MAX WEBER'S IDEAL TYPE OF BUREAUCRACY

MAX WEBER'S IDEAL TYPE OF BUREAUCRACY

Weberian bureaucracy was a term coined by Max Weber, a notable German sociologist, political economist, and administrative scholar, who contributed to the study of bureaucracy, administrative discourses, and literature during the mid-1800s and early 1900s. In his 1922 masterpiece, Economy and Society, Weber described many ideal types of public administration and governance. His critical study of the bureaucratization of society was one of the most enduring parts of this work. It was Weber who began the study of bureaucracy and whose works led to the popularization of this term. Many aspects of modern public administration date back to him. This is epitomized in the fact that a classic, hierarchically-organized civil service is still called a "Weberian civil service.”

Weber listed the following as preconditions for the emergence of bureaucracy: the growth in size and density of the population being administered, the growth in complexity of the administrative tasks being carried out, and the existence of a monetary economy requiring a more efficient administrative system. As a result of the development of communication and transportation technologies, like telegraphs and automobiles, a more efficient administration became not only possible but demanded by the public. Accompanying this shift was an increasing democratization and rationalization of culture. This resulted in public demands for a new administrative system that treated all humans equally.

Rational-Legal Authority

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 organizations: traditional, charismatic and rational-legal or bureaucratic. He has emphasized that bureaucratic type of power is the ideal one.

Weber identified in bureaucracies a rational-legal authority in which legitimacy is seen as coming from a legal order. The majority of modern bureaucratic officials and political leaders represent this type of authority. However, while recognizing bureaucracy as the most efficient form of organization, and perhaps indispensable for the modern state, Weber also saw it as a threat to individual freedoms. For Weber, the implementation of bureaucracies in government was a kind of rationalization, in which traditional motivators for behavior were cast aside. Instead of utilizing traditions, emotions, or values to motivate behavior, in a bureaucracy, people used rational calculation. Regarding Western societies, Weber called this increasing rationalization an "iron cage" that trapped individuals in systems based solely on efficiency, rational calculation, and control. In his theory, the "iron cage" is the one set of rules and laws that we are all subjected to. According to Weber, the shift from old forms of mobility, like kinship, to new forms, like strict, legal rules, was a direct result of the growth of bureaucracy and capitalism.

FEATURES (CHARACTERISTICS) OF WEBER’S BUREAUCRACY:

Weber has given a number of features of bureaucracy. Accordingly, following features suggest the characteristics of bureaucratic organizations.

1.      ADMINISTRATIVE CLASS:

Bureaucratic organizations generally have administrative class responsible for maintaining coordinative activities of the members.

Main features of this class are as follows:

·         People are paid and are whole time employees,

·         They receive salary and other privileges normally based on their positions,

·         Their tenure in the organization is determined by the rules and regulations of the organization,

·         They do not have any exclusive interest in the organization,

·         They are selected for the purpose of employment based on their competence.

2.       HIERARCHY:

The basic feature of bureaucratic organization is that 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.       DIVISION OF WORK:

Work of the organization is divided on the basis of specialization to take the advantages of division of labor. Each office in the bureaucratic organization has specific sphere of competence.

This involves:

·         A sphere of obligations to perform functions which has been marked off as part of a systematic division of labor;

·         The provision of the subordinate with necessary authority to carry out these functions; and

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

Thus, division of labor 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 labor also tries to ensure that no work is left uncovered.

4.       OFFICIAL RULES:

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 comprehensive. 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 behavior in a particular matter.

5.       IMPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS:

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.

6.      OFFICIAL RECORD:

Bureaucratic organization is characterized by maintenance of proper official records. The decisions and activities of the organization are formally recorded and preserved for future reference. This is made possible by extensive use of filling system in the organization. An official record is almost regarded as encyclopedia of various activities performed by the people in the organization.

COST & BENEFITS OF BUREAUCRACY:

Bureaucracy organization has been considered once superior than ad hoc or temporary structure. It has been termed as rational and ideal leading to efficiency. The efficiency in bureaucratic organization comes through rationality and predictability of behavior because everyone knows the consequence of his action become actually the action is undertaken.

However, bureaucracy has been criticized because of its inefficiency and has been termed as a symbol of inefficiency. There are many dis-functional aspects of bureaucracy which is referred to as bureau pathology.

ADVANTAGES OF BUREAUCRACY:

The following are the advantages of Bureaucracy:

• ·         The rules and procedures are decided for every work it leads to, consistency in employee behavior. Since employees are bound to follow the rules etc., the management process becomes easy.
• ·         The duties and responsibilities of each job are clearly defined there is no question of overlapping or conflicting job duties.
• ·         The selection process and promotion procedures are based on merit and expertise. It assists in putting right persons on right jobs. There is best utilization of human resources.
• ·         The division of labor assists workers in becoming experts in their jobs. The performance of employees improves considerably.
• ·         The enterprise does not suffer when some persons leave it. If one person leaves then some other occupies that place and the work does not suffer.

DISADVANTAGES OF BUREAUCRACY:

The following are the disadvantages of Bureaucracy:

In fact, the source of bureau pathology lies in the invalidity of various assumptions of ideal bureaucracy. Many authors have questioned the validity of bureaucracy. In most of these cases, either the conditions are not found in practice, or even if found, may not result in efficiency. Especially the following aspects of bureaucracy work against efficiency of the organization, though they are supposed to contribute to efficiency:

• ·         Rules are normally provided for guidelines but often they become source of inefficiency because of too much emphasis on rules, their misuse, and people’s apathy from rules.
• ·         Rigid organizational hierarchy works against efficiency. It overemphasizes superior- subordinate relationships unnecessarily which is detrimental to congenial organizational climate.
• ·         In dealing with people, total impersonal approach cannot be adopted because people have feelings, emotions and sentiments which affect decision. Thus, people cannot work totally according to rules and prescriptions.
• ·         This system suffers from too much of red tape and paper work.
• ·         The employees do not develop belongingness to the organization.
• ·         The excessive reliance on rules and regulations and adherence to these policies inhibit initiative and growth of the employees. They are treated like machines and not like individuals. There is neglect of human factor.
• ·         The employees become so used to the system, they resist to any change and introduction of new techniques of operations.

EVALUATION:

Weber’s model will be performed in those enterprises where change is not anticipated. Big business houses and government departments use this type of organization. Weber is credited for attempting to develop Bureaucratic model for the first time.

Weber’s model has some drawbacks. It has rigidity, impersonality, excessive cost of control, excessive dependence on superiors, tendency to ignore organizational goals. In spite of these limitations this model is very useful in large enterprises.

TERMS USED

·         ideal type

An ideal type is not a particular person or thing that exists in the world, but an extreme form of a concept used by sociologists in theories. For example, although there is not a perfectly "modern" society, the term "modern" is used as an ideal type in certain theories to make large-scale points.

·         Rational-legal authority

A form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a ruling regime is largely tied to legal rationality, legal legitimacy and bureaucracy.

·         Iron Cage

A theory proposed by Max Weber which argues that rationalization and rules trap humans in a figurative "cage" of thought based on rational calculations