A system of administration distinguished by its (1) clear hierarchy of authority, (2) rigid division of labor, (3) written

and inflexible rules, regulations, and procedures, and (4) impersonal relationships.

Weber identified in bureaucracies a rational-legal authority

in which legitimacy is seen as coming from a legal order.
KEY POINTS

Weber listed several preconditions for the emergence of bureaucracy:

the growth in size of the population being administered, the growth in
complexity of the administrative tasks being carried out, and the
existence of a monetary economy requiring a more efficient
administrative system.

Weber identified in bureaucracies a rational-legal authority in which

legitimacy is seen as coming from a legal order and the laws enacted
within it. This is contrasted with traditional forms of authority, which
arose from phenomena like kinship.

Rationalization describes a transition in society,

wherein traditional motivators of behavior, like values, beliefs, and
emotions, are replaced with rational calculations.

Weber termed the increasing rationalization in Western societies an

"iron cage" that traps individuals in systems based solely on efficiency,
rational calculation and control.

iron cage
a theory proposed by Max Weber which argues that rationalization and
rules trap humans in a figurative "cage" of thought based on rational
calculations

ideal type
An ideal type is not a particular person or thing that exists in the world,
but an extreme form of a concept used by sociologists in theories. For
example, although there is not a perfectly "modern" society, the term
"modern" is used as an ideal type in certain theories to make large-scale
points.

Rational-legal authority
A form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a ruling
regime is largely tied to legal rationality, legal legitimacy and
bureaucracy.
The concept of bureaucracy was developed by a social scientist, Max Weber. Max Weber {18641920) was a German Sociologist. Weber's news on organizational design were influenced by three
factors, namely (i) his military experience, (ii) his lack of trust in human judgment, and (iii) the
phenomenal growth of industrial organizations.

He conceived of bureaucracy as an abstract system for rational solution of management problems

without the frictions caused by human errors and emotions. According to Weber, "bureaucratic
organizations are the most rational means of carrying out imperative control over human
beings".'
The theory of bureaucracy is based upon the nature of authority relationships in organisation. It
is concerned with how organizations actually operate rather than with how they should function.
Weber visualized the bureaucratic model as an orderly structuring of power to achieve rational
human behavior under a hierarchy of professionals. He identified three types of legitimate
authority, which are as follows:
(i) Traditional authority:
It refers to the obedience a person gets because he belongs to a certain class which is traditionally
recognized as possessing authority, e.g., member of a royal family.
(ii) Charismatic authority:
Such authority arises due to the follower's belief that a person has some special power or appeal.
(iii) Rational-legal authority:
It is the obedience a person gets because he occupies a legally established position or rank in the
hierarchy of an organisation.
According to Weber, traditional authority does not recognize the competence of individuals and
charismatic authority is too emotional and irrational.
Therefore, rational-legal authority is recognized as the most legitimate type in the theory of
bureaucracy. Thus, Weber conceived of bureaucracy as the 'ideal type' of administrative
organisation. The distinctive features of bureaucracy are as follows:
1. A set of written rules and work procedures:
Bureaucracy functions through a framework of rules and regulations. All administrative acts,
functions and decisions are found by rules which are formulated and recorded in writing. Rules
are designed to ensure uniformity of action and equality of treatment.
They save time and effort by obviating the need for deriving a new solution for every problem or
case. Written rules and work procedures serve as guides to action by managers and workers.
Norms of conduct are established and everyone is expected to follow them. A systematic
interpretation of norms and enforcement of rules cannot be maintained through oral
communication.
2. Specialization:

There is a systematic division of labor, rights and power. Every member of the rational
organisation must know fully the limits of his job and powers so that there is no overlapping
between the roles of different participants as otherwise the whole structure would be
undermined.
Thus, there is a specific sphere of competence consisting of (a) obligations to perform specific
functions, (b) provision of the necessary authority to carry out these functions, and (c) clear
definition of the means of compulsion which are to be used subject to definite conditions.
3. Hierarchy of authority:
Through a series of delegations a hierarchy is created under which each lower office is under the
control and supervision of a higher one.
This is necessary to ensure compliance of orders and instructions. Compliance cannot be left to
chance, it has to be systematically checked and reinforced. Therefore, no office is left uncontrolled.
4. Impersonal relations':
As a matter of principle, the members of the administrative staff should be completely separated
from ownership of the means of production. In addition, the organizations property which is
controlled within the spheres of the office is completely separated from the personal property of
the officials.
5. Trained personnel:
Members of the administrative staff are provided specialized technical training so that a fully
rational application of technical rules or norms can be made. The bureaucrat derives his
authority and legitimate command from technical skill and knowledge. Employees should be
placed according to their command of technical training or competence.
6. Organizational freedom:
There should be a complete absence of appropriation of his official position by the incumbent the
organization must be free from any outside control and positions cannot be monopolized by any
incumbent. All positions must be free to be allocated and re-allocated according to the needs of
the organization.

Facts
Bureaucratic organizational structures have numerous layers of management, cascading down from senior
executives to regional managers to departmental managers, all the way down to shift supervisors who work
alongside frontline employees. Due to the many layers of management, decision-making authority has to pass
through a larger number of layers than with flatter organizations. Refund decisions, for example, may have to
pass from frontline employees, through shift supervisors, to store managers for a retail outlet in a bureaucratic
company.

Significance

In a bureaucratic organizational structure, authority is generally centered at the top, and information generally
flows from the top down. This usually encourages a company culture focused on rules and standards, where
operational processes are rigidly controlled with best-practices methodologies and close supervision.

Advantages
Top-level managers in bureaucratic organizational structures exercise a great deal of control over organizational
strategy decisions, which is ideal for business owners with a command and control style. Strategic decisionmaking time can be shorter in a tall organizational structure, since less individuals are involved in the process.
Standardization and best-practices are often highlights in companies with tall organizational structures, ensuring
that work is consistently completed efficiently and effectively.

Disadvantages
Bureaucratic structures can discourage creativity and innovation throughout the organization. No matter how
ingenious a business owner is, it is virtually impossible for a single individual to generate the range of strategic
ideas possible in a large, interdisciplinary group. Front-line employees may receive less satisfaction from their
jobs in a rigidly bureaucratic organization, increasing employee turnover rates. Organizations bound by rigid
controls can also find themselves less able to adapt to changing conditions in the marketplace, industry or legal
environment.

Webers Bureaucracy: Definition, Features, Benefits,

Disadvantages and Problems!
It was Max Webber who propounded the bureaucratic theory of
organisation and management.
The term bureaucracy has been widely used with invidious
connotations directed at government and business. Bureaucracy is
an administrative system designed to accomplish large-scale
administrative tasks by systematically coordinating the work of
many individuals. Weber has observed three types of power in
organisations: traditional, charismatic and rational-legal or
bureaucratic. He has emphasised that bureaucratic type of power is
the ideal one.
Features (Characteristics) Of Webers Bureaucracy:
Weber has given a number of features of bureaucracy. Accordingly,
following features suggest the characteristics of bureaucratic
organisations.

1. Administrative Class:
Bureaucratic organisations generally have administrative class
responsible for maintaining coordinative activities of the members.
Main features of his class are as follows:
(i) People are paid and are whole time employees,
(ii) They receive salary and other perquisites normally based on
their positions,
(iii) Their tenure in the organisation is determined by the rules and
regulations of the organisation,
(iv) They do not have any proprietary interest in the organisation,
(v) They are selected for the purpose of employment based on their
competence.
2. Hierarchy:
The basic feature of bureaucratic organisation is that there is
hierarchy of positions in the organisation. Hierarchy is a system of
ranking various positions in descending scale from top to bottom of
the organisation. In bureaucratic organisation, offices also follow
the principle of hierarchy that is each lower office is subject to
control and supervision by higher office.
Thus, no office is left uncontrolled in the organisation. This is the
fundamental concept of hierarchy in bureaucratic organisation. This
hierarchy serves as lines of communication and delegation of
authority. It implies that communication coming down or going up
must pass through each position.

Similarly, a subordinate will get authority from his immediate

superior. However, this hierarchy is net unitary but sub-pyramids of
officials within the large organisation corresponding etc. functional
divisions exist.
Thus, there are offices with the same amount of authority but with
different kinds of functions operating in different areas of
competence. For example, the Government organisations, we can
observe separate offices looking after particular functions. This
happens in business organisations too.
3. Division of Work:
Work of the organisation is divided on the basis of specialisation to
take the advantages of division of labour. Each office in the
bureaucratic organisation has specific sphere of competence.
This involves:
(i) a sphere of obligations to perform functions which has been
marked off as part of a systematic division of labour;
(ii) the provision of the incumbent with necessary authority to carry
out these functions; and
(iii) the necessary means of compulsion are clearly defined and their
use is subject to definite conditions.
Thus, division of labour try to ensure that each office has a clearlydefined area of competence within the organisation and each official
knows the areas in which he operates and the areas in which he
must abstain from action so that he does not overstep the boundary
between his role and those of others. Further, division of labour also
tries to ensure that no work is left uncovered.

4. Official Rules:
A basic and most emphasised feature of bureaucratic organisation is
that administrative process is continuous and governed by official
rules. Bureaucratic organisation is the antithesis of ad hoc,
temporary, and temporary and unstable relations. A rational
approach to organisation calls for a system of maintaining rules to
ensure twin requirements of uniformity and coordination of efforts
by individual members in the organisation.
These rules are more or less stable and more or less exhaustive.
When there is no rule on any aspect of organisational operation, the
matter is referred upward for decision which subsequently becomes
precedent for future decision on the similar matter. Rules provide
the benefits of stability, continuity, and predictability and each
official knows precisely the outcome of his behaviour in a particular
matter.
5. Impersonal Relationships:
A notable feature of bureaucracy is that relationships among
individuals are governed through the system of official authority
and rules. Official positions are free from personal involvement,
emotions and sentiments. Thus, decisions are governed by rational
factors rather than personal factors. This impersonality concept is
used in dealing with organisational relations as well as relations
between the organisation and outsiders.
6. Official Record:
Bureaucratic organisation is characterised by maintenance of
proper official records. The decisions and activities of the
organisation are formally recorded and preserved for future
reference. This is made possible by extensive use of filling system in
the organisation. An official record is almost regarded as

encyclopedia of various activities performed by the people in the

organisation.
Benefits of Bureaucracy:
The following are the advantages of Bureaucracy:
1. The rules and procedures are decided for every work it leads to,
consistency in employee behaviour. Since employees are bound to
follow the rules etc., the management process becomes easy.
2. The duties and responsibilities of each job are clearly defined
there is no question of overlapping or conflicting job duties.
3. The selection process and promotion procedures are based on
merit and expertise. It assists in putting right persons on right jobs.
There is optimum utilisation of human resources.
4. The division of labour assists workers in becoming experts in
their jobs. The performance of employees improves considerably.
5. The enterprise does not suffer when some persons leave it. If one
person leaves then some other occupies that place and the work
does not suffer.
Disadvantages of Bureaucracy:
The following are the disadvantages of Bureaucracy:
1. This system suffers from too much of red tape and paper work.
2. The employees do not develop belongingness to the organisation.
3. The excessive reliance on rules and regulations and adherence to
these policies inhibit initiative and growth of the employees. They
are treated like machines and not like individuals. There is neglect
of human factor.

4. The employees become so used to the system, they resist to any

change and introduction of new techniques of operations.
Evaluation:
Webers model will be performed in those enterprises where change
is not anticipated. Big business houses and government
departments use this type of organisation. Weber is credited for
attempting to develop Bureaucratic model for the first time.
Webers model has some drawbacks. It has rigidity, impersonality,
excessive cost of control, excessive dependence on superiors,
tendency to ignore organisational goals. Inspite of these limitations
this model is very useful in large enterprises.
Problems in Bureaucracy:
Bureaucracy organisation has been considered once superior than
ad hoc or temporary structure. It has been termed as rational and
ideal leading to efficiency. The efficiency in bureaucratic
organisation comes through rationality and predictability of
behaviour because everyone knows the consequence of his action
become actually the action is undertaken.
However, bureaucracy has been criticised because of its inefficiency
and has been termed as a symbol of inefficiency. There are many
dis-functional aspects of bureaucracy which is referred to as bureau
pathology.
Looking into the needs of modern organisations, bureaucracy has
many shortcomings and is, therefore, not suitable. The major
problems of bureaucracy are because of the following factors:
invalidity of bureaucracy assumptions, goal displacement united
consequences, in human and closers-system perspective.

Invalidity of Bureaucratic Assumptions:

In fact, the source of bureau pathology lies in the invalidity of
various assumptions of ideal bureaucracy. Many authors have
questioned the validity of bureaucracy. In most of these cases, either
the conditions are not found in practice, or even if found, may not
result in efficiency.
Specially the following aspects of bureaucracy work
against efficiency of the organisation, though they are
supposed to contribute to efficiency:
1. Rules are normally provided for guidelines but often they become
source of inefficiency because of too much emphasis on rules, their
misuse, and peoples apathy from rules.
2. Rigid organisational hierarchy works against efficiency. It
overemphasizes superior- subordinate relationships unnecessarily
which is detrimental to congenial organisational climate.
3. In dealing with people, total impersonal approach cannot be
adopted because people have feelings, emotions and sentiments
which affect decision. Thus, people cannot work totally according to
rules and prescriptions.

Advantage: Strong Chain of Command

Bureaucratic structures have strong chains of command, which make them very stable as
business entities. A centralized authority, such as a president, chairman or department
chief, gives out the orders to managers. Those managers in the middle levels of the
structure carry out their tasks and parcel out other jobs to those lower in the chain. Each
employee has a clear role, carries out specific tasks and understands the company's
expectations, leading to a stable and predictable working environment.

Advantage: Specialization

Bureaucratic structures also encourage specialization of tasks. While the hierarchical

structure of each department delivers the orders for the employees in that department,
each department retains its own separate identity while working within similar sets of
rules. The upper managers in each department establish the processes needed for that

employee's specific tasks. This specialization of tasks can be highly useful when the
company expands and new employees come on board.

Disadvantage: Lack of Responsiveness

The specialized and repetitive processes inherent in the bureaucratic structure do not
respond well to changes in laws, technologies or customer tastes. When confronted with
these changes, bureaucratic businesses may choose either to ignore them -- and get left
behind their more responsive competitors -- or to change their processes, which can
involve expensive and time-consuming overhauls and retraining. In either case, the
bureaucratic business's lack of responsiveness can be a costly and devastating drawback.

Disadvantage: Lack of Innovation

The rigid structure and tight specialization found in bureaucratic structures can also
serve to discourage innovation and outside-the-box thinking. Bureaucratic companies
may fail to anticipate consumer trends, explore new markets and create ground-breaking
products. When managers in bureaucratic structures view employees as cogs in a
functional machine, rather than as individuals with ideas to contribute to the company's
efforts, the company misses out on opportunities for growth. The bureaucratic
companies that enforce their rules for the sake of the rules themselves sacrifice the
possibilities that they can find in breaking those rules.

Some advantage of bureaucracy:

-Clear division of work with boundaries to responsibilities.
-Formal (written) rules and procedures resulting in predictability and reutilization.
-A well-defined hierarchy of authority.
-Appointments to posts based on technical competence.
-Formal (written) documentation of actions and decisions.
-Bureaucratic control system is a strategic was based around internal labor market and the
winning of employee commitment through the prospect of long term career
advancement includes job security, pension packages and Training & development.
- Bureaucracies helped HRM in recruitment, performance appraisal, and other systems.
-A bureaucratic system brings to the overall running and efficiency of a business and its
employees. In a bureaucracy each employee of the organization knows precisely what their
duties are within the organization, and therefore many tasks will be performed a lot quicker
and more efficiently. The clear-cut rules set by bureaucratic systems also enable the
organization...
The disadvantage of bureaucracy:
-emphasis on control can prompt rigidity of behavior and defensive routines . -division of
task and responsibility can elevate departmental goals above whole system , resulting in
sub-optimizing behavior. -minimal acceptable standards can become transformed into
targets and behavioral norms . Rules and procedures can become ends in themselves . - A
bureaucracy was used to command and control. - One important strand in the driver
against bureaucracy has been the ideological shift which urged the primacy of the market. There is a shift from internal labor market techniques to external methods. - Throughout the

world, many large companies are still bureaucracies. The primacies of the market along with
de-regulations have put pressure on large companies

An organization whose membership consists of workers and union leaders, united to protect
and promote their common interests.
The principal purposes of a labor union are to (1) negotiate wages and working condition terms, (2) regulate relations
between workers (its members) and the employer, (3) take collective action to enforce the terms of collective
bargaining, (4) raise new demands on behalf of its members, and (5) help settle their grievances.