Max Weber’s Theory of Bureaucracy: Principles and Advantages
Max Weber’s Theory of Bureaucracy
The Theory of Bureaucracy emerged within administration around 1940, primarily due to the following factors:
- The fragility and partiality of both the Classical Theory and the Theory of Human Relations, which did not enable a holistic, integrated, and compelling approach to organizational problems.
- The need for a rational model of organization capable of characterizing all the variables involved, as well as the conduct of its members. This model should apply not only to factories but to all forms of human organization, especially businesses.
- The growing size and complexity of companies, which now require far more defined organizational models.
- The resurgence of the Sociology of Bureaucracy, following the discovery of the works of Max Weber, its creator.
According to this theory, an individual can be paid to act and behave in a predetermined way, which will be explained thoroughly, without letting their emotions interfere with their performance. The Sociology of Bureaucracy proposed a model of organization, and managers were quick to apply it in practice within their companies. From this emerged the Theory of Bureaucracy in administration.
Bureaucracy is a form of organization based on rationality, that is, the adequacy of means to intended goals to ensure the greatest possible efficiency in achieving those goals.
Weber identified three main factors that favor the development of modern bureaucracy:
- The development of a monetary economy: In bureaucracy, money replaces payment in kind for employees, allowing for the centralization of authority and the strengthening of bureaucratic administration.
- The quantitative and qualitative growth of the administrative tasks of the modern state.
- The technical superiority—in terms of efficiency—of the bureaucratic type of administration, which served as an autonomous force to impose its prevalence.
In popular conception, bureaucracy is often viewed as a company, division, or organization where paperwork multiplies and grows, preventing quick and efficient solutions. The term is also used to describe the attachment of officials to rules and routines, causing inefficiency in the organization. Laypeople began to use the term “bureaucracy” to refer to the defects of the system.
However, for Max Weber, bureaucracy is exactly the opposite: it is the efficient organization par excellence. To achieve this efficiency, bureaucracy details in advance and in great detail how things should happen. Regarding this paragraph, it should be added that for Merton, there is no totally rational organization, and formalism does not have the depth described by Weber. Thus, we can say that for other scholars, bureaucracy is not as efficient as Weber portrays it, leading to excessive formalism, documentation, and paperwork, resulting in low efficiency.
Impersonal Relations in Bureaucracy
The distribution of activity is done impersonally, that is, in terms of positions and functions, not the people involved:
- It sees people as occupants of positions and functions.
- The power of each person is impersonal and derives from the position they occupy.
- Obedience to superiors is not based on the person but on the office they occupy.
- People come and go, but the positions remain.
- Each office covers an area or sector of responsibility and accountability.
Advantages of Bureaucracy According to Weber
Weber saw plenty of reasons to explain the advance of bureaucracy over other forms of association.
- Rationality in relation to the achievement of organizational goals.
- Accurate definition of the position and operation, leading to precise knowledge of duties.
- Speed of decisions, because everyone knows what should be done and by whom; orders and papers pass through predetermined channels.
- Univocal interpretation guaranteed by specific regulations and in writing. Information is discreet, as it is passed only to those who should receive it.
- Uniformity of processes and procedures, allowing for standardization, reduced costs, and errors, because the procedures are defined in writing.
- Continuity of the organization through the replacement of staff who are absent.
- Reduction in the level of friction between people, since every employee knows what is required of them and the boundaries between their responsibilities and those of others.
- Constancy, as these types of decisions should be taken under the same circumstances.
- Subordination of junior to senior staff in a strict and well-known manner, so that the supervisor can make decisions that affect the lower level.
- Reliability, because the business is conducted according to known rules. Decisions are predictable, and the decision process eliminates personal discrimination.
- Benefits from the perspective of people in the organization, because the hierarchy is formalized, work is divided among people in an orderly fashion, people are trained to become experts in their fields, and people can make a career in the organization because of their personal merits and technical competence.
Hierarchy of Authority in Bureaucratic Systems
Bureaucracy establishes positions based on the principle of hierarchy:
- Each subordinate must be under the supervision of a superior.
- No position is without control or supervision.
- Hierarchy represents order and subordination, ranking authority for the various categories of participants, staff, and classes.
- Positions are defined by limited and specific rules.