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Lernkarten
Max Weber (1864 - 1920)
Significance of this work
- one of the founders of German Sociology (next to Simmel and Tönnies)
- First studies on organizations
Historical Context
- Expansion of capitalism
- Rationalization of the worldview
- Growth of the administrative machinery in public & private organizations
= Rationality: Objectivity, Impersonality, Predictability
2.2 The Concept of the "Ideal Type"
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What is NOT the concept of the "Ideal Type"? (2)
- seeking to be consistent with reality
- to be understood as a normative ideal
What is the Concept of the "Ideal Type"? (1)
heuristic construct for understanding reality ("measuring rod")
e.g. homo economicus, perfect market, bureaucracy
2.3 Forms of Authority
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Development and Function of Ideal Types
“An ideal type type is formed formed formedby the one-sided accentuation of one or more points of view and by the synthesis of a great many diffuse, discrete, more or less present and occasionally emphasized viewpoint into a unified analytical construct. This mental image brings together certain relationships and events of historical life to form an internally consistent cosmos of conceptual interrelations. In substance, this construct bears the character of an utopie which we arrive at by mentally accentuation certain elements of reality. Historical research faces the taks of determining in each individual case, the extend to which this ideal-construct approximates to or diverges from reality."
- Max Weber
Power
possibility of imposing one's will upon the behaviour of other persons
Authority
the chance that certain specific commands will be obeyed by a given group of persons because of the willingness of those to believe in the legitimacy of the claims of the dominant.
Legitimacy
Rightfulness of system or action in the sense of being perceived as appropriate
Ideal Types of Authority (3)
- charismatic
- traditional
- legal
Charismatic Type Authority
leader-follower relationship
Authority resting on devotion to the specific and exceptional sancity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and on the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him.
Traditional Type of Authority
master-servant relationship
Authority restion on an established belief in the sancity of immemorial traditions and the legitimacy of the status of those exercising authority under them.
Legal Type of Authority
superior-subordinate relationship
Authority resting on the belief in the "legality" of patterns of normative rules and the right of those elevated to authority under such rules to issue commands.
→ pures form: Bureaucracy
Overview of Different Concepts of Power and Authority
Authority is a specific form of power
pre-rational:
- charismatic
- traditional
rational:
- legal
(focus of Max Weber's work)
2.4 Features and Characteristics of Bureaucracy
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Characteristics of Bureaucracy (8)
- All tasks regulated by general rules
- Specificaiton of jobs with detailed rights, obligations, responsibilities, scope of authority
- Firmly ordered system of super- and subordination (office hierarchy)
- Extensive use of written documents ("the files")
- Impersonality of administration
- Recruitment of officials based on qualifications
- Pre-defined career path (pre-defined levels of salary)
- Contractual appointment (vs. election) ot officials to the office
Two implications of the characteristics of bureaucracy
→ objectivity, impersonality and predictability (= rationality)
→ high degree of efficiency due to "machine-like nature"
Implications for the Bureaucrats
Dehumanization of Bureaucrats
Leadership in Bureaucracy (3)
- Top ot the hierarchy is not strictly bureaucratic
- Bureaucracy should be headed by charismatic authority
- Creativity and initative can only come from the top
Advantages of Bureaucracy (5)
- Specialised administrative knowledge
- Task-related allocation of resources
- Protection against arbitrary acts
- Reliability of administration
- Stability
Disadvantages of Bureaucracy (6)
- "Housing of Enslavement" / "Cage of Bondage" (Gehäuse der Hörigkeit)
- Domination of the administrative apparatus
- Difficulty of control
- Bureaucrats lack creativity and personal responsibility
- Work devoid of any emotional involvment
- Equal treatment characterized by formality and indifference
2.5 Critical Appraisal
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Importance of the Theory (3)
- First comprehensive description of bureaucracy
- Integration into a general social theory
- Starting point of organizational research
(Unjustified) Critique (3)
Misinterpretation of the concept of bureaucracy as a description of reality (instead of ideal type):
- Different forms of bureaucracies are not considered
- Technical efficiency of bureaucracies dependent on the particular situation
- Dysfunctional effects of bureaucracies not sufficiently considered
(Justified) Critique (5)
- Assumption of the inevitable trend towards increasing bureaucratization is questionable
- General assumption about bureaucracies as impediment to creativity is questionable ("coercive bureaucracy" vs. "enabling bureaucracy")
- Neglect of the role of the organizational environment
- Neglect of psychological findings (particularly re. motivation)
- Neglect of informal aspects of organization
Modul 3: Scientific Management and Taylorism
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3.1 Historical Context and Biography
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Historical Context (particularly USA)
- Increasing number of large enterprises
- Mass production
- Technological progress / new manufacuring technologies
- Unqualified workers
- Managment largely based on ruel-of-thumb
→ labor as a critical factor
Fredrick W. Taylor (1856 - 1915)
- Magnum opus: " The Principles of Scientific Management" (1911)
- Founder of "Scientific Management" (Taylorism)
3.2 Taylor's Aims and Approach
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Research Goals (quotation) (3)
- point out the great loss which the whole country is suffering from inefficiency in almost all of our daily acts
- To try to convince the reader that the remendy for this inefficiency lies in systematic managment, rather than in searching for some unusual or extraordinary man.
- To prove that the best management is a true science, resting upon clearly defined laws, rules, and principles as a foundation. And further to show that the fundamental principles of scientific management are applicable to all kinds of human activites, from simplest individual acts to the work of our great corporations.
Aims (3)
- Realization of efficiency levels of labour similar to those of machines
- Optimization of the intensity of labour
- Prevention of shrinking and "soldering"
Center of "Scientific Management"
Experiments
3.3 Taylor's Principles of Organization and Management
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Assumptions about Human Nature (6)
- Workers are lazy by nature and solely seek to enjoy themselves
- Happiness is solely achieved through consumption
- Financial rewards are the most importatnt means of promptiong workers to work
- Since (1) and (2) are in contradiction with each other, human beings need discipline
- Since average workers do not understand the necessity of discipline, rules need to be imposed upon them
- Engineers are capable of defining such rules, because assumptions (1) - (5) do not apply to them
Division Between Manual and Intellectual Work
in the past
Entire knowledge about work processes possessed by the workers
→ Basis for shirking and "soldiering"
→ Knowledge based on dubious "rules of thumb"
Division Between Manual and Intellectual Work
New
- Systematic collection of workers' knowledge by the management
- Systematic evaluation of that knowledge through experiments
- Systematic division of work
- Workers: manual work
- Managers (specialists): analysis and coordination of work based on "scientific" methods (experiments)
Two different Types of Departments
- Planng Department
- Production Department