Bureaucratic Structures of the Future

In the past, the American business system has been hierarchical, conflictual, reactive, and has come more and more to rely on short-term planning and thinking. However, there are many who believe that the American system is shifting in response to changes in the business environment, changes leading to a more information-based approach that will of necessity be a more cooperative approach as well. Peter Drucker (1988) is one analyst who has been looking to the future of the business organization in American society, the form it will take, and the ways in which it will differ from the organization of today. Drucker sees a vision of the large business of the future as resulting fr

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society and people in the bureaucracy relate differently. In society we relate to one another primarily through the meaning we attach to our actions: "The bureaucrat, on the other hand, is restricted to those actions that his work rules permit him and that fall within the scope of his jurisdiction" (Hummel, 1982, 5). As a result, the bureaucrat ignores behavior and signals that would have meaning in a different context but which have no meaning in the bureaucratic situation because the rules say they do not. The bureaucracy in government terms and the bureaucratic structure of business differ in several respects, including types of goal, decision-making structures, and response to the external environment. In both cases, however, the bureaucracy tends to be self-perpetuating, shaped for growth and increasing size, and generally cumbersome and so slow to respond to change. DEVELOPING PARADIGM Analysts of the information-based economy that is developing find evidence of the beginning of a less bureaucratic structure. In the developing economy, the fundamental unit is not the corporation but the individual. Tasks will no longer be assigned and controlled through a stable chain of management but will rather be carried out a
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Max Weber, Peter Drucker, Ghoshal Bartlett, PARADIGM Analysts, Malone Laubacher, , BUREAUCRATIC PARADIGM, Drucker PF, Business Review, RJ Laubacher, ghoshal bartlett, bartlett 1995, ghoshal bartlett 1995, business organization, bartlett 1995 86, organization future, max weber, hierarchical structure, laubacher 1998, 1995 86, power basis, harvard business review, harvard business, drucker 1998 152, laubacher 1998 145,
Approximate Word count = 1610
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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