0TPR

Session 13 : Close System Approach

COORDINATOR & FACILITATOR

Manoj M Ghadge

Bureaucracy: A Closer Look

Discussion Points
1. What is a close system approach?

2. What is Bureaucracy?
3. Is Bureaucracy still relevant?

Closed System
Assumes organizations as tools designed to achieve

preset ends, and all of them ignore or minimize the

constraints and opportunities posed by connections
to wider environment.

Closed System Theorists

Scientific Management - Taylor (1911)
Bureaucratic Theory - Weber (1968)

Administrative Theory - Fayol (1919)

Bureaucracy
A form of organizational structure in which people can

be held accountable for their actions because

they are required to act in accordance with rules
and standard operating procedures

Bureaucracy: a closed rational system

Rationality refers not to the selection of goal(s) but to their

implementation
Bureaucracy is about functional or technical rationality
It refers to the extent to which a series of actions is organized in such a
way as to lead to predetermined goals with maximum efficiency

Two important element in rationalization

1.

Goal Specificity

2.

Formalization

Goal Specificity and Formalization

Goals are the conception of desired end

Goals supply criteria for choosing among alternative activities

Formalization can contribute to rationality in many ways
Status battles are reduced by formalization

Make the structure look external to the participating actors

Functioning of organization is made independent of the feeling of
members

Structures are independent of participation of any individual

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Webers work on Bureaucracy

It is about authority and control

Three types of authority

1. Traditional authority the belief that ruler had a natural right to
rule. Example: Kings and Queens
2. Legitimate authority based on formal written rules which have
the force of law. Example: Authority of President

3. Charismatic authority the belief that the ruler had some special,
unique virtue, either religious or heroic. Example: Religious leaders
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Webers characteristics of
Bureaucracy
Job specialization: Jobs are broken down into simple routine well defined task
Authority hierarchy: Positions are in a hierarchy of authority, with each
position under the authority of a higher one

Employment and career : All personnel are selected and promoted on the
basis of their technical qualifications and offered a full-time career
Recording: Administrative acts and decisions are recorded in writing

Rules and Procedure: All employees are subject to rules and procedures that
ensure reliable, predictable behaviour
Impersonality: procedure and rules are impersonal, and apply to managerial

and non-managerial employees alike

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Webers characteristics of
Bureaucracy
Job specialization: Jobs are broken down into simple routine well defined task
Authority hierarchy: Positions are in a hierarchy of authority, with each
position under the authority of a higher one

Employment and career : All personnel are selected and promoted on the
basis of their technical qualifications and offered a full-time career
Recording: Administrative acts and decisions are recorded in writing

Rules and Procedure: All employees are subject to rules and procedures that
ensure reliable, predictable behaviour
Impersonality: procedure and rules are impersonal, and apply to managerial

and non-managerial employees alike

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Dysfunctional Consequences of
Bureaucracy
Goal Displacement

Employee alienation
Concentration of Power
Nonmember frustration
Inappropriate application of rules and regulation

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Threats to Bureaucracy
Growth in size
Increasing diversity

Rapid and unexpected change

Change in managerial behavior

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Bureaucracy is not dead !

It works

Large size prevails

Social values are unchanging
Bureaucracy maintains control
Natural selection favors bureaucracy

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Thank you

Happy Reading !
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