Bureaucracy and Its Characteristics
Diana Carter
Sociology 201
Bureaucracy and its Characteristics
According to the Webster’s dictionary bureaucracy is a complex structure of office, tasks, and rules in which employees have specific responsibilities and work within a hierarchy of authority. Bureaucracy is all around us. Bureaucracies are found in our government, corporations, schools, and the everyday workforce in general. All bureaucrats answer to the chain of command that keeps responsibilities and assignments in order to keep ones work environment running smoothly. So now, I will talk more about the different characteristics of bureaucracy.
The first characteristic is positions with clearly defined responsibilities. This means that in the work place different positions have certain responsibilities that have to be followed by the person that is in that position. A good example would be my place of employment. I work at a bank. In order for the bank to run efficiently, there are rules and regulations that have to be followed. The tellers are responsible for handling and processing customer’s transactions to include deposits, withdrawals, account inquires, etc. Then we have our personal bankers that are responsible for the promotion and account documentation of all bank products and services to consumers and commercial clients. Then we have other departments that deal with loans, debit cards (ATM department) and operations. All of these different positions help run a bank.
The second characteristic of bureaucracy is positions ordered in hierarchy. This means that every position is supervised of a higher authority. At the bank we have a branch manager. He or she is in charge of running the bank. Then above the branch manager is the vice president. Then there is the president that is over all of the branches as a whole. At the office we follow the chain of command. You have the teller supervisor, assistant manager, branch manager, vice president, and president. If someone is missing then we
Sociology 201
Bureaucracy and its Characteristics
According to the Webster’s dictionary bureaucracy is a complex structure of office, tasks, and rules in which employees have specific responsibilities and work within a hierarchy of authority. Bureaucracy is all around us. Bureaucracies are found in our government, corporations, schools, and the everyday workforce in general. All bureaucrats answer to the chain of command that keeps responsibilities and assignments in order to keep ones work environment running smoothly. So now, I will talk more about the different characteristics of bureaucracy.
The first characteristic is positions with clearly defined responsibilities. This means that in the work place different positions have certain responsibilities that have to be followed by the person that is in that position. A good example would be my place of employment. I work at a bank. In order for the bank to run efficiently, there are rules and regulations that have to be followed. The tellers are responsible for handling and processing customer’s transactions to include deposits, withdrawals, account inquires, etc. Then we have our personal bankers that are responsible for the promotion and account documentation of all bank products and services to consumers and commercial clients. Then we have other departments that deal with loans, debit cards (ATM department) and operations. All of these different positions help run a bank.
The second characteristic of bureaucracy is positions ordered in hierarchy. This means that every position is supervised of a higher authority. At the bank we have a branch manager. He or she is in charge of running the bank. Then above the branch manager is the vice president. Then there is the president that is over all of the branches as a whole. At the office we follow the chain of command. You have the teller supervisor, assistant manager, branch manager, vice president, and president. If someone is missing then we