The Bureaucratic Cycle: Patriarchal Contract, Myopic Self-Interest, Manipulative Tactics, and Dependency

There are four parts of bureaucratic cycle that are patriarchal contract, myopic self-interest, manipulative tactics and dependency.  The patriarchal contract means the power of authority moves from top to bottom. The second part is myopic self-interest which the person does all possible things to go up to the ladder of success. The third part is manipulative tactics which means the method used for controlling others and the last part of bureaucratic cycle is dependency which means the success is controlled by others (Block, 1991).

Bureaucratic organization model is also known as machine organization model which follows standardization process. In this model work is performed in formalized manner. There are so many routines and procedures included in bureaucratic model. Decisions are taken by top level managers. Job roles and duties are clearly defined.  The formal planning process is used. The work and procedures are analyzed regularly. It follows a vertical structure. The top level managers maintain the centralized control over organization’s operations. The goals are set previously and the people of the organization work toward the attainment of the goal. Large organizations often use bureaucratic organization model.

Like bureaucratic cycle the entrepreneurial cycle also consists of 4 parts like entrepreneurial contract which means the individual should take personal responsibility for organizational growth and the person should trust on the inner strength. The second part is enlightened self-interest which the employees work to delight the customers and they get experiences from their work. The third part of entrepreneurial cycle is authentic tactics which means all the employees work honestly and there should be open communication among them. The last but not the least part is autonomy which means all the work employees should give focus on their work responsibility. The employees should not feel afraid of their superiors. They should only focus to give their best performance in the organization (Block, 1991). Block mentioned in his book that middle level manager must act like an entrepreneur and should engage himself in service creation and contribution. The mangers should accept their responsibility to manage the organization effectively. The organization which follows entrepreneurial cycle promotes open communication environment where the organization which follows bureaucratic cycle is controlled by only few mangers who give orders to subordinates which have to be followed by them.     

An entrepreneurial model consist a simple and flat structure. It includes only one large unit that consist one or a few top level managers. The organization structure seems relatively unstructured and informal than other types of organizations. A small company which is managed by the single owner is the example of this type of organization. For entrepreneurial model a strong leader is required as a leader who can control things better than others. A large organization when faces difficult situation can transform the existing organization model into entrepreneurial model. The entrepreneurial model is lean and flexible. This is suitable model where the number of top managers is little.

The Bureaucratic Organization Model

Importance of decision making within different kinds of organizations       

Decision making usually means selecting the best among the various alternatives of decisions. As different kinds of organizations have their own policies and working methods, therefore, decisions should be made in that way only as to achieve organizational goals in a better manner (Wanjiku & Agusioma, 2014). There are basically three main types of organizational structure, functional, divisional and matrix structure. Functional structure organization has different departments within the organization divided on the basis of their functions such as IT, finance, marketing and operations. In this manner the decisions are made to put the specialists in every department (Husain, 2015). This will help to maintain the quality and uniformity of work. The supervisor of particular department will guide their employees and it will also help in improving the level of output of performance. There are various benefits of making decisions in functional organizations. One of the most important things about it is the specialization. As every single department have supervisors to guide theoretically as well as to provide practical knowledge, so the employees can gain perfection in their work (Trondal & Veggeland, 2014). The employers or supervisors can also have better control on their labors as they work under the guidance provided by them and that can be monitored on timely basis in every department. Efficiency of work can also be achieved through decision making process as the employees will have limited number of functions that have to be performed within their departments (AA & Ozdemir, 2005). Detailed information can be provided to the employees on a particular work as focus is given on specific department rather than every department collectively. The final decision in functional organization model or structure helps employees and supervisors to generate more alternatives of ideas or methods for every task. The quality of decision making can be considered higher as supervisor of any department reaches the final conclusion after discussions with all his employees handling the particular department (Armstrong & Foley, 2003).

A divisional organizational structure generally groups together those employees who are responsible for a particular type of product manufacturing or market services. When an organization expands its business activities by serving different products and services to variety of customers in different market, it comes in the category of divisional structure. The divisions are generally made on the basis of product demand that is generated by customers and market. The divisional organization structure basically focuses on the specialization within a specific division. The most important point of divisional organization structure is that the results can be easily assessed which means one can know the profit and loss easily through this structure and in this way if any division which is not providing profit or unprofitable division can be closed. Decision making criteria is an important aspect in divisional structure as every division requires important decision that improves the level of productivity (Su-chao & Lee, 2007). As every division is independent in itself, the decisions can be made quickly and independently without consulting the other divisional heads. In this manner decisions will be more effective. If an organization wants to launch any new product it can easily open new division without the disturbance of other existing divisions. This decision helps to expand business and products (Brown, 2012).

The Entrepreneurial Cycle: Entrepreneurial Contract, Enlightened Self-Interest, Authentic Tactics, and Autonomy

The combination of two or more types of organizational structure is matrix structure organization. It includes projected organization structure and functional organization structure and is the balance of these two organization structure. The effective decision in matrix organization structure helps in achieving quick market adaptation. The decisions are very helpful when an organization is dealing in a dynamic environment. In matrix organization structure the authorities flow downward and sideways (MG &Nafukho, 2006). Different types of projects that come under the same department constitute matrix organization and hence employees may report to many managers. The transfer of managers takes place for a short period of time from one section or department to another. The importance of decision making in matrix organization structure is the sharing of employees among different sections which is helpful in sharing the valuable knowledge within the organization. Decisions help to integrate the organization as employees are independent to communicate apart from their boundaries. Workers generally report to functional manager who review their work and help in guidance and correction if required. Importance in these types of organizations generally include proper utilization of resources that means the resources will be used efficiently as both the experts and tools are shared across the projects. Different products that come under different projects to be manufactured are formally coordinated which is beneficial in functional departments.

Matrix organization works both in across and upward direction that is, information also flow both in across and up through the organization. As different projects have more workers in number so it is helpful in decision making as all those workers will have more sharing and communication in their work which leads to speed in decision process. Many times staffers have to do self-management work and have to monitor their work by themselves which helps to take better decision making in future and it also increases the motivation of employees. As there are two different departments in matrix organization that are project department and functional department. The functional department is permanent whereas the project department is temporary that come to an end as soon as the project is completed. During project completion different types of workers are hired from different functional departments, which include different ideas, strategies, and other new technology based working techniques and helps in better decision making. Thus the team is made of different expert personnel drawn from different functional departments. 

People use bureaucratic option because it has several benefits which are explained in the given paragraph. Bureaucratic organization structure has a very organized and a pyramidal command structure. The employee works on the basis of orders and commands provided by their supervisors and decisions are based on an organized process (Choueke & Armstrong, 1998). The work that results in bureaucratic organization is highly efficient and is followed in formal manner. There is always presence of strict commands and proper control structure. There are many layers in this type of model through which information flows from top to down in which authority is centered. The responsibilities for job and rules to follow while completing task is clearly stated (SDN &Yanow, 1993).  There is need of applying bureaucratic model in organization when all the employees are working for a specific purpose as proper command is also very important to make the task successful.

The Entrepreneurial Organization Model

 Expectations are clear as it reaches in a flow from top to bottom so employees get a clear idea of completing task. Bureaucracy generally involves watchful eye with strong structure that means each employee is treated in the same manner and are equal in the eyes of manager and this helps them to improve both the morale and efficiency at their working environment (SW, 2000). Generally managers have to keep friendly environment so that the employees do not feel burden of work but sometimes employees take this thing lightly and start avoiding the work and play games. This results in work delay and bureaucracy here helps to work in the manner that standards are set. The other main reason to adopt bureaucratic option is making of policy and regular following the rules specified in that policy (Ortenbland, 2004).

It can also affect productivity as commands and orders make employees to work in proper discipline and achieve the level of output by managing time. One more reason to adopt bureaucratic option is the division of work. The work will be divided according to the specialization of employees in their particular area or field and each superior will have control over its subordinates (DB, 2003). When any new employee joins an organization he gets training so that he can be familiarize with the rules, policies and the type of task he has to perform at his working environment. The decisions are always recorded in the form of draft so that when actual performance is get measured the managers can have the record for the same. The superiors generally follow impersonal relations with their employees and are always formal in the working environment so that there is a form of discipline (Ahmad, 2012). Structure form is followed in bureaucratic organization which means it forms the outline or frame of work that has to be done in organization. The benefit of specialization can also be achieved in these types of organizations as work is assigned to employees according to their specialization (Wiley, 2017).

The organization decision making can change the culture within the organization. When the objectives are clearly identified and defined decisions will be considered effective and will be helpful to change the culture within an organization. To access options in better manner it is very important to gather more and more information so that decision can be proved more effective (Ahmed & Omotunde, 2012). When supervisor inspects the reason for lower productivity or output he gains much information and on the basis of that, different alternative are set and the best course of decision or action is chosen to completely change the culture within the organization. Generally it is said that an organizational structure is composed of different cultures and peoples work for achieving same goals or task, therefore, it is the duty of the leader to make them understand that if they will work together in a team or group by keeping their cultures aside they can better reach the success results (Krantz& Kunreuther, 2007). Without making decisions it is impossible to set target standards and to achieve them. When different courses of actions are set, the manager should reflect the benefit or each outcome that he is going to achieve and tries to implement them in business so that it is acceptable. Previous experience can also help the manager to take better decision making as the results are set on statistical scales and budgets are prepared and on the basis of that and finally deficiency is also recognized and decisions are made to improve those results and to better work on present tasks (Winter, 1992). Employees are considered as the members of an organization and if their suggestions, ideas, views are welcomed then the employees get confidence for their work and work with great enthusiasm (Steiger, Hammou & Galib, 2014).

Importance of Decision Making within Different Kinds of Organizations

It is not important that every decision that a manager takes will always be right but he has to take the decisions according to the situations that can be handled without any failure risk (Elsaid et al., 2013).The employees will be able to achieve growth opportunities to learn new skills, implement their skills at different levels of activities which can be beneficial for both the employee and the organization. The manager therefore is able to identify the problems or issues that the employees are facing at their work place and he discuss the same with all employees so that it can be resolved quickly in appropriate manner (Awa, 2016). Decisions can be either short term or long term based on type of business operations. The short term decisions are usually considered to be completed as soon as the employees take action on their task where as long term based organization’s decisions have lengthy process that might take some time to achieve results (Tran & Tian, 2013). The importance of decision making is also helpful to get feedback as a part of business activity as when decisions are made, the employees give their views in front of their superiors which help them to boost their morale and if ideas are included in decisions the decisions can become very effective. Once the particular decision is accepted then the process of follow up is made and regular evaluation and monitoring is done to check the work in accordance with set standards or to verify the decisions (Lunenburg, 2012).

Decision making also helps in considering those factors that influence success or accomplishment of goals and managers tries to resolve problem areas and for that introducing change in the organization is very important.  Creative analysis, assessment and past experience can improve the effectiveness and can make better growth among the employees. Autocratic decision making on the other hand helps to improve the working methods and techniques of work place. Due to change in technology and increased competition in the market, all types of industries are trying to serve the society in the best manner so that only one can enjoy the monopoly in the market. Threat of new entrants can only be stopped when decisions are taken after considering the positive and negative impact of decisions on the organization and for that purpose teamwork is the most important aspect. Proper leadership is essential as the leader can only guide when the employees face problem related to their work and he is the one motivational person who can influence individuals or group members to achieve goals by providing them a proper path. Proper organization decision making helps to deal with dynamic environment and the employees’ face the problem with confidence that arises in front of them. By choosing creative and effective solution to the problem, the employer inspires his employees to make that action happen despite of fearing from challenges. At present, many organizations are facing the problems of low performance of the organization because it is necessary that leaders should know how to manage everything because only an effective leader can provide right direction to the employees by which organizational objectives can be met (Ashworth et al., 2009).

Conclusion & Recommendation

Both the workers and leaders should know their responsibilities and duties and must be influenced by their policies and work together for organizational decisions. If complexity or any other factor occurs as challenge, then it shows that there is need for modification in the existing policy. Some recent researches also show that better decision making can play a central role in increasing the growth of the organization. Block has five bureaucratic and entrepreneurial organizational models which are very effective to manage the organization. Apart from this effective communication also helps workers to feel good and by this healthy environment and openness in relationship in workplace is maintained.

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