OT

• structure
• actor/agency
• environment
• change

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Different

• objects of research
• disciplinary approaches
• ideas of theory building (philosophy of science)

"insight seeking"

"What will matter is how much insight and understanding can be extracted from the entire constellation of theories"

many theories can be true and they are all providing insight (not the same) = it is good to have different theories

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"A general perspective or way of thinking that reflects fundamental assumptions about the nature of organizations"

Often several theories within the same paradigm

1. Nature of the society: regulation vs. radical change
2. Nature of social science: subjective vs. objective

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Significance of this work

• one of the founders of German Sociology (next to Simmel and Tönnies)
• First studies on organizations

• Expansion of capitalism
• Rationalization of the worldview
• Growth of the administrative machinery in public & private organizations

= Rationality: Objectivity, Impersonality, Predictability

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• seeking to be consistent with reality
• to be understood as a normative ideal

heuristic construct for understanding reality ("measuring rod")
e.g. homo economicus, perfect market, bureaucracy

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“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

possibility of imposing one's will upon the behaviour of other persons

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.

Rightfulness of system or action in the sense of being perceived as appropriate

1. charismatic
2. traditional
3. legal

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.

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.

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

Authority is a specific form of power

pre-rational:

• charismatic
• traditional

rational:

• legal
  (focus of Max Weber's work)

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1. All tasks regulated by general rules
2. Specificaiton of jobs with detailed rights, obligations, responsibilities, scope of authority
3. Firmly ordered system of super- and subordination (office hierarchy)
4. Extensive use of written documents ("the files")
5. Impersonality of administration
6. Recruitment of officials based on qualifications
7. Pre-defined career path (pre-defined levels of salary)
8. Contractual appointment (vs. election) ot officials to the office

→ objectivity, impersonality and predictability (= rationality)

→ high degree of efficiency due to "machine-like nature"

Dehumanization of Bureaucrats

1. Top ot the hierarchy is not strictly bureaucratic
2. Bureaucracy should be headed by charismatic authority
3. Creativity and initative can only come from the top

• Specialised administrative knowledge
• Task-related allocation of resources
• Protection against arbitrary acts
• Reliability of administration
• Stability

• "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

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• First comprehensive description of bureaucracy
• Integration into a general social theory
• Starting point of organizational research