization
Included here are rules concerning hierarchy of offices,
each hierarchical level under the direction of higher one
The division of labor creates units of expertise, defines area
of action consistent competence of its members, assigns
responsibilities for carrying out these actions,
The written rules govern the performance of members
duties
This imposition of structure and functions provide a high
level specialized expertise, coordination of roles, and control
of members through standardisation

Summarizing Webers Contribution

2. Characteristics that deal with means

of rewarding effort.
effort.
Members receive salaries in relation to their
rank in organization
Promotions are based on objective criteria
such as seniority or achievement
Since members are not owners, it is
important that there be a clear separation of
their private affairs from the organizations
affairs
It is expected that commitment to the
organization is paramount, the position in the
organization being the employees sole or
primary occupation

Summarizing Webers Contribution

3. Characteristics that deals with

protection for individual members

In return for a career commitment:
- members receive protection from arbitrary
actions by superiors
- clear knowledge of their responsibilities and
the amount of authority their superior holds
- the ability to appeal to decisions that they
see as unfair or outside the parameters of
their superiors authority

Webers Characteristics of Bureaucracy

Characteristics
Division of labour
Hierarchy
Rules

Professionalism
Impersonality
Careerism

Match with Bangladesh Scenario

Positive Qualities of Bureaucracy

Attempt to eliminate use of irrelevant criteria for

choosing employees
The use of tenure to protect employees against
arbitrary, changes in skill demands, and declining
ability
Establishment of rules and regulations to increase
the likelihood that employees will be treated fairly
to create stability over time
Creation of vertical hierarchy to ensure that clear
lines and authority exists, that decisions are made,
and that accountability over decisions is maintained
The positive side of vertical authority often includes
answers to such questions as:
- to whom do I take my problems?

Positive Qualities

- how much authority does that manager

has?
- whom do I have to see to get this
decision made?
The importance of these decisions were
revealed in a survey of industrial managers
- they were found to be in favor of more
rather than less, of :
- clarity in lines of authority, rules, duties,
specification of procedures
- these managers recognized that only
when the structure and relationships are
clear can authority be delegated

Dysfunctions of Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy becomes dysfunctional when
organisations lose their effectiveness in meeting
policy and programme goals in an efficient and
responsive fashion (dysfunctional bureaucracy)
Parkinsons LawLaw-work expands so as to fill the time
available for its completioncompletion-individuals make their
own choices as to how fast a job needs to be done
Peters PrinciplesPrinciples- employees tend to be promoted to
their level of incompetenceincompetence-promotion based on
current position, hierarchy in organisations is
characterised by incompetence and inefficiency

Bureaupathology & other ills

Robert Merton(1940)Merton(1940)-Strict adherence to rules can cause
goal displacement. Rules produces rigidity, redred -tapism
and resistance to change
Victor Thompson(1961) as bureaucrats stress on
impartiality and impersonality, they may adopt arrogant,
harsh and domineering attitudes towards people
Empire buildingbuilding-bureaucrats recognising the importance
of an organisation seek budget growths, expand the
number of staff and control information flow to improve
individual and organisational powerpower-thus building
empires

Wallis, Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy in the developing world
has its roots in colonialism (e.g.
British policy of indirect rule)

Bureaucracy after colonialism

remained unchanged

 Warren Bennis (1965) bosses without

(and juniors with) technical knowledge

Confusing and Conflicting rules
An informal organisation that subverts
formal approaches

 Veblen thought that trained incapacity of

officials who after being thoroughly trained in

one area finds it difficult to operate effectively in
different situations
Hummel (1977) saw bureaucrats as truncated
individuals who are able to understand things in
only structured terms and technical competence,
thus lacking humanistic values

Consequences of Dysfunctions
Goal Displacement

Attacked most frequently for displacement of

organizational goals with subsub-units goals
This general theme has been packaged in a
number of forms
a. According to Robert Merton the goals become more
important than the ends that they were designed to
serve, the result being goal displacement and loss
of organizational effectiveness
b. According to Philip Selznick specialisation and
differentiation create subsub-units with different goals.
The goals of each separate subsub-unit becomes
primary to the subsub-unit members. This results in
conflicts between these subunits where
achievement of subsub-unit goals become more
important than accomplishment of organizational
goals

Consequences of Dysfunctions
Goal Displacement (contd.)
c. A third perspective was offered by Alvin Gouldner
Proposed that rules and regulations not only define
unacceptable behaviors but also define minimum
levels of acceptable behavior
- if organisation goals are not internalized rules and
regulations not only define unacceptable behaviors
but also define the minimum levels of acceptable
behaviors
- if the organisations goals are not internalised and
made part of the employees behavior, the rules
encourage empathy
- people will do just do bare minimum to get by
- the rules become interpreted as setting the
minimum standards for performance rather than
identifying unacceptable behavior

Consequences of Dysfunctions
Goal Displacement (contd.)

d. Thompson sees the highly formalized

bureaucracy as creating insecurities in those
in authority that leads to what he calls less
bureaucratic behavior
Decision makers use adherence to riles to
protect themselves from making an errors
Instead of high formalization facilitating
decision making, the rules and regulations
provide protection to hide behind
Persons in high hierarchical positions become
increasingly dependent on lower level
specialists for achievement of organizational
goals, they tend to introduce more and more
rules to protect themselves against this
dependency

Consequences of Dysfunctions

Inappropriate applications of rules and

regulations:
regulations:
Applying formalised rules and procedures in
inappropriate situations
- responding to unique situation as it were
routine resulting in dysfunctional
consequences
Over time bureaucracies breed such devotion
to rules that members blindly repeat
decisions and actions that they have made
number of times before, unaware that
conditions have changed

Consequences of Dysfunctions
Employee Alienation:
Members perceive impersonality of the organization

as creating distance between them and work

- as a cog in the wheel it is frequently difficult to
feel committed in the organization
High specialisation further reinforces ones feeling of
being irrelevant, routine activities can be easily
learned by others , making employees feel
interchangeable and powerless
Concentration of power:
It is a fact that bureaucracies generates enormous
power concentrated in the hands of few
If one feels this as undesirable or counter to the
values of democratic society , it will be attributed
with negative consequences

Consequences of Dysfunctions

Nonmember Frustration:
Frustration:
Clients and customers of bureaucracies must
tolerate the hassle created by bureaucracies
If the bureaucracy is a business firm with
viable customers, one can always take its
business some where else, if it fails to satisfy
its needs
- but reality is that in all probability, the
competition may also use the same form
If the organization is a governmental agency,
or a regulated monopoly, one must deal with
it on their own terms

Has Bureaucracy become redundant??

There are two positions regarding this

view
Bureaucracy served well at time, but
those days are gone. Bureaucracy is
grasping its last breath.
Bureaucracy is alive and well as it is still
the most efficient way to organise
activities

The demise of Bureaucracy

This argument was presented by social psychologist Warren

Bennis by saying that:

Every age develops an organisational form, and bureaucratic
form dominated the latter part of nineteenth century and early
part of twentieth century
The bureaucratic model was developed as a personal
subjugation, nepotism, and the capricious and subjective
judgments that passed for acceptable managerial practices of
early days of the industrial revolution
Bureaucracy emerged out of the need by organisation for order
and precision and demand of workers for impartial treatment
Todays conditions are inconsistent with those values and
demands
At least four conditions are direct threat to Bureaucracy

The demise of Bureaucracy

1. Rapid and unexpected change

Bureaucracy strength lies in its capacity to manage

efficiently routine and predictable activities

With rapid changes in the environment it finds no
place
2. Growth in size:
In theory there is no natural limit to the height of
bureaucratic pyramid
In practice the element of complexity is invariably
introduced with constant increase in size
Increased administrative overhead, tighter controls,
greater impersonality, outmoded rules are all
examples of what happens in bureaucracy when
size increases
These obstacles hinder organisational growth in
bureaucratic form

The demise of Bureaucracy

3. Increasing Diversity:
Todays activities require persons of very diverse, highly
specialized, competence
Hurried growth, rapid changes, and increased specialisation are
incompatible wit bureaucracy well defined chain of command,
rigid rules and procedure, and impersonality
4. Change in managerial behavior
Managers are under going a subtle and perceptible change in
philosophy. These changes are undermining the ideology that
supported bureaucracy
a. A new concept of human beings based on increased knowledge
of their complex and shifting needs which replaces an over
simplified, innocent, push button idea of men and woman
b. A new concept of power, based on collaboration and reason
which replaces a model of power based on coercion and threat
c. A new concept of organizational values based on humanistic,
democratic ideals which replaces the depersonalized
mechanistic values of bureaucracy

The Other View of Bureaucracy

Robert Miewald ( 1970) has a different view :
His major contention is that bureaucracy can adapt
to changing conditions
Weber never meant that bureaucracy characteristics
to endure for eternity
Webers major contribution was to create a rational
and efficient form
Whatever form is required to sustain rationality and
efficiency result in bureaucracy
The development of professional bureaucracy is a
perfect example of bureaucracy characteristics being
modified to represent the most rational and efficient
way to structure knowledge dominated organizations

However, Bureaucracies are Every where

Despite the dysfunctions of bureaucratic form,
bureaucracy is still there
Number of possible explanations are:
1. It works:
Not taking into consideration the contingency factors that

2.

predict nonnon-bureaucratic structure, the fact is that it works

Regardless of technology, environment. etc., bureaucracies
are effective in wide range of organized activities:
manufacturing, service firms, hospitals, schools, universities,
military voluntary firms
Large size prevails
Bureaucracy is efficient with large size
Small organizations and their non bureaucratic structures are
more likely to fail over time, small organizations may come
and go but bureaucracies stay
Size is a dominant criterion determining structure therefore
increased size may cause bureaucracy

However, Bureaucracies are Every where

3. Natural selection favors bureaucracy
Natural selection thesis can be used to to explain the rise and
proliferation of bureaucracies
There are many types of organizations, though they differ, they
all retain certain design elements because these elements are
inherently more efficient and able to compete more efficiently
Bureaucracy structural features are selectively retained because
they achieve reinforcing consequence, while non bureaucratic
features are selectively eliminated
Once proven to be efficient, bureaucracies than force their form
on other organizations in their environment
Those organizations that fail to adopt this design will be driven
out in competition for resources
So bureaucratic form will eventually dominate because this
design tends to be more efficient and it drives out organization
that uses any other form

However, Bureaucracies are Every where

4. Societal values are unchanging
Developed societies favor order and regimentation
Developed societies have traditionally been goal oriented
and comfortable with authoritarian structures
Employees in organisations look with disfavor on jobs
that are ambiguous and where responsibilities are vague
Bureaucracy favors values of order and regimentation
5. Environmental turbulence is exaggerated
a. Changes are no more dynamic now than at any other
time in history
b. The impact of uncertainties in the environment on the
organisation are substantially reduced as a result of
managerial strategies

One Cant Ignore the Obvious: Bureaucracies

are Every where
6. The professional bureaucracy has emerged
The professional bureaucracy provides the
same degree of standardization as Webers
machine bureaucracy
The increased need for technical expertise
and the rapid increase of knowledge based
industries has been handled nearly by
professional bureaucracy
The bureaucratic form has demonstrated the
ability to adjust to its greatest threat
knowledge revolution by modifying itself
The goal of standardization has been proven
to be achievable by more than one path

However, Bureaucracies are Every where

7. Bureaucracy maintains control
High standardization coupled with centralized power
in hands of dominant coalition is desired by those in
power
Bureaucracy meets that end
From the powerpower-control perspective one could predict
that those in power would prefer bureaucracy
Consistent with this observation that moderate
degree of routineness pervades all organizations
Since technology is chosen it is logical to conclude
that those in power will chose technology and a
matching structural form to maintain and enhance
their control

Hyden et al in their study of Governance Indicators

used the following questions to measure the
effectiveness of Bureaucracy:

1. To what extent are higher civil servants a part of the

policy-making process? (the influence indicator)

policy2. To what extent is there a meritmerit-based system for
recruitment into the civil service? (the meritocracy
indicator.)
3. To what extent are civil servants accountable for their
actions? (the accountability indicator)
4. To what extent are there clear decisiondecision-making
processes in the civil service? (the transparency indicator)
5. To what extent is there equal access to public services?
( the access indicator)

Bureaucracy & Development

Bureaucracy is a vitally important instrument of

development. Its not good or bad per se; desirable

outcomes are possible with appropriate policies and
actions (Turner, Esman
Esman).
).

Bureaucracy is a particular set of solutions for

expected problems that political relationships face

(Schaffer). Elements include hierarchy,
differentiation, and qualification (Heady).

Review and critique of Webers bureaucratic model

(Wallis).

Bureaucracy & Development

Guy Gran criticizes bureaucratic governance

and current development strategies because

they are based on neoliberal principles. In
addition, bureaucracies are toptop-down and
workers are separated from their clients
Staudt argues that bureaucracy can be made
more manageable by increasing
accountability within organizations and with
the public

 The civil service has played a strong role

in fostering development process in many

developing countries ( SE Asia)
Bureaucratic process Bureaucratic
Performance Socio
Socio--Economic
Development