Public Administration
Max Weber is a strong supporter and advocate for bureaucracy which he defines as "the means of carrying community action over into rationally ordered social action… an instrument of socializing relations of power, bureaucracy has been and is a power instrument of first order." (Weber, 1946). His point-of-view is however debatable with the question whether public administrators should be restricted to only laid down rules in the discharge of their duties as or should they have some amount of discretion always arising. In his argument, Weber states that there are three types of authority that facilitate evolution of societies, these are traditional, charismatic, and legal-rational authority. He bases his concept on the legal-rational authority, this authority believes in the legitimacy of normative rules and that those elevated to authority through such rules have a right to issue commands. His presentation is that of an ideal bureaucracy whose major features are division of labor, hierarchical order, well trained staff, written documents, officials working at full capacity, and the application of impersonal rules (Crozier, 1964). The challenge is that an organization's ideal work or most efficient performance may not always be achieved through these ingredients. However, the reality is that restricting administrators to laid down rules has its merits and demerits.
Hierarchical order, as a feature of bureaucracy,...
Ethics In viewing the basic definition of bureaucracy and in noting some of the country's most recent examples of success and failure in the bureaucratic business world, one can see that the issue is clearly two-sided and will likely remain so for many years to come. However, despite the split in opinion, the question of ethics and bureaucracy can be delved into in rational manner that, in the end, finds in
An empowered employee may disobey rules and procedures to help a customer and in turn the organization itself. For further analysis of delegation and empowerment, we need to understand the concept of power itself. In bureaucracies, work is simply done by following preset procedures. Leadership doesn't usually have to impose power, in fact power is granted to employees to choose the best available choice (decision-making) cohering with the rules and
Such resources will include proper funding for facilities, personnel, technological and communicational resources and other such elements required for an administrative capacity congruent with the needs of the public which it is designed to serve. It is thus that the bulk of Meier's book concerns the actual structure of a government based on the principle of bureaucracy. Here, he explores in detail the relationship between a variant of agencies and
The Sociological Method The sociological method was viewed very differently by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. One focused on objectivity, the other on subjectivity. The consequences of their different methodological principles in terms of each author’s understanding of society can be found in how people today view, discuss, think about and manage the development of society. Durkheim’s methodology helped lead to the establishment of the use of statistics in social analysis
Internship Tasks Main task during the internship was articles about Dow Water & Process Solutions (DW&PS). The aim was to illustrate the processes going in water treatment plants and to explain the importance of wastewater reuse. Also, I helped preparing a few press releases that informed about new technologies or projects DW&PS is involved in. Such was the DEMOWARE press release, which I found very interesting and decided to look
Organizational Theory and Public Management: Marx, Weber, and Freud. When one considers the vast topic of organizational theory, one of the foremost names in modern study is undoubtedly Robert B. Denhardt. As a professor of Public Administration at Arizona State University, he has authored numerous works on the topic of human behavior as it relates to public organization. Of course, in today's world, this area of study is no small thing --
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