Click to add text Max Weber “Bureaucracy”

Max Weber, His Work  German political economist and sociologist  Vast majority of works translated into English after his death

Max Weber His Worldview  A social liberal  nationalism  capitalism where workers are educated and given political responsibility  Disliked nobility and monarchy  Generally supportive of German Imperialism in WWI Source: Wikipedia.org, retrieved Feb. 2006

Bureaucracy A bureaucracy is a systematic approach of efficiently and effectively administrating large numbers of people who work together. Organizations in the public and private sector, including universities and governments, rely on bureaucracies to function. The term bureaucracy literally means “rule by desks or offices,” a definition that highlights the often impersonal character of bureaucracies. Setting up a bureaucracy helps ensure that thousands of people work together in compatible ways by defining everyone’s roles within a hierarchy.

Bureaucracy  Hierarchy  Division of Labor  Consistency  Qualification  Professional–Private Separation  Devotion to Purpose  Advancement / Seniority

Hierarchy  Authority and its flow   A bureaucracy is set up with clear chains of command so that everyone has a boss. At the top of the organization is a chief who oversees the entire bureaucracy. Power flows downward. Highest Office High Office Low Office Lowest Office

Division of Labor and Specialization   Efficiency because the specialist does what he or she knows best, then passes the matter along to another specialist.   Each task is broken down into smaller tasks, and different people work on different parts of the task. Executive Operations Policy & Planning Strategic Planning Policy Development Regional Management Special Projects Legislative Relations Office StaffingMaintenance

Formalized Rules/SOP’s  Rules regulate all matters “ i.e. no one is special   SOP informs workers about how to handle tasks and situations. Everybody always follows the same procedures to increase efficiency and predictability so that the organization will produce similar results in similar circumstances. Not Special

Qualification (While Selection of Officials) Officials are selected on basis of technical qualification Officials are selected on basis of technical qualification  How to manage  How to carry out duties  Knowledge of the rules PhD Master’s Bachelor’s Associate’s

Separation of Professional & Private  The bureau is separate from the “private life of the official”.   Management must be separate from the ownership of organization  Saves resources  Saves time Orders filtering of web surfing Always avoids personal calls on personal cell phone I certainly DID NOT use my office’s copier to print these notes for you Wouldn’t even THINK of stealing pens Never uses photocopier for own tax forms Wouldn’t even THINK of stealing rubber cleaning gloves

Devotion to Purpose/Duty  Devotion is to your work and role, not to person above you.  “[official] is not considered the personal servant of a ruler”. Devoted to Bureau Management Devoted to Division Management Devoted to Planning Devoted to Policy Devoted to Region Devoted to Project Devoted to Schmoozing Devoted to Office Devoted to Toilets

Advancement and Seniority  The unspoken agreement... 1.Official stays in Job and spend number of years 2.Official will climb the ladder 3.He/She will be taken care of in terms of better salary, pension etc. This means bureaucracy has stable career paths and it rewards those who keep their job and keep working. Eventually, they will be judged according to their number of years as well as by judgment of superiors.

The Contribution of Max Weber  Study of public administration.  Laid the descriptive groundwork for bureaucracy  and the position/role of the state in government, politics and people’s lives  Ever since then, public administration has studied what actually happens when you stick human beings into a bureaucracy.