Table of contents:
- Professional bureaucracy
- Bureaucratic structure of a mechanical nature
- Characteristics of this type of structure
If the organization has to deal with complex situations with complex tasks, a centralized structure is effective. There is room for a bureaucratic structure if formalization is possible, based on the predictability of tasks. The proper structure must combine standardization with decentralization, which are the characteristics of professionalized bureaucracies. Professional bureaucracy is proof that organizations can be bureaucratic without being centralized. Its operational work is stable, leading to "predetermined or predictable, indeed standardized" behavior.
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It bases the coordination among its members on the standardization of skills achieved through training and socialization. Professionals work with some independence from their colleagues and are linked to their clients. Examples of this type of structure are a hospital or a university. The professionalized bureaucracy is an organization that bases its operation on the standardization of behaviors and procedures, which is achieved through the design of tasks by specialists and supervision.
The standardization of behaviors and procedures is achieved thanks to the professionalization of its members, which means that a good part of the standardization is set by professional associations and groups and not by the organization. In the mechanical bureaucracy the hierarchical authority predominates, in the professionalized the authority of the expert is more important. It is a group of professionals who have specialized knowledge, skills and techniques that they can apply to certain situations to resolve customer demands. One of the key operating processesIt is the process of diagnosis, classification or categorization of the situation that allows determining the set of specific skills and techniques to be used to solve the client's problem. Perrow (1970) points out that people are categorized and placed in classes because they would require enormous resources to treat each case as unique and capable of exhaustive analysis. The categories allow us to develop without having to make continuous decisions at all times. Type of organizations that solves the uncertainty of their environment by classifying clients based on the services they demand, that is, a categorization based on market demand that coincides with a categorization of the functions of the professionals who serve them (functional categorization).
The key personnel are professionals, as they carry out the central tasks. The staff has quite an entity. Other parties such as technology systems analysts, middle managers or managers play a less relevant role. These organizations have highly decentralized structures in their horizontal and vertical aspects. Part of the power (based on the quality of the expert) and the decision-making capacity remains at the level of the workers (professionals), who have to solve the specific problems of their clients. Professionals take as a basic reference point, when making decisions, the norms and indications of professional associations to a greater degree than those established by the organization itself.
The loyalty of the professional is divided and experiences conflicts when having to attend to the demands of the organization and those of his professional group. They tend to identify more with their professional group than with the organization in which they work. Professional bureaucracies tend to adopt democratic structures in which control remains at the most basic levels of the organization. Workers control part of the decisions related to their own work and also seek to have collective control of the administrative decisions that affect them, such as those related to hiring, promotions or resource allocation, they are also called "collegiate organizations".
Although the power of professionals is remarkable, not always the manager or managers have little power. The professional, administrator or manager, although he cannot directly control the members of the organization, performs functions and roles that give him considerable indirect power within it. It has to resolve multiple conflicts between the different members that usually derive from the classification processes, which are not always adequate and efficient to determine all cases.
These managers are directly responsible for relations with the outside world and for representing the organization and play an essential role in obtaining resources. Their direct dedication to administrative matters gives them a de facto power over other colleagues mainly engaged in professional tasks. In this power they will remain as long as they serve the objectives and interests of the majority of the members or of those with more power.
Bureaucratic structure of a mechanical nature
Described by Weber, it is found in organizations that are characterized by repetitive, simple, and highly standardized work processes. They have a great proliferation of rules and regulations and a formalization of communication through established channels. They show large work units at the lower level, a centralized power and decision-making structure, and a considerable administrative component with a clear distinction between line and staff. The different types of members within these organizations have specific characteristics.
The workers perform their task in a very streamlined workflow with clear division of tasks that are coordinated through a strong formalization and direct supervision. Types of coordination and the nature of the task that allow the formation of large work units.
The administrative componentit is widely developed. It is made up of a significant number of people who try to solve problems that may arise so that the "productive machine" does not stop: supervisors who fulfill 3 functions: solve problems that arise between workers, work in collaboration with analysts of technology and planning, to facilitate the passing of information up and down (provide information to bosses and make known rules, changes, etc. to subordinates); technology analysts and planners are essential because the organization depends fundamentally on the standardization of the work process, through the analysis and planning of tasks as a basic coordination system. Planning that introduces a large number of rules and regulations and a good dose of control,which has a fundamental role since it allows to reduce uncertainty so that the bureaucratic machine works without interruptions and to solve the conflicts that it can easily cause.
Woodward (1965) points out that the best network of relationships for production is not necessarily the best for people. If the technical purposes are well served, the result will be a commercial success, if the social ones are, the results will be a satisfied and cooperative staff. Technical ends may be best served through conflict and pressure, and it cannot be said that the most effective firms were those with better relationships and closer identification between staff and company.
the managersThey are in charge of achieving an efficient operation of the organization as a whole, seeking and studying new procedures and improvements for production, as well as conflict resolution and direct supervision as a basis for coordinating the different departments at different levels. higher levels, since formalization is insufficient for coordination at these levels. They occupy the only positions that require a broad and generalized knowledge compared to the specialization of the other members. They concentrate most of the formal power and are responsible for the establishment of general strategies and plans. The assumptions of this planning are: its completely rational character, the clear differentiation between the formulation of strategies and their implementation.Managers formulate their plans and subordinates implement them, within a means-ends scale until their realization by the workers.
The mechanical bureaucracy has an inflexible configuration. It is designed for one purpose and can be efficient at it, but it is incapable of making big changes to adapt to disparate complex situations. The different parties have the mission of reducing and controlling changes in the environment to ensure that the machine works properly, by reducing uncertainty and solving possible problems that may arise from it.
Characteristics of this type of structure
They are only possible in a stable and simple environment. Work in complex environments cannot be streamlined into simple tasks and dynamic environments cannot be easily predicted or standardized. It is generally found in mature organizations. They need to be broad enough to allow for repetition and standardization and "old" enough so that they have been able to develop the rules and procedures to be used. They usually present a regulatory technical system, as it is this that allows the work to be designed so that it can be carried out in a repetitive and standardized process.
Series production is the most characteristic technological system. External control, control that favors centralization and formalization, and these are the main design parameters of a bureaucratic structure of a mechanical nature. The government administrative departments that have a higher degree of external control are structured according to these characteristics. Organizations with bureaucratic structures of a mechanical nature are organizations to perform stable tasks, not to solve new problems. It is effective in a series of specific and clearly defined jobs, not in introducing innovations or adapting to new, dynamic and unpredictable environments.
They are designed like machines, to perform as efficiently as possible a series of tasks predetermined in advance and clearly defined. But they are not used to carry out any other type of task and solve the new situations that arise.
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