Bureaucracy is a word that can often be heard in relation to power structures. But the meaning of this concept is not known to everyone.
general information
Bureaucratization is a property of an organization, or rather, its management system. What is this expressed in?
When talking about the bureaucratic apparatus, from a technical point of view they mean a highly specialized organization or hierarchy in which property, responsibility, human thought and professional competition are collectivized. This is a gradual evolution towards a narrow focus of specialists. Bureaucratization is a process in the framework of which the ousting of “universal” people is envisaged, which can capture the interconnections between different areas and topics of work. In their place come narrow specialists who are not able to remove the contradiction between the final goal and the means, as well as not working to achieve it. When there is no evolutionary competition and a certain critical level of division of labor is exceeded, the effectiveness of the organization can fall to very low levels. The main principle is not the logic of action, but stability and tranquility. Directly productive activity is replaced by its imitation, and all the forces go to create the impression of existing well-being.
State bureaucracy
This is a real scourge of our time. When the principles of excessive centralization of the executive branch are applied, this peculiar “disease” arises. In such cases, one can observe a situation where the control apparatus proliferates and begins to generate work for itself. Officials often work purely formally, as they occupy posts for the most part for their selfish and personal interests. An example of uncontrollable growth is the Soviet Union. As of 1936, there were only 18 people's commissars. In 1940, their number was increased to 40. In the early 70s, the central apparatus consisted of more than 60 departments and ministries. In the mid-80s, their number was kept at around 100. It should be noted that during this period the population doubled. But the number of governing structures is fivefold.
Are there any problems with the market?
When bureaucratization is mentioned, this implies the activities of government agencies. But is the private sector affected by such a negative impact? Yes, this is typical of large companies. The reason for this development was the fact that the number of employed people is constantly growing at enterprises. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage them, it takes more time to execute decisions, and companies are less and less supportive of innovation. The selection of people for positions is carried out not on the basis of their professionalism and practical skills, but using formal criteria, which may be education and work experience. Bureaucratization of the organization leads to the fact that the possibility of free initiative disappears. In addition, employees are usually covered with reports, which reduces their effectiveness and kills the joy of work.
Differences
Let's see how the state bureaucracy differs from the private one. The confrontation between these ways of thinking can be shown by the example of public and private ownership of the means of production. So, the state bureaucracy can not worry about their situation. In a certain territory, she is the sovereign master, and no one will compete with her. With a private entrepreneur, everything is different. When he has the means of production, he must use them in such a way as to make a profit (which implies the satisfaction of existing demand). If the entrepreneur does not achieve this goal, then he will incur losses and ultimately more successful competitors will drive him out of the market. In this case, the person will have to retrain as wage earners.
Costing
It is used to check everything with maximum accuracy. Entrepreneurs use the calculation of losses and profits to see what effect a particular transaction gives in the overall picture of the company. Ultimately, it allows even the most complex and largest firms to accurately establish the results that have been achieved by individual units. From this follows the possibility of judgments about their contribution to the overall success of the enterprise. Based on the information received, decisions can be made on premiums and salary increases.
But it should be understood that precise control has its limits. So, due to accounting, it is extremely difficult, and in most cases impossible to say about the success or failure of the activities of an individual. Relatively accurate, you can also evaluate the impact of the heads of departments. If we return to the topic of bureaucratization of officials, it should be noted that in this case only subjective decisions can be made (he is bad / good).
Features
But there is one social process where the control apparatus can be confidently assessed as successful or unsuccessful - war. In this case, a reservation should be made that this applies exclusively to individual transactions. Issues such as the distribution of forces before the start of the process, the impact on the outcome, competence and the correctness of measures are all also subjective opinions. For example, there were commanders and generals who used ingenious tactics, but due to some factors (for example, numbers, lack of ammunition) could not fulfill their tasks. They are condemned without hesitation. Regarding other army ranks, we can say that they showed miracles of negligence and incompetence and only thanks to random circumstances could win the battle.
How are issues resolved?
The bureaucratization process is very complicated, so trying to solve everything with the help of calculations alone is extremely difficult.
To facilitate the activities, heads of organizations give instructions to their subordinates. Their implementation is a prerequisite for the work of specialists. In ordinary cases, they provide a plan of conduct, given the normal state of affairs. But if an emergency arises, then, for example, spending additional amounts requires permission from the superior. It should be noted that for this it is necessary to undergo, as a rule, a tedious procedure. In her defense we can only say that it is a relatively effective method of control and accounting. After all, if every head of the department had the right to make all the expenses necessary from his point of view, then the size of the costs would increase to enormous numbers. Bureaucracy is a form of interaction in which there are many unnecessary expenses. In addition, many expenditures that must be made to make progress are not incurred. This applies more to the state-owned control machine than to commercial organizations.
Private Enterprise Example
The fact that the bureaucratization of power leads to certain problems is not difficult to demonstrate. As an example, let's look at a private enterprise. A business deal is made on it, where both parties - the employer and the employer - win, and there is no service in which only one person is interested.
There is also a difference in benefits. So, the employer is interested in paying for the work of his employee. Otherwise, there is a high risk that a qualified specialist will move to a position at another company or company, where his work will be paid better. The employee, on the other hand, must perform his duties in a quality manner. Thus, he will be able to earn a decent salary. It should be borne in mind that the job offer in this case is precisely a business transaction, which is strictly regulated by legislation. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the entrepreneur himself is interested in a useful and effective specialist. You can confidently transfer the authority to hire and fire employees, since strict control will be exercised by the bookkeeping and accounting department regarding fair payment.
An example of bureaucracy in government
Now let's talk about government bodies. The problem with bureaucratization here is that it is difficult to identify the specific productive contribution of the unit or person. Therefore, when deciding on the issue of remuneration, personal prejudice and protectionism, as well as other hazing relationships, can have a significant impact. All this ultimately prevents the organization from acting effectively. In addition, the fact of lobbying is negatively manifested, when official positions are occupied by people under certain specific agreements.
Conclusion
As you can see, you can meet with bureaucracy not only in government bodies, but also in private companies. True, in our realities, the first appearance is most tangibly felt. To avoid the negative consequences of this organization of the management apparatus, you can use advanced technologies, which include the Internet, automated control systems and similar inventions. Of course, the introduction of such developments is possible exclusively for large enterprises and public authorities. But on the other hand, it is the latter that suffer most from bureaucracy. And the use of such developments will lead to an increase in the overall performance indicator of the state body or large enterprise under consideration.