|
|
|
|
| |
Bureaucracy is perhaps the best known characteristic of old-style organizations. The term was first coined by French civil servants who worked at desks ("Bureau" is French for desk). As this was after the French Revolution, great emphasis was placed on the uniform treatment of each and every citizen dealing with the bureaucracy. Thus, stability and uniformity became the central objectives of bureaucracy. |
|
| |
From early on, industry adopted the bureaucratic structures of its civil service forebears. After all, it made sense because industry too shared the ideals of stability and uniformity. By enacting bureaucracy, industry sought to achieve both the stability of its systems, and the uniformity of its outputs. |
|
| |
While the bureaucracies of today may have shed many of their desks, the major characteristics are still the same – a pyramidal hierarchy which uses up/down information flows to reliably produce predictable results. The whole system is geared for stability through control. (Organizational Structure and Design) |
|
| |
Unfortunately, the problems plaguing bureaucratic systems are great. Conduct your own test of the issue. Ask people to say something in response to the word "bureaucracy". Chances are, "stability" and "uniformity" are the last things you will hear in response. What you are likely to hear are things like "sluggish", "sleepy", "bloated", or the ever-dreaded "red tape". You will never hear anything about how responsive or accommodating a bureaucracy can be. This is because bureaucracies were designed to be unresponsive and unaccommodating. That is what stability and uniformity are all about. |
|
