Bureaucracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bureaucracy - Essay Example These concepts include, hierarchy, jurisdictional competency, command and control, technical expertise, and system of rules, and written documentation. An organizational hierarchy is the â€Å"arrangement of the organization by level of authority† in reference to the ranks above and below it (Grimsley 2014, para. 6). This therefore implies that in bureaucracy, there is existence of certain levels of authority ranging from the top level management to the normal employees. For instance, in a company a sales marketing director is below the overall chief executive officer (C.E.O), at the same level with the advertising marketing director and above the secretary. Therefore, this system dictates that each level should answer to the rank above it with the ultimate leader of the company at the very top of the hierarchy. Jurisdictional competency is another key concept of bureaucracy. Fundamentally, huge roles are broken down into smaller and simpler tasks which are then assigned to employees throughout the organization. This division of labor across the organization enables employees to master the skills and details of repetitive duties thereby increasing efficiency. However, though the division of labor could be highly proficient, â€Å"it can lead to a number of harmful organizational pathologies† (Rockman 2013, para. 5). This implies that division of labor could at times turn out to be ineffective due to a number of reasons. For instance, employees can be unable to adequately respond to problems outside their areas of jurisdiction, and may approach them from their own perspective. This could lead to an overall destruction of the organization’s performance. Command and control is another key feature of bureaucracy that weber discussed. Due to the fact that a bureaucratic authority is organized hierarchically, â€Å"responsibility is taken at the top and delegated with decreasing discretion at the lower levels of the organization† (Rockman 2013, para.