What does Weber mean by rationality and rational behaviour?

How does it compare to other conceptions of rationality we have

encountered in the readings?
In the context of explaining the Protestant work ethic and elaborating
upon the anecdotal evidence of their better economic conditions, Weber
calls the spirit of capitalism as an attitude which seeks profit rationally
and systematically (p.27). In his famous work, Weber tries to explain how
the western society has rationalized its way of economic behaviours by
integrating religious justifications. To better illustrate his point of view, he
alludes to Benjamin Franklins autobiography where using money to earn
more money has been glorified as a way of life (and is closely linked with
the economic behaviour of Protestants). According to Weber, the
Protestant believer derives the rationale for acquiring more money from
his religious belief that he has been entrusted with the calling, that will
enable him to serve his community. This serving of the community, this
fulfilment of the calling is not only a duty but the only way of living
acceptable to God. Hence, the rational behaviour for a Protestant
(especially a Calvinist) will be to offer his labour in the service of rational
organization for the provision of humanity with material goods. While
providing labour, he earns and accumulates wealth. The Protestants do
not strongly propagate distribution of this accumulated wealth as a sign
of brotherly love. Accumulation of wealth is an end in itself; what then
becomes of the surplus of wealth that the Protestants accumulate? Weber
points out this dilemma for its transcendence and absolute irrationality,
i.e. a Protestant strives to accumulate wealth in light of the duty assigned
by the Divine but cannot enjoy the gains from it due to the non-indulgent
lifestyle prescribed by the same religion. The wealth accumulated thus
was to be channelized in new business ventures, to avoid the epidemic of
beggary.
Therefore, Weber saw the transformation of economic values and work
ethos (during The Reformation) as the rationalization of a modern
capitalist spirit, under the guise of the religious calling for the

Protestants. Some of the previous discussions and readings on Weber (for

example, on bureaucracy) alluded to his advocacy of the legal-rational
authority in any organization as the inevitable choice in a modern society
when dealing with leadership. He discredited charismatic or traditional
authority as acceptable and stable sources of authority for people. Hence,
the rational thing to do was to associate discretionary power with a
position than a person, so that the system of an organization continues
smoothly if a person shall leave or be replaced. While explaining his
reasons for propagating bureaucracy, Weber proposes that the society will
eventually adopt this more rational approach to authority, as part of the
process of rationalization.