In the early 20th century, Max Weber proposed the bureaucraticmodel as an ideal organizational form—one that is logical,rational, and efficient.

Thinking about Weber’s model, complete the followingsentence.

The XYZ Corporation has a distinct division of labor, consistentrules, and a clear hierarchy. Managers maintain distance betweenthemselves and subordinates, and promotions are awarded based ontechnical expertise. These are all hallmarks of 1. (Sequental interdependence, pooled interdependence,a bureaucracy, or a job characteristics approch)

2. Which of the following are advantagesof bureaucratic organizations? Check all that apply.

a) Rules let employees know what is expected.

b) The hierarchy of positions is clear.

c) The rigid structure enables the same response to anysituation.

d) Promotions result from favoritism.

3. Which of the following is the bestexample of a company using a bureaucratic model of organizationdesign?

a) Lifeguards may seem to have an easy life, but the work isreally very difficult. All lifeguards receive specialized trainingand are ready to jump into action if an emergency arises.Professional lifeguards use a paramilitary structure (chief,captain, lieutenant, sergeant, and two levels of lifeguards), sothere is only one person giving orders in an emergency.

b) At Eagle Video, each production crew manages itself withoutmuch input from senior management. Each crew is dedicated to thejob at hand, and different jobs seem to bring different crew valuesto the forefront. For one client, the crew will be totally focusedon getting exactly the right lighting. For another client, the crewmight work to get the job done as quickly as possible.

c) Emily paints for a living and loves it. She decides how manypaintings she will create in any given time period and what kindsof paintings they will be. Fortunately, Emily has the discipline topaint even when she doesn’t feel like it, and she has produced manypieces of art that have sold for good prices on the openmarket.

Read the following study in which the researchers question somewidely held beliefs about organizations and the bureaucratic model,and then answer the question that follows.

Research Study

Swedish professors Malin Bolin and Annika Ha?renstam wondered ifcompanies today are more bureaucratic (hierarchical, centralized,and formal) or more postbureaucratic (flat, decentralized, andflexible). They studied 90 companies and found that many hadcharacteristics of both models. For example, 53% of companies hadlow levels of centralization (a postbureaucratic characteristic);however, 63% of companies also had some degree of projectorganization (a bureaucratic characteristic).

Bolin and Ha?renstam suggest that their findings are importantbecause they contradict a famous existing theory. In 1961,sociologist Tom Burns and psychologist G. M. Stalker drew certainconclusions regarding successful organizations. First, successfulorganizations in stable environments were likely to haverigid, hierarchical structures (a bureaucratic characteristic).Second, successful organizationsin turbulent environments were likely to have moreflexible structures (a postbureaucratic characteristic). Today,companies operate in turbulent environments with stiff competitionand constant change, so you might expect them to havepostbureaucratic structures. However, Bolin and Ha?renstam showedthat this is not necessarily true.

Bolin and Ha?renstam propose that differences in organizationalstructure might vary by industry. They found significantdifferences in organizational design among companies in seven ofeight industries. For example, the manufacturing industry had lowspecialization of work (a postbureaucratic characteristic) but highperformance control (a bureaucratic characteristic). In contrast,the customer service industry had high specialization andcentralization (bureaucratic characteristics) but also highindividual responsibility and low soft control systems(postbureaucratic characteristics).

Source: Bolin, M., & Härenstam, A. (2008). An empiricalstudy of bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic characteristics in 90workplaces. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 29(4),541–564.

4. One difficulty in comparing Bolin andHa?renstam’s research with Burns and Stalker’s earlier study isthat Bolin and Ha?renstam:

a) Included only companies that were based on a bureaucraticmodel

b) Included only modern industries, such as high-technologycompanies

c) Focused on industries, not the turbulence or stability of theenvironment

d) Included only companies that were based on a postbureaucraticmodel

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