Max Weber and

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Administration Political Theory in Public

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 1. Introduction
OUTLINE OF 2. Emergence of Bureaucracy

PRESENTATION 3. Max Weber and his Bureaucratic Theory

4. Bureaucratic Theory

5. Principles of Bureaucratic Theory

6. Merits of Bureaucratic Theory
7. Demerits of Bureaucratic Theory
8. Application of Bureaucratic Theory
9. Conclusion
10. Reference Materials
 INTRODUCTION
• Bureau means an office transacting
particular business or a government
department
• Cracy denotes a particular form of
government
• Bureaucracy implies a system of
government in which most of the
decisions are taken by state officials
rather than by elected representatives.
• French System of Government - Bureau
which meant covered writing desk
 INTRODUCTION
• Bureaucracy is the 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. (Microsoft Encarta,
2009).
 Bureaucracy emerged in English in 1818

• Emerged in the English language in 1818.

• Referred to a system of authority in which
career officials held positions.
• Citizens did not vote for these officials, who
were usually subservient to the monarch.
• Karl Emil Maximilian ‘Max’ Weber (1864-
1920) had a positive view of bureaucracy.
 Bureaucracy emerged in English in 1818
‘Max’ Weber (1864-
1920)
• Weber, a sociologist and
political economist, expanded
the meaning of bureaucracy.
• Father of Bureaucratic
Management Theory
• Meant “any system of
administration conducted by
trained professionals
according to fixed rules
Ludwig Heinrich
Robert King Merton
Edler von Mises (1910-2003)
(1881-1973)
• Bureaucracy “is • The term bureaucrat
always applied with an had become an epithet
opprobrious (scornful) • In this context,
connotation ‘epithet’ means
• Followers of Austrian disparaging.
economics
today often quote the
works of Mises
 Max Weber and His Bureaucracy Theory
• In traditional authority:
Traditional • the workers (considered as servants) are dependent upon the leader (lord)
working as their servants and following the stated rules and regulations blindly.

• Under charismatic power:

• due to the extraordinary personality of the managers, the workers are deeply motivated to
Charismatic perform their best on the task allotted to them. However, this charisma may fade away
with the manager’s lay off, resignation or demise .

• In legal-rational power:
• the workers either need to abide by the legal rules or the naturally applicable laws. In
short, all the employee need to follow a consistent set of principles. Thus, Weber
Legal-Rational developed the bureaucratic management theory, where he emphasized on a formal
organizational structure. If proper hierarchy is maintained, and hence a clear set of six
principles were framed.
 Max Weber and His Bureaucracy Theory
• Weber has emphasized that the bureaucratic
type of power is the ideal one. (Smriti
Chand, 2010)
• 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
(German Buro, 1979).
 Max Weber and His Bureaucracy Theory
• Traditional authority poses its particular difficulty insofar as it is based on some kind of
a dominant power.
Traditional • For Weber, all authority exhibits some form of domination.
A traditional leader may rely on or even exploit prevailing practices. Traditional
authority may suffer from a lack of moral regularity in the creation of legal standards.

• Charismatic Leadership can be problematic because it is somehow based on some form of

a messianic promise of overhauling an unjust system.
• It is not impossible, however, to find such type of a leader, as history would show, etc.
Charismatic Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., or Nelson Mandela.
• A charismatic leader holds the mission to unite his people amid adversity and differences
in order to attain an almost insurmountable goal.

• Legal-rational authority makes manifest the power of the bureaucracy over the individual.
• In the exercise of authority, the administration of power, laws and rules, including institutional duties and
protocols, have control over individuals.
Legal-Rational • While order and systematization are desirable, the bureaucracy may not be able to fully address the
problems and concerns of everyone, as what the development of nation-states today suggests
 Bureaucratic Theory
• Max Weber wrote at the turn of the twentieth century, when Germany
was undergoing its industrial revolution.
• To help Germany manage its growing industrial enterprises at a time
when it was striving to become a world power, Weber developed the
principles of bureaucracy.
• Bureaucracy is also known as the Bureaucratic Theory of management
or the Max Weber theory.
• Max Weber believed bureaucracy was the most efficient way to set up
an organization and administration. He also believed that it was a better
than traditional structures.
• Bureaucratic management approach emphasized the necessity of
organizations to operate in a rational way instead of the “arbitrary
whims” or irrational emotions and intentions of owners and managers.
 Bureaucratic Theory
• Traditional Authority used relationships,
kinship or customs to lead and make
decisions
The problem
• Particularism (also called favoritism):
that Max Weber employees were hired or fired for a variety
of non-organizational reasons such as
religion, race, sex, and relational or family
wanted to connections. He called it particularism
because particular groups of persons were
solve: having a disproportionate influence in
organizations and governments.
 Bureaucratic Theory
• Rational Approach:
1. Classified leadership structure; and
2. Classified rules for decision making.

• In terms of authority, Weber wanted the “Legal-Rational

Solutions: Authority”, which meets the following criteria:
1. The legitimate authority of leadership positions should be
formalized and fixed to those positions
2.Consistent with societal law, organizations should be run by
formal rules and policies
3. Authority resides in the position or office
 Principles of Bureaucratic Theory

Task Authority Formal

Specialization Hierarchy Selection
• Jobs are broken into • Positions are organized • Jobs selection is made
simple, routine, and in a hierarchy with a on the basis of technical
well defined tasks clear chain of command qualifications
 Principles of Bureaucratic Theory

Formal Rules Career

Impersonal
and Regulations Orientation
• Standard Operating • Uniform application of • Managers are career
Procedures and systems rules without oriented
are followed considering the
personalities
 Merits of Bureaucracy

Managerial Formal Selection:

Division of labor: Hierarchy: All employees are
Makes work easier; Offices or positions selected on the basis
leads to are organized in a of technical
specialization. hierarchy of qualifications
authority. demonstrated by
formal examination,
education, or
training.
 Merits of Bureaucracy

Impersonality:
Formal Rules and Rules and other
Career Orientation:
Other Control: controls are
A measure of flexibility
is attained by electing All employees are impersonal and
higher-level officials subject to formal uniformly applied in
that express the will of rules and other all cases. The
an electorate , controls regarding enterprise does not
employees are career the performance of suffer when some
professionals rather than their duties.
“politicians.” persons leave it.
 Demerits of Bureaucracy
Red tape: Bureaucracy, by its very character,
follows a certain set of rules and regulations.
This imparts a lack of flexibility and can often
lead to inefficiency.
Bureaucratic delays: The
complicated set of rules in a
bureaucratic system often causes
long delays.
Bureaucratic corruption:
Corruption in the higher rungs of
bureaucracy can be very
disastrous to the economy.
Change of goals: The process of getting work
done in a bureaucratic system is cumbersome
and the set of rules and regulations often are
given greater importance than the end result.
Paperwork: A lot of paperwork may
be required even for very simple
work.
Compartmentalization: As the jobs are
divided across categories, it restricts the
opportunities for collaboration and
people performing tasks in other
categories.
Nepotism: Nepotism in bureaucracy is
often a problem. The managers sitting on
top may favor their own people and help
them rise quicker than more deserving
individuals.
Decision-making: Decision-making in
bureaucracy is based on a certain set of rules and
regulations. This rigidity often leads to opting for
programmed decisions while newer avenues are
not explored.
WHEN IS BUREAUCRACY APPROPRIATE IN
TODAY’S MANAGEMENT WORLD?
Appropriate for Not Appropriate for
Organizations Organizations

1. Large and need a rigid management style that makes sure that

everything is done formally; 2. Organizations that have a clear role which

doesn’t need much innovation and creativity. Such organizations are like 1. Need quick response and less hierarchical

governments, schools … structure than a set of rigid procedures

The bureaucratic theory is still applicable in
numerous modern organization that have multiple
locations (Daft et al. 2017 p88) almost any
multinational organization is an instance of
2. Need creativity and innovation from their
Weber’s model for bureaucracy.
employees to compete with their counterparts.
 CONCLUSION
It provides a series of documents that describe

Solution for the administration, the working procedures as well as rigid rules

coordination, and control of large and regulations to make organizations run

organizations properly

Max Weber states that

It made a great contribution to the proper
bureaucracy is said to be the most
rational form of management
organizing of large social or corporate systems
and it remains relevant
through the specialization of roles, standardization today (Adler, 1999, p. 37).
of procedures and coordination of employees
 Reference Materials
Max Weber, From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, ed. and trans. Hans H. Gerth and
C. Wright Mies (New York: Oxford University Press, 1946), pp. 196— 294.
(Originally published in 1922.)
Max Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, trans. A. M.
Henderson and Talcott Parsons, ed. Talcott Parsons (New York: Free Press, 1947), p.
337. (Originally published 1922.)
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Vincent de Gournay in 1745. See Fred Riggs, “Shifting Meanings of the Term
‘Bureaucracy,’” International Social Science Journal 31 (1979), pp. 563—584.

Daniel, A. & Arthur, G. (2009). The evolution of management thought, 6th ed. Printed
in the United of America
Thank
you!