ANSWERS Bureaucracies Worksheet

Where are bureaucracies most commonly used? Business, Education, Government, Religion

Define: Bureaucracy An organizational model characterized by a hierarchy of authority, a clear division of labour, explicit rules and procedures, and impersonality in personnel matters.

Why, according to Max Weber, were/are bureaucracies a good thing? The bureaucracy was the most rational and efficient means of attaining organizational goals because it contributed to coordination and control.

FORMAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A BUREAUCRACY: DIVISION OF LABOUR  Specialization – each member has a specific status with certain assigned tasks to fulfill. HIERARCHY OF AUTHORITY  Chain of command- each lower office being under the control of the higher one.  Takes the form of a pyramid. People at the top have more power and exercise more control than the many at the lower levels

FORMAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A BUREAUCRACY Cont. RULES AND REGULATIONS  Established authority within an organization.  Typically standardized rules provided in a written format  Provide clear cut standards  Continuity- rules do not have to be re-invented QUALIFICATION BASED EMPLOYMENT  Hiring is done based on specific qualifications  Favortism is not an accepted qualification  Promotion on merit

FORMAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A BUREAUCRACY cont. IMPERSONALITY  A “detached” approach should prevail towards clients.  Officials must interact with subordinates based on official statuses- not personal feelings towards them.

INFORMAL STRUCTURE Compromises those aspects of participants’ day-to- day activities and interactions that ignore, bypass, or do not correspond with the official rules and procedures of the bureaucracy. IE. The “unofficial” grapevine that spreads information. Employees use this to confront,resist, or adapt to the constraints of their jobs.

WHAT TYPE OF BEHAVIOR AT THE TOP OF AN ORGANIZATION MIGHT RENDER AN ORGANIZATION EFFICIENT? WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN? “Self Protective behavior”  Monopolization of information to maintain control over subordinates and outsiders  Failure to communicate with workers at the lower levels.

WHAT MIGHT WORKERS OF THE LOWER END OF THE STRUCTURE DO THAT MIGHT IMPEDE THE ORGANIZATION? - Hide mistakes from supervisors

GOAL DISPLACEMENT Occurs when the rules become an end in themselves rather than a means to an end, and organizational survival becomes more important than achievement of goals. Administrators may overconform to the rules because they are experts at them and it is their job to enforce them. They don’t want to bend the rules because they don’t want to be seen as giving favortism. Bureaucrats may be inflexible out of fear of criticism

BUREAUCRATIC PERSONALITY Describes those workers who are more concerned with following correct procedures than they are with getting the job done correctly. Such workers would have trouble dealing with a unique problem or emergency …AKA “Trained incapacity”

TWO REASONS WHY WORKERS MAY RESIST TO CHANGE Many workers may be resistant to change because they have adapted their professional and personal lives to the old way of doing their jobs. Some workers have seen previous change efforts fail and my not want to make a commitment to the latest effort at transforming their organizatiion.

McDonaldization “The process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world.”