Bureaucratic Form According to Max Weber — His Six Major Principles Before covering Weber's Six Major Principles, I want to describe the various multiple meanings of the word "bureaucracy." 1. A group of workers (for example, civil service employees of the U. S. government), is referred to as "the bureaucracy." An example: "The threat of Gramm-Rudman-Hollings cuts has the bureaucracy in Washington deeply concerned." 2. Bureaucracy is the name of an organizational form used by sociologists and organizational design professionals. 3. Bureaucracy has an informal usage, as in "there's too much bureaucracy where I work." This informal usage describes a set of characteristics or attributes such as "red tape" or "inflexibility" that frustrate people who deal with or who work for organizations they perceive as "bureaucratic." As you read about the bureaucratic form, note whether your organization matches the description. The more of these concepts that exist in your organization, the more likely you will have some or all of the negative by-products described in the book "Busting Bureaucracy." In the 1930s Max Weber, a German sociologist, wrote a rationale that described the bureaucratic form as being the ideal way of organizing government agencies. Max Weber's principles spread throughout both public and private sectors. Even though Weber's writings have been widely discredited, the bureaucratic form lives on. Weber noted six major principles.

1. A formal hierarchical structure
Each level controls the level below and is controlled by the level above. A formal hierarchy is the basis of central planning and centralized decision making. 2. Management by rules
Controlling by rules allows decisions made at high levels to be executed consistently by all lower levels. 3. Organization by functional specialty
Work is to be done by specialists, and people are organized into units based on the type of work they do or skills they have. 4. An "up-focused" or "in-focused" mission
If the mission is described as "up-focused," then the organization's purpose is to serve the stockholders, the board, or whatever agency empowered it. If the mission is to serve the organization itself, and those within it, e.g., to produce high profits, to gain market share, or to produce a cash stream, then the mis...

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