Degree Of Bureaucratization Research Articles

Comparing young people's participation across political organizations from a life course perspective

ABSTRACT This paper draws on a study of the life course of 40 young people (aged 18–35) in Bologna (Italy), who are active in eight different political organizations. It explores whether the political organization, given that the city's political context is the same for all participants, affects the variation of their pathways. It does so by answering the following question: which phases in the lives of young participants are interconnected with the political organizations they are engaged in? To evaluate the impact of the organizational context on young participants, we will take into consideration three dimensions: the degree of bureaucratization, forms of action, and political orientation. Situated at the intersection of youth and social movement studies, this paper aims to advance our understanding of the connections between primary and political socialization processes in shaping young participants’ mobilization and sustained participation within different political organizations. Our empirical findings show that, if the degree of bureaucratization was constantly salient in the two phases, on the other hand political orientation was more salient during participants' mobilization and the forms of action during participants' sustained participation. In the conclusion, the paper critically discusses the empirical findings of our analysis of the respondents’ narratives.

Administración y poder público: incógnitas y propuestas para la burocracia mexicana / Administration and public power: unknowns and proposals for the Mexican bureaucracy

La intervención del Estado requiere de una administración pública basada en un marco institucional que organice jurídica y políticamente los mecanismos estratégicos de las instituciones del sector público. La eficiencia de la administración pública depende del grado de burocratización y del tipo de liderazgo burocrático, así como de la descentralización del sector público; de la calidad de la información y diagnóstico en sus procesos administrativos, y del consenso político y la participación de los ciudadanos en el mejoramiento de los procesos administrativos de las instituciones. No obstante, entre más centradas estén las decisiones en la autoridad, suele suceder que estas intervenciones crecientemente se vuelven ineficientes económica, social y políticamente. La relación entre la administración pública y la democracia se torna problemática, en la administración participan elementos autoritarios, mientras que en la democracia observamos oposición intrínseca y rasgos que atienden la desigualdad. El problema de la distribución del poder es un tema antiguo, su interés se observa desde las primeras civilizaciones. En décadas recientes la preocupación es la ubicación del poder. El presente documento pretende contribuir a la comprensión de la estructura y la dinámica de la burocracia y el poder público a través de la reflexión de las categorías administración pública, contingencia y democracia. Se concluye que las variaciones económicas y políticas que permean al Estado mexicano están representadas en la estructura y organización de la administración pública. La historia de la función pública y sus actores, traducen la relación de la sociedad mexicana con el poder público y su concepción de la democracia.

Making People Work: Control and Incentives in Swedish Organizations

There are two main strategies to elicit effort from employees: control and incentives. The issue addressed in this paper is how systems of control and incentives are related, and how they are embedded in the organizational structure. The analyses are based on data from a national survey of Swedish public and private sector organizations. According to the findings, the degree of bureaucratization is not only positively related to the extent to which employees are controlled, but also to the level of incentives. The results also indicate that employers using selective incentives rely on monitoring and output control in order to establish who will get ahead and why. Furthermore, some results show that the control level is relatively low in organizations which use general rather than selective incentives. Hence, the idea that incentives and control are functional equivalents appears to be invalid for selective incentives.

Comments on Gallie

Duncan Gallie's paper returns to a subject which has been at the centre of David Lockwood's work: the extent to which there has occurred convergence in class position between lower white-collar workers and manual workers. After a briefreview of work on the impact of (rigid) automation on the work and class situation of workers during the 1950s and 60s, Gallie systematically addresses the claims of both the proletarianization and embourgeoisement theses in the context of a radically changed technological environment. Gallie employs the Goldthorpe class schema and follows Lockwood's theoretical approach, developed in the Btacksoated Worker study, of conceiving class position in terms of market and work situation. To measure the two, he develops indicators of market and work situation which follow Lockwood quite closely. Gallie uses data from a recent large-scale suivey on the association of aspects of work and market situation with new technology to test some of the central claims of both the proletarianization and the proletarianization thesis. The paper analyses the work situation of both types of workers by assessing the following aspects: trends in skill development; control over the work task; and relations with superiors. Assessment of market situation covers the components of income, payment systems, promotion chances and job security. Apart from the theoretical concerns shared with David Lockwood, Gallie's approach differs from that of Lockwood in a number of respects. In substantive terms, the inteivening thirty-eight years have demanded a stronger focus on technology as a decisive influence on both market and work situation, as well as a consideration of the different location of men and women with respect to many aspects of their work and market situation. The difference in research method is equally marked. Lockwood's qualitative study consulted a wide range of secondary sources and was able to study both the content and the context of clerical work in great depth, giving due weight to the considerable diversity between different groups of clerical workers. Whereas for Lockwood technology was only one variable among others, in Gallie's work it becomes the central variable, and environmental influences like degree of bureaucratization, size of work group and competitive position of employing organizations remain unconsidered. Even the notion of management policy, which is crucial to Gallie's definition of the effect of new technology and which has been found to be a

Two Freedman Careers

Was there a slave-freedman ‘cursus’ or career structure in the Imperial administration? And if so, on what criteria was advancement within it based? Did promotion depend on seniority or merit or both together? How impersonal and rational was the regulation of the system, i.e. what degree of bureaucratization was reached, or, on the other hand, what was the extent of patronage inside the slave-freedman service? These are all important and difficult, even impossible, questions for the student of the Roman Imperial administration.

A Structural Comparison Between Canadian and American Industrial Organizations

March 1 979,volume 24 This paper examines differences in the degree of bureaucratization and professionalization in industries in Canada and the United States. Three hypotheses are tested with census data from both countries. The first provides a comparative test of the hypothesis that structural characteristics of an industry at the period of its development persist over time. The second hypothesizes that cultural factors produce structural differences in industries in the two countries. The third argues that foreign ownership of corporations results in greater bureaucracy and less professionalization in Canadian industries than in American industries. The results provide general support for the persistence of structural characteristics, no support for the structural effects of cultural differences, and some support for the structural effects of foreign control.

Job satisfaction and perceived bureaucratization in recreational delivery organizations: A comparison of federal and state park and forest rangers

Data from the responses of 120 park and forest rangers at both the state and federal levels were analyzed relative to stated levels of job satisfaction and perceived degree of bureaucratization in their respective work organizations. While park rangers expressed significantly higher levels of job satisfaction than forest rangers, no significant difference was found between state and federal rangers. The self‐perceived degree of bureaucratization under which the rangers worked was found to be negatively related to their job satisfaction. Such perceptions, however, did not appreciably diminish the original differences in job satisfaction noted to exist between park and forest rangers. A tentative explanation for the significant difference in job satisfaction between park and forest rangers is based on the differences in work roles and missions, particularly as these relate to the public.

Measuring the Degree of Bureaucratization at the Societal Level

Measuring the Degree of Bureaucratization at the Societal Level

Religion and Political Involvement: A Study of Black African Sects

Although scholars have assigned an important role to religious organizations in the modernization and development process, they have paid far more attention to the role played by such secular organizations as trade unions and fraternal organizations. This study represents an effort to utilize some of the tools traditionally applied by political scientists in studies of secular organizations to deal analytically with the part religious organizations play in modernization. Specifically, it is an attempt to account for the greater political interest and activity shown by religious sects among the Kikuyu tribe than by sects among the Zulu, a tribe whose milieu during the first half of this century has been similar to that of the Kikuyu. An examination of the development of sects in these tribes suggest that commitment to ideological purity is a key variable in explaining variations in the degree of sectarian political activities. The cases also suggest three major factors which may explain a sect's long-term efforts to preserve its ideological purity: (1) the degree of bureaucratization, (2) the degree to which recruitment is open, and (3) the emphasis its founders place on one or more local customs as the justification for the sect's existence.

SYSTEMS PROBLEMS OF ORGANIZATIONS AND BUSINESS POLICY.

Business organizations are open systems. A company's operations can be understood only if its relations with the environment are taken into account, because they involve flows between the system and the environment as well as within the system itself. To live, a company must take in resources from the environment, convert them into goods and/or services, and dispose of the latter on favorable terms in the environment. All business organizations, being dependent upon their environments, face the same fundamental systems problem: how to match up the organization's capabilities with the demands made upon it by environmental forces. This is also the focus of business policy. Therefore, an understanding of how companies organize and function to cope with systems problems gives us insight into the nature of business policy and has implications for research in the field. This paper suggests three hypotheses for empirical research: 1. The boundaries of corporate strategy -- to be acceptable a strategy must simultaneously satisfy at least minimal requirements of organizational rationality and institutional survival. 2. The mix of policy approaches -- there are both bureaucratic and systems elements in policy formation; the mix in each company depends on its degree of bureaucratization, but over time there is a tendency to shift towards the systems approach. 3. Managerial Roles in policy formation -- where the systems approach to policy formation prevails middle managers initiate and promote policy recommendations thru help achieve their subsystem goals, and executives develop corporate sir y that balance these policies with each other and with considerations of institutional survival.

Organization structure and sociometric nominations amongst line managers in three contrasted organizations

AbstractThis study contrasts the interactions and influence choices amongst line managers in three organizations. The organizations were selected because of their contrasting formal structures (degree of bureaucratization, etc., after Pugh et al., 1968). The relations between the sociometric indicators and the various aspects of organization structure are explored across different sub‐parts of the line management systems.The overall results are that the effects of aspects of organization structure on social processes are generally in the directions predicted, though the relationships are not large; and that the effects of one aspect of organization structure can be moderated by other structurat features. Global generalizations about the effects of, say, ‘bureaucracy’ on social behaviour are therefore inadvisable.

Interschool Variation in Bureaucratization

The term “bureaucracy” is becoming increasingly relevant in discussion of schools, especially as they grow bigger and organizationally more complex. This study of 48 elementary schools in Ontario attempted to account for interschool variation in bureaucratization, particularly as it was associated with leader behavior. Hall's scales were used to measure perceived degree of bureaucratization; the LBDQ‐XII to measure leader behavior. It was found that leader behavior is the biggest single determinant of level of bureaucratization. Contrary to the traditional view, size of school is inversely related to level of bureaucratization. Although some 25 per cent of interschool variation in bureaucratization was not accounted for by the variables studied it seems clear that “as goes the principal, so goes the school.”

A note on bureaucracy and its "correlates".

Twenty-five organizations are ranked according to their degree of bureaucratization. The ranking is accomplished by the combination of scores on six dimensions of bureaucracy into a single Guttman scale of bureaucratization. This over-all degree of bureaucratization is then found to have a moderately strong association with an organizational concern with objects as opposed to ideas. Less association is found between degree of bureaucratization and the size of the organization, the number of departments or divisions in the organization, the nature of the official organizational goals, or the extent to which the organization is "people oriented."

Educational Bureaucracy, Teacher Orientation and Selected Criterion Variables

This theoretical study examines teacher satisfaction, effectiveness, and conformity; it relates these variables to teachers' perceptions of the degree of bureaucratization within secondary schools and teachers' local or cosmopoli tan orientation. Seven hypotheses were formulated, and the data were interpreted on the basis of symmetric correlation, analy sis of variance, and t-tests (one-tailed, .01 level). The results indicated: cosmopolitans scored higher on satisfaction, effectiveness, and conformity variables than locals; locals who perceived low bureaucratization scored lowest on the three variables; the criterion variables were evaluated similarly by subjects within each subgroup; cosmopolitans who perceived high bureaucratization re ceived highest scores; the degree to which bureaucratic elements were perceived varied greatly within each school; teachers tend to be more cosmopolitan than local. ONE IMPORTANT form of educational behav ioral research relies upon theoretical formula tions, and this is particularly evident in the in creasingly sophisticated approaches to the study of educational administration. Theoretical re search promotes greater control over extraneous variables, maximizes experimental variance, and leads to logically generalized solutions for specific educational problems. Administrative theory is characterized by an emphasis upon administrative behavior, the study of organizational consequences, and the develop ment of conceptual frameworks. Since theory deals with the consequences of action, one major criterion of its value is the extent to which it may be successfully applied by classroom teachers and practicing administrators. Theory serves to unify existing knowledge and to provide a foundation for the development of testable hypotheses. With logical coalescence as the educational theorist's goal, he may justify the adoption of concepts and models from other disciplines as an important source of administrative theory. This approach was used in order to examine certain factors in volving secondary teachers in the study which is described below (3). Two major concepts were applied to an educational setting and were exam ined with three selected criterion variables: teacher satisfaction, effectiveness, and conform

Relation of Bureaucratization to Sense of Power Among Teachers

Teachers' sense of power over school system affairs was measured by questionnaire among 662 classroom teachers in 20 school systems. On the hypothesis that sense of Power would be lower in highly bureaucratic than in less bureaucratic organizations, ratings of the school systems were obtained to measure their degree of bureaucratization. Contrary to the hypothesis, sense of power was greater, not less, in the highly bureaucratic schools. Further analyses showed some influences of organizational structure an sense of power, but also suggested that school systems may select teachers differing in sense of Power. Gerald H. Moeller is supervisor on special assignment with the St. Louis Public School System. W. W. Charters is professor of education at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Intraorganizational Structural Variation: Application of the Bureaucratic Model

Variations in structure within organizations were studied using the bureaucratic model. It was demonstrated that organizational segments, both vertical and horizontal, varied significantly in their degree of bureaucratization. This variation existed along six selected dimensions of bureaucracy, which were measured by questionnaires completed by employees. The type of task performed by the organizational segment was found to be an important determinant of the variation. It was suggested that the use of the bureaucratic model in this manner simplifies the approach to intraorganizational variation. Richard H. Hall is instructor, Department of Sociology, Indiana University.

Mass Organizations in Mainland China

One of the major causes of the success of the Chinese Communist party is its effective organization and indoctrination of the masses at the grass roots, primarily through a myriad of mass organizations. A study of these organizations in mainland China is significant for a number of reasons. First, in a country like Communist China where the degree of bureaucratization and centralization is high and where mass organizations serve in many respects as a principal medium between government and party policies and the people, the basic programs and policy shifts formulated by the leading organs of these organizations often indicate the direction of the political wind. Second, while details of decisions and deliberations made at meetings of government and party organs are painstakingly guarded, information regarding the programs, activities, and leadership of the mass organizations is more available. Third, by an examination of these mass organizations, we may, to some extent, evaluate the attitudes and reactions of different social classes and groups in present-day China and at the same time observe the techniques employed by the CCP in social communication and political indoctrination.