Conceptions of Bureaucracy, Bureaucratic Way of Operations - Essay Example

The government runs on a bureaucratic system in which elected officials make the most important decisions as the ones specialized in dealing with the tasks presented, who will implement the policies.

About bureaucracy, usually, the people in leadership are not the ones chosen or elected by the public, but rather, allocated responsibility based on their qualifications. Also, their day-to-day performance is evaluated since they report to their immediate boss, hence no biased opinions unlike in an anti-bureaucratic system where the people in leadership can place their relatives in any requested unit.

Different viewpoints have resulted concerning bureaucracy. Like any new change in an organization, supporting viewpoints are present, and opposing views are too. Other findings argue that the disadvantages of bureaucracy outweigh the advantages others point that the vice-versa is true. Discussed in this paper are the characteristics, roles, pros, and cons of a bureaucratic system.

Characteristics of Bureaucracy
Specialization in bureaucracy considers the assigning of responsibilities to highly specialized individuals. Each has a specific role to play in the organization. The hierarchy of offices – indicates that bureaucracies vertically rank individuals, and power flows down from the top of the hierarchy. On the other hand, rules and regulations govern a bureaucracy. These rules and regulations set up clear guidelines for the expected commitment from each employee. In terms of impersonality, bureaucracy puts both clients and employees on the same level of treatment. Being impersonal ensures a lack of favoritism. Responsibly, through the application of technical competence officials in bureaucracies should be capable of handling their duties effectively. In a bureaucratic organization only hire new employees who meet the required standards and they've monitored hence no room for incompetence. Finally, bureaucracy considers formal and written communication forms of written reports and memos as part of record keeping. Coincidentally, official communication helps employees to be on the same page across all units.

Roles of bureaucracy in a particular organization
Bureaucracy implements the policies set by elected officials. The policies set by elected representatives in an organization and implemented by the people in charge of different tasks hence achieved in the end. Bureaucracy provides for administrative functions in the government such as issuing permits and licenses that enable an organization to run its day-to-day operations. It also regulates some of the government operations. In addition, it enables the government to set down the rules and regulations carried out by the company's daily of their operations.

Negative effects of Bureaucracy
Bureaucratic alienation promotes the feeling of powerlessness that occurs when an employee is assigned the same task repeatedly. Max Weber described bureaucracy as a model of productivity. Weber also pointed out that although a bureaucratic organization is supposed to be of benefit to humanity, people might end up serving the organizations. Bureaucratic inefficiency is observed in instances such as 2005’s hurricane coincidence showing that while people were counting their losses after Hurricane Katrina, their government was accused of failing to respond effectively due to bureaucratic inefficiency. Lastly, formal or written communication can result in a lack of communication between two divisions. One unit can undo what another has done. If the employees don’t get to read and understand the paperwork, they cannot be on the same page. In terms of keeping employees motivated, bureaucracy is associated with boredom in the working environment where employees perform the same tasks every day resulting in demotivated employees.

With a large number of officials, the bureaucratic system is regarded as an active boundary system where job descriptions are more detailed hence employees know their corresponding responsibilities. Moreover, bureaucracy operates like a machine with each of the parts working independently but supporting each other at the same time thus organization is an essential requirement and defining element. Finally, bureaucracy makes use of economies of scale to cumulate profits or limit spending. In terms of the workforce, the employees under bureaucracies are efficient and proficient in their jobs because of performing specific tasks repeatedly. The interaction between management and the workforce is formal and written such that there is always proof and records that are used as reference materials on every party’s obligations and responsibilities.

Conclusion
An organization can be dysfunctional when following the bureaucratic way of operations because of too much monotony in its daily operations. The monotony of performing the same tasks every day can be tiring and demotivating to the employees hence leading to resignations and dismissal. Given that a bureaucracy needs the efficiency of specialized employees, it might be difficult for an organization to get the same level of output as newly recruited employees. Read More