Bureaucracy is Bad! Or is it?

What do you think about when you think about the word, “bureaucracy?” If you’re like most people, it’s probably not something positive. Truth be told, there is plenty about bureaucracy that’s not great. But might bureaucracy have some redeeming qualities? In this episode, we discuss:

- What is bureaucracy and why does it have a negative connotation?

- What might “good bureaucracy” look like

- Implications for people, leaders, and organizations

Links and Other Information

- Thompson, V. A. (1965). Bureaucracy and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1-20. click here

- Sager, F., & Rosser, C. (2009). Weber, Wilson, and Hegel: Theories of modern bureaucracy. Public Administration Review, 69(6), 1136-1147. click here

- Olsen, J. P. (2006). Maybe it is time to rediscover bureaucracy. Journal of Public Administration research and theory, 16(1), 1-24. click here

- Grey, C., & Garsten, C. (2001). Trust, control and post-bureaucracy. Organization Studies, 22(2), 229-250. click here

- Eisenstadt, S. N. (1959). Bureaucracy, bureaucratization, and debureaucratization. Administrative Science Quarterly, 302-320. click here

- Downs, A. (1965). A theory of bureaucracy. The American Economic Review, 55(1/2), 439-446. click here 

- Andrews, R., Boyne, G., & Mostafa, A. M. S. (2017). When bureaucracy matters for organizational performance: Exploring the benefits of administrative intensity in big and complex organizations. Public Administration, 95(1), 115-139. click here 

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