Contents

Introduction 2
What Is Bureaucracy? 3
Type of Authority 5
Bureaucratic Management Theory 8
Demerits of Bureaucracy 13
Limitations of Bureaucratic Theory 14

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Introduction

The emergence of the management process and organization theory took

place in two forms: Fayol’s identification of the principles and elements of
management and Weber’s search for an ideal way of organizing. From
different backgrounds and perspectives, both Fayol and Weber attempted to
develop methods for managing large-scale organizations. Fayol stressed
education for management rather than technical training, the importance of
planning, organizing, command, coordination, and control.

Weber sought to replace authority based on tradition and charisma with legal
authority and to prescribe an impersonal and merit basis for selecting, hiring,
and promoting employees. Both Weber and Fayol had history’s misfortune of
being overshadowed by others and having to wait until after their deaths to
receive proper credit for their roles in the ongoing evolution of management
thought. Max Weber (1864-1920), is said to be the 'father of bureaucratic
management theory.'

Weber was a German sociologist and political economist that viewed

bureaucracy in a positive light, believing it to be more rational and efficient
than its historical predecessors. ​Max Weber was a German sociologist born in
1864. He grew up at a time when industrialization meant how employees were
organized was becoming increasingly important. Society was moving towards
larger and larger organizations, from farms employing a dozen people, to factories
employing thousands of people.

Weber saw that organizing large groups of people like this presented new
challenges, especially when it came to authority. At this time, most
organizations were running based on traditional authority, where how well you
did was based on who you knew rather than what you knew. Today we call this
favoritism, but Weber called it particularism, where a particular group of
people had disproportionate sway over the organization. Weber saw that it
was unlikely that this was the best way to run an organization.

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 What Is Bureaucracy?

Bureaucracy is a personnel and administrative structure of an organization.

Business, labor, religious, educational, and governmental systems depend on a
large workforce arranged in a hierarchy to carry out specialized tasks based on
internal rules and procedures. The term is used mostly in referring to
government administration, especially regarding officials in the federal
government and civil service. It is often used derogatorily to suggest waste,
inefficiency, and red tape.

The term ‘bureaucracy’ has been widely used with invidious connotations
directed at government and business. Bureaucracy is an administrative system
designed to accomplish large-scale administrative tasks by systematically
coordinating the work of many individuals. Weber has observed three types of
power in organisations: traditional, charismatic and rational-legal or
bureaucratic. He has emphasized that bureaucratic type of power is the ideal
one.

Primarily prescriptive in nature, Weber’s writings strike an interesting contrast

with the practitioner-oriented recommendations offered by Taylor and Fayol.
Weber’s major contribution was an outline of the characteristics of what he
termed “bureaucracy,” that is, government by bureaus.

Bureaucracy definition: “Bureaucracy is an organisational structure that is

characterised by many rules, standardised processes, procedures and
requirements, number of desks, meticulous division of labour and
responsibility, clear hierarchies and professional, almost impersonal
interactions between employees”.
According to the bureaucratic theory of Max Weber, such a structure was
indispensable in large organizations in structurally performing all tasks by a
great number of employees. In addition, in a bureaucratic organisation,
selection and promotion only occur on the basis of technical qualifications.

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Bureaucrats: is someone working for the government, an official in
government department in particular one perceived as being concerned with
procedural correctness at the expense of people’s needs. A ​person who is one
of the people who run a government or big company and who does everything
according to the rules of that government or company : a person who is part of
a bureaucracy

Bureaucrats are people with official positions in government with a power who
are concerned with policy and they stick so close to rules. Bureaucrats ​do
almost all the day-to-day work that keeps a government running. The idea of a
bureaucracy is to split up the complicated task of governing a large country
into smaller jobs that can be handled by specialists. ​Bureaucratic government
is nothing new; the Roman empire had an enormous and complex
bureaucracy, with the bureaucrats at lower levels reporting to bureaucrats
above them, and so on up to the emperor himself.
Synonyms of bureaucrats are: civil servants, Public servants, administrators,
government officials and policy makers, chairman and CEOs etc.

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 Type of Authority

According to the bureaucratic theory of Max Weber, three types of power can
be found in organizations; traditional power, charismatic power and legal
power. He refers in his bureaucratic theory to the latter as a bureaucracy. All
aspects of a democracy are organised on the basis of rules and laws, making
the principle of established jurisdiction prevail.
The following three elements support bureaucratic management:
● All regular activities within a bureaucracy can be regarded as official
duties;
● Management has the authority to impose rules;
● Rules can easily be respected on the basis of established methods.

1. Traditional Authority:
➢ Is the type of power that has been around longer, it is the type of
power that is traditionally rooted in beliefs and the practices of
society. This authority is liked by many individuals because of two
main reasons: the inheritance of past generations and
religiousness that the societies have
➢ Traditional authority is based on a tradition or custom that is
followed by the traditional leaders. In traditional authority, status
is a key concept. There are no requirements to serving a
traditional leader but there are no salaries. The consequences to
traditional authority are discouragement of education and rational
calculation.
➢ Traditional authority consists of a dominant profile, one who
embodies tradition and rule. This type of leadership exemplifies
the power to construct order.

2. Rational Legal Authority:

➢ Acquire from law and is constructed from the reliance of society's
rules and laws. This type of authority has the confidence to leave

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 the right of leaders to undertake the decisions and set the policy.
Rational-legal authority is the basis of modern democracies.
Examples of this type of authority: officials elected by voters, rules
that are in the constitution, or policies that are written in a formal
document.
➢ Rational-legal authority is built on a structure of bureaucracy. In a
rational-legal authority one ascends in their career paths through
promotion and they eventually retire. Some of the benefits of
rational-legal authority are transportation, large-scale industry,
mass communication and an income economy. Other outcomes of
rational-legal authority are tendencies towards equal opportunity
and a promotion of education.
➢ Rational-legal authority requires a logical and systematic approach
to leadership. Weber's rational leadership prevails in decision
making​.

3. Charismatic Authority:
➢ Comes from individuals and their personal qualities that they have
to offer. Certain individuals are influential to others with their
unique qualities which help them gain followers. The
"charismatic" individuals exercise power and authority over a
whole society or even a specific group of within a bigger society.
The exercise of their power of these individuals are either for good
or bad. Examples of these charismatic leaders can range from:
Joan of Arc to Adolf Hitler or Martin Luther king Jr to Jesus Christ.
➢ Charismatic authority has no clear structure. It is based one's
individual influence. One is chosen to be staff by their charismatic
characteristics. Someone under a charismatic authority lives under
gifts not salary. As long as someone has influence they will be a
legitimate power.
➢ In charismatic authority, confidence is the driving force for
leadership. With charismatic authority leadership has the ability to
connect distinct groups and lead them to the finish line.

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 Bureaucratic Management Theory

Weber's theory of bureaucratic management has two essential elements. First,

it entails structuring an organization into a hierarchy. Secondly, the
organization and its members are governed by clearly defined rational-legal
decision-making rules. Each element helps an organization to achieve its goals.
Weber developed the principles of bureaucracy—a formal system of
organization and administration designed to ensure efficiency and
effectiveness.
A bureaucratic system of administration is based on these principles which are:

1. Manager’s Formal Authority:

is the power to hold people accountable for their actions and to make
decisions concerning the use of organizational resources Bureaucratic
organizations generally have administrative class responsible for
maintaining coordinative activities of the members. Main features of this
class are as follows:
a. People are paid and are whole time employees,
b. They receive salary and other perquisites normally based on their
positions,
c. Their tenure in the organization is determined by the rules and
regulations of the organization,
d. They do not have any proprietary interest in the organization,
e. They are selected for the purpose of employment based on their
competence.

2. Positions should be Arranged Hierarchically​:

For this arrangement, employees know whom to report to and who

reports to them based on the hierarchical system in place horizontally
and vertically. The basic feature of bureaucratic organization is that

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 there is hierarchy of positions in the organization. Hierarchy is a system
of ranking various positions in descending scale from top to bottom of
the organization. In bureaucratic organization, offices also follow the
principle of hierarchy that is each lower office is subject to control and
supervision by higher office.

Thus, no office is left uncontrolled in the organization. This is the

fundamental concept of hierarchy in bureaucratic organization. This
hierarchy serves as lines of communication and delegation of authority.
It implies that communication coming down or going up must pass
through each position. Similarly, a subordinate will get authority from his
immediate superior. However, this hierarchy is net unitary but
sub-pyramids of officials within the large organization corresponding etc.
functional divisions exist.
Thus, there are offices with the same amount of authority but with
different kinds of functions operating in different areas of competence.
For example, the Government organizations, we can observe separate
offices looking after particular functions. This happens in business
organizations too.

3. Tasks and Authority​:

Tasks and Authority associated with various positions in the organization

should be clearly specified for managers and workers to know what is
expected of them. Work of the organization is divided on the basis of
specialization to take the advantages of division of labour. Each office in
the bureaucratic organization has specific sphere of competence.

This involves:

a. A sphere of obligations to perform functions which has been

marked off as part of a systematic division of labour;
b. The provision of the incumbent with necessary authority to carry
out these functions; and

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 c. The necessary means of compulsion are clearly defined and their
use is subject to definite conditions.

4. Division of Labor

Division of labor means that tasks are divided between the employees of
the organization. Each employee will be responsible for specific tasks
and each department will be responsible for specific functional areas.
As an example of this think about how your salary is set and paid within
a large organization. Your salary will be set by your line manager, but you
will be paid by the Payroll department, rather than the money being paid
to your boss who would then give it to you. There are advantages to
breaking things up in this way. First, your manager is the person in the
best position to set your salary as they observe your performance much
more closely than the payroll department. Second, the payroll
department are specialists in payroll and ensure you get paid on the
same day each month.

Thus, division of labour try to ensure that each office has a

clearly-defined area of competence within the organization and each
official knows the areas in which he operates and the areas in which he
must abstain from action so that he does not overstep the boundary
between his role and those of others. Further, division of labour also
tries to ensure that no work is left uncovered.

5. Managers Must Create a Well-Defined System of Rules:

standard operating procedures, and norms so that they can effectively

control behaviour within an organization. A basic and most emphasized
feature of bureaucratic organization is that administrative process is
continuous and governed by official rules. Bureaucratic organization is
the antithesis of ad hoc, temporary, and temporary and unstable
relations. A rational approach to organization calls for a system of
maintaining rules to ensure twin requirements of uniformity and
coordination of efforts by individual members in the organization.
These rules are more or less stable and more or less exhaustive.

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10
 When there is no rule on any aspect of organizational operation, the
matter is referred upward for decision which subsequently becomes
precedent for future decision on the similar matter. Rules provide the
benefits of stability, continuity, and predictability and each official knows
precisely the outcome of his behaviour in a particular matter.

6. Appointment and Promotion Base on Competency not Base on

Sentiment:

A notable feature of bureaucracy is that relationships among individuals

are governed through the system of official authority and rules. Official
positions are free from personal involvement, emotions and sentiments.
Thus, decisions are governed by rational factors rather than personal
factors. This impersonality concept is used in dealing with organizational
relations as well as relations between the organization and outsiders.

7. Managerial Hierarchy

Managers are organised into hierarchical layers, where each layer of

management is responsible for its staff and overall performance. In
bureaucratic organizational structures, there are many hierarchical
positions. This is essentially the trademark and foundation of a
bureaucracy. The hierarchy of authority is a system in which different
positions are related in order of precedence and in which the highest
rung on the ladder has the greatest power. The bottom layers of
bureaucratic organizational structures are always subject to supervision
and control of higher layers. This hierarchy reflects lines of bureaucratic
communication and the degree of delegation and clearly lays out how
powers and responsibilities are divided.

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8. Formal Selection

All employees are selected on the basis of technical skills and

competences, which have been acquired through training, education
and experience. One of the basic principles is that employees are paid
for their services and that level of their salary is dependent on their
position.
Their contract terms are determined by organisational rules and
requirements and the employee has no ownership interest in the
company.

9. Impersonal:

Regulations and clear requirements create distant and impersonal

relationships between employees, with the additional advantage of
preventing nepotism or involvement from outsiders or politics. These
impersonal relationship are a prominent feature of bureaucracies.
Interpersonal relationships are solely characterised by a system of public
law and rules and requirements. Official views are free from any
personal involvement, emotions and feelings. Decisions are solely made
on the basis of rational factors, rather than personal factors.

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 Demerits of Bureaucracy:

Although Weber considered bureaucracy to be the most efficient means of

organizing, both his own experience and subsequent research have shown
that it often results in certain disadvantages.

These include:

a. Rules and other controls may take on significance of their own and, as
consequence, become ends in themselves. Employees, for example, may
accuse budget personnel of being more interested in applying rules and
regulations than achieving a firm’s primary goals
b. Extreme devotion to rules and other controls may lead to situations in
which past decisions are blindly repeated without appreciation or
concern for changed conditions. Such “bureaucratic rigidity” results in
managers being compensated for doing what they are told and not for
thinking. The result is “rule by rules” rather than common sense.
c. Whereas delegation of authority to lower levels may increase
operational effectiveness, it may also encourage an emphasis on subunit
rather than overall goals, thereby prompting subunit conflict and
decreasing effectiveness. A typical example can be found in many
universities where conflicts over which department is going to offer
what courses often result in unnecessary duplication of subject
offerings, as well as the unnecessary expenditure of resources.
d. . Although rules and other controls are intended to counter worker
apathy, they may actually contribute to it by defining unacceptable
behavior and, thus, specifying a minimum level of acceptable
performance. That is, it is possible, once rules have been defined, for
employees to remain apathetic, for they now know just how little they
can do and still remain secure. This is commonly known as “working to
the rules,” because what is not covered by rules is by definition not an
employee’s responsibility. Within an educational setting, statements
such as “all students must attend at least 50 percent of the classes
during a term to pass” or “the minimum requirement for graduation is a

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 C average on all course work undertaken” are in frustrations of this
phenomenon in that they clearly define minimum levels of acceptable
behavior. Unfortunately, a typical administrative response in such
circumstances is to enact additional bureaucratic rules (such as
mandatory class attendance) and, in turn, further aggravate an already
poor situation. Unless care is taken, however, such a situation may result
in a “vicious circle of bureaucracy,” because once employees discover
the appeasing effect of rules, they may push for even more controls to
further restrict management’s power. Therefore rules may be functional
in one sense, but in another (unintended) sense, they permit employee
involvement without requiring emotional commitment.

Limitations of Bureaucratic Theory

1. Inflexibility
While the hierarchy and rules are there to encourage efficiency they can
be very slow to adapt to new situations or information.

2. Empire Building
It is not uncommon for people climbing through the hierarchy to try and
maximize their power by having the biggest team possible for purposes
of self-promotion or appearing powerful and important.

3. Red Tape
Bureaucracies are often associated with excessive red tape, whereby
excessive structure, rules, and processes slow tasks down and lead to
frustration for the people trying to get things done to the best of their
ability

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