Bureaucratic organisations are those organisations that have tough set of guidelines and procedures that are tight and there is a reluctance to change. There is a high formality of how these bureaucratic organisations operate. Several levels of management are responsible for the operation of the organisation. Charts that state the hierarchical table are existent for such organisations and they define the responsibility of all individuals at certain levels of management and clearly define who is in charge. Decision making is carried out through an organized process that is strict and control procedures are followed in the making of several decisions. The Department of Treasury is an agency that will be studied to check the level of bureaucracy of the organisation as it is divided into other several inter departmental agencies that have different roles to play.
The degree of bureaucracy in the organisation is high due to the several agencies involved in the decision making process of the organisation. Bureaucracies are founded on several principles that include the principle of rational authority according to Jones (2010). The organisation employs this principle as there are individuals in charge of every step of the organisation. Certain authority have the power to undertake specific tasks therefore exercise autonomy over the tasks they are assigned to i.e. the chief internal revenue officer is in charge of revenue controls. Technical competence leas to individuals being in charge of various levels of organisation and this should be entirely based on the level of hierarchical status. Set rules govern the organisation and are responsible for making high level decisions. According to Downs (1967) at the agency individuals in charge of the organisations are competent leaders thus they make major decisions that may be bureaucratic.
The agency structure is formed in such a manner that there are functional specialties for individuals at certain levels of the organisation. Specialists are in charge of the departments that form the Treasury office and this is based on the type of work they undertake and the skills that they possess. The mission is up focused in that the role of the agency is to serve the interests of the government to help in the relaying of financial services to the citizens and the government controls the policies of the organisation. Individuals are treated equally in the organisation as the department is intended to serve public interests predominantly and queries raised from financial institutions and individuals are served expertly. The chain of command is also recognizable from the onset as a defined criteria is followed. Certain rules, standards and procedures are used in the control functions of the organisation and control how the various departments relate with each other.
The strength of the organisation based on the structure of bureaucracy is that the structure allows for controls and procedures that govern such an important department to ensure that malpractices do not occur in the treasury departments as they serve public interests first. Additionally the bureaucratic structure allows for the several departments to be in control of the various areas of the organisation. The shortfall of the structurer is that it is lengthy and considerable time is taken to complete tasks due to the several stages of bureaucracy involved. According to Carnis (2009) market hindrances may also be affected by the bureaucracy levels that may take considerable time and effort.
Decreased levels of bureaucracy in the organisation is what is required as the process is already too lengthy. The benefits associated with decreased levels of bureaucracy is that tasks will be finished faster and in a shorter period of time through reduced channels. Efficiency will also be increased with reduced bureaucracy in the organisation.
References
Carnis, L. A. (2009). The economic theory of bureaucracy: insights from the Niskanian model and the Misesian approach. Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 12(3), 57.
Downs, A., & Rand Corporation. (1967). Inside bureaucracy (p. 264). Boston: Little, Brown.
Jones, G. R. (2010). Organizational theory, design, and change. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
