Bureaucracy As A Tool For Administration In Schools, A Study Of Max Weber’s Approach
By Andrew Muringani.
Bureaucracy is one of the rational structures that are playing in an over-increasing role in modern society. Thus bureaucracy is the key feature of an organization. In schools bureaucracy endures because of the assurance of order, rationality, accountability and stability it provides to the public. The school as a system has goals to meet. The need of mass administration makes it today completely indispensable. Thus this write up will examine Max Weber’s theory of bureaucracy and it will explain its applicability into the education system.
Bureaucracy is identified as an organization with a hierarchy of paid, full-time officials
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This implies that the school is a formal organization which is hierarchical in nature from old development community, Head of the station, senior teacher, staff, prefects and finally pupils. The positions within structures are occupied by members who consciously relate to each other to achieve a set of objectives. In bureaucratic model schools are viewed as having hierarchical authority with formal chains of command between the different levels. Schools pursue those goals determined by the official leaders at the apex of the pyramid. Decision-making is still deemed to be rational, based on a careful evaluation of alternatives and a considered choice of the most appropriate option. Thus the existence of various administrative offices reduces the workload and congestion at school. The issues can be solved at classroom level by the teacher whereas cases of indiscipline such as breaking school property can be solved by the head and the disciplinary committee. This means that the school administrators strictly controlled and disciplined activities since they have legitimate power.
However the issue of hierarchy slows down the pace at which things are to be done. For example if the teacher wants to go on leave, be it a vacation or manpower development leave. The teacher is not allowed to desert the station before the permanent secretary's approval. The forms need to pass through various
If group is deemed a reference group, consider how this group affects or hasaffected your lifepersonally and/or professionally? If you select any organizations for youranalysis, consider Weber’s five characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy and suggest which (if any) of the characteristics are directly applicable to your organization. From personal experience, examine the positive and negative ramifications of operating within a bureaucratic structure.
What is a bureaucracy? Tolbert and Hall (2009) describe in the text, a large formal organization with the characteristics of having, a division of labor, a hierarchy of authority, a set of written rules, resources that are clearly separated from home and the organization, and group of members who are appointed according to qualifications (P. 22). These were the key elements Max Weber, a German scholar described for an ideal type of bureaucracy.
Political authority over the bureaucracy is not in one set of hands, but shared among several institutions
Many organizations and institutions worldwide use a form of bureaucracy to an extent. Specifically, educational institutions or “schools” mimic bureaucracies. Lowood Institution from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Hailsham from Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go are prime examples of educational institutions using a bureaucratic arrangement. Although set in two different centuries, both Lowood and Hailsham prove that not only have schools been using bureaucratic structures for centuries, but also that bureaucracy in schools can help to achieve maximum efficiency and exude a negative demeanor.
The most prominent model of bureaucracy was formulated by German Sociologist Max Weber during the nineteenth century. Webster’s model was formulated from the rampant patronage systems that existed during his time. Webster’s model proposed a solution for more professionally and efficiently managed merit-based organizations.Webster’s model however, represented a broad framework rather than an all encompassing model, complete in every detail.The central goal of Webster’s model was to make possible an optimum degree of control.Weber's bureaucratic theory emphasized the need for a hierarchical structure of power. It recognized the importance of division of labor and specialization. A formal set of rules was bound into the hierarchy structure to insure stability and uniformity. Weber also put forth the notion that organizational behavior is a network of human interactions, where all behavior could be understood by looking at cause and effect. He prescribed these five key elements(1) division of labor and functional specialization, (2) hierarchy, (3) maintenance of files and other records, and
The term bureaucracy was coined by a well-known sociologist named Max Weber in 1947. He used this term to describe corporations that held five main characteristics. These characteristics include, hierarchical authority structure, a division of labor, written rules, written communications and records, and impersonality and replaceability. In the modern day world, it is easy to see several bureaucracies in place, however, one bureaucracy that is personally close to all Grand Canyon University students is the institution of Grand Canyon University (GCU). This is a great example of a bureaucracy due to the fact that it embraces all five characteristics of a bureaucracy.
Max Weber was a German sociologist who first described the concept of bureaucracy, an ideal form of organizational structure. He defines bureaucratic administration as the exercise of control on the
A bureaucracy is a large organization that is designed to achieve a common goal through a hierarchical organization. The classic perspective on bureaucracy was proposed by German sociologist, Max Weber at the beginning of 20th century. Weber developed a theory of authority structures and described organizational activity based on authority relations. He described an ideal type of organization that he called a "bureaucracy".
The Biology Department would be classified as a bureaucracy because within the clear levels, the accountability increase going upward and the assignments flow downward. For example, the head of the department creates a curriculum for the Biology Department and he has the most accountability. As he passes down the assignments, such as what the teachers will be teaching, the assignments increase as the levels go down. If everything does not work out properly and the teachers are not capable of fulfilling what the head of the department has created, he will be held accountable because he is at the top.
Communication between administrative staffs and teaching staffs should be more regular, as students are getting different sources of information from different channels. This information is from the school management decision result.
Weber states that organizations regulations are formed by few people and this people are the boss, administration employee who tends to have representation powers (Roth and Wittich, 1968). Weber states that the state tends to use bureaucracy on its people in order to establish authority. Bureaucracy is present in various areas in the environment and once bureaucracy is produced then it becomes difficult to
“In public administration, good sense would seem to require that public expectation be kept at the lowest possible level in order to minimize the eventual disappointment. - John Kenneth Galbraith” Public administration has progressed and changed and revised itself throughout history. Although a lot has changed over time, some of those earlier ideals and thought processes have maintained throughout the years. People like Weber, Taylor, and Stivers have drastically shaped the way we view and operate within the boundaries of public administration.
Some have seriously misinterpreted Weber and have claimed that he liked bureaucracy, that he believed that bureaucracy was an "ideal" organization. Others have pronounced Weber "wrong" because bureaucracies do not live up to his list of "ideals". Others have even claimed that Weber "invented" bureaucratic organization. But Weber described bureaucracy as an “ideal type” in order to more accurately describes their growth in power and scope in the modern world. His studies of bureaucracy still form the core of organizational sociology.
Abstract: The theory of bureaucracy was proposed and published by Marx Weber (1947). Although there are some studies on this perspective were discussed before him, those theories did not form as systematic theory. After Weber, the issue of bureaucracy becomes a hot topic in the field of social organization. Almost all well-known scholars such as Martin and Henri have published their views on it. Bureaucracy adapted as the traditional organizational model during industrial society, essentially, bureaucracy could exist rational. This essay firstly will review the principle of bureaucracy in organization based on organizational design perspective. Secondly, it will analyze the strengths and weakness of
Bureaucracy is ahierarchical organization which follows strict rules and regulations in achieving desired goals and which has tendency to gain supremacy over other organizations. Famous German sociologist theorized ideal- type of bureaucracy. Max Weber thought bureaucracy is the highest efficient organization which falls under legal rational authority. Soon after the theory came out, like other theory, ideal-type bureaucracy theory encountered severe criticisms.Alvin Gouldner, Robert Merton, Phillip Selznick, Peter Blau are some of them who criticized the ideal-type of bureaucracy.