Norman E. Bowie (2002), notes that Kantian philosophy can be applied to any business question or venture, simply by assessing that Kant would require us to universalize the maxim of an action (Bowie 4)
Bureaucracy as an Ethical Way to Lead Kant and the Categorical Imperative Immanuel Kant believed that the categorical imperative was the basis for ethical action in business. The categorical imperative is the central philosophical concept in the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant, which he defined as any proposition that declares a certain action or inaction to be necessary and denotes an absolute, unconditional requirement that "asserts its authority in all circumstances, both required and justified as and end it itself" (Kant 30)
In its most basic form, bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a government or organization, which implements the rules, laws, and functions of their respective institution. In Weber's mind, bureaucracy was necessary for both democratization of a government or body, as well as for its rationalization, and this bureaucratic system would work to provide efficiency within a given group (Allan 174)
While critics debate that bureaucracy and its management positions provide for a stagnant work environment, supporters argue that bureaucracy in business is based in efficiency, which is essential for longevity. Bureaucracy in business must be approached in an collectivist way -- which ensures that ethics reside in a community of individuals rather than in one person alone (Brown 1)
Bureaucracy in business focuses largely on the existence of middle-managers and company higher-ups who work to oversee the business, and again, focus on efficiency. Critics argue that without these managers, employees would get more done, "unshackled by pointless bureaucracy, meaningless paperwork and incompetent bosses" (Fisman 1)
For years, Kodak had thrived on its business focus on print film, but as the times changed and technology increased, the company found itself floundering in the new realm of competitors that had come into the spotlight seemingly overnight. While Kodak make great efforts to change, it was exceedingly difficult to change the logic of the company that past successes were built upon, and the company's decline was largely associated with its "being too bureaucratic" (Sandstrom 7)
Bureaucracy: An Ethical Way to Lead and Organize Max Weber, the first to formulate the characteristics of bureaucracy in a systematic manner, once said: "Bureaucratic administration means fundamentally the exercise of control on the basis of knowledge. This is the feature of it which makes it specifically rational" (Weber 339)
He bases his concept on the legal-rational authority, this authority believes in the legitimacy of normative rules and that those elevated to authority through such rules have a right to issue commands. His presentation is that of an ideal bureaucracy whose major features are division of labor, hierarchical order, well trained staff, written documents, officials working at full capacity, and the application of impersonal rules (Crozier, 1964)
Even though Weber believes that strict adherence to rules enhances rationality and efficiency, there are chances that irrationality and inefficiency may result. There four main characteristics of bureaucracy that limits its application; bureaucracy neglects informal organization, operates on ideals, dehumanizes, and does not easily relate with democracy (Merton, 1952)
Hierarchical order, as a feature of bureaucracy, is essential in creating a gap between superiors and subordinates, on the other hand, impersonal rules brings about the confinement to prescribed conduct by legal rules. This is a merit in the sense that systematic control of subordinates by superiors is facilitated which eliminates arbitrariness and personal favoritism (Stillman, 2000)
Public Administration Max Weber is a strong supporter and advocate for bureaucracy which he defines as "the means of carrying community action over into rationally ordered social action… an instrument of socializing relations of power, bureaucracy has been and is a power instrument of first order." (Weber, 1946)
Taylor's contribution to scientific management also centers on selecting the best possible worker for a job, training on the standardization of key tasks, and an implied belief that the higher the wages, the higher the productivity. Taylor is considered one of the major contributors to today's approach to business process improvement, an approach to streamlining processes in companies by first looking for wasted time in inefficient steps (Hammer, 2003)
Despite bureaucracy having a negative connotation today, Weber found it as critical for organizations to grow globally. Bureaucracy Scientific management, the second concept of the three covered in this paper, is attributed to the research and theories of Frederick Taylor (Taylor, 1911)
The Catholic Church is considered to be one of the most powerful early bureaucracies both from a political and financial standpoint. In his many writing Max Weber defined bureaucracy in modern terms (Weber, 1946)
Obama's stimulus bill, $862 billion, that many economists say helped avoid a depression, did not get a single Republican vote. The biggest reform of Wall Street in the nation's history passed without a single Republican vote, and likewise, the healthcare reform act, a "major overhaul" -- that will provide 30 million Americans with health coverage and will prevent the health insurance industry from canceling policies just because a policyholder gets will -- did not receive any votes from Republicans (Tapper, 2010)
Bureaucrats are preferable if time inconsistency and short-termism is an issue, or if vested interests have large stakes in the policy outcome." (Alesina & Tabellini, p
But also they make critical decisions which shape the economic, political, social, and even moral lives of nearly everyone on earth." (Downs, p
Felluga (2002) reports that "by carceral culture, Foucault refers to a culture in which the panoptic model of surveillance has been diffused as a principle of social organization, affecting such disparate things as the university classroom (see right for a prison school that resembles some classroom auditoriums); urban planning (organized on a grid structure to facilitate movement but also to discourage concealment); hospital and factory architecture; and so on." (Felluga, 1) This is to suggest that in our increasing dependence on a benevolent system of governmentally regulated agencies and organizations, we have increasingly ceded our individuality in favor of the broader mechanisms of government, state and nation
The author explains that the bureaucracy operates according to its best levels of proficiency when it possesses both the 'autonomy' and the 'resources' in simultaneity to accomplish its goals. (Meier, p
According to Niskanen, "most of the literature on bureaucracy, from Confucius to Weber, proceeds from an organic concept of the state, that is, a concept of a state for which the preferences of individuals are subordinate to certain organic goals of the state." (Niskanen, p