Bureaucratic Theory by Max Weber – A Review Study

The term or word bureaucracy has two parts-one is bureau which means an office transacting particular business or a government department. Cracy denotes a particular form of government. Hence bureaucracy implies a system of government in which most of the decisions are taken by state officials rather than by elected representatives. So bureaucracy is a form of government run or managed by some officers. Many people think that bureaucracy is derived from French word bureaucratic which had wide circulation in the French administration in the nineteenth century. But before nineteenth century the French system of govern-ment was not acquainted with bureaucratic but only bureau which meant covered writing desk. Subsequently the term gained wide circulation and use in several parts of Western Europe especially Britain. Again, several states and administrative systems have accepted it and used it for the management of their public administration keeping the original meaning more or less intact. Several languages have translated the English term. For example, in Bengali, bureaucracy denotes ―amlatantra‖. Even in other Indian languages this term is used. It means the rule or administration of state or government employees. In older times the bureaucrats or government employees were termed as employees of king or rajkarmachari. It is because in old times there was no existence of elected governments. Sovereign power was vested in the hands of kings and they chose few persons to run their administration. That is why they were called rajkarmachari. Subsequently the kingship and the system of selecting government officials underwent sea changes and one of such change is bureaucracy. The term bureaucracy is very often used in pejorative sense. Bureaucrats‘ inordinate love for law and to do everything according to law and unsympathetic attitude to people‘s needs and problems. All have made it the centre of public criticism. Any decision or action going against peoples‘ interest is termed bureaucratic. Non- accountability of bureaucracy to general public, its hierarchical structure and non-detachment from public have made it a centre of criticism. Therefore, pejorative connotation about it is regarded by many an important feature. Many social and political scientists have explained the concept of Bureaucracy. Max Weber‘s idea of state was that ‗a state is a compulsory association which successfully claims a monopoly of legitimate use of force within a given territory.‘ State alone possesses power, authority & legitimacy. Weber concluded that it is the legitimate authority of state to exercise power over its people. Administration / Bureaucracy exercises its authority i.e. power of command. Max Webers idea of Bureaucracy is based upon his notion of ‗rational legal authority.‘ Bureaucracy, therefore, should have certain definite organisational structures, principles & characteristics.

sociologist Max Weber who was the first to use and describe the term bureaucracy. This is also known as the Bureaucratic Theory of management or the Max Weber theory. He believed bureaucracy was the most efficient way to set up an organisation, administration and organizations. Max Weber believed it was a better than traditional structures. In a bureaucracy, everyone is treated equal and the division of labour is clearly described for each employee.

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 bureaucracy, selection and promotion only occur on the basis of technical qualifications.

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: 1. All regular activities within a bureaucracy can be regarded as official duties; 2. Management has the authority to impose rules; 3. Rules can easily be respected on the basis of established methods.

According to the Bureaucratic Theory of Max Weber, bureaucracy is the basis for the systematic formation of It is an ideal model for management and its administration to bring an organisation‘s power structure into focus. With these observations, he lays down the basic principles of bureaucracy and emphasises the division of labour, hierarchy, rules and impersonal relationship. Below is a more detailed explanation of the 6 management principles of a bureaucracy:

Tasks are divided into simple, routine categories on the basis of competencies and functional specializations. Every employee is responsible for what he/she does best and knows exactly what is expected of him/her. By dividing work on the basis of specialization, the organisation directly benefits. Each department has specific powers. As a result, there is a delineation of tasks and managers can approach their employees more easily when they do not stick to their tasks. Every employee knows exactly what is expected of him/ her and what his/ her powers are within the organisation. Every employee has a specific place within the organisation and is expected to solely focus on his/ her area of expertise. Going beyond your responsibilities and taking on tasks of colleagues is not permitted within a bureaucracy.

Managers are organised into hierarchical layers, where each layer of management is responsible for its staff and overall performance. In a bureaucracy, there are many hierarchical positions. This is essentially the trademark and foundation of a bureaucracy. Hierarchy 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 are always subject to supervision and control of higher layers. This hierarchy reflects lines of communication and the degree of delegation and clearly lays out how powers and responsibilities are divided.

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.

Formal rules and requirements are required to ensure uniformity, so that employees know exactly what is expected of them. In this sense, the rules and requirements can be considered predictable. All administrative processes are defined in the official rules. By enforcing strict rules, the organisation can more easily achieve uniformity and all employee efforts can be better coordinated. The rules and requirements are more or less stable and always formalised in so-called official reports. Should new rules and requirements be introduced, then senior management or directors are responsible for this.

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.

Employees are selected on the basis of their expertise. This helps in the deployment of the right people in the right positions and thereby optimally utilising human capital. basis of experience and expertise. As a result, it offers lifetime employment. The rigid division of labour also allows employees to specialise themselves further, so that they may become experts in their own field and significantly improve their performance.

Generally speaking, the term bureaucracy has a negative connotation and is often linked to government agencies and large organisations. Nevertheless, the great benefit of a bureacracy is that large organisations with many hierarchical layers can become structured and work effectively. It is precisely the established rules and procedures that allows for high efficiency and consistent execution of work by all employees. All this makes it easier for management to maintain control and make adjustments when necessary. Bureaucracy is especially inevitable in organisations where legislation plays an important role in delivering a consistent output.

Bureaucracy is characterised by a large amount of red tape, paperwork, many desks, certain office culture and slow communication due to its many hierarchical layers. This is the system‘s biggest disadvantage. It is also unfortunate that employees remain fairly distanced from each other and the organisation, making them less loyal. Bureaucracy is also extremely dependent on regulatory and policy compliance. This restricts employees to come up with innovative ideas, making them feel like just a number instead of an individual. Later research (the human relations theory) demonstrated that employees appreciate attention and want to have a voice in decision making.

Because employees have no opportunity to voice their opinion or influence decision making, a bureaucracy may demotivate employees in the long run. Moreover, over the course of time, employees may start to get annoyed at the various rules and requirements, with the risk that they may start boycotting and/ or abusing these rules and standing up to the established order. It is therefore very important that bureaucratic organisations properly inform employees well in advance about their approach to work and requires them to accept this.

The theory of bureaucracy is attributed to the German sociologist Max Weber. His theory described the modern organizational structure, defined by salaried workers in hierarchical structures carrying out specialized and differentiated tasks. His model of bureaucracy is considered the most accurate prediction to come from the social sciences. While Marx‘s socialist revolution never materialized, and neither Keynes nor Friedman predicted economic systems that led to prosperity, Weber was undoubtedly correct that the bureaucracy would be the defining institution of the modern age. We live our lives in bureaucracies. We are born in a bureaucratic hospital, and go on to attend bureaucratic schools. We then find employment in bureaucracies, consume products created and sold by bureaucracies, and are governed by bureaucracies. The bureaucratic model is the original paradigm of public administration. Early public administrators, who popularized the field in the early twentieth century, sought to deliver better government through the power of bureaucracy. Coupled with authoritarian management practices borrowed from industry, known as Taylorism or scientific management, public administrators believed that well run public bureaucracies could deliver efficient and effective public services. Key to this perspective was the idea that bureaucracies could achieve political neutrality; the founding paradigm of public administration was known as the politics-administration dichotomy, which separated the legislative and policy making functions of government from the politically neutral execution of policy by public bureaucracies. Over time the key paradigms of public administration evolved from the bureaucratic model. Frank analysis revealed that public bureaucracies are not politically neutral, but contribute to the political and policy-making process. Other insights revealed that authoritarian management styles are sometimes ineffective and inefficient, and theorists began advocating for a humanizing of workplace human resource policies. Insights from economics contributed to the understanding of rational decision-making processes within bureaucracies, and formalized our understandings of public opinion and organizational behavior. Modern public administration recognizes the centrality of bureaucratic structures to modern day public sector organizations. Those who examine the role of modern bureaucracies are often focused on deriving insights into effective management practices. This field of inquiry is known as public management, and is often closely aligned with organizational behavior research in other bureaucracy is highly influential in modern schools of public administration.

Bureaucracy - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary". Merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2013-05-26. Bureaucracy Definition". Investopedia. 2009-09-04. Retrieved 2013-05-26. David Luban; Alan Strudler; David Wasserman (1992). "Moral Responsibility in the Age of Bureaucracy". Michigan Law Review. 90 (8). David Martin (2010). "Gates Criticizes Bloated Military Bureaucracy". CBS News. Definition of bureaucracy". Thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2013-05-26. Devin Dwyer (2009). "Victims of 'Health Insurance Bureaucracy' Speak Out". ABC News. Garrett; et al. (March–April 2006). "Assessing the Impact of Bureaucracy Bashing by Electoral Campaigns". Public Administration Review: 228–40. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2006.00575.x. Retrieved 12 March 2014. How to bend the rules of corporate bureaucracy". Usatoday30.usatoday.com. 2002-11-08. Retrieved 2013-05-26. J.C.N. Raadschelders (1998). Handbook of Administrative History. Transaction Publishers. p. 142. Katz, D. & Kahn, R. L. (1978). The social psychology of organizations. Wiley. Mulder, P. (2017). Bureaucratic Theory by Max Weber. Retrieved from ToolsHero: https://www.toolshero.com/management/bureaucratic-theory-weber/ Philip K. Howard (2012). "To Fix America's Education Bureaucracy, We Need to Destroy It". The Atlantic. Richard Swedberg; Ola Agevall (2005). The Max Weber dictionary: key words and central concepts. Stanford University Press. pp. 18–21. ISBN 978-0-8047-5095-0. Retrieved 23 March 2011.

Federal Civil Service System and the Problem of Bureaucracy (PDF). University of Chicago Press. pp. 1–11. Retrieved 12 March 2014. S. R. Maheshawari; Administrative Thinkers; MacMillan India Ltd, New Delhi, 1998 Still a bureaucracy: Normal paperwork continues its flow at Vatican". Americancatholic.org. Retrieved 26 May 2013. Udy Jr, S. H. (1959). Bureaucracy and Rationality in Weber‘s Organization Theory: An Empirical Study. American Sociological Review, 791-795. Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology. Univ of California Press. Weber, Max "Bureaucracy" in Weber's Rationalism and Modern Society, translated and edited by Tony Waters and Dagmar Waters, Palgrave-Macmillan 2015. p. 114 Wren, Daniel; Bedeian, Arthur (2009). "Chapter 10:The Emergence of the Management Process and Organization Theory". The Evolution of Management Thought (PDF). Wiley.

Research Scholar, MA Public Administration