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Bureaucracy is No Longer Appropriate Today

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Bureaucracy is No Longer Appropriate Today
Bureaucracy is No Longer Appropriate Today

Introduction
Bureaucracy, first proposed by Weber, was once considered as the best form of administration, coordination and control (Stazyk and Goerdel 2011). It was generally adopted by many large social organizations and gradually became their mode of administration (Adler 1999). During the initial period of bureaucracy, it made great contribution to the proper organizing of large social or corporate system through specialization of roles, standardization of procedures and coordination of employees (Balle 1999). However, with time going by, the shortages and problems inside bureaucracy were exposed. It was revised and improved by many people. A model called post-bureaucracy was proposed to avoid and revise the disadvantage of bureaucracy (Johnson et al. 2009). The aim of this essay is to discuss the major advantages and disadvantages of bureaucratic systems in the past and the present. This essay argues that bureaucracies are definitely not appropriate in workplaces today for effective and efficient management. At first, this essay will give an appropriate definition of bureaucracy and illuminate who has contributed to its development by referring Dwyer (2005) and Hodgson (2004). After that, based on the research of Balle (1999), Adler (1999), Hodgson (2004),Walton (2005), Sorensen (2007), Dwyer (2005) , Hales (2002), Stazyk and Goerdel (2011), this essay will critically analyze the advantages and disadvantages of bureaucracy in the past and present, and in particular, impacts on managers and employees. Following that, this easy will analyze how bureaucratic management may be viewed differently today from the past by referring Johnson et al. (2009). What’s more, this easy will explore the context of management situations. It will also critically analyze whether bureaucracies are appropriate for today’s management based on the research of Walton (2005) and Hales (2002). At last this essay will sum up the core



References: Adler, P S 1999, ‘Building better bureaucracies’ Academy of Management Executive, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 36-47. Balle, M 1999, ‘Making bureaucracy work’, Journal of Management in Medicine, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 190-200. Dwyer, R J 2005, ‘Formal organizations in contemporary society’, Management Decision, vol. 43, no. 9, pp. 1232-1248. Hales, C 2002, ‘”Bureaucracy-lite” and Continuities in Managerial Work’, British Journal of Management, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 51-66. Hodgson, D E 2004, ‘Project Work: The Legacy of Bureaucratic Control in the Post-Bureaucratic Organization’, Organisation, January, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 81-100. Johnson, P, Wood, G, Brewster, C & Brookes, M 2009, ‘The Rise of Post-Bureaucracy: Theorists’ Fancy or Organizational Praxis?’, International Sociology, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 24-37. Sorensen, J B 2007, ‘Bureaucracy and Entrepreneurship: Workplace Effects on Entrepreneurial Entry’, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 387-412. Stazyk, E C & Goerdel, H T 2011, ‘The Benefits of Bureaucracy: Public Managers’ Perceptions of Political Support, Goal Ambiguity, and Organizational Effectiveness’, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 645-672. Walton, E J 2005, ‘The Persistence of Bureaucracy: A Meta-analysis of Weber’s Model of Bureaucratic Control’, Organization Studies, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 569-600.

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