1. COMMUNICATION AND ORGANIZATIONS
THE PROFESSIONAL BUREAUCRACY
PART TWO
Lecture 8b

2. ENVIRONMENTAL OVERVIEW A Reminder
COMPLEX
3. PROFESSIONAL
BUREAUCRACY 1. 2.
MACHINE
BUREAUCRACY
SIMPLE
SIMPLE
STRUCTURE
2A.DIVISIONALIZED
BUREAUCRACY
DYNAMIC
STABLE

3. BOX 3: ENVIRONMENT SHAPES COMMUNICATION
WHY COMPLEX STABLE?
YOU’VE ALREADY GOT MINTZBERG’S LANGUAGE ON THIS
MORE DETAILED EXAMPLE
Hospitals and doctors
Because the core operators – Dr.’s for example – are supposed to deal with each client separately – that’s the “complex” – at one level people are unique
But maintain the same type of relationship with them – that’s the “stable”.
Individual people become a diagnosis – a case – put in a mental pidgeon hole
Old phrase – but effective - based on the idea of organizing knowledge into easily accessible categories or “slots” in the memory

4. PIDGEON HOLES OF THE MIND
When we sort information into categories – each of which are labelled – it’s easier to recall the information by recalling the label – the label is the door to the slot – the pidgeon hole.

5. ENVIRONMENT SHAPES COMMUNICATION
For Dr.’s - what are these slots - pidgeon holes in the mind?
A large set of labels for diseases each of which binds together
An idea of the illness and its symptoms,
Possible causes,
Possible developments and consequences, and
Possible interventions to cure or mitigate the illness.

6. BOX 3: STANDARDIZATION OF SKILLS
Enormous amount of information to recall – takes years of education (after a BSc) – and years of practice (internships) to learn
We put a high social value (and price) on this learning
We have specialized institutions to teach this BEFORE a Dr. can formally join a hospital
This is the essential difference between machine bureaucracies and professional bureaucracies
In the first, many of the job skills can be learned “on the job.”
In the second – Hospitals, Universities, Law firms – job skills, including pidgeonholing – must be learned BEFORE getting the job.

7. ORGANIZING PROFESSIONALS
Drs. need to know what to do without being told what to do or having detailed job descriptions
They have to respond to particular patients on the spot
They can’t be told what to do by supervisors and they can’t tell their colleagues what to do either
Freedom and power to do well
Freedom from oversight if they do poorly
They are also free from doing the everyday work of the organization – their time is too expensive
We want expensive professionals to be free to do the one thing they know how to do…deal with patients, clients, students
So they have a staff - as the number of them grows the support staff grows exponentially – gives us the shape of the professional bureaucracy

8. THE PROFESSIONAL BUREAUCRACY
Strategic Apex
for Techno and
Support Staff
Large Support Staff
Small
Technostructure
Small
Middle
Line
Autonomous Operators in the Core

9. POWER OF OPERATING CORE IN THE PROFESSIONAL BUREAUCRACY
(PROFESSIONAL ORG)
STRATEGIC APEX
SUPPORT STAFF
(MACHINE ORG)
COMMITTEE
MANAGER
Doctors
KEY OPERATORS
Nurses

10. LEADERSHIP AT THE STRATEGIC APEX
Highly educated operating core - averse to supervision.
Administrative Leaders rely heavily on coordination and compromise.
They handle discrepancies that arise from the imperfect pigeonholing process.
They act as a liaison between the organization and the outside world.
Professionals abandon some decisions for the comfort of their craft. This is where leadership enters – more careful and nuanced – no orders, commands.
Highly educated operating core also averse to innovation and change.
Particularly if seen to “pushed” by administration

11. LEADERSHIP AT THE STRATEGIC APEX
HOW DID SEVERAL UNIVERSITY AND HOSPITAL PRESIDENTS DESCRIBE THEIR ORGANIZATIONS WHILE I WAS WORKING THEIR AS A CHANGE CONSULTANT?
ORGANIZED CHAOS
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS MAY NOT BE THE BIGGEST – UNLIKE DIVISIONALIZED MACHINE BUREAUCRACIES – BUT THEY ARE CERTAINLY THE MOST COMPLICATED.
PLEASE KEEP THAT IN MIND IF YOU INTEND TO WORK IN ONE OR ARE A CLIENT