The Characteristics Of A Bureaucratic Organizational Approach By Alagasco

During my eight year career, I have witnessed and been a part of two managerial transformations. When I began my career, my company’s managerial approach had strong similarities to the bureaucratic organizational approach. The company I work for, Alagasco is currently customer and safety focused but when I started, it was more focused on quantity and increasing customer count and not so much on making sure customers are satisfied. Working with natural gas, installing appliances, calculating gas piping size, and gas pressure requires a high degree of technical skills. When I first began my career, managers were promoted from the field, based on technical qualifications which is a characteristic of a bureaucratic organization. Not only were employees often promoted due to their technical qualifications, but they tended to be more focused on individual goals, and not of the organizations. For example, some employees were compensated for how many gas meters they could read (Peace Rate Pay) and they did so purely for their financial gain, not because it benefitted the company or met organizational objectives. According to Max Weber who introduced most of the concepts on bureaucratic organizations, employees are loyal to a single individual, such as a supervisor, rather than to the organization or its mission (Daft & Marcic, 2016, pg. 30). A direct result of this

Before automated processes and increased usage of new software this form of management was effective and produced high levels of output, however, customer focus was lost and groups began working against one another. This soon created a need for managers who are equipped with technological skills, leadership abilities, and creative thinking. The transformation in managerial roles soon shifted the focus to quality