Bureaucratic theory

At the end of the 19th century, it was German sociologist and author of The Protestant Ethic
and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905), Max Weber who was the first to use and describe the
term bureaucracy. This is also known as the bureaucratic theory of
management, bureaucratic management theory or the Max Weber theory. He believed
bureaucracy was the most efficient way to set up an organisation, administration and
organizations. Max Weber believed that Bureaucracy was a better than traditional
structures. In a bureaucratic organisation, everyone is treated equal and the division of
labour is clearly described for each employee.

Bureaucracy definition: what is bureaucracy?

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

Legal responsibility

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.

What is a bureaucratic organization?

According to the bureaucratic theory of Max Weber, bureaucracy is the basis for the
systematic formation of any organisation and is designed to ensure efficiency and economic
effectiveness. 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.

Max Weber’s bureaucratic management principles

Below is a more detailed explanation of the 6 bureaucratic management

1. Task specialisation

Tasks are divided into simple, routine categories on the basis of competencies and
functional specialisations. 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 specialisation,
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.

2. Hierarchical of authority

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

3. Formal selection

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.
4. Rules and requirements

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.

5. Impersonal

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.

6. Career orientation

Employees of a bureaucratic organisation 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. In a bureaucracy, it is possible to build a career on the basis of
experience and expertise. As a result, it offers lifetime employment. The right division of
labour within a bureaucratic organisation also allows employees to specialise themselves
further, so that they may become experts in their own field and significantly improve their
performance.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Bureaucratic Theory

Advantages
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.

Disadvantages

Bureaucracy is characterised by a large amount of red tape, paperwork, many desks,

certain office culture and slow bureaucratic communication due to its many hierarchical
layers. This is the system’s biggest disadvantage of a bureaucratic organization. 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.

Problems

Because employees of an bureaucratic organization 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. Only employees who agree to this approach are suitable
to work within a bureaucratic organisation.

6 Principles of Bureaucratic Management Approach

1. Proper Division of Labor
Division of labor specialization should be fixed and there should be a balance between
power and responsibilities.
2. Chain of Command
The chain of command or organizational hierarchy should be constructed in a way
that information related to decision and works can flow effectively from top to bottom.
3. Separation of personal and official property
Owners and organization’s assets are separate and can to be treated as same by the
owner or the organization.
4. Application of Consistent and Complete Rules
There should be proper rules and regulations in the organization for running the
organization.
These rules should be followed in every step of the organization and they are equally
applicable to every member of the organization.
5. Selection and Promotion Based on Qualifications
The selection and promotion of workers should be based on equalization’s like; skills,
experience, age. It should not be influenced by personal relations and benefits.
Training in job requirements and skills.There is a difference between management and
other parts of organization and training and improving skills of management is
important.
Features of Bureaucratic Organization
From the principles of bureaucratic organization we can find these characteristics or
features of Bureaucratic Organization are as follows:-

 High degree of Division of Labor and Specialization.

 There is a well-defined chain of command.
 It follows the principle of Rationality, Objectively and Consistency.
 The relationship among the member of the organization is Formal and Impersonal
relations. And it’s based on positions and not on personalities.
 Rules and Regulations are well defined and it indicates the duties and rights of the
employees. These rules apply to everyone from to bottom of the organization and must
be strictly followed.
 Selection and Promotion are based on Technical qualifications.
 Only Bureaucratic or legal power is given importance.

Criticism of Bureaucratic Organization

Bureaucratic Management Approach of Max Weber also has some fault-lines and received
criticism for it.

 The emphasis only on rules and regulations.

 There will be unnecessary delay in decision-making due to formalities and rules of
Bureaucratic Organization.
 Coordination and communication hampered because of too much formality and rules.
 Bureaucracy involves a lot of paperwork and has just too much level of authority which
results in a lot of wastage of time, effort and money. Not ideal for efficiency.
 Because of its too much formality, a Bureaucratic approach is not suitable for business
organizations. The bureaucratic model may be suitable for government organizations.
 Too much importance is given to the technical qualifications of the employees for
promotion and transfers. Dedication and commitment of the employee are not
considered.
 Limited scope for Human Resource (HR). No importance is given to informal groups and
neither any scope is given to form one.

Max Weber’s bureaucratic approach worked as a solution to problems of traditional

administrative systems. But it was not the prefect or “close to perfect” solution. The
bureaucratic structure gives all the importance and power to the top level management.
And the rules and levels of authority are just too much. It gives a greater sense of security
to the employees. But bureaucratic management gives a window for “red-tapism”.