What critism can be made? Organizational structure provides a backbone upon which all of a company’s operational policies and work processes are built. It lays out managerial reporting relationships and the flow of ideas, decisions and information of the company. There is no single organizational structure that is inherently better than another. Rather, each structure has unique advantages and disadvantages best suited for specific situations. Here, I would like to discuss on one of the most common organizational structures, Bureaucracy.
A bureaucracy is a form of organization based on logic, order, and the legitimate use of formal authority. Its features include a clear-cut division of labor, strict hierarchy of authority, formal rules and procedures, and promotion based on competency. Therefore, it is meant to be orderly, fair, and highly efficient. The bureaucrat structure can be vertical, meaning that it has many layers of management. In a bureaucratic organizational structure, authority is generally centered at the top, and information generally flows from the top down, from chief executive down to frontline employees.
These are characteristics of bureaucratic structure. Now, there are many reasons why bureaucracy has been considered the most rational form of organization as follows: Firstly, bureaucracy reduces favoritism. It allows the company to select employee by means of qualification, in order to reduce bias. Salary is given to organization members based on seniority and position. Moreover, the use of performance criteria to evaluate employee’s performance is an attempt of creating fairness in the organization. Secondly, it enhances employees’ commitment.
Many people prefer working in bureaucracy-based company because they want to have the job security, especially during financial crisis and natural disaster; in which at the same time brings loyalty and commitment to the organization. Thirdly, it reduces ambiguity and increases uniformity of action. With well-defined written policy of rules and regulations, it can set a standard response for each situation. The rules cover all the duties and rights of the employees. Therefore it allows an employee to bring decision to a higher authority for action and hus reduces ambiguity in a situation where the lower level employee cannot deal with the problem. Top-level managers in bureaucratic organizational structures put in a great deal of management over organization strategy decisions, which then make business owners with a command and structure style. Making-decision process uses lesser time in a vertical organization planning, since less individuals are involved in the process. For this, standardization and best practices are often shows up in companies, ensuring that work is consistently completed efficiently and effectively.
This structure can be found in many global companies such as Mcdonalds, Coca Cola, etc. On the other hand, however, many people view bureaucracy negatively and recognize that bureaucracy have its limits and making a slow response to the fast-changing environment. Criticism of bureaucratic organization can be analyzed as follows: Firstly, it has too many rules and regulations, which become so emphasized that they become more important than the results that were designed to serve. Organization also doesn’t give an importance to informal groups who play an important role in all business.
Moreover, it also provides lots of paper work which can be time, money and resources wasted. Secondly, unnecessary delay in decisions-making often pause the work progress due to formalities and rules. This will then frustrate clients or customers who require prompt and efficient service. Thirdly, too much importance is given to the technical qualifications of the employees for promotion and transfers. Dedication and commitment of the employees is not considered, which leads to the difficulty in coordination and communication.
Because these employees don’t get compliments or promoted from their achievement, it leads to high turnover rates of employees. In addition, only high controller can make decisions. If there’s any quick decisions to make, employees don’t have power to do so, they can only pass on to higher controller. There are both strong and weak points in bureaucratic model. Some said it is suitable for governmental institute, but it is not suitable for business organizations. Max Weber’s view of bureaucracy was a system of power where leaders exercise control over others, in other words, a system which based on discipline.
He stressed that the rational-legal form was the most stable of systems for both superiors and subordinates as it is more reliable and clear. Subordinates ideally can challenge the decisions of their leaders by referring to the stated rules. In my opinion, there is no best organizational structure. Each organization requires specific system which best suit with its goals and missions. Seniority system, one of the bureaucratic characteristics, still can be seen in Thai society, therefore we can expect a lot of companies are being operated under bureaucratic structure.
References
http://kalyan-city.blogspot.com/2011/04/bureaucratic-theory-of-management-by.html http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Bureaucracy-Basics.topicArticleId-8944,articleId-8880.html
http://mamikikeyu.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/bureaucracy-advantages-and-dis-advantages/ http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-bureaucratic-organization-structure-2761.html
