Max Weber's Bureacracy

1a) Max Weber, one of the most influential proponents of bureaucracy, observes that the rise of western modern society was explained by rationalization whereby rationality is best administered with formal rules and regulations and bureaucracy. He also stated the "the decisive reason for the advance of bureaucratic organsation has always been its purely technical superiority over any other form of organization."

He formed certain features that are solely unique to an ideal bureaucracy organization. The main features include impersonality, division of labour, authority hierarchy, formal selection, career orientation as well as formal rules and regulations.

Impersonality is the uniform application of rules and controls that are not affected by personalities. It has proved to be the best weapon for biasness in work places. Thus, it motivates workers and eventually increased productivity. It also ensures that workers are rewarded fairly and equally, hence, discouraging favourism amongst them. This translates to more input and commitment to the job, therefore, boosting productivity levels in the organization.

The study loans given out by the Ministry of Education in Singapore emphasizes this point. Applicants must submit a lot of paperwork to obtain a student loan. However, this lengthy procedure promotes equal treatment of all applicants and this implies that all applicants have a fair chance of obtaining this loan. However, impersonality is not as applicable in the service sector. In this service orientated environment, where customers demand the highest level of customer service, employees must have a good personality to meet such standards. For example, Singapore Airlines' air stewards and stewardess require a jovial and patient personality to serve passengers during the duration of the flight.

Division of labour is defined as jobs broken down into simple, routine and well defined task. It is widely accepted that division of labour is inevitable because, simply because no one can do all the tasks at one. Assembly lines are one such example that effectively uses division of labour to achieve targets. Assembly lines are present in the manufacturing of planes at Boeing's factories. A worker required to assemble the engines will stick to his job scope, as such, he is not allowed to do the job of the worker assigned to assemble the wings. Similarly, the worker assigned to assemble the wings will not be assembling the engines.

Despite saying so, division of labour is not so common in the creative industry as teamwork between members of different departments are required to successfully, for example, complete an advertisement. Lowe, a leading company in the creative industry, requires photographers, creative directors, graphic designers, makeup artists and many others to work cohesively to complete the project. The photographer may be required to provide ideas to the creative directors as to how the photo can be improved by adjusting various elements.

Authority hierarchy is known as positions being organized such that a hierarchy is formed with a clear chain of command. It is very much relevant in hospitals as well as governments around the world. In the case of a hospital, the CEO may partake in the original decision on how many beds to have in each ward of a hospital, then the senior Doctors and Nurse Unit Manager of a ward may make a decision, based on the amount of nurses, beds and equipment available whether or not to accept a new patient from another hospital. Once that patient arrives, the treating Doctor may order the Nurse to administer specific drugs, but the Nurse cannot order the Doctor to administer specific drugs.

Having said so, Gideon Kunda, an internationally recognized expert in the area of organization culture states that the "focus has shifted from organizational structure to organizational culture". This suggests that culture plays a more important role in an organization rather than simply following the general hierarchy system. His view is also supported by Charles Heckscher, whose research concerns collaborative work, organizational change, and the future of organized labor. Charles Heckscher states that "decisions are based on dialogue and consensus rather than authority and command." It shows that although authority hierarchy is still present, its original purpose of authority and command is less evident in organisations.

Formal selection suggests that people are selected for jobs based on their technical qualifications. Most, if not all, employers use the method of formal selection to choose their employees. By using formal selection, it ensures that everyone has an equal opportunity at the job, and hence, eliminating the possibility of discrimination or preferential treatment of specific members or minorities during the hiring process.

One example showcasing formal selection is software powerhouse Adobe stating that potential software engineers require at least a Bachelor of Computer Science before applying for the job. There are no prerequisites stating that the applicant has to be of a certain age or race to be to be applicable for the job.

Career orientations suggests that there are career tracks available to the workers and they have are expected to pursue their career in that particular organisation. For example, an officer in a bank may improve his skills by undergoing training, hence, giving him the opportunity to promote to the position of branch manager, a regional manager, division head, assistant vice president, or eventually the president.

Having said so, some organisations may empower their workers such that they have the ability and freedom to come up with innovative products without having them to go through the career track. Google is known to be intrapreneur friendly, allowing their employees to spend up to 20% of their time to pursue projects of their choice.

Lastly, formal rules and regulations, as the name suggests, is the system of written rules and standard operating procedures. Standard operating procedures are essential in running a successful organisation as it provides a main framework in which employees have to adhere. For example, each medical procedure has a formal written protocol describing the exact steps for how that procedure should be conducted and by a doctor or a nurse, to name a few. However, standard operating procedures are also implemented to protect the welfare of the staff and the company. Console maker Nintendo has a product-support standard operating procedure which requires customers to provide a code to verify the validity of the game console. After which, staff members can provide further assistance.

In conclusion, these main features had