American Politics - Essay Example

Finally, bureaucracy refers to the characteristics which exist in the organization like inflexibility or red tape. During the 1930s Max Weber illustrated bureaucracy as the ideal method of managing government departments and agencies. Max Weber outlined five major principles which guide bureaucracy in an effective and efficient manner. The principles are; formal hierarchical structure, management by rules, specialization, purposely impersonal and competency based employment (Ehrenreich, 1999).

Max Weber favors an official hierarchical structure. Each level of the organization controls the sublevels below it. Likewise, the organizational level is controlled by the level above it. This formal hierarchy is responsible for the centralized decision making in organizations. Management through rules ensures that organizational decisions made at the top levels are implemented consistently at lower organizational levels. Max Weber also illustrates specialization and division of labor as one of the principles.

Staffs are divided into units, according to the competencies they possess, or the type of work. Purposely impersonal principle ensures that all organizational stakeholders are treated equally. For example, provision of goods or service of the same quality and quantity to all the customers, for equal value. The bureaucracy also ensures that people are employed according to the skills they possess (Woods, 1998). These five principles ensure effective and efficient service delivery in the bureaucracy.

The official hierarchical structure ensures smooth decision making process in the organization. The top management is responsible for making strategic decisions, which is then communicated downwards for implementation. Management by rules ensures that all staffs work according to the planning objectives. Specialization increases the quality of service offered because, employees offer services only in the areas they have enough competencies in.