Question

Which of the following is among the characteristics of Max Weber’s ideal type of bureaucracy? a) Ownership is not in the hands of the workers. b) There is a complete separation between work and home life. c) Each job has a definite and fixed salary attached to it. d) A set of rules governs the conduct of officials at all levels of the organization. e) All of the above.

Answer 1

Answer:

Of the options provided, the characteristic that applies to Max Weber's ideal type of bureaucracy is Option D. A set of rules govern the conduct of officials at all levels of the organization.

Explanation:

Weber described many ideal types of public administration and governance in his book called Economy and Society, published in 1922. He noted that traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal or bureaucratic were the three kinds of power in organizations.  For Weber, in the bureaucratic system legitimacy is believed to come from a legal order. There are six dimensions to the nature of the bureaucratic organization for Weber: Administrative class, hierarchy, division of work, official rules, impersonal relationships, and official record. The advantages of bureaucracy are consistency in employee behavior because employees are certain of the rules and their duties and responsibilities are clearly defined. The management process is easier as a result. But in terms of disadvantages, the rules in a bureaucracy can make it hard to innovate or to change behaviors and strict adherence to rules can lead to inefficiencies over time if there are a lot of reporting requirements or red tape, for instance.