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An essay about bureaucracy
Relevance of bureaucracy
An essay about bureaucracy
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Beauracracy
There are many alternatives that are used to motivate workers beyond the conventional bureaucratic ways that was once thought of as the only way to control workers. Since the 1960's we have learned a great deal of information leading to the discovery of alternatives to bureaucratic organizations. Today, bureaucratic ideas are still widely used among organizations, however a shift in thinking occurred and the question was asked, What are the alternatives if bureaucracy it not working in an organization?
Bureaucracies Defined:
According to Max Weber, bureaucracy is the most efficient and most rational known means of exercising authority over human beings (Weber, p223). Further it is reliable, precise and stable, these are all terms that are desired for large complex organizations that need to control vast amounts of employees. Bureaucracy is based on legitimate authority, those that are being controlled by others; accept oppression as part of the work along. There are several characteristics that mold a particular organization into following the bureaucracy model, such as, rules, hierarchy, salaried careers, written documents and appointment. These characteristics serve as a guideline, or an owner's manual of sorts that has a preconceived effect for each cause with the organization. Even if bureaucracy is working to its full capacity within an organization, there can be times when is no longer efficient to use alone. Bureaucracy is still used within organization but usually in conjunction with an alternative.
Agency Theory Defined:
The goal of agency theory is getting people to do the best job for the best price and least amount of risk. One decision is to fill a sales district with representatives called external or with an employee sales force called internal (Anderson, p 234).
An internal sales force is a company who uses their own employees to sell a product they have produced. They are employed by the organization and receive a salary, no matter if the product is successful or not. The externalized labor market consists of independent contractors who agree to sell the product for the company for this they receive a commission according to the amount of products sold. Companies who have greater difficulty in evaluating a salespersons performance are more likely to substitute surveillance for commission as a control device (Ande...
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Transaction Cost or Agency theory is just one of many alternatives organizations have available as a way to control employees. The findings in this comparison of external and internal labor sources suggest that when a company is unsure of what their employee is doing, it is cheaper to use surveillance as a control tactic. If a company has general product that is not complicated, it may be more advantageous to outsource since control would not be as necessary. Many companies may use a combination of both internal and externalized labor, since risks may vary according to what is sold. If given the choice most of us would pick the internal labor side, because it is secure, dependable and predictable. Organizations must way the risks with control to decide the best way a job will get done with the minimal amount of employee control.
Bibliography:
Anderson, Erin. 1985. "The Salesperson as Outside Agent or Employee: A Transaction Cost Analysis." Marketing Science 4:234-254.
Weber, Max. 1922/1968. "The Types of Legitimate Domination." And "Bureaucracy" Pp. 216-226, 956-963 in Economy and Society, edited by Guenther Roth and Claus Wittich. Berkley: University of California
In analyzing the institution of power so closely, the author has brought to light a multiple
Once set up, bureaucracy is inherently conservative. The reason the bureaucracy was initiated may not continue to exist as a need in the future. The need or reason may change with a change in the times and the culture needs. A bureaucracy tends to make decisions that protect it and further it’s own existence, possibly apart from the wishes of the populace. It may not consistently reflect what might be optimal in terms of the needs and wants of the people.
Internal promotion leads to less money for recruitment externally because training, development, and orientation are less likely to be extensive. South Crest Bank value their employee’s KSA’s (Knowledge, Skills, Aptitude Abilities, and Personality). The benefits of recruiting internally are effective because employees know the company culture and operational methods. Another benefit is that growth opportunities motivate employees. Lastly, existing employees already have a database in which their skill set performance is accessible.
From entry level starting position, up the chain of command (Robbins & Judge, p. 252, 2016) to the CEO of the company, there is a senior person guiding the individual’s progression. New (contracted) sales agents learn from, and report to their Unit Field Trainers (UFT) on the status of their day and week. Keeping in close contact, through team chat programs, assists the UFT in guiding sales agents to a successful career at Bankers Life. However, UFT’s report the status of their team to a Unit Sales Manager (USM).
The mainstream view of bureaucracy identifies problems of poor motivation, poor customer service and resistance to change, while the critical view accuses its instrumental rationality and narrow focus on efficiency to not only be demotivating but also dehumanising. With regard to post-bureaucracy, the mainstream approach critiques its problems of fragile control, risk and bias, while the critical perspective contends that its method of normative control is still an exertion of power over employees carried out by senior
An organization’s structure can affect its efficiency and productivity. The two main management theories are the Classic Theory and Theory X. Classical theory is defined as a management theory of a large organization in which management is led by intuition to motivate and control employees (Hamilton, 2008 p. 41). The Classic Theory can be divided into two large subgroups, scientific managers and bureaucratic theorists. Scientific manager’s focus is on reducing production costs while bureaucratic theorists focus is on administrative efficiency (Hamilton, 2008 p. 43). Although Theory X is not a large subgroup of the Classical Theory, it is under the classical theory and its crucial point is that workers are assumed lazy; therefore managers punish them to motivate them. Managers of Theory X believe that the average person; will avoid work because they do not like work, will not strive to achieve objectives, will avoid responsibilit...
Weber’s uses his theory of Bureaucracy to point out that it is what society is becoming and how it creates social older in society. This theory is
Bureaucracy can be considered to be a particular case of rationalization, or rationalization applied to human organization. Bureaucratic coordination of human action, Weber believed, is the distinctive mark of modern social structures. In order to study these organizations, both historically and in contemporary society, Weber developed the characteristics of an ideal-type bureaucracy: Hierarchy of authority, impersonality, written rules of conduct, promotion based on achievement, specialized division of labor, and efficiency. According to Weber, bureaucracies are goal-oriented organizations designed according to rational principles in order to efficiently attain their goals. Offices are ranked in a hierarchical order, with information flowing up the chain of command, directives flowing down. All of these ideal characteristics have one goal, to promote the efficient attainment of the organization 's
Bureaucracy is an organizational design based on the concept of standardization. “It is characterized by highly routine operating tasks achieved through specialization, very formalized rules and regulations, tasks that are grouped into functional departments, centralized authority, narrow spans of control, and decision making that follows the chain of command” (Judge & Robbins, 2007, p.
Organizations in today’s world need to adapt and overcome many obstacles that are predictable as well as unpredictable. Max Weber outlines the five basic principles of bureaucracy which are as follows: The Division of Labor, Hierarchy of Authority, Written Rules and Regulations, Impersonality Principal, and Technical Qualifications. These basic principals were designed to maximize productivity and assert authority over subordinates in the workforce. (Weber, 1968) In present day the basic principles of Weber’s bureaucratic design are still visible in just about every organization. The only variable is to what extent they are applied.
According to Sapru R.K. (2008) p370-371 the traditional ideal of public administration which inclined to be firm and bureaucratic was based on processes instead of outcomes and on setting procedures to follow instead of focusing on results. This paradigm can be regarded as an administration under formal control of the political control, constructed on a firmly ranked model of bureaucracy, run by permanent and neutral public servants, driven only by public concern. In emerging nations the administration was true bureaucracy meaning government by officers. In this perspective Smith (1996) p235-6 perceived that“the bureaucracy controls and manages the means of production through the government. It increases chances for bureaucratic careers by the creation of public figures,demanding public managers, marketing boards.
A disciplined approach to management eying leading employees, improving the management team and building the business strategy. Instead of treating each problem as a one off. They design systems and structures that make it easier to handle in the future. (Techrepublic, 2015) 2.2. Risk of exposing confidential data: When an organization outsources HR, Payroll and Recruitment services, it involves a risk if exposing confidential company information to a third-party Synchronizing the deliverables: Some of the common problem areas include stretched delivery time frames, sub-standard quality output and inappropriate categorization of responsibilities. At times it is easier to regulate these factors inside an organization rather than with an outsourced partner Hidden costs: Although outsourcing most of the times is cost-effective at times the hidden costs involved in signing a contract while signing a contract across international boundaries may pose a serious threat Lack of customer focus: An outsourced vendor may be catering to the expertise-needs of multiple company at a time. In such situations vendors may lack complete focus on your organization 's tasks. 2.3. 1.Know the
Similarly in Weber’s bureaucratic approach, organizations are divided into different echelons with each varying in its degrees of influence. Each unit being commanded by the one above it, a system that promotes stability and has a predictable line of communication. Both approaches of management rely heavily on regulated control. Whether governing task scientifically of people authoritatively. A solid form of control is mus...
Max Weber mentions that bureaucracy is characterized by impersonality (Weber, 1997), and this is another reason why it is an irrelevant phenomenon in the study of organizations. The relationships between the executive officials and their juniors in an organization that adopts a bureaucratic system of leadership in usually impersonal. Although impersonality of bureaucracy is praised as important in promoting equality by some scholars, it is a bureaucratic characteristic that cause infuriation in organizations as individual treatment of people is overridden by generalization, something that Gajduschek (2003) attests to. An important point to bear in mind is that offended employees are ultimately unproductive employees. Bureaucracies are often
‘Weber emphasized on top-down control in the form of monocratic hierarchy that is a system of control in which policy is set at the top and carried out through a series of offices, whereby every manager and employee are to report to one person in top management and held accountable by that manager’ (Pfiffner, 2004, p. 1).