Positions organized in a hierarchy of authority is an important characteristic of:

Bureaucracies

Bureaucracy is an organizational model characterized by a hierarchy of authority, a clear division of labor, explicit rules and procedures, and impersonality in personnel matters.

The bureaucratic model of organization remains the most universal organizational form in government, business, education, and religion. Sociologist Max Weber (1968/1922) was interested in the historical trend toward bureaucratization that accelerated during the Industrial Revolution. To Weber, the bureaucracy was the most "rational" and efficient means of attaining organizational goals because it contributed to coordination and control.

An ideal type is an abstract model that describes the recurring characteristics of some phenomenon, such as bureaucracy.

To develop this ideal type, Weber abstracted the most characteristic bureaucratic aspects of religious, educational, political, and business organizations. For example, to develop an ideal type for bureaucracy in a high school, you would need to include the relationships among governing bodies (such as the board of education), principals, faculty, staff, and students.

You would also have to include the rules and policies that govern the school's activities (such as grading policies, graduation requirements, disciplinary procedures, etc.). Although no two schools would have exactly the same criteria, the ideal type constructs would be quite similar.

However, Weber also acknowledged that no existing organization would exactly fit his ideal type of bureaucracy.

Ideal Characteristics of a Bureaucracy: Weber set forth several ideal type characteristics of bureaucratic organizations. Weber's model highlights the organizational efficiency and productivity that bureaucracies strive for in these five central elements of the ideal organization:

• Division of labor
• Hierarchy of Authority
• Rules and Regulations
• Qualification-based assessment
• Impersonality

Division of Labor: Bureaucratic organizations are characterized by specialization, and each member has highly specialized tasks to fulfill.

Hierarchy of Authority: Each lower office is under the control and supervision of a higher one. Those few individuals at the top of the hierarchy have more power and exercise more control than do the many at the lower levels. Those who are lower in the hierarchy report to (and often take orders from) those above them in the organizational pyramid. Persons at the upper levels are responsible for their own actions and for those they supervise.

Rules and Regulations: Rules and regulations establish authority within an organization. These rules are typically standardized and provided to members in a written format. In theory, written rules and regulations offer clear-cut standards for determining satisfactory performance so that each new member does not have to reinvent the rules.

Qualification-Based Employment: Bureaucracies require competence and hire staff members and professional employees based on specific qualifications. Individual performance is evaluated against specific standards, and promotions are based on merit as spelled out in personnel policies.

Impersonality: Bureaucracies require that everyone must play by the same rules and be treated the same. Personal feelings should not interfere with organizational decisions.

The characteristics that make up Weber's "rational" model of bureaucracy have a dark side that has frequently given this type of organization a bad name. Two of the major problems of bureaucracies are:

1. Inefficiency and rigidity

2. Resistance to change

Inefficiency and Rigidity: Sometimes, the bureaucracy of an organization is so rigid with rules and regulations, that it becomes almost impossible to achieve its goals. This is frequently referred to as goal displacement.

Resistance to Change: Because the rules of an organization become so ingrained in its operating procedures, changing these rules or policies is almost impossible. Because there are so many people involved, changing a single rule may be so difficult that many involved in the administration of the bureaucracy are unwilling to make a change.

Goal displacement is a process that occurs in organizations when the rules become an end in themselves rather than a means to an end, and organizational survival becomes more important than achievement of goals.

An example of goal displacement is with regard to accounting and auditing rules that many organizations have to follow. All teachers receive money that they are to spend in their classrooms. Unfortunately, because of so much bureaucratic red tape, it has become increasingly difficult to spend this money, which means teachers often have to spend their own money in order to have supplies in their classroom on time.

What is hierarchy of authority in bureaucracy?

What are the characteristics of a bureaucracy?

Which type of authority is characteristic of bureaucracies?

Which of the following is a characteristic of Weber's bureaucracy?