Max Weber gave the theory of Bureaucratic Management in 1915. Bureaucracy is a specific form of organization defined by complexity, division of labor, professional management, and hierarchical management control. Weber's theory has two essential elements - organizational hierarchy and rules-based management. Weber made a distinction between authority and power and advocated that authority must be given to the most competent and qualified people.
Bureaucratic management as one of the schools of classical management emphasizes the need for organizations to function based on professional management and hierarchical management control.
Weber (1864-1920), was a contemporary of Fayol and was one of the major contributors to the management school of thought. He observed that nepotism, which is the hiring of relatives in the organization, based on their relationships with owners and regardless of their professional competence, capabilities, and qualities was prevalent in most organizations. Weber (1915) felt that nepotism was not the right way of running an organization, was grossly unjust, and eventually hindered both the progress of individuals as well as growth or organizations. He, therefore, identified the characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy. According to Weber, bureaucracy represents the most efficient organizational design. Taylor emphasized the separation of planning and doing tasks.
Bureaucracy word is derived from the German word 'bur' and means “office”, referred to organizations that operated on a rational basis. According to Weber, "bureaucracy is a highly structured, formalized, and impersonal organization. In other words, it is a formal organization structure with a set of rules and regulations". Many leaders follow the bureaucratic leadership style.
Nowadays, the term "bureaucracy" is used to denote excessively complicated administrative procedures with multilayered systems and processes. Clubbed with rigidness in operations with mountains of paperwork, procedures, and rules bureaucratic model is believed to slow down an organization's capacity to achieve stated goals. However, the bureaucratic characteristics of organizations outlined by Weber have certain advantages.
Weber also made a distinction between authority and power. Weber believed that power educes obedience through force or the threat of force which induces individuals to adhere to regulations. According to Max Weber, there are three types of power in an organization:-
Managers have to perform many roles in an organization, and how they handle various situations will depend on their style of management. Management styles are the characteristic ways, of making decisions relating to subordinates. These are the strategies, efforts, or direction used by the manager, to create an efficient workplace, to achieve organizational goals. A management style is the method of leadership used by a manager.
The development of teams is an ongoing process because the composition of the team may keep on changing. The new members may join and the old members may leave the team. The team members pass through several stages for the development of the team and there has been a lot of research to identify these stages. In this article, we discuss the common theories of team development.
The concept of management refers to the process of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, and controlling to achieve organizational goals. It is the management of human, physical, financial, and other valuable resources of the organization in an effective and efficient manner to achieve business objectives.
All the teams are dynamic in nature and they take time to come together, they form, develop, and grow in stages, over a period of time. Teams go through five progressive stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning. In this article, we want to introduce you to these stages of team development and certain strategies that you can use to help the team grow and develop in each of these stages.
Behavioral Approach to Management
The behavioral management theory had a profound influence on management by focusing on understanding the human dimensions of work. It is also called human relations movement as behavioral theorists focused on managing productivity by understanding factors of worker motivation like their needs and expectations, personality, attitudes, values, group behavior, conflict, and group dynamics. It advocated the use of psychological techniques to motivate employees.
Team leadership theory is a recent leadership theory that does not discriminate between the leader and the other team members. The approach considers contributions from each team member to be critical for organizational success. This approach focused on the overall team effectiveness and team problems are diagnosed and action is taken to remediate weakness. This approach provides for taking corrective action when the leader deems necessary.
Tools for Developing Your Team
If a manager has too many weak spots in the talent of the team, the ability to empower the team members to independently execute the project is impaired. Assignments fall behind schedule or stretch out because the needed skills or knowledge are not in place when needed. To successfully execute important projects, hiring talented people, and increasing the talents of existing staff are most important.
Taylor’s Scientific Management
Taylor’s theory of scientific management aimed at improving economic efficiency and labor productivity. Taylor had a simple view that money motivated people at work. He felt that workers should get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, and that pay should be linked to the amount produced. He introduced the differential piece rate system, of paying wages to the workers.
Theory Z also called the "Japanese Management" style is a leadership theory of human motivation focused on organizational behavior, communication, and development. It assumes that employees want to enter into long term partnerships with their employers and peers. Offering stable jobs with an associated focus on the well-being of employees results in increased employee loyalty to the company.
Administrative Theory by Fayol
The administrative theory of management is focused on principles that could be used by managers to coordinate the internal activities of organizations. The most prominent of the administrative theorists was Henri Fayol. Fayol observed a work stoppage and judged it to be a management failure. He believed that organizational managerial practices are important for driving predictability and efficiency in organizations.
© 2023 TechnoFunc, All Rights Reserved