INTRODUCTION
The
term “bureaucracy” derived from French word “bureau” which means desk, and a
government which is run from table is called a bureaucratic government used
from the early eighteen century in Western Europe. The word implies a
particular system of administration. Historically it has been associated with
the rule of government and governmental officials.
Bureaucracy thus basically
means office power or office rule, the rule of officialdom. The term
bureaucracy came into use shortly before the French revolution of 1789 and from
there spread rapidly to other countries (Shankarrao C N 2006). As Weber noticed nearly a century
ago, with the rationalization of society, bureaucracy becomes inevitable
(Weber, 1968/1921) and in the contemporary society, bureaucracy – whether
private or public – is ubiquitous.
Without it, few of the routine features of
our modern society would be possible; the collection of taxes and the
production and distribution of goods and services, for example, would be
difficult, if not impossible. (Dandeker, 1990). Bureaucracies control people by
replacing human judgment with nonhuman technology, thus creating a formalistic
impersonality of the system.
Even bureaucracy itself can be seen as a huge
nonhuman technology that functions more or less automatically. Rules,
regulations, and institutional structures replace the adaptability of human
decisions, that is, employees of bureaucratic organizations generally follow
the rules and regulations in a predetermined sequence instead of evaluating
each case separately.
They must get their jobs done in a certain way by a
certain time without mistakes, and the role of informal systems of human action
is diminished by the highly formalized structures. Bureaucracy controls not
only employees of an organization but her clients as well. An organization
provides services and one must apply for the services on a specific form by a
specific date. One will receive those services only in a certain way and under
strict conditions. (Ritzer, 1998) Client categories used by organizations
decide what information a client is supposed to provide, and this information
will generate a denial or a grant of a specific requested service. (Snellen,
1998)
DEFINITIONS
OF KEY TERMS
Bureaucracy
refers to the social structure made up of a
hierarchy of status and roles that is prescribed by explicit rules and
procedure and based on division of function (Carolyn J Kroehler 2005).
Bureaucracy is a system of official rules and ways of
doing things that government or organization has especially when these seems to
be complicated government system in which there are a large number of state
officials who are not elected in a country with such system (Hornly A 1948).
Power,
denoting
something associated with people who hold authority and influence, especially
in the context of business or politics, (www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-meaning-of-the-word/power.html)
Power,
is ability to control others, events, or resources; to make happen what one
wants to happen in spite of obstacles, resistance, or opposition.
MAJOR
CHARACTERISTCS OF BUREAUCRACY
Officials
are organized in a clearly defined hierarchy of authority (hierarchy of
authority) this is among
of bureaucracy traits in which the hierarchy implies that the offices and
office holders are so arranged that each post in the organization is subject to the principle runs through the
organization from the top to the bottom. Therefore that’s all about hierarchy
of authority.
Competence
on merit (candidates for post in the bureaucracy are selected on basis of their
qualification)
candidates for the posts in the organizations are selected on the assumption
that they have demonstrated the necessary competence for the job, for example
having reached a certain education standards. Therefore a person attains job
opportunity according to his or her education.
Separation
of person from the office (the official does not own the materials and
equipment that he/she works with) the official has no personal claim over property of the office, thus
ensuring that the property remains under public control. Therefore workers are
not allowed to use the office instruments as their own examples using car may
be for carrying luggages like grasses and others.
Written
rules and regulation this is
another feature of bureaucracy, this is a vital thing in a bureaucratic system
of administration or plays as a guideline or scope of workers in which workers
must adhere those stipulated rules and regulation in work place so as to run an
organization efficiently and effectiveness.
Impersonally
order this also is
another characteristic of bureaucracy in which the work is conducted according
to the prescribed rules without arbitrariness favoritism. Thus a person do not
exist only in a position, information flows one position to another not persons
but should be known publically and not for personal interest.
Security
of tenure in this bureaucracy
as the system of administration the position of the official is normally held
for life or eternally, the official receives the regularly pecuniary
compensation of a normally fixed salary and old age security provided by a
pension. The salary is not measured like wage in terms of work done, but
according to “status” that is according to the kind of function (the “rank”).
The
management of the modern officer is based upon written documents in this each and every document are in
written form or in “files” for the sake of avoiding losing official documents, they do so simply because files are for
communal not individual issue that’s why are reserved in written form to avoid
contradiction within an organization. Therefore these are some characteristics
of bureaucracy as explained by Max Weber in his model, and the following are
the reasons to why these characteristics impede social interaction within
contemporary society. Bureaucracy
and power relation is the amongst weapon to organizational stability
HOW BUREAUCRACY AND POWER RELATION
ARE STRONG WEAPONS IN ORGANIZATION STABILITY
It provides lines of authority which should be
clearly stated and run from top to bottom of the organization, this principle is known as the scalar
principle and the line of authority is referred to as chain of command. The
major decisions are made and policies are formulated at the top management
level and they filter down through the various management levels to the
workers. The line of authority should be clearly established so that each
person in this chain of command knows his authority and its boundaries for
instance in Teofilo kisanji organization were all decision are made by upper
class
Each person in the organization
should report to only one boss, this is known as the principle of “unity of command” and
each person knows as to whom he reports to and who reports to him. This process
eliminates ambiguity and confusion that can result when a person has to report
to more than one superior.
The responsibility and authority of
each supervisor should be established clearly and in writing, this will clarify the exact role
of the supervisor as to the limits to his authority. Authority is defined as
“the formal right to require action from others”, and responsibility is the
accountability of that authority. With clearly defined authority and
responsibility, it will be easier for the supervisor to trace and handle
problems and make quick decisions when necessary.
The authority and responsibility
should be delegated as far down the hierarchical line as objectively possible, this will place the decision making
power near the actual operations. This would give the top management more free
time to devote into strategic planning and overall policy making. This is
especially necessary in large complex organizations. This principle is known as
“decentralization of power” as against centralized power where all decisions
are made at the top.
Specialization of labor can be more meaningful in an
organization among employers to have a power; precise division of work facilitates
specialization. Every person should be assigned a single function wherever
possible. This rule applies to individuals as well as departments. The
specialized operations will lead to efficiency and quality. However, each area
of specialization must be interrelated to the total integrated system by means
of coordination of all activities of all departments.
The line function and the staff function should be kept
separate; the
overlapping of these functions will result in ambiguity. The line functions are
those that are directly involved with the operations that result in the
achievement of the company objectives. Staff functions are auxiliary to the
line function and offer assistance and advice. For example, legal, public
relations and promotional functions are all staff functions. The activities of
line managers and staff managers should be coordinated so as to achieve
synergetic results.
The span of control should be reasonable and well established;
the “span of control” determines the
number of positions that can be coordinated by a single executive. The span of
control could be narrow where there are relatively few individuals who report
to the same manager or it could be wide where many individuals are under the
supervision of the same manager. However, such a span of control would depend
upon the similarity or dissimilarity of the subordinate positions and how
interdependent these positions are. The more interdependent these positions are,
the more difficult is the coordination. In such interlocking positions, it is
advisable to have no more than five or six subordinates working under any one
executive.
CONCLUSION
Generally, bureaucracy as a
particular style of management remains relevant and necessary to contemporary
organizations, especially to those characterized by large-scale size, routine
tasks and to those performance of which is essentially and vitally relies on
high degree of hierarchy and formalization of bureaucratic form. The core
features of universal bureaucracy such as formalization, hierarchy and staff
expertise in favor of timeless, conformance and clear accountability remain
inevitably necessary for contemporary organizations to stay ahead of
increasingly intensified competition.
Finally, organization management is
supposed to take into consideration factors affecting efficiency of bureaucracy
application such as quality of labor force, cultural characteristics and most
importantly, continuous improvement of this management style to catch up with
quick change and high demand of contemporary organizations without forgetting
the first and foremost instrument of organizational stability which is power
relation
REFERENCE
Dandeker,
C. (1990). Surveillance, Power and Modernity. Bureaucracy and discipline
New York, St. Martin’s Press.
Macionis J. and Plummer k (2008), Sociology,
“A global Introduction” Fourth Edition Pearson
Limited England.
Michael H.Carolyn and Kroehler J (2005),
Sociology the core, Seventh Edition, Mc Grow Hill.
Shankarrao C.N (2006) Principle of sociology
with an introduction to thoughts, Sixth Edition
Published by S.chand
and company Ltd.
Ritzer,
G. (1998). The Weberian Theory of Rationalization and the McDonaldization of
Contemporary Society. In P. Kivisto (ed.), Illuminating
Social Life. Classical and Contemporary Theory Revisited. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Pine Forge Press
Weber,
M. (1968/1921). Economy and Society. An outline of interpretive sociology.
(translated by: Fischhoff, E., Gerth, H., Henderson, A.M., Kolegar, F., Wright
Mills, C., Parsons, T., Reinstein, M., Roth, G., Shills, E., & Wittich, C.)
New York: Bedminster Press.
Snellen,
I. (1998). Street Level Bureaucracy in an Information Age. In I. Snellen &
W. van de Donk (eds.), Public Administration in an
Information Age. A Handbook. Amsterdam: IOS Press.
Written by AUSI CHIWAMBO (2014), Teofilo Kisanji University
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