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ROLE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL

2.1 Parliamentary Control and Public Accountability


Accountability of elected officials and the public servants that implement
their policies is a cornerstone of democratic government. In Pakistan, the
government is formed of elected representatives of the people, and is
required by the Constitution to seek a fresh mandate every five years.
To ensure the administrative machinery of the government performs its
functions in accordance with the aspirations of the people, the National
Assembly (lower house of the Parliament) and the four Provincial Assemblies
constitute Standing Committees on Public Accounts (PACs). The PACs are
mandated to oversee the implementation of government policies and
programmes.
The Government departments and agencies are held accountable for any
major departure from the approved budget and for significant violations of
rules and regulations. The Auditor-General of Pakistan reviews the financial
statements submitted by each Government department and agency and
reports findings to the President and Provincial Governors who submit them
to the National and Provincial Assemblies respectively. The legislatures
assign these reports to the PACs for detailed scrutiny. Each PAC holds
hearings at which secretaries of the ministry, divisions and departments
submit their responses to the Auditor-Generals observations. Based on this
testimony, each PAC then makes its recommendations to the National
Assembly. This process ensures that departments and agencies are
accountable to government for implementation of policies in accordance with
regulations.
2.2 Introduction to Auditing
Auditing is the process by which the Auditor-General of Pakistan (or such
officer of the department as may be authorised in this regard by general or
special order) evaluates the financial statements that have been submitted
for audit by the ministries, departments and agencies, against the
governments accounting and financial administration policies to enable
them to prepare a report or state an opinion on the financial statements.
Section 3.4 of DAGPs Auditing Standards requires that a financial audit will
include a test of compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
To ensure that an audit has value, it should be conducted in accordance with
generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). These standards have
developed over many generations of auditors around the world to provide
the basis for ensuring complete, accurate, honest and transparent reporting
of financial operations.

2.3 Legislative Basis


The authority under which the Auditor-General of Pakistan conducts audits is
given by Article 169 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In
addition, Articles 168 to 171 also relate to the work of the Auditor-General.
Until 1 July 2001, most of DAGPs audit work was performed under Articles
168 to 171 of the Constitution, and the Pakistan (Audit and Accounts) Order,
1973. Audit Manual Chapter 2 2-2

Effective 1 July 2001, the Pakistan (Audit and Accounts) Order, 1973 was
replaced by the following two ordinances:
Auditor-Generals (Functions, Powers and Terms and Conditions of
Service) Ordinance, 2001 (Auditor-General Ordinance); and
Controller General of Accounts (Appointment, Functions and Powers)
Ordinance, 2001 (Controller General Ordinance).
Among other things, these ordinances elaborate on the functions, powers
and responsibilities of the Auditor-General of Pakistan in line with the
provisions of Article 169 of the Constitution.
Section 7 of the Auditor-Generals (Functions, Powers and Terms and
Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2001 (Auditor-General Ordinance) states
that The Auditor-General shall, on the basis of such audit as he may
consider appropriate and necessary, certify the accounts of the
Federation, of each Province and of each district. A financial attestation
audit leads to the certifications called for in Section 7 of the Auditor-General
Ordinance.
In addition, Section 8 of the Auditor-General Ordinance mandates an audit of
expenditures of the Federation and of each province and Section 12 of the
Auditor-General Ordinance mandates an audit of the receipts of the Federal
Government and of each Province and each district.
2.4 Vision, Mission and Values
DAGP has developed a set of guiding principles for the exercise of its
mandate. These principles the Vision, Mission and Values - are as follows:
The Vision of DAGP is to add value to public resources.
The Mission of DAGP is to develop our auditing and accounting capabilities to
establish ourselves as a credible professional institution that promotes good
governance and public accountability.
The Values held by DAGP are:
Accountability. DAGP holds itself accountable for the achievement of its
vision, mission, and these stated values.
Professionalism. DAGP conducts all of its activities in an open, transparent,
disciplined and highly ethical manner that is worthy of professional respect
and trust.
Integrity. DAGP takes an objective, fair, honest and balanced approach to all
of its activities.
Excellence. DAGP strives for excellence in all of its activities.
Reliability. DAGP produces high quality products that are timely, accurate,
useful, clear and candid. Audit Manual Chapter 2 2-3

Cooperative and constructive spirit. DAGP works with parliamentarians and


with its audit entities, staff, suppliers, consultants and other parties with
whom it deals in a professional, cooperative and constructive manner.
Innovative spirit. DAGP constantly looks for ways to improve its audit
practices, operations and other activities.
Making a difference. DAGP constantly looks for ways to improve the
operations of the entities that it audits.
Risk managers. DAGP managers and staff are encouraged to accept
challenges, and to take and manage the risks required for DAGP to achieve
its vision, mission and stated values.
Open communications. DAGP maintains open and timely communications
with parliamentarians and with its audit entities, staff, suppliers, consultants
and other parties with whom it deals.
A respectful workplace. DAGP provides a workplace in which a diverse
workforce can strive for excellence and professional competence, and where
individuals can realise their full career potential.

Obsticles in the
Accountability

way

of

Administrative

The review of Accountability


3.1 Many governments in the past have
attempted accountability drive in some form but these could never materialize into
potent efforts effecting the spread of corruption in the society. Main causes of
failure are explained below.

Lack of Political Will


3.2 Implementation of a fair and just accountability lacked
in the priorities of successive Governments. The democratically elected
governments used accountability either as a tool of political victimization or were
not strong enough to implement true accountability. Frustrated with slow and
misguided accountability, the public demand has gained momentum in the last
decade.

Weakness of Accountability System


3.3 1Even the existing ineffective laws

and procedures for checking corruption by bureaucrats and politicians were not
correctly implemented. Most of the anti-corruption agencies were controlled by
the executive, and their independence and neutrality was questionable. In recent
years corruption has taken progressively more complex forms like money
laundering, off-shore accounts/trusts and shell companies. Pakistan anticorruption
agencies lacked professional expertise to detect and investigate such
white-collar crime.

Incompatible Legal and Judicial System


3.4 Legal institutions in Pakistan
are understaffed and lack trained administrators, modern management systems,
and technology. Instead of serving as a facilitator of legitimate economic
transactions, the legal system is widely perceived to be an obstacle to economic
efficiency. For example, suits for recovery of money can take over 15 years, while
transactions in land are vulnerable to legal challenge due to the lack of a sound
system of land registration.

The current Efforts


4.1 Accountability Drive
Structure
National Accountability Bureau has been established at Islamabad
while the bureaus regional offices are spread over each province. The Bureau is
provided with sufficient means of collecting information, conducting investigations
and prosecuting the cases. The cases are filed in designated accountability
courts equal to the status of High Courts working under the Chief Justice of
Pakistan.
Objective and PrincipleThe
present accountability drive aims at deterring
corruption in the country by prosecuting high profile cases of corruption in every
segment of the society. A serious attempt is being made to curtail the corruption
of private sector, government organizations and politicians. While striving to
achieve the objective NAB is constantly guided by National Priority of Economic
Revival, not crossing the pain threshold of society and untainted judicial process.

Legal Framework high lights


An Ordinance was promulgated to set up
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) so as to eradicate corruption and corrupt
practices and hold accountable all those persons accused of such practices.
_ The law comprehensively covers the spectrum of corruption and corrupt
practices, including aspects of money laundering.
_ The willful default of banks and government dues has been included as a
criminal act under this Ordinance.
_ The responsibility for investigation rests with Accountability Bureau
whereas judicial function and the judicial process is fully controlled by the
independent judiciary.
_ The accused is entitled to appellate rights up to the higher appellate forum
i.e. Supreme Court.
Will of the Government
For the first time in the history of Pakistan, an
accountability drive has been instituted which is unbiased, transparent and
proceeding without exceptions. Cases in the present accountability courts include
those of ex-prime ministers, ex-chief ministers, senior bureaucrats, armed forces
personnels etc.

Public Administration, Nature


Administration in Pakistan.

Scope

Challenge

to

Public

Analysis of Existing System


4.1.1. Political System/Leadership. Parliamentary system in Pakistan
suffers from variety of
problems. These problems start from electoral process and aggravate further
in the policymaking. In Pakistan
parliament is often perceived to be nothing more than collection of those
people who bought their way to the
power. This kind of electoral system has resulted into an absence of national
leadership. Legislation is always
regarded as secondary job. Prime minister and his cabinet hardly attend
parliamentary proceedings. Opposition
parties prefer to embarrass the government by concentrating on scandals
rather than on substantive issues.

4.1.2. Parameters of a Leader. Money is the only criteria for becoming a


political leader in Pakistan. It is a
biggest drawback of the political system. In the past almost one third of
Pakistani cabinet have been mainly
occupied by the feudal and about one fifth by rich businessmen. Data in
Table-1 presents a clear picture.
Percentage of feudal and businessmen in Pakistan cabinet1over the years is
shown in Table I.
4.1.3. Political Power Struggle. Amongst the existing realities of the
political environment of Pakistan, the
most important to note is sharing of political power by feudal, bureaucratic
and other elite groups. It is evident
that from last 60 years, bureaucrats, as well as feudalist, have grown,
expanded and consolidated their
dimensions and power far more than the political institutions where growth
has remained weak, underdeveloped
and stunted.
4.1.4. Political Parties. Political parties are the most vital political
institutions, which if collectively focus on
the path of national prosperity can pay rich dividends. Coupled with poor
leadership criteria, as mentioned
1 Iftikhar H Malik (1997).State and Civil Society in Pakistan, P.67.London:
Oxford press.
Public Sector
Institutions
Good Governance
(Efficiency/Effectiveness)
Leadership
(National Level)
Judicial System
(State level)
Organizational
Structure/
Culture
Civil Service
earlier; poor organization of the political parties compounds the problems
which hinder the free function of the
political system. Pakistani political parties are mostly dominated by only a
couple of families and party

portfolios are given on the basis of nepotism. This results in election of incompetent individuals to very
responsible national offices. It is not the merit but the party loyalty that
makes some one suitable for a given
portfolio.
4.1.5. General Elections. There cannot be a disagreement on the fact that
the same politicians with few
exceptions come into power number of times who do influence public sector
institutions as per their vested
interests. Therefore, holding of such elections without required electoral
reforms is meaningless. Had it been
done objectively it would have helped in eliminating corruption from public
sector institutions.
4.1.6. Effective Opposition. In a democratic system of government, the
opposition has highly
important constitutional role. It acts, as a good system of check and balance
and the government, cannot do
things at will. Unfortunately dilemma with Pakistani system is that opposition
is only for the sake of opposition.
During entire stay in assembly, opposition maneuvers to oust the ruling
party from power. They dont take part
in any healthy discussion. This results into stagnant legislation thereby
directly affecting public institutions.
4.1.7. Public Money. Since various development programs like Peoples
Works, Banizer Income
Support and Tameer-e-Watan Programs are executed through elected
representatives, a large portion of the
public money allotted for these programs is hardly expended judicially for
the specified purpose by these public
servants. As such, no independent audit of these programmes have ever
been disclosed if conducted at all.
4.1.8. Lack of Education. As the people are not well educated, they have a
lack of vigilant opinion
thus, lacking in understanding the hidden motives of political leaders,
political parties. Leaders have used the
masses as an instrument to fulfill their requirements. Besides, our leaders
are not well educated due to which
they lack vision. Over all in the South Asia, education level of
parliamentarians is very low. Pakistan also falls

into
same
category.
Educational
qualification
of
South
Asias
parliamentarians is shown at Table - II.
4.1.9. Absence of Accountability. Hardly any independent system of
accountability exists in Pakistan.
Those who can usurp the national assets, do it without any fear of
punishment. Mostly the government office
bearers and their allies eat up huge loans extended by banks and nobody
has been taken to task. Previous few
governments although took a modest start but results were not very
promising.
4.1.10. No Legislative Functions. Assemblies hardly meet in sessions for
legislation or discussion on
national maters. This state of affair is detrimental to institutional growth due
to non-initiation of required
remedial measures for improvements in public sector institutions.
4.2.1. Judicial System. The legal frameworks that is not biased and
implementable on all living in a state and
independent judicial system helps in the building up a society where
everyone in that system would consider
him/herself being safe. In the past many examples have been seen when the
decisions by the courts were
manipulated through pressures by the government. Appointments of judges
were made at the whim and will of
executive and not based on criteria or eligibility. Another deficiency of judicial
system is the lack of effective
access to justice for large sections of population. Judiciary in any state
cannot be efficient unless it is
independent. The basic principles on the independence of judiciary endorsed
by the United Nations include;
The constitution and law should provide an independent judiciary that has
jurisdiction over all issues of a
judicial nature, can decide such matters without any restriction, improper
influences, inducements, pressures,
threats or interference from any quarter. No discretion can be allowed in
selection, appointment, transfer and
promotion of judges. No judge shall accept judicial office on the basis of an
appointment or election or perform
services that are inconsistent with basic principles1. When Pakistans
judicial system is examined in relation to
these basic principles, many causes for concern become apparent.

4.2.2. Politicization of Justice. Military and civilian governments in


Pakistan have, over the last 62 years,
been accused of interfering with the judiciary and of appointing judges who
are sympathetic towards their
political aims. Under successive Pakistani constitutions the judiciary is
supposed to be independent, but in
practice that has seldom been the case. Soon after acceptance of
constitution Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto made 7
amendments in it, between 1974 and 1977, which undermined the
independence of judiciary. In 1981, General
Zia was able to orchestrate the dismissal of the Chief Justice, Anwar-ul-Haq2,
by not inviting him to an oath
1 A Rehman (1996, January).Justice at Stake. Newsline, P.28.
2 Zahid Hussain.(1996). Judicial Power. Newsline, P.19.
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taking ceremony in which various judges pledged their allegiance to his
government. Over the years various
governments have attacked the credibility of courts by manipulating
constitutional provisions regarding
appointment, tenure, transfer and promotion of judges. These interferences
have affected overall performance of
our judiciary. Mauro survey in 1995 has rated Pakistan judiciary at the lowest.
Efficiency in the order of
performance1 is shown in Table III.
4.2.3. Lack of Judges. Although countrys population alongwith public
institutions have increased at a rapid
pace in past years, this has not been matched by commensurate capacity
building of judicial system to deal with
this rising demand. According to one survey of 1996, there is one judge for
85038 personnel in Pakistan2.
4.2.4. Complex Political System. 1973 constitution amply covers the
fundamental rights of citizens3.
However, practically when we observe in the masses we find that judicial
system is kept so complex that
ordinary lawyers sitting outside city courts dictates his terms to the poor
citizen. Citizens are left with two

options, either follow a normal procedure and then wait for years till he get a
final verdict of court or pay a heavy
fee to a lawyer and get his job done in much lesser time. Same is the case
with public institutions. If at all any
case of mal-practice is challenged in the courts, it takes years for necessary
decision against the defaulter.
4.2.5. Substandard Law Education. Lawyers form the prestigious group in
any country.
Unfortunately in Pakistan the one who is rejected from all other institutions
ends up in Law College. This results
into un-professional and low quality of lawyers and judges. Public Institutions
also hire lawyer from same
faculty. This substandard education is the major cause of malpractice in
judiciary system.
4.3.1. Civil Service. All successive regimes of Pakistan covertly or overtly
politicized the bureaucracy in
varying degrees for advancing their partisan agenda. They have often
applied the carrot and stick policy to coax
the arms of useful sections of public officials. The institution of civil service
implements government policies
and oversees administrative functions of the state, lending stability to
otherwise unstable political systems. To
ordinary citizen, civil service most tangibly embodies the government. It is
this institution they must approach on
daily basis for access to public services, the payment of services and
disbursement of development funds. As
such, the institution wields immense power and controls the destinies of
millions. The civil service in Pakistan
has been neither very efficient nor effective in discharging its prime function
of serving people. If we trace back
the performance graph of this institution we find many reasons for its
gradual decline. Some of them are
discussed in subsequent paragraphs. Bureaucratic efficiency in the order of
performance4 is shown at Table IV.
4.3.2. Politicization of Civil Service. As civil service implements
government decisions, it had
to face intense political interference in the form of both coercion and
patronage. As stated earlier India act of
1935 provided security to civil servants which was maintained in first two
constitutions of Pakistan as well.

However, this provision was neglected in 1973 constitution5. Direct political


involvement in Pakistan first time
appeared when President Ayub in 1959 dismissed 1300 civil servants by a
single order. General Yahya and
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto repeated same act when they dismissed 303 and 1400
personnel respectively. This
involvement of government has curbed the independence of this elite
institution. Politicians have used various
method to ensure loyalty, including the demotion of officers; political
appointments to civilians posts; provincial
quotas; lateral entry; adhoc transfers, promotions and demotions; and the
constant bureaucratic shuffle that
accompany political change. Under such circumstances, the civil service has
lost its traditional neutrality and has
been gradually eroded and demoralized. This interference is not one sided. If
we see other side of picture,
bureaucrats also exert powerful influence on politicians at all level of
governance. This is due to lack of
sufficient maturity of political institutions, parties and legislators.
4.3.3. Ill Defined Roles. Roles of civil service in Pakistan are not well
defined. It must be clearly
under stood that role of civil service is to implement government policies and
not to make policies themselves.
The institution doesnt restricts itself to main functions of maintaining law
and order, providing a regulatory
framework for economic activities and promoting human development by
improving the quality and quantity of
basic social services. Due to unnecessary interference of bureaucrats in
political decisions they have forgotten
their original function of serving the masses. It has resulted into poor
governance.
1 Khadija Haq, P.65
2 Khadija Haq, P.66.
3 Sahibzada Masud-ul-Hassan Khan The Constitution of Pakistan ,
(Lahore:Emporium, 1995) P.33-49
4 Khadija Haq, P.62
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Vol.4, No.9, 2014
64

4.3.4. The Quota System and Bureaucracy. The distribution of positions


in the civil service on the
basis of regional quotas was due to growing consciousness of regional and
ethnic pluralism in the in society,
together with variations in term of economic and political development. The
quota system was introduced
initially for 5 years and despite various recommendations it still continues
and is still controversial; especially in
urban areas like Karachi and Lahore. Quota system is vulnerable to
corruption, manipulation and reverse
discrimination. Although it ensures trans-regional representation but,
compromises on the quality. Quota
distribution (percent) of Pakistans Bureaucracy1 for various regions in
Pakistan is shown in Table V.
4.3.5. Concentration of Powers. Presently power is centralized. All
decisions whether related to law
and order or flow of revenue or development programs are taken at the whim
and will of bureaucrats. The
strategic position of civil servants and comparatively weakness of ministers
have been the main reason for
concentration of power. Due to professional weakness of ministers and extra
pressure of work, they have to
heavily rely on the advice of senior civil servants, and particularly on their
own secretary. The ministers role is
largely confined to choosing between alternative presented to him, unless he
is exceptionally astute or has
outside advisers. Unless this is the case he is not likely to be aware of
alternatives, which have been rejected
during the policy analysis stage .Pakistani minister have to rely on civil
servants mainly for two reasons: Firstly
he is the only source of advise for him and secondly civil servant is always in
a best position to carry out inter
departmental negotiations and liaison with treasury which may be necessary
for the implementation of policy.
Under such circumstances it has been seen that whosoever comes in a
power as minister, real power lies with the
office of the minister.
4.4.1. The Structure of Organization. The structure of an organization is
considered as an important

variable which affects the efficiency and performance of the institutions. John
M. Ivancevich et., al (1996:254)
in their book Management: Quality and Competitiveness contend that to
organize or structure is the course of
structuring human and physical resources for the purpose of achieving
organizational objectives. It includes
dividing tasks into jobs, specifying the appropriate department for each job,
determining the best possible
number of jobs in each department, and delegating authority within and
among departments. One of the most
critical challenges facing lodging managers today is the development of a
responsive organizational structure
that is committed to quality.
4.4.2. Organizational Culture/Participative Corruption in Public
Sector. Corruption is one of
the malaises of public sector affecting their efficiency and performance. The
institutionalized corruption is
characterized by providing protection and immunity by a government
organization to its own corrupt officials;
while, participative corruption involves collusion between the bureaucracy
and the private sector. Participative
corruption is particularly prevalent in Pakistans tax administration, where
the complexity of taxation laws,
excessive taxation rates, lack of proper documentation in the private sector
and widespread tax evasion make the
income tax and customs and excise departments among the most corrupt in
the country (Reforming Pakistans
Civil Service, Asia Report No. 185, 16 February 2010:). Surprisingly,
people/employees involved in corruption
and money laundering/wrong doing with public money are indentified but
evade punishment as a result of
inefficient political and judicial system.According to the World Economic
Forum's Global Competitiveness
Report (2007-08) corruption has been identified as the third greatest
problem for companies doing business in
Pakistan,
after
government
bureaucracy
and
poor
infrastructure(http://www.gcr.weforum.org/). Approximately
40 percent of companies in Pakistan feel that corruption is one of their major
concerns. Transparency

International (TI)s Global Corruption Barometer 2007 shows Pakistan to be


one of the countries most affected
by petty bribery. More than 44 percent of respondents reported that they
have paid a bribe to obtain a service.
Half of all those surveyed (52 percent) perceive government efforts to reform
corruption as ineffective and
nearly two-thirds (59 percent) think that corruption is likely to increase within
the next three years
(http://transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/gcb/2007). Despite
of all these problems government is
not willing to reform the public sector and practice good governance
principles in their organizations

Weberian bureaucracy was a term coined by Max Weber, a notable German sociologist, political
economist, and administrative scholar, who contributed to the study of bureaucracy,
administrative discourses, and literature during the mid-1800s and early 1900s . In his 1922
masterpiece, Economy and Society, Weber described many ideal types of public administration
and governance. His critical study of the bureaucratization of society was one of the most
enduring parts of this work. It was Weber who began the study of bureaucracy and whose works
led to the popularization of this term. Many aspects of modern public administration date back to
him. This is epitomized in the fact that a classic, hierarchically-organized civil service is still
called a "Weberian civil service. "

Max Weber
Max Weber and Wilhelm Dilthey introduced verstehenunderstanding behaviorsas goal of
sociology.

Weber listed the following as preconditions for the emergence of bureaucracy: the growth in size
and density of the population being administered, the growth in complexity of the administrative
tasks being carried out, and the existence of a monetary economy requiring a more efficient
administrative system. As a result of the development of communication and transportation
technologies, like telegraphs and automobiles, a more efficient administration became not only
possible but demanded by the public. Accompanying this shift was an increasing democratization

and rationalization of culture. This resulted in public demands for a new administrative system
that treated all humans equally. Weber's ideal bureaucracy is characterized by the following:

hierarchical organization

delineated lines of authority with fixed areas of activity

action taken on the basis of, and recorded in, written rules

bureaucratic officials with expert training

rules implemented by neutral officials

and career advancement depending on technical qualifications judged by organization,


not individuals

Rational-Legal Authority
Weber identified in bureaucracies a rational-legal authority in which legitimacy is seen as
coming from a legal order. The majority of modern bureaucratic officials and political leaders
represent this type of authority. However, while recognizing bureaucracy as the most efficient
form of organization, and perhaps indispensable for the modern state, Weber also saw it as a
threat to individual freedoms. For Weber, the implementation of bureaucracies in government
was a kind of rationalization, in which traditional motivators for behavior were cast aside.
Instead of utilizing traditions, emotions, or values to motivate behavior, in a bureaucracy, people
used rational calculation. Regarding Western societies, Weber called this increasing
rationalization an "iron cage" that trapped individuals in systems based solely on efficiency,
rational calculation, and control. In his theory, the "iron cage" is the one set of rules and laws that
we are all subjected to. According to Weber, the shift from old forms of mobility, like kinship, to
new forms, like strict, legal rules, was a direct result of the growth of bureaucracy and
capitalism.

Source: Boundless. Weber's Model for Bureaucracy. Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 08 Aug.
2016. Retrieved 08 Nov. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundlesssociology-textbook/social-groups-and-organization-6/bureaucracy-56/weber-s-model-forbureaucracy-352-10202/

S TAT E A ND E CO NO M Y I N M O D E R N S O C I E T Y

WEBERS THEORY OF BUREAUCRACY AND MODERN SOCIETY

How dominant have bureaucracies become in modern societies? Is Webers classical model still an accurate
description of the main structural properties and dynamics of bureaucracy? What criticisms have been advanced by
commentators like Luhmann and Blau?

Bureaucracies have become particularly pervasive in modern societies, and thus justifiably have attracted
a significant degree of thought concerning their existence.

This essay considers some of the

characteristics Weber attributed to bureaucratic organisation and growth in modern society, critically
contrasting it with some thoughts of more recent theorists such as Luhmann, Blau and Parkin. In
particular, I examine the consequences of Webers ideal type methodology, suggesting it provides a
significant limitation in the application of his theory.

WEBERS CLASSICAL THEORY OF BUREAUCRACY

The classical theory of bureaucracy, derived from Webers work, assumes the structure of a bureaucracy is
essentially organised in a rational and efficient manner, and that it is especially designed for the carrying
out of particular ends with given means that can be specified and known. Though the ends may differ
over time and the availability of means may change, organisation should be sufficiently flexible to take
these into account.

Weber saw bureaucracy as facilitating the institutionalisation of technical rationality by the co-ordination
of large-scale public and private organisations through the specialisation of tasks, deployment of
expertise, and a hierarchy of authority.1

1Gamble, A., 1989, An Introduction to Modern Social and Political Thought, 254.

Weber identified the need for bureaucracy arising out of the division of labour and increasing
specialisation that separated the roles of individual producers, being the basis for the huge increase in
social productivity which many modern achievements are based upon. Weber argued that bureaucracy
was the organisational principle of modern life, and was just one way of organising modern life, not the
only way, whilst recognising the further advance of bureaucratic mechanisation was inevitable in modern
society.2

Significantly, Weber also believed this applied to socialist and capitalist societies alike, incorporating the
enterprises within them; political, religious and military which in turn were increasingly bureaucratic. 3
To understand how the classical theory of bureaucracy sits within his general thoughts, it is necessary to
consider Webers theory of legitimate domination.

The phenomena of specialisation of occupational function is central to Webers sociology of modern


capitalism, being by no means limited to the economic sphere. 4 Separation of the labourer from control of
her means of production, seized by Marx as the most distinctive feature of modern capitalism is not seen
by Weber as being confined to industry, rather extending throughout the polity, army and other sectors of
society having prominent large scale organisations.5

LEGITIMATE DOMINATION: THE FOUNDATION OF BUREAUCRACY

Weber formed a distinction between traditional, charismatic and legal-rational types of legitimate
domination to explain why people believe they are obliged to obey the law. Traditional legal domination
is where legitimacy is claimed on the basis of belief in the sanctity of age-old rules and powers.

2Weber, M., 1968, Economy and Society, Vol. 3, 999.


3Gamble, A., 1989, Op cit., 164.
4Giddens, A, 1981, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis of the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber,
158.

5Giddens, A, 1981, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis of the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber,
158.

Charismatic legal domination is based on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary
character of an individual person, whilst legal-rational domination is founded on a belief in the legality of
enacted rules and the right of those elevated to authority under such rules to issue commands. Within
the legal rational type, which best describes modern society, the commonest form of its expression is
found in bureaucracy.

Though the notion of legal-rational authority is bound up with Webers theory of value, which argues
that the sociologist must adopt a detached view of his subject, the important correlation is between this
form of domination and the modern bureaucratic State. Weber points out that under other forms of
domination, authority resides with people, whilst under bureaucracy it is vested in rules.

Weber saw the hallmark of legal-rational authority as its so-called impartiality 6, though this depends on
what Weber calls the principle of formalistic impersonality which requires that officials discharge their
responsibilities without hatred or passion, and hence without affection or enthusiasm. The dominant
norms are thus concepts of straightforward duty without regard to personal considerations. 7

Weber argues that whilst the legitimacy of the traditional and charismatic forms of legal domination
depends on specific relationships between ruler and subject, the source of legitimacy of legal-rational
domination is impersonal. Obedience therefore becomes owed to the legal order, rather than to an
individual or social group. This might be set out as follows8;

DOMINATION

Traditional

Charismatic

Legal-rational

LEGITIMATION

Traditional

Charismatic

Legal-rational

Formal irrationality

Formal irrationality

Logical formal

Substantive irrationality

Substantive irrationality

LEGAL THOUGHT

6Wacks, 1990, Jurisprudence, 146.


7Weber, M., 1968, Economy and Society, 225.
8Wacks, 1990, Op cit., 148.

rationality

JUSTICE

Secular or theocratic empirical

Charismatic

Rational

Empirical and/or substantive


JUDICIAL PROCESS

and/or personal (Khadi justice)

OBEDIENCE

Rational
Owed to legal order
Bureaucratic

ADMINISTRATION

professional

Weber makes a variety of claims in support of his theory of legitimate domination. Webers political
domination draws its legitimacy from the existence of a system of rationally made laws that stipulate the
circumstances under which power may be exercised. Weber sees this form of legitimacy as the central
core of all stable modern societies, with legal rational rules determining the scope of its power and
providing its legitimacy.

FEATURES OF WEBERS IDEAL TYPE BUREAUCRACY

For Weber, an organisation with a bureaucratic nature is an extension of the will of the commanding
power, with the legitimacy of the system resting ultimately upon the extent to which it is accepted.
Webers notion of bureaucracy, perhaps the most influential of his theories, is prefaced upon his ideal
type.9 As I will discuss later, Webers tendency to abstract and accentuate selected interrelated aspects of
a social phenomenon, rather than aiming at a full description of it, has brought criticism to his theory, and
has limited its usefulness in describing more modern large scale bureaucratic phenomena. 10

In elucidating his classical model of bureaucracy, Weber identified six specific criteria. These are, firstly,
that the spheres of competence of the officials are clearly demarcated. This means that the regular
activities required for the purposes of the bureaucratically governed structure are distributed in a fixed
manner as official duties, which incorporates the authority to give commands is distributed in a stable
way and is strictly delimited by rules concerning the coercive means, physical, sacerdotal, or otherwise

9Parkin, F., 1982, Max Weber, 34.


10Wrong, D., Max Weber, 133.

that may be placed at the disposal of officials and that administrative activities are carried out on a
regular basis, constituting well defined official duties. 11 Weber explains this by saying, There is a
principle of fixed and official jurisdictional areas which are generally ordered by rules, that is by laws or
administrative regulations.12

Secondly, he notes that officials gain their positions through appointment, saying, The principles of office
hierarchy and of levels of graded authority mean a firmly ordered system if super- and subordination in
which there is a supervision of the lower offices by the higher ones. 13

Thirdly that, The management of the modern office is based upon written documents (the files) which
are preserved in their original or draught form. 14;

Fourthly, that office management, at least all

specialised office management and such management is distinctly modern - usually presupposes
thorough and expert training. 15;

Fifthly that, When the office is fully developed, official activity

demands the full working capacity of the official, irrespective of the fact that his obligatory time in the
bureau may be firmly delimited 16, and finally that, The management of the office follows general rules,
which are more or less stable, more or less exhaustive, and which can be learned.17

11Giddens, A, 1981, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis of the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber,
158.

12Weber, M., Bureaucracy and Law in Gerth, H., and Wright Mills, C., 1991, From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology,
196.

13Weber, M., 1991, Op cit., 197.


14Ibid.
15Id., 198.
16Ibid.
17Ibid.

Expanding upon the role of officials, Weber suggests they are recruited and promoted mainly on merit,
being unable to formally trade their position. Rather than being independent property owners in their
capacity as officials, people regard their work as a career in which they can expect to progress. As a
consequence, they tend to develop an ethic of service, duty and altruism, rather than being motivated
primarily by financial gain or self interest, thus sharing the orientation to work the capitalist entrepreneur
which Weber had admired.18

Weber writes, The actual social position of the official is normally highest where, as in old civilised
countries, their is a strong demand for administration by trained experts, and a strong and stable social
differentiation or where the costliness of the required training and status conventions are binding upon
him.19 Weber acknowledges that some institutions are only semi-bureaucratic, being aware that the ideal
type wont always be available in pure form. Giddens believes it is only within modern capitalism that
organisations approximating Webers ideal type are found, the notable examples of ancient Egypt, China,
the Roman principate and the medieval Catholic church being exceptions. 20

SOME THOUGHTS ON WEBERS SCHEMA OF LEGAL-RATIONAL DOMINATION

Weber says, In a modern state the actual ruler is necessarily and unavoidably the bureaucracy 21 The
bureaucracy distinguishes itself from the other forms of domination described by Weber, in that authority
is vested in rules, not individuals.

Weber believes that the Middle Ages tradition of office holding being a source of exploitation has
changed, and in compensation for the nature of their employment, he says,

18Gamble, A., 1989, An Introduction to Modern Social and Political Thought, 154.
19Weber, M., Bureaucracy and Law in Gerth, H., and Wright Mills, C., 1991, From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology,
200.

20Giddens, A, 1981, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis of the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber,
158.

21Weber, M., 1968, Economy and Society, Vol. 3, 1133.

Legally and actually, office holding is not considered a source to be exploited for rents or
emoluments, as was normally the case during the Middle Ages and frequently up to the threshold
of recent times.22 Entrance into an office, including one in the private economy, is considered an
acceptance of a specific obligation of faithful management in return for a secure existence. It is
decisive for the specific nature of modern loyalty to an office that, in the pure type, it does not
establish a relationship to a person. Modern loyalty is devoted to impersonal and functional
purposes.23

Weber had argued that bureaucracy afforded advantages in the way it could procure a monopoly over the
means of information, being the Supreme power instrument [in] the transformation of official
information into classified material24, but is nevertheless is critical of the exercise of this ability, citing the
then activities of the German civil service, claiming intrusion of the bureaucracy into the political spheres
as an abuse of power.25 This however, unwittingly for Weber, appears to present a dichotomy in his theory
of legitimate domination, as Webers conception of legal domination exhibits an unduly positivist view of
law, as evidenced by Cotterrells claim that the highly complex ideological elements of law must be
analysed in ways that cannot utilise the ideal type method, if conditions of legitimacy are to be
understood in relation to social change.26

Parkin considers why bureaucracy should qualify as a form of domination saying, If bureaucracy does
attempt to exercise domination it usurps the authority of a nominally superior body, or in other words it
uses its power illegitimately. Thus, in the light of Webers own account, bureaucracy can hardly be an
example of legitimate domination, for if the bureaucracy does attempt to exercise domination, it usurps
the authority of its superior body, and thus uses its power illegitimately. This, for Parkin, means that

22Weber, M., 1991, Op cit., 199.


23Ibid.
24Weber, M., 1968, Op cit., 1134.
25Parkin, F., 1982, Max Weber, 88.
26Cotterrell, cited in Sugarman, D., (ed.), 1983, Legality, Ideology and the State, 88.

under Webers theory of legitimate domination, if a bureaucracy acts legitimately it is not dominant,
whilst if it exercises domination is ceases to be legitimate.27

Giddens believes Webers position has been misunderstood, claiming Weber was not unaware of the
importance in the substantive operation of bureaucratic organisations or the existence of informal contacts
and patterns of relationship overlapping the formal designation of authority and responsibilities. 28
Giddens says that according to Weber, prior forms of administrative organisations may be superior in
dealing with a particular case, which can be illustrated in the instance of just judicial decisions. 29

The importance Weber attached to the existence of the bureaucracy can be seen in his statement that, It
would be an illusion to think for a moment that continuous administrative work can be carried out in any
field except by means of officials working in offices. The whole pattern of every day life is cut to fit this
framework. If bureaucratic administration is, ceteris paribus, always the most rational type from a formal,
technical point of view, the needs of mass administration make it today completely indispensable. 30

LUHMANN, BLAUS AND PARKINS CRITICISMS OF WEBERS THEORY OF BUREAUCRACY

Weber selects and emphasises the features of bureaucracy as discussed above; a formal hierarchy,
consistent application of rules, promotion by merit or seniority, strict control of files and information, etc.,
as being its distinctive hallmark.31 Weber says,

27Parkin, F., 1982, Max Weber, 89.


28Giddens, A, 1981, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis of the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber,
159.

29Weber, M., 1968, Economy and Society, Vol. 2, 656.


30Giddens, A, 1981, Op cit., 160.
31Parkin, F., 1982, Max Weber, 34.

the fully developed bureaucratic apparatus compares with other organisations exactly as does the
machine with the nonmechanical modes of production. Precision, speed, unambiguity, knowledge
of files, continuity, discretion, unity, strict subordination, reduction of friction and of material and
personal costs - these are raised to the optimum point in the strictly bureaucratic administration. 32

Blau and Meyer are critical of interpretations of Webers use of the ideal type saying,
This methodological concept does not represent an average of the attributes of all existing
bureaucracies (or other social structures), but a pure type, derived by abstracting the most
characteristic bureaucratic aspects of all known organisations. Since perfect bureaucratisation is
never fully realised, no empirical organisation corresponds exactly to this scientific construct.
The criticism has been made that Webers analysis of an imaginary type does not provide
understanding of concrete bureaucratic structures. But this criticism obscures the fact that the
ideal-type construct is intended as a guide in empirical research, not as a substitute of it. 33

Luhmann, in The Differentiation of Society, criticised Webers consideration of the operations of


bureaucracies as too simplistic, claiming Webers classical theory of bureaucracy assumes most
organisations orient their activities according to ends in a Western overtly rationalistic way, based on a
command version of how organisations work.

Luhmann also questions the supposition that all ends are instructive. They are often a vague and
ambitious justification of themselves, and dont necessarily bind it to any specific ends. Means and ends
schema are often irrelevant as such, in that the goals are sometimes not able to be expressed at all, and
may change with variation in the culture. As the ends do not specify the means unambiguously, the sub
goals of the organisation are regularly in conflict with one another, so that a structure with contrary goals
may exist from the very start, such as can occur in some welfare organisations. Luhmann also recognises
that for an organisation to function well, it doesnt necessarily require the complete loyalty and obedience
of its employees, as a partial consensus would likely suffice.

32Weber, M.,1968, Op cit., 973.


33Blau, P., and Meyer, M., 1956, Bureaucracy in Modern Society, 24.

Blau, also providing some criticism of Webers theory of bureaucracy for its construction upon the ideal
type, claiming its crude nature fails to differentiate between conceptual elaborations and hypotheses
concerning the relationship between analytical attributes of social systems and prototypes of the social
systems themselves.34 Blau suggests that Weber considers the three analytical principles of convention,
ethics and law underlie conformity, whilst at other times seemingly referring to political systems;
traditional political institutions, revolutionary movements, and modern governments based on rational
law, suggesting that the limitations of the ideal type may be responsible for such discrepancies. 35

Blau is also critical that Weber subsumes democracy under the legal order in his model of legal-rational
behaviour discussed previously, particularly as Weber makes it clear that bureaucracies are not
necessarily democratic. Critical that Weber never systematically differentiates the two concepts in the
way he had done so with the other two types of authority structures, Bendix says, power in the political
struggle results from the manipulation of interests and profitable exchanges and does not entail
legitimate authority of protagonists over one another. Success, however, in this struggle leads to a
position of legitimate authority.36 Blau notes that, If men organise themselves and others for the purpose
of realising specific objectives assigned to or accepted by them they establish a bureaucratic
organisation. The exact form best suited for such an organisation depends on a variety of conditions,
including the kinds of skills required for the tasks.37

Blau notes that as the differentiating criteria between democracy and bureaucracy proposed are whether
the organisations purpose is to settle on common objective and whether the governing principle of
organising social action is majority rule rooted in freedom or dissent or administrative efficiency, the two
principles come into conflict.38 Blau consider the example of unions as a case in point to highlight the
deficiencies in Webers theory.

34Blau., P., 1970, Critical Remarks on Webers Theory of Authority in Wrong, D., Max Weber, 164.
35Id., 160.
36Bendix, R., Max Weber, 439.
37Blau., P., 1970, Op Cit., D., Max Weber, 163.
38Blau., P., 1970, Critical Remarks on Webers Theory of Authority in Wrong, D., Max Weber, 163.

As for Blau, Parkin is critical of Weber, claiming that he has failed to measure these claims against the
existing bureaucracies, pointing to the fact that Weber appears not to present any evidence to indicate that
organisations that depart from the ideal type actually do suffer from a loss of precision, speed or
ambiguity.39

Parkin also notes that Webers classical model of bureaucracy is one of highly formalised and inflexible
rules, as outlined in Webers claim that, Bureaucracy develops the more perfectly it is dehumanised, the
more completely it succeeds in eliminating from official business love, hatred, and all purely personal,
irrational and emotional elements which escape calculation. 40 The issue then arises as to what happens
to the notion of taking the individuals subjective meanings as the starting point of social enquiry; the
Verstehen approach41, if bureaucracy is viewed in this way. 42 This appears to be a significant flaw in
Webers theory.

Parkin believes that once the personal motivations and perceptions of individual

incumbents are considered, a clearer picture of why bureaucracies do not parallel the ideal type is
uncovered.43

The jump Weber appears to make using his notions of bureaucracy based on the ideal type of
bureaucracy, does not adequately address the problem that many bureaucrats do not behave in the way
Weber deems them to. The tendency for officials to accrue power to their own ends can mean the
impartiality of the bureaucracy becomes a force fiction. What would now be seen as the naivety of
Webers outlook is shown in Webers assertion that whilst it is proper for a bureaucrat to present a
reasoned case in advising his minister, he is duty bound to accept the ministers decision and to
implement it as conscientiously as though it corresponds to his own innermost conviction. 44 Based on this

39Parkin, F., 1982, Max Weber, 34.


40Weber, M.,1968, Economy and Society, Vol. 3, 975.
41Parkin, F., 1982, Op cit., 15.
42Id., 35.
43Id., 36.

concern, it is possible that if Weber had referenced his theory of bureaucracy with his Verstehen approach,
the criticisms of people in the Human Relations movement such as Mayo would be less evident.

LIMITS OF THE WEBERIAN MODEL.

Webers framework for bureaucracy was that of an undemocratic system that did not allow for election of
fellow employees. Nevertheless, bureaucracies are inherently efficient organisations, which is why they
are so central to modern organisations. As no alternatives to bureaucracies appeared evident for the
efficient running of large scale organisations, Weber was fearful of legal-rational thought developing into
an all encompassing ossified iron cage of bureaucracy that thwarted the very values of freedom and
liberty he desired.45 The English bureaucracy was a case in point for Weber.

So whilst Weber wants to celebrate the Western Culture heritage that has allowed such amazing progress,
though in its last stages, we have created a new form of bureaucratic organisation which is much more
rational, coherent and stable than anything before, the question remains as to how we can retain a social
structure allowing mobility, with the tendency for bureaucracy

Weber says there is another trend at work called rationalisation, the rationalisation and intellectualisation
of the world is receding regardless of what we would like. We have institutionalised economic progress
and scientific development to the extent that our culture has become totally dependent on making these
advances in one form or another.

Weber believes the formal rationality of bureaucracy whilst facilitating the technical implementation of
large-scale administrative tasks, substantially contravenes some of the most distinctive values of Western
civilisation, in subordinating individuality and spontaneity. The question arises as to whether Weber says
we should acquiesce to these principles, or rather, of whether the bureaucratic form is the most rational

44Weber, M., 1968, Economy and Society, 1417, cited in Parkin, F., Op cit., 88.
45Gamble, A., 1989, An Introduction to Modern Social and Political Thought, 163.

becomes the issue. Nevertheless, Weber sees no rational way to escape this, it being the fate of the
times.46 Pusey captures this well, saying,

In Webers often quoted view, experience tends universally to show that order of this type is:
from a purely technical point of view, capable of attaining the highest degree of efficiency and in
this sense formally the most rational means of carrying out imperative from control over human
beings. Is it superior to any other form in precision, in stability in the stringency of its discipline,
and in its reliability.47

Webers model has an inability to properly account for the informal structure within organisations; it is
over rationalistic, has a tendency to persist in a firm inconsistent with the ideal structure of the
bureaucracy. This issue remains an open question for me, and may be best outlined by Mikel Duffrennes
words at the opening of the International symposium on Rationality Today.

The task of reason is not easy: to say No to the System is intellectually easy even if, on occasions, it
takes some heroism. But how was we to say simultaneously both Yes and No? How does one
invent a strategy without making a game of strategies? How are we to reconcile spontaneity and
organisation? How can we want efficiency and renounce technocracy? And, further, how do we
steer a course between a rationalism which identifies rationality with rationalisation and an
irrationalism which leaves us without resources?48

Whilst Luhmann talks about the rise of horizontal connections within bureaucracies as an important
connection here, therefore making it possible that the rationalisation of society will maintain a potential
flexibility that will avoid the iron cage effect, therefore not necessarily heading to total democracy but
organisational life needed cover the entire social life, the discomfort that encroaching bureaucracy may
bring to the liberal will probably still remain.

46Weber, M., 1968, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 182.
47Pusey, M., 1984/5, Citing Weber, M, The Theory of Social and Economic Organisation in Rationality,
Organisations, and Language Towards a Critical Theory of Bureaucracy in Thesis Eleven, No. 11, 89.

48Ibid.

HOW PREVALENT ARE MODERN BUREAUCRACIES ?

The modern capitalist state is completely dependant upon bureaucratic organisation for its continued
existence. As Weber says, The larger the state, or the more it becomes a great power state, the more
unconditionally this is the case.49 Nevertheless, whilst the size of the administrative unit is a major factor
determining the spread of rational bureaucratic organisation, there is not a unilateral relationship
between size and bureaucratisation. 50 The necessity of specialisation to fulfil specific administrative tasks
is as important as size in promoting bureaucratic specialisation.51

As Weber identified, the major reason for the encroachment of bureaucratic organisation into the
performance of routinised tasks is its efficiency.52

The fully developed bureaucratic apparatus compares with other organisations exactly as does the
machine with the non-mechanical modes of production.

Precision, speed, unambiguity,

knowledge of the files, continuity, discretion, unity, strict subordination, reduction of friction and of
material and personal costs - these are raised to the optimum point in the strictly bureaucratic
organisation53

Weber believes the growth of the bureaucratic state is allied with the advance of political demarcation, as
the demands made by democrats for political representation and equality before the law necessitate

49Weber, M., 1968, Economy and Society, Vol. 3, 971.


50Ibid., 1003.
51Giddens, A, 1981, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis of the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber,
159.

52Ibid., 159.
53Weber, M., 1968, Op cit., 973.

complex administrative and juridical provisions to lawfully limit privilege. 54 It is this very relationship
between democracy and bureaucratisation that Weber believes creates one of the most profound sources
of tension in modern capitalism. This contradiction between the formal and substantive rationality of
social actions is illustrated by development of abstract legal procedures which, in helping to eliminate
privilege, reintroduce a new form of entrenched monopoly which is in some respects more arbitrary and
autonomous than that which they influence.55

Thus, bureaucratic organisation is promoted by the democratic requirement for impersonal selection of
office bearers according to the possession of educational qualifications, but this in itself creates a
stratification as identified by Luhmann, that produces a privileged group having more administrative
power than before.

Giddens recognises that government solely by the masses is an impossible aim in large modern societies,
with direct democracy only being possible in small scale communities. As Weber says in Politics as a
Vocation, there is only one choice between leadership democracy with a machine and leaderless
democracy, namely, the rule of professional politicians without a calling, without the inner charismatic
qualities that make a leader, and this means what the party insurgents in the situation usually designate
as the rule of the clique.56

Bureaucracy is a consequence of not merely in the sphere of politics or government, but society in general.
In some respects, Webers focus on bureaucracy is his answer to the idealism of Marxism. Marxism saw
prospects for increasing freedom coming out of the most advanced social forms arising from capitalism,
whilst Weber saw great changes and threats in its allied reliance on bureaucracy.

54Giddens, A, 1981, Op cit., 180.


55Ibid., 180.
56Weber, M., Bureaucracy and Law in Gerth, H., and Wright Mills, C., 1991, From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology,
113.

Weber was worried by the naivety of Marxs view in expropriating the expropriators, regarding this as
simply replacing a multiplicity of capitalists with a simple unified capitalist. Giddens, thus identifies the
most significant divergence between Marx and Weber as being how far the alienating consequences of the
rationalisation of society derive from bureaucratisation, which is a necessary requisite of the modern
society, whether capitalist or socialist. 57 Thus, whereas Marx saw socialism as the panacea of the evils of
capitalism, Weber saw socialism would necessitate a tremendous increase in the importance of
professional bureaucrats58, thus exacerbating the worst evils of capitalist bureaucracy and therefore
alienation.

Weber believes that once bureaucracy has become established it is extremely resistant to any attempt to
remove its powers. He says, Such an apparatus makes revolution, in the sense of the forceful creation of
entirely new formations of authority, more and more impossible 59 The encroachment of bureaucracy
across modern capitalism is thus both cause and consequence of the rationalisation of law, politics and
industry, being the concrete, administrative manifestation of the rationalisation of action which has
penetrated into all spheres of Western culture.60 Giddens believes this spread of rationalisation can be
indexed by the progressive disenchantment of the world; the elimination of magical thought and
practice, induced by the great religious prophets and the systematising activities of priests. 61

Weber notes the connection of bureaucracy with the work ethic, as he explored in The Protestant Ethic and
the Spirit of Capitalism62, but makes the important distinction that whilst the Puritan wanted to work in a

57Giddens, A, 1981, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis of the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber,
216.

58Weber, M., 1968, Economy and Society, Vol. 1, 224.


59Weber, M., 1968, Op cit., 989.
60Giddens, A, 1981, Op cit., 183.
61Ibid.
62Weber, M., 1968, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 40.

calling; we are forced to do so.63 Weber believed peoples relation to work was not as mere labour, but as
invariably adopted as a form of vocation evidenced by the need for training qualifications. Weber noted
that the official takes on his/her work with a sense of carrying out a task according to a sort of spirit or
ethic with moral overtones. The main normative issue then is not how the process of bureaucratisation
can be reversed, but, What can we set against this mechanisation to preserve a certain section of
humanity form fragmentation of the soul, this complete ascendancy of the bureaucratic ideal of life 64

Bureaucracy has had the effect of institutionalising expertise. The more bureaucratised a country, the
more attention was paid to expert knowledge and efficiency. Welfare and progress became increasingly
determined using terms defined by experts. The culture becomes rationalist and utilitarian, searching out
the cheapest and effective manner for achieving stated goals, with social goals tending to become defined
in terms of the technical means that are available, with democracy becoming irksome as it is increasingly
perceived that only experts have the knowledge and experience to decide.65
Taken to their ultimate limit, these ideas imply that industrial society is best run without a democratic
political system that may only hamper the interests of professional bureaucracies of government, and the
private sector. The realities of government meant it was impractical to implement the untested initiatives
that may evolve from a democratic political process, with modern bureaucracies having evolved to
compromise discrete and specialised sphere headed and jealously guarded by their own expert
bureaucracies.66 Given these observed pitfalls, why is it that bureaucracies have not diminished?

WHY HAVE BUREAUCRACIES BECOME SO PREVALENT?

Initially, the reasons for bureaucracy were primarily military. Superiority of the standing army over
knightly warfare meant the first European modern bureaucracies were needed to be funded reliably.
Weber refers to the development of these bureaucracies saying,

63Weber, M., 1968, Op cit., 181.


64Giddens, A, 1981, Op cit., 236.
65Gamble, A., 1989, An Introduction to Modern Social and Political Thought, 165.
66Gamble, A., 1989, Op cit., 167.

Among purely political factors, the increasing demand for a society accustomed to absolute
pacification, for order or protection in all fields exerts an especially persevering influence in the
direction of bureaucratisation.

A steady road leads from modifications of the blood feud,

sacerdotally, or by means of arbitration, to the resent position of the policeman as the


representative of God on earth. The former means placed the guarantees for the individuals
rights and security squarely upon the members of his sib, who are obliged to assist him with oath
and vengeance. Among other factors, primarily the manifold tasks of the so-called policy of social
welfare operate in the direction of bureaucratisation, for these tasks are, in part, saddled upon the
state by interest groups and in part, the state usurps them, either for reasons of power policy or for
ideological motives.67

Weber points to the connection of some of these things with purely technical aspects of modern society.
For Weber, the modern means of communication enter the picture as pacemakers of modern
bureaucracy, ie; public lands, modern communication, railways, etc., become analogous to canals and
rivers in ancient civilisations. In contrast, for Marx, the bureaucracy was a parasitic growth on the back
of society, a useless collection of unproductive workers, who in contrast to the proletariat, make no real
contribution to the productive output of society.

A large number of studies have been done which help to critique Webers theory. One particularly well
known critique is that of Elton Mayo of the Harvard Business School. Mayo was interested in how to
produce a healthy work environment with morale and incentive rather than simply high wages or
salaries. These studies were prompted by some 1930s work which had found that people not only carry
out orders, but also at times resist and obstruct the organisations aims. The recognition of informal
structures has had important implications for organisation theory. The most important initial response
was the theory of Human Relations as developed by Mayo, which sought to reconcile the formal
organisation with the informal structure, by placing a premium on the needs of the workers. Without
undermining the command structure of the formal organisation, it argued it was possible to improve the
level of job satisfaction by attending to the felt needs of the employees by job enrichment, extensive
awards such as promotion and esteem, as well as salary.

67Weber, M., Bureaucracy and Law in Gerth, H., and Wright Mills, C., 1991, From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology,
213.

Mayo says an alternative arrangement may come into effect so that inverted power relations may occur, or
people are circumvented. Also there might be solidarity to avoid particular commands and particular
work levels to maintain. Problems exist because often the overseer is part of the system, as he wants
consensus with the workers, so sometimes people you least expect to have power, have extreme power.
This movement sought to encourage a more meaningful participation in decision making by making
democratisation a goal of the bureaucratic structure. This was in contrast to Webers view that the
bureaucratic structure is undemocratic, with people being elected on the grounds of competence rather
then popularity or support from the employees, as the assumption that competence can only be
recognised by those of greater competence.

The effect of Human Relations has only been partly successful. In more recent times, organisation
culture, or culture theory has emerged, which gives emphasis to looking at various sometimes
intangible features of a work environment which will improve things, by changes such as office
refurbishing etc. The logic of the theory is that by altering the physical aspects of the work environment,
the cultural ambience of the environment may improve. Certain types of work were more amenable to
culture theory, such as the high technology industries, by the same notions may not work with very
routine and mechanical processes are involved. Also, there was always an underlying assumption that it
was possible to reconcile the formal and informal structure into harmony, based an the assumption that
you can subsume the informal structure into the formal structure.

IN CONCLUSION: BUREAUCRACY AND DEBUREAUCRACY

The attempt to debureaucratise is occurring to some extent, by the initiative of the bureaucratic
organisations themselves. It has been found that in some circumstances, a less bureaucratic structure is
efficient, though Weber had made an implicit assumption that there will be a more or less one to one
correspondence between official sphere of competence and ones actual functional competence. This is
why Weber believed bureaucracies would always be inherently efficient.

Bureaucratic inefficiencies nevertheless have obviously come about, as was evident in the old Soviet
Bureaucracy. As the people at the top of organisations are by no means necessarily at the peak of power
in organisations, Weber made a distinction between official and professional of functional power and
authority, which is recognised om professional associations. Therefore, we have to acknowledge that a

bureaucratic organisation is not the only way of rationalising institutions in the modern context. Probably
more significantly, in considering the disparity between Webers classical theory of bureaucracy and
practice, is his over reliance on the methodology of the ideal type, which as we have shown, has definite
shortcomings, and deserves much of the critique detailed to it.

Common Bureaucracy Problems

Who better to explain the problems of bureaucracy than a bureaucrat? After all, he has first-hand
experience. Just for fun, as our bureaucrat speaks about each problem, we'll wrap him up in some
red tape. Our bureaucrat gulps but bravely plunges into his assigned task.
'Problem number one,' he says, 'is...well...red tape.' In the old days, the government really did tie
up official documents in red tape, which became a symbol of difficult access and gridlock.
Today, red tape refers to the complex procedures and rules that bureaucrats follow in completing
their tasks. They must be careful to fill out every little form, follow every little rule, dot all the Is
and cross all the Ts, and make sure everything is just right. This can take a long time to do, and it
creates a huge paper trail.
While such thoroughness helps make sure that things are done properly, it can also make even
minor tasks seem daunting. Take, for example, the process of getting a home loan through a
government agency. Applicants have to fill out pages and pages of forms, and the house in
question must pass a myriad of inspections. The whole procedure can take months.
The bureaucrat, now with his arms stuck to his sides by red tape, flinches but continues. 'Problem
two,' he explains, 'is conflict.' Sometimes the goals of various bureaucratic agencies just don't
match up, and they end up working at cross purposes. For instance, one agricultural service helps
farmers learn how to raise crops more efficiently, while another one actually wants to pay them
to leave their fields empty.
Our bureaucrat winces as a piece of red tape wraps around his chest. 'Problem three,' he
continues,' is duplication.' Sometimes government agencies seem to be doing the very same
thing. Both the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Customs Service, for example, try to
prevent illegal drug smuggling. There is always a chance that their agents will get in each others'
way in the process.
A large piece of red tape winds around the bureaucrat's waist. 'Problem four,' he goes on with a
grimace, 'is imperialism.' The bureaucracy is supposed to promote the good of society, but
sometimes agencies just keep getting bigger and start to take on a life of their own. Then they
become little empires with the tendency to rack up costs, pursue vague goals, and outlive their
usefulness. In the late 1800s, for example, a government agency to regulate the use of horses and

buggies would have been a good idea, but to avoid imperialism, it would have had to recognize
its irrelevancy in the age of motor cars. Sometimes that doesn't happen in a bureaucracy.
The bureaucrat looks panicky as a piece of red tape snakes around his knees. 'Problem five,' he
says, 'is waste.' Sometimes government agencies spend more than necessary to purchase services
and products. We've all read the horror stories of the bureaucracy buying $300 hammers that
would probably cost $9.99 at the local discount store and of agencies building
1. Division of Work: There is division of work on basis of specialization of jobs in
bureaucratic organizations. Each employee performs his specialized work in a predictable
manner.
2. Rules and Regulations: Detailed rules and regulations regarding work behavior, rights
and duties of employee are laid down. Rules are designed to ensure the consistency in work
performance.
3. Hierarchy of Authority: Hierarchy in organizations is characterized by downward
delegation of authority. Each superior exercises control over his subordinates.
4. Technical Competence: Selection and promotion of employees are based on the technical
competence of employees. Training is also provided to familiarize the employees with the
rules and administrative procedures of the organization.
5. Record Keeping: Every decision and action is recorded in its original as well as draft
form.
6. lmpersonal Relations: Superiors are formal in dealings with their subordinates.

Solutions to Problems of Bureaucracy


1. Delegate less. Conservatives and libertarians should be reluctant to delegate power that is
likely to be exercised in a liberal direction. To put it another way, these lawmakers should
demand a statute several degrees to the right of where they think it should be if there is a
delegation because the bureaucracy will move it several degrees to the left.
2. Pass the REINS Act. The REINS Act would apply to open-ended delegations of power already
in place by requiring a Congressional vote under fast track procedures to approve major agency
rules before they become law. This act would transfer power currently held by bureaucrats back
to legislators. Of course, people on the left realize the constraints imposed by the REINS Act and
thus it could not be enacted until the next era of unified Republican government.
3. Mandate cost benefit analysis. Cost benefit analysis could be required by law, unless
specifically exempted in a statute. This tool constrains agencies, by requiring bureaucrats to
show that regulations have net benefits. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

(OIRA) at OMB reviews all cost benefit analyses, which provides a check on the parochial
regulatory expansion of agencies.
4. Subject cost benefit analysis to judicial review. This requirement would increase the
seriousness with which the exercise is taken and further weaken the power of bureaucrats. Article
III judges are not perfect, but they are far less ideologically skewed than bureaucrats, and the
judges have no pecuniary or status incentives to expand the agencies work.
5. Bring independent agencies within Presidential control. As I stated in the previous post,
Presidents have modest powers to recalibrate the bureaucracy, but these powers are even weaker
at independent agencies which are insulated from their control.
6. My co-blogger Mike Rappaport once suggested to me that each agency have a unit devoted to
deregulation. His is a very sensible idea, not least because it might attract a different kind of
personnelpeople more sympathetic to the market than top-down government control.
7. Privatize where possible. Privatization has often been sold as way of gaining efficiency in the
bureaucracy. But it can also bring in personnel who skew less ideologically to the left.
These ideas that could have been implemented many years ago but could still be accomplished.
In my next post, I will describe some ideas to circumscribe the bureaucracy that are now
available because of modern technology.

Herzbergs two-factor theory: how does it work?


Frederick Herzbergs well known Two-Factor Theory was designed in year 1959. Based on two
hundred engineers and accountant feedback collected in the USA regarding their personal
feelings towards their working environments, Herzberg defined two sets of factors in deciding
employees working attitudes and level of performance, named Motivation & Hygiene Factors
(Robbins, 2009). Motivation Factors are Intrinsic Factors that will increase employees job
satisfaction; while Hygiene Factors are Extrinsic Factors to prevent any employees
dissatisfaction. Herzberg furthered that full supply of Hygiene Factors will not necessary result
in employees job satisfaction. In order to increase employees performance or productivity,
Motivation factors must be addressed.
Two-Factor Theory is closely related to Maslow's hierarchy of needs but it introduced more
factors to measure how individuals are motivated in the workplace. This theory argued that
meeting the lower-level needs (extrinsic or hygiene factors) of individuals would not motivate
them to exert effort, but would only prevent them from being dissatisfied. In order to motivate
employees, higher-level needs (intrinsic or motivation factors) must be supplied. The implication
for organizations to use this theory is that meeting employees extrinsic or hygiene factors will
only prevent employees from becoming actively dissatisfied but will not motivate them to
contribute additional effort toward better performance. To motivate employees, organizations
should focus on supplying intrinsic or motivation factors (Robbins, 2009).

According to the setting of theory, Extrinsic Factors are less to contribute to employees
motivation need. The presences of these factors were just to prevent any dissatisfaction to arise
in their workplaces. Extrinsic Factors are also well known as job context factors; are extrinsic
satisfactions granted by other people for employees (Robbins, 2009). These factors serve as
guidance for employers in creating a favourable working environment where employees feel
comfortable working inside. When all these external factors were achieved, employees will be
free from unpleasant external working conditions that will banish their feelings of
dissatisfactions, but remains themselves neutral in neither satisfied nor motivated; however,
when employers fail to supply employees Extrinsic Factors needs, employees job
dissatisfaction will arise.
Intrinsic Factors are the actually factors that contribute to employees level of job satisfactions. It
has widely being known as job content factors which aim to provide employees meaningful
works that able to intrinsically satisfy themselves by their works outcomes, responsibilities
delegated experience learned, and achievements harvested (Robbins, 2009). Intrinsic Factors are
very effective in creating and maintaining more durable positive effects on employees
performance towards their jobs as these factors are human basic needs for psychological growth.
Intrinsic Factors will propel employees to insert additional interest into their job. When
employees are well satisfied by motivational needs, their productivity and efficiency will
improved.
This theory further proposed the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors are interdependence to each
other. Presence of Extrinsic Factors will only eliminate employees work dissatisfaction;
however, it will not provide job satisfaction. On the other hand, sufficient supply in Intrinsic
Factor will cultivate employees inner growth and development that will lead to a higher
productivity and performance; however, absent of this factor will only neutralize their feeling
neither satisfy nor dissatisfy on their jobs. Extrinsic Factors only permit employees willingness
to work while Intrinsic Factors will decide their quality of work. These two groups of Extrinsic
and Intrinsic Factors are not necessary opposite with each other, as opposite of satisfaction are
not dissatisfaction, but rather no satisfaction. Similarly, opposite of dissatisfaction are not
satisfaction, but no dissatisfaction (Robbins, 2009). For instance, a study by Wan Fauziah and
Tan (2013) among 124 employees from electronic companies in Malaysia revealed the
employees have some differences in their intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors. Hence,
organizations should modulate their operations and procedures to satisfy both intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation factors of their employees.

Disadvantages of Planning
Internal Limitations

There are several limitations of planning. Some of them are inherit in the process of planning
like rigidity and other arise due to shortcoming of the techniques of planning and in the planners
themselves.
1. Rigidity

a. Planning has tendency to make administration inflexible.


b. Planning implies prior determination of policies, procedures and
programmes and a strict adherence to them in all circumstances.
c. There is no scope for individual freedom.
d. The development of employees is highly doubted because of which
management might have faced lot of difficulties in future.
e. Planning therefore introduces inelasticity and discourages individual
initiative and experimentation.
2. Misdirected Planning
a. Planning may be used to serve individual interests rather than the
interest of the enterprise.
b. Attempts can be made to influence setting of objectives, formulation of
plans and programmes to suit ones own requirement rather than that
of whole organization.
c. Machinery of planning can never be freed of bias. Every planner has
his own likes, dislikes, preferences, attitudes and interests which is
reflected in planning.
3. Time consuming
a. Planning is a time consuming process because it involves collection of
information, its analysis and interpretation thereof. This entire process
takes a lot of time specially where there are a number of alternatives
available.
b. Therefore planning is not suitable during emergency or crisis when
quick decisions are required.
4. Probability in planning
a. Planning is based on forecasts which are mere estimates about future.
b. These estimates may prove to be inexact due to the uncertainty of
future.
c. Any change in the anticipated situation may render plans ineffective.
d. Plans do not always reflect real situations inspite of the sophisticated
techniques of forecasting because future is unpredictable.
e. Thus, excessive reliance on plans may prove to be fatal.

5. False sense of security


a. Elaborate planning may create a false sense of security to the effect
that everything is taken for granted.
b. Managers assume that as long as they work as per plans, it is
satisfactory.
c. Therefore they fail to take up timely actions and an opportunity is lost.
d. Employees are more concerned about fulfillment of plan performance
rather than any kind of change.
6. Expensive
a. Collection, analysis and evaluation of different information, facts and
alternatives involves a lot of expense in terms of time, effort and
money
b. According to Koontz and ODonell, Expenses on planning should never
exceed the estimated benefits from planning.
External Limitations of Planning
1. Political Climate- Change of government from Congress to some other
political party, etc.
2. Labour Union- Strikes, lockouts, agitations.
3. Technological changes- Modern techniques and equipments, computerization.
4. Policies of competitors- Eg. Policies of Coca Cola and Pepsi.
5. Natural Calamities- Earthquakes and floods.
6. Changes in demand and prices- Change in fashion, change in tastes, change
in income level, demand falls, price falls, etc.

Someones Always Watching: Social medias role in


accountability
Posted on March 22, 2016

Social media: its a force. I hesitate to say good or evil because it is both, and neither, all at
once. The user is responsible for the outcome for good or ill. Its been used to spread love just as
much as hate.
Its power, however, is undeniable. With social media, anyone with a big enough following, or is
just lucky enough to go viral, is a journalist, whether they like it or not.
This crowdsourced news posted on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other networks results in
instant and far-reaching knowledge of events, both good and bad. Usually, the bad gets more
attention. Hence the mediums role in accountability for all types of businesses, including
construction. No one wants to deal with a potentially reputation-destroying social media scandal.
Businesses can control only the content they post, not the content individuals post about them.
However, by staying accountable, scandalous situations are less likely to occur and easier to fix.
Its no secret that the construction industry is a dangerous one. We work with heavy equipment,
sometimes in precarious situations, and unfortunately accidents do happen. The regulations that
govern our industry, set forth by OSHA, are set in place to protect contractors and construction
workers as well as the general public and environment. Thats where social media comes in: the
general public is always watching and they notice when youre breaking rules, even if they dont
actually know the rules. They care about the lives of people, the environment and their home.
Using the power of social media, they wont let you get away with negligence if they can help it.
Construction sites are conspicuous, especially in densely populated urban environments. There
are hundreds, even thousands of eyes watching all the time. People will snap photos, tweet, blog,
tag or mentioning your business or the location of the build site. Theyll notice when a contractor
is breaking rules, and theyll broadcast the incident instantly and loudly. Negligence,
incompetence, and deliberate disregard of rules will not go unnoticed! When one pair of eyes
looks away, three more land on your job site. A contractors accountability is no longer just to
their client and the law (which arent necessarily always watching). We are accountable to
everyone, and thats not a bad thing; it keeps us honest.
Social media can save lives by keeping contractors accountable when they become comfortable
with regulations or tempted to cut corners. Developers and general contractors soon learn of any
breach and can identify the situation by watching social media activity related to their project.
They quickly can assess the hazardous condition, educate the employees responsible, and
implement a plan of action to remedy the situation. Lives can be saved, potential hazards can be
avoided, and the outcome for everyone is better. The responsible party will be corrected, most
importantly educated, and the business reputation can stay intact. Its a win-win!

Transformational Leadership for Pakistan why?

This researcher searched peer reviewed articles to deal with an uncertain situation, and instability
in Pakistan. The present stalemate is a result of multiple factors affecting a common
man.Pakistan is taken as an institutional model in speculating resolution to its problems, and the
encumbrances to be faced by an emerging leader. The article discusses different traits and skills
of leadership of President Barack Obama,President General Zia ul Haq and Prime Minister
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. The writer in his analysis after reviewing three different theories of
leaderships with six peer reviewed articles concludes that no single theory may work to deter
chaos and turmoil in Pakistan. An effective leadership will have to have all the three traits and
skills of leadership to salvage the situation.
Disadvantage:There are limited peer reviewed articles on Pakistani leaderships; hence the scope
of analysis is limited.
Advantage:There is lot of room to conduct number of research in this area.
Discussion:
Pakistan, a nation of 179 millions,stands at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East and
Central Asia. It is a strong ally of the United States since her inception in 1947 (U.S., 2007). This
researcher has selected the leadership theories of the charismatic style,situational skill, and
transformational leadership to act collectively, in salvaging the country out of economic, defense
and foreign policy crisis. It is strategically important in maintaining U.S. hegemony in the
region. Therefore,the stakeholders are, Pakistan and the United States in this
discussion.Leadership style and skills of President Obama are focused in addition to two of the
former Pakistani Presidents and their traits of Leadership. There is an analogy in discussing the
three leaders to build a model of skills and traits in an effective leadership environment that can
save Pakistan in these difficult times. Organizing Pakistan through these leadership skills and
traits is beneficial in the current stalemate. This mayhem is an upshot of Pakistans long-term
engagements in war, increasing corruption, and widespread kleptocracy and nepotism in the
society.
Earluer. Pakistans opposition forged an alliance to counter the writ of the government. The
country is faced with frustration, economic downturn, declining law and order situation and a
constant threat on its borders with India and the northern belt of Afghanistan,in areas under
Talibans control. Pakistan faced wars after wars in the past four decades since the invasion of
the Soviets. The only stable government the country has witnessed were the military rules of
General Zia ul Haq and General Pervez Musharraf. This is why this researcher has discussed
General Zia.
In addition to the above, there is a public resentment against price hike, and an outcry to deal
with the terrorist outfits in the country. A larger alliance of the political organizations is forged to

devise a joint strategy to deal with corruption, kleptocracy, and nepotism of the treasury benches.
Because of it, this researcher received calls from team members of his organization, the Pakistan
Policy Institute (PPI)seeking an approval to form a larger coalition. This researcher had his eyes
focused on the ground realities. A direct and violent confrontation with a brutal regime is
construed as a political blunder. The researcher is a leader with political insight, vision and
wisdom who prefers to protect the interests of the nation and his followers. In the light of state
sponsored terrorism, it is wise to stay away from a dirty game, and wait for the right choice of
timings to outplay the treasury benches.
Pakistans goals and objectives can be achieved in studying the situational leaderships of General
Dwight Eisenhower and General Zia ul Haq, the charismatic leaderships of Oprah Winfrey and
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and the transformational leadership of President Barack Hussain Obama.
This researcher will describe in detail as to why he thinks that a combination of the three traits
are needed to succeed in Pakistan. And in doing so, he may provide an answer as to why he
selected all those three leadership theories from the research materials. Certainly,there exist
some parallels between situations that are encountered by Pakistan today, in view of what the
United States experienced in the past.
Transformational Leadership:the electorate perceived a popular slogan for a change of
leadership in the2008 national elections. People were looking for something new and
creative.The rhetoric of the past was no more sellable, and the need to bring a new face in the
form of a transformational leader to take control of the situation was a popular outcry
(Northouse, 2006). When someone takes control of the situation,expresses a clear vision, with
defined goals and objectives to inspire his followers, then the followers emerge fully motivated
in achieving their targets, which reflects the ability and resolve of a transformational leader.
The Presidential biographer, James MacGregor Burns (1978) was the one who initially
developed the idea of transformational leadership. He contemplates that the leaders and
followers advance to an increasing levels of inspiration and motivation through a wider vision.
This brings them together in accomplishing common goals. However, in later research, Bernard
M. Bass (2008) redefined transformational leadership based on impacts on team-workers. He
suggested that transformational leaders garner respect, admiration and confidence of the
followers. Bass further suggests that a transformational leader creates intellectual stimulation
amongst followers by devising and encouraging innovative means to build up new opportunities.
The leader fosters individualized support by providing openness to each individual breaking the
red-tape barriers.Furthermore, a transformational leader articulates inspiration and motivation
amongst co-members. Researchers find that empowering subordinates in achieving goals and
targets brings positive results. Ronald Rigio (2009) in an article on the Psychology Today is of
the view that satisfaction levels of followers in this type of leadership are much higher than
others.

The disadvantage in transformational leadership is the over-reliance of these leaders on


enthusiasm, sentiments and emotions, while ignoring verity and veracity. Obsession on those
factors would restrain a leader from finding a harsh truth about a frustrating situation. In order to
stabilize a worsening situation, a leader needs to dig out the truth to devise an effective strategy.
Transformational Leadership of Obama: What parallels are drawn from Obamas leadership
vis a vis a situation in Pakistan. The reason Obama is discussed in reference to a situation in
Pakistanis based on certain similarities between the United States, and Pakistan. In the year
2008, the electorate in the United States were dejected, the economy was taking a downturn, and
there was no hope towards ending a long war. The Pakistani situation in 2014 corresponds with
the U.S. situation of 2008. There is dejection, economic downturn, an unending war and an
unending terrorism in Pakistan.
In a situation like that, there is a need to understand, what a transformational leader of Obamas
stature means to Pakistan in providing relief to her citizens.
Selecting a right leadership approach to salvage Pakistan and its institutions.
In order to arrive at conclusions in search of a Messiah to takeover Pakistani institutions, and
rescind the present economic crunch, reverse political plight and quash security crisis, there is a
need to conduct an autopsy to ascertain the causes behind this mess. Once the etiology of the
current stalemate is established, then things get easier to move forward towards its resolution.

Power can be defined as the ability of a person or a group to influence the beliefs and actions of
other people, and to influence or control actions or events. Power is the possession or the ability
or the right to control the actions and performances of others either by authority or by other
means.

Difference between Power and Authority ? role of Power in Control


process.
Authority is the right given to a person or a post to achieve particular objectives. It is the right to
get things done by others, to take decisions and give orders and get obedience from them. It
comes from the duties and responsibilities awarded to a position holder in any official structure.
Power vs Authority

Although power and authority stem from the same concept, they are both very different as they
contain deeper meanings. When we talk about leadership and influence, it becomes necessary to
differentiate power and authority in order to comprehend their true meanings and application.

The main difference between power and authority is the degree of control and influence they
offer to the possessor. While authority is the sanctioned right given to a person to get things done
in an official capacity, power is the ownership of authority and control to influence the opinions,
movements and behaviors of others.
Power has a wider scope and enables one to do what they want instead of looking out to see if
they are doing it the right way. It might not always be given, but it comes to people who are
experts in their field or have a significant amount of money and do not look up to anyone.
Authority, on the other hand, is the right given to a person to give orders to subordinates and get
things done by them. An official cannot perform his duties without adequate authority.
While a person will get authority only with some kind of position, either official or non-official,
power is something that comes with personality, charisma or personal attributes too. A company
president can order a change in design or a police officer might arrest an offender because they
have the authority to do so, but a person can exert his power of knowledge to influence the
thoughts and ideas of others and that person could just as easily be a middle school teacher or a
debater too.
A manager will get his authority from the higher authorities who will outline what he must do
and how he does it. Authority comes from hierarchy and designation while power is allencompassing and broad and does not depend on anyone. Either a person has power or either he
has no power. It comes from a higher level than authority and has an extensive approach.
Power is a further-reaching concept than authority and offers much more influence, control and
domination as it can be both personal as well as official, while authority is restricted to formal
use only in official organizations and offices. Authority can be taken away as it is official and not
personal and once a person is stripped of his title or designation, his or her authority comes to an
end. However, power cannot be taken away easily because it is personal and a person remains
powerful if he has money, for example, even if he has no designation to support him.
Comparison Chart
Power

Authority

Power comes from


knowledge and expertise.

Authority comes from position and office.

Power is the personal ability


Authority is the formal right to take decisions or making
of a person to control or
commands.
influence others.
Power does not come with
rank or designation; a

Authority comes with rank and designation.

person is either powerful or


not.
The scope of power cannot
be written down or
The scope of authority can be written down and
explained because it is too explained in explicit terms.
broad a concept.
Power is not dependant on
levels as it is broader in
context and has a more
extensive approach.

Authority is dependent on levels or positions and can


be used in a limited manner as awarded Source:
http://theydiffer.com/difference-between-power-andauthority/

POWER AND MANAGEMENT CONTROL


Work organisations are not only systems of hierarchical structure, they are also systems of
intricate social relationships, status and power. Power is a complex and dynamic concept
and difficult to define easily. At a broad level, power can be interpreted in terms of
control or influence over the behaviour of other people with or without their consent.
Sometimes power is interpreted in terms of the extent of the influence which can actually be
exercised over other people, and sometimes it is taken to include influence over objects or
things as well as people. In exploring the nature of organising work, Knights and Willmott
suggest that Power is often associated with coercive and repressive features of social life.
It is the means through which a ruling class, political elite or managerial group controls
subordinate strata within a society or an organisation.27
Robbins and Judge suggests that as power may exist but not be used it implies a potential
that need not be actualised to be effective. Power is therefore a capacity or a potential. The
most important aspect of power is probably dependency. A person can have power over you
only if he or she controls something you desire.28
Power is an inherent feature of work organisations and is often the underlying reality behind
the decision-making process. It is central to the framework of order and system of command
through which the work and activities of the organisation are carried out, for example through
the operation of bureaucratic structures and the implementation of policies, rules and
procedures.
Lack of power and influence, and office politics, are among the main sources of
managerial stress within organisations. The view of power as of functional importance is in
keeping with a unitary approach to organisation. Management control is the predominant
means by which the activities of staff are guided towards the achievement of organisational
goals. The exercise of power is that which comes from a position of formal authority within the
management structure of the organisation and which legitimises control over subordinate staff.

Power, involvement and compliance

From a comparative analysis of complex organisations, Etzioni provides a classification of


organisational relationships based on structures of control and the use of power resources as
a means of ensuring compliance among members.29 The Etzioni typology involves three
dimensions: power, involvement, and the identification of kinds of power with kinds of
involvement. Compliance is the relationship between the kinds of power applied by the
organisation to control its members and the kinds of involvement developed by members
of the organisation.
Power differs according to the means by which members of the organisation comply.
Coercive power relies on the use of threats, or physical sanctions or force, for example,
controlling the need for food or comfort.

power involves the manipulation of material resources and rewards, for


example, through salaries and wages.
Normative power relies on the allocation and the manipulation of symbolic rewards, for
example, esteem and prestige.
Figure 17.4 Organisational relationships and compliance
Remunerative

Source: Adapted with the permission of The Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. from Etzioni, A. A Comparative Analysis of
Complex Organizations, Revised edition, Free Press (1975), p. 12. Copyright 1975 by Amitai Etzioni. Copyright 1961 by The Free
Press. All rights reserved.

PART 6 ORGANISATION MANAGEMENT

676

Involvement is the degree of commitment by members to the organisation.


Alienative involvement occurs where members are involved against their wishes. There is
a strong negative orientation towards the organisation.
Calculative involvement occurs where attachment to the organisation is motivated by
extrinsic rewards. There is either a negative orientation or a low positive orientation
towards the organisation.
Moral involvement is based on the individuals belief in, and value placed on, the goals
of the organisation. There is high positive orientation towards the organisation.
Matching power with involvement
When considered together, nine logical types of organisational relationships and compliance
result from this typology (see Figure 17.4). Based on this analysis, Etzioni suggests that
a particular kind of power usually goes with a particular kind of involvement:
coercive power with alienative involvement relationship 1 (typified, for example, by
prisons);
remunerative power with calculative involvement relationship 5 (typified, for example,
by business firms);
normative power with moral involvement relationship 9 (typified, for example, by
churches).
The matching of these kinds of power and involvement is congruent with each other and
represents the most common form of compliance in organisations. The other six types of
organisational relationships are incongruent. Etzioni suggests that organisations with congruent
compliance structures will be more effective than organisations with incongruent
structures.

PERSPECTIVES OF ORGANISATIONAL POWER

There are many potential sources of power which enable members of an organisation to
further their own interests and which provide a means of resolving conflicts. Sources of
organisational power include, for example, structure, formal authority, rules and regulations,
standing orders, control of the decision-making process, control of resources and technology,
control of information or knowledge, trade unions and staff organisations, age coupled with
experience, gender and the informal organisation.
CHAPTER 17 ORGANISATIONAL CONTROL AND POWER

677

Gender and power


You may recall the suggestion of the sex power differential as part of the evaluation of the
Hawthorne experiments, discussed in Chapter 2.
An example of gender and power is given by the Equality and Human Rights Commission
who report on a survey on women in positions of power and influence. The survey found
a glaring example of the lack of women in senior positions of power, including those in the
civil service, top management, senior positions in the judiciary, directors of FTSE companies,
Members of Parliament, and senior appointments in local authorities, the armed forces and
the police force.
Britain cannot as an economy afford to go on asking people to fit their families around the demands of
ever-more intense 24/7 global competition, and marginalizing or rejecting workers who fail to fit into
traditional and inflexible working arrangements. Only when we get this right will we see women as
well as men making it into positions of real power and influence. 30

Different levels of power

Power can also be viewed in terms of the different levels at which it is constituted. Fincham
looks at organisational power in terms of three types or levels of analysis: processual,
institutional and organisational.31

At

the processual level power originates in the process of daily interaction. The level of
analysis is that of lateral relations between management interest groups and the basis of
explanation is strategic. Processual power focuses on the micro-politics of organisational
life. It stresses power as negotiation and bargaining, and the enactment of rules and how
resources are employed in the power game.
At the institutional level managerial power is seen as resting on external social and
economic structures that create beliefs about the inevitability of managerial authority.
Power is explained as being mandated to the organisation. When managers seek to
exercise power they can draw on a set of institutionally produced rules such as cultural
beliefs about the right to manage.
The organisational level stresses the organisations own power system and the hierarchy
as a means of reproducing power. Dominant beliefs, values and knowledge shape organisational
priorities and solutions or reflect the interests of particular groups or functions.
Those in authority select others to sustain the existing power structure. Organisational
hierarchies transmit power between the institutional interests and the rules and resources
governing action.

Organisational sources of power

Pfeffer has identified a number of critical ways in which individuals or groups may acquire
power in organisations when viewed as social entities:
providing resources for example money, prestige, legitimacy, rewards and sanctions,
and expertise that create a dependency on the part of other people;
coping with uncertainty the ability to permit the rationalisation of organisational
activity, for example through standard operating procedures, or to reduce uncertainty or
unpredictability;
being irreplaceable having exclusive training, knowledge or expertise that cannot
readily be acquired by others, or through the use of or lack of adequate documentation
or specialised language and symbols;
affecting decision processes the ability to affect some part of the decision process, for
example by the basic values and objectives used in making the decision, or by controlling
alternative choices;
by consensus the extent to which individuals share a common perspective, set of values
or definition of the situation, or consensus concerning knowledge and technology.32
PART 6 ORGANISATION MANAGEMENT

678

PLURALISTIC APPROACHES TO POWER


In Chapter 10 we discussed a classification by French and Raven of social power based on
a broader perception of leadership influence.32 French and Raven identified five main sources
of power:
reward power;
coercive power;
legitimate power;
referent power;
expert power.
Power, however, arises not only from sources of structure or formal position within the
organisation but from interpersonal sources such as the personality, characteristics and
talents of individual members of the organisation. For example, in Chapter 10 we also
discussed charisma, or personal power, as a feature of transformational leadership. We can
also distinguish between legitimate (organisational) power, which derives from a persons
position within the formal structure of the organisation and the managerial hierarchy of
command, and personal (informal) power, which derives from the individual and is in the
eye of the beholders who believe that person has the ability to influence other people or
events and to make things happen.
The exercise of power is, then, a social process that derives from a multiplicity of sources
and situations.34 This suggests a more pluralistic approach and recognises power as a major
organisational variable. Many different groups and individuals have the ability to influence
the behaviour and actions of other people, and in a number of different ways. This is not
a new concept, however. In the 1920s the renowned management writer Mary Parker Follett
focused on a human behaviour aspect, rejected the notion of domination and the exercise

of power over other people, and argued for developing power with others in the organisation
to make things happen. Effective control over work processes and social relationships would
be achieved through group power and co-operative management. Follett advocated the
replacement of personal power with the authority of task or function, and successful
management based on the law of the situation

Hiring and the halo-effect trap and Stereotyping.


The halo effect is a term coined by psychologist Edward Thorndike to describe the way people
subconsciously bias themselves to like other people.
In a hiring context, it refers to the tendency to let an interviewees good qualities or at least those
we approve of, smudge our perception of their less attractive ones.
In short, we give them a halo that might just be hiding their horns. Our job as interviewers is to
look for the reasons for hiring them and the risks in doing so. The halo effect blinds us to the
risk.
This can be based on virtually any positive assessment we make of them or preference we might
have, including gender, race, ethnicity, height, looks, hair colour, accent, hobbies, values,
behaviours or attitudes.
Why do we do this?

We tend to like people who are like us, and who we think will like us in return. Right or wrong,
we are genetically programmed to value similarity and fear difference or unfamiliarity, so we
show bias towards candidates who remind us of others with whom weve had positive
experiences.
Second, once weve decided we like someone, our brains go about finding reasons to continue
liking them. Its called confirmation bias we like to be right because it improves our sense of
confidence in our own efficacy.
How do we stop this from impacting our hiring decisions?

There are several ways to make the hiring process more robust:

Make sure that different people handle different levels of the selection
process, with one team screening resumes and another team conducting
interviews.

Have at least three people on a hiring panel; keep each persons ratings
secret from the others, and avoid discussion.

Conduct several interviews a preliminary one, a full panel interview, and a


work interview or a short trial during which the person is paid to work with
the team for a few days.

Have an off-team or independent interviewer there who has no reason to


halo the candidate, as they wont be working with them.

Make your screening and testing process rigorous, particularly in regard to


key performance indicators (KPIs).

The halo effect can mean making the wrong choice and missing out on the best candidate or even
ending up with a real problem. Your best defence is awareness of your own biases.

You Know What They Say About Assuming Avoiding


Stereotypes During the Interview
April 1st, 2013

By David Allen, Snelling.com

Everyone does it. We make assumptions (and you know what they say about assumptions!); then
we use those assumptions to make decisions. Sometimes we are lucky and everything works out
fine; sometimes we are wrong dead wrong.
This happens during the interview processusually (according to Monster) within the initial 30
minutes when the candidate and hiring manager first meet in person. As hiring managers, we
attempt to mix what we know about an applicant on paper with the person sitting in front of us.
Sometimes we make judgments quickly sometimes too quickly, based on 1 or 2 comments or
actions, or simply by looking at a candidate.
Stereotypes, Biases, PreconceptionsOh, my.
We all carry prejudices and stereotypes in our head. The accuracy, validity and/or righteousness
of those feelings are beyond the scope of this blog, which is simply trying to help you to identify
stereotypes and negate their effects during the interview.

Some of the more common stereotypes include:

Applicants appearance makes him/her seem unable to do the job.

Applicants age indicates that they will (not) be technically savvy.

Shy applicants will not perform well on the job.

Macho female applicants should learn to be more feminine.

Older workers will have health issues.

What Can You Do?


As the hiring manager, it is your responsibility to minimize any/all stereotypes during the
interview process. Remember, your goal is to find the best-fit candidatenot the one with the
right hairstyle or the one who is the right age. Some steps you can take are:

Create an accurate job description and then use it as the basis for your
interview. Interviewers who go into an interview cold are more likely to
make stereotypical judgments about candidates than interviewers who have
detailed information about the job.

Identify your individual scope and work with all interviewers to identify the
scope of their individual interviews. What topics and areas of interest do
each of them want to cover? What questions do they want to ask? Outline
their interview, and help them focus on only asking interview- related
questions. These questions should be:
o

Reflective of the job and tied to the competencies laid out in that (wellwritten) job description

Open-ended

Clear and concise and free of industry or company jargon

Train, train, train. The truth is that many interviewers are inexperienced and
unable to conduct effective interviews. Work with all your managers so that
everyone is trained on a variety of interview strategies and tactics, including
how to avoid stereotyping applicants.

During the interview:


o

Heed Monster.coms advice of the 30 minute window. Vow never to


make a hiring decision within those first 30 minutes. Revisit your
impressions after they have expired. According to Monster, about 1/3

of candidates will appear stronger, 1/3 will appear weaker and 1/3 will
appear the same.
o

Focus on comparable accomplishments. Ask questions that allow you


to write (and later compare) concrete, results-oriented achievements.

You Can Be Stereotyped Too


Remember, interviewing is a two-way street. While you are evaluating applicants, they are also
evaluating you. First impressions are crucial for both you and the person sitting across from
you. No one wants to be negatively stereotyped. Superficial factors such as clothing, hairstyle,
or the fact that you are both alumni from the same college should be avoided. Even interviewers
can be pegged into the same stereotypes that everyone looks to avoid.intimidating, aggressive,
condescending.
Keep Perspective
Dont write off a bad first impression as a deal-breaker. First impressions are simply that first
impressions. Making assumptions about the way the candidate is dressed (did they have to take
off time from their current job and therefore are dressed according to that dress code?) or any
other superficial element could mean that you are walking away from a Peyton Manning of
your industry.
If you are in doubt, dig deeper. Bring the candidate back in for the second more in-depth
interview. Invite them to shadow you or one of their potential peers around the office. Work to
figure out if that nagging issue is truly relevant to the position or is just a
stereotype/bias/prejudice. If it is the latter, then let it go and move forward

The New Public Management Approach and Crisis States


New public management (NPM), management techniques and practices drawn
mainly from the private sector, is increasingly seen as a global phenomenon. NPM
reforms shift the emphasis from traditional public administration to public
management. Key elements include various forms of decentralizing management
within public services (e.g., the creation of autonomous agencies and devolution of
budgets and financial control), increasing use of markets and competition in the
provision of public services (e.g., contracting out and other market-type

mechanisms), and increasing emphasis on performance, outputs and customer


orientation.
NPM reforms have been driven by a combination of economic, social, political and
technological factors. A common feature of countries going down the NPM route has
been the experience of economic and fiscal crises, which triggered the quest for
efficiency and for ways to cut the cost of delivering public services. The crisis of the
welfare state led to questions about the role and institutional character of the state.
In the case of most developing countries, reforms in public administration and
management have been driven more by external pressures and have taken place in
the context of structural adjustment programmes. Other drivers of NPM-type
reforms include the ascendancy of neoliberal ideas from the late 1970s, the
development of information technology, and the growth and use of international
management consultants as advisors on reforms. Additional factors, in the case of
developing countries, include lending conditionalities and the increasing emphasis
on good governance.
Until recently, NPM was largely seen as a developed country, particularly AngloSaxon, phenomenon. The 1990s have, however, seen applications of variants of
NPM techniques and practices in some developing and transitional economies.
Elements discussed in this paper include management decentralization within public
services, downsizing, performance contracting, contracting out and user charges.
These are being applied in crisis states, but not in a very comprehensive and
consistent manner.
Downsizing and user fees have been most widely introduced, especially in Africa,
and have been closely associated with structural adjustment programmes.
Autonomous agencies within the public sector are being created in some countries.
Examples include autonomous hospitals in Ghana, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, as well
as the hiving-off of the customs and excise, and internal revenue departments to
form executive agencies in Ghana and Uganda.
Performance contracting and contracting out have become common policy options
in a number of crisis states. The latter has been adopted as an instrument to reform
state-owned enterprises (SOEs), granting SOE managers more operational freedom
while holding them accountable for the performance of the enterprises through a
system of rewards and sanctions. Performance contracts are used across a number
of sectors including utilities, transport, telecommunications and agriculture (e.g., in
Ghana, Bolivia, Senegal and India). Contracting out is increasingly being adopted in
the delivery of public services including urban services (e.g., solid waste
management), ancillary health services such as cleaning, laundry and catering (e.g.,
in Zimbabwe), and road maintenance.
While the adoption of these NPM practices seems to have been beneficial in some

cases (e.g., cost savings in contracting out road maintenance in some African
countries and in Brazil), there are both potential for and real limitations to applying
some elements in crisis states. The limited experience of NPM in such states
suggests that there are institutional and other problems whose persistence may be
binding constraints on implementation. The capacity concerns include the ability to
manage a network of contracts, the development of monitoring and reporting
systems, and the difficult governance and institutional environment which may
constrain implementation capacity.
While the new public management approach may not be a panacea for the
problems of the public sector in crisis states, a careful and selective adaptation of
some elements to selected sectors may be beneficial.

New Public Management in Pakistan


Introduction
Reforming the government is a global phenomenon as every country is confronted with almost
similar challenges and problems brought about by globalization, technological developments,
financial constraints, and rising public expectations. The World Development Report (1997)
points to the need for strengthening institutions as necessary mechanisms for creating an
enabling environment for markets to function efficiently. There is, however, general consensus
that governments around the globe are not performing as they should, hence the need for reform
(Polidano et al. 1999). In recent years international organizations such as the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations have assumed leadership roles in reform of
the state (Kamarck 2003) with two objectives: First, to strike a balance between public and
private sectors on the basis of social, political, and economic factors unique to each country; and
Two, to make the governments efficient, responsive, and accountable in performing their
functions. Reforms may be undertaken to fight corruption (Larmour, 1997) and/or to modernize
large, outmoded bureaucracies and bring them into the information age and democratic order
(Ray et al, 1996). Various labels such as reinvention, modernization, new public management,
and capacity building are used for such reform efforts in both developed and developing
countries. The global government reform movement, under the umbrella of NPM (New Public
Management) has gained prominence in recent years. NPM advocates managerial autonomy,
performance-based contracts, structural disaggregation, introduction of private sector
management practices, and financial discipline (Hood 1991).
Pakistan has embarked upon a number of economic, social, and administrative reforms since
early 1950s to make the country vibrant and competitive in the new world. In Pakistan, public
administration reform has always been a key development priority because of the widespread

perception that public administration, designed for serving the interests of colonial masters,
cannot take up the responsibilities of a state created for the socio-economic well-being of its
citizens (Gladieux Report 1955). Despite the interest and rhetoric, the reform attempts in
Pakistan have not yielded the desired results. One of the major reasons for failure of PSMR is the
lack of indigenous model that informs and guides formulation, implementation, and evaluation of
reforms. Generally, reform models (such as NPM) have been borrowed from other countries
(especially the US) and implemented without taking into account the local context (Polidano et
al. 1999). The result has been a mismatch between the context and reform intervention. In
particular, the implementation phase has not received due attention of the policy-makers (Pollitt.
2004). The study in question attempts to come up with a contextual model for reforms
implementation in the Pakistan with focus on autonomous/semi-autonomous agencies created
since 1980s. The proposed model can help increase the chances of reforms success by bringing
into sharp focus the factors that make or mar reform efforts at the implementation stage.
Problem Statement
Reforms in Pakistan have generally been driven by the need to restructure public organizations to
redefine their purpose, enhance accountability, provide incentives, re-organize distribution of
power, and change the organizational culture (Cheema et al. 2005). According to Charles
Polidano (2001) most reforms in government fail. They do not fail because, once implemented,
they yield unsatisfactory outcomes. They fail because they never get past the implementation
stage at all (Hill et al. 2002). They are blocked outright by vested interests or put into effect only
in halfhearted fashion. The difficulty is that quite often, the prescriptions that are offered have as
much to do with the content of reform (what sort of initiatives should be taken) as with the
approach (Jacobs 1998)
Douglas McGregor
Theory X and Theory Y

Douglas McGregor in his book, "The Human Side of Enterprise" published in 1960 has
examined theories on behavior of individuals at work, and he has formulated two models which
he calls Theory X and Theory Y.
Theory X Assumptions

The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can.

Because of their dislike for work, most people must be controlled and
threatened before they will work hard enough.

The average human prefers to be directed, dislikes responsibility, is


unambiguous, and desires security above everything.

These assumptions lie behind most organizational principles today, and give
rise both to "tough" management with punishments and tight controls, and
"soft" management which aims at harmony at work.

Both these are "wrong" because man needs more than financial rewards at
work, he also needs some deeper higher order motivation - the opportunity to
fulfill himself.

Theory X managers do not give their staff this opportunity so that the
employees behave in the expected fashion.

Theory Y Assumptions

The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or


rest.

Control and punishment are not the only ways to make people work, man will
direct himself if he is committed to the aims of the organization.

If a job is satisfying, then the result will be commitment to the organization.

The average man learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but to
seek responsibility.

Imagination, creativity, and ingenuity can be used to solve work problems by


a large number of employees.

Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of


the average man are only partially utilized.

Comments on Theory X and Theory Y Assumptions

These assumptions are based on social science research which has been carried out, and
demonstrate the potential which is present in man and which organizations should recognize in
order to become more effective.
McGregor sees these two theories as two quite separate attitudes. Theory Y is difficult to put into
practice on the shop floor in large mass production operations, but it can be used initially in the
managing of managers and professionals.
In "The Human Side of Enterprise" McGregor shows how Theory Y affects the management of
promotions and salaries and the development of effective managers. McGregor also sees Theory
Y as conducive to participative problem solving.
It is part of the manager's job to exercise authority, and there are cases in which this is the only
method of achieving the desired results because subordinates do not agree that the ends are
desirable.

However, in situations where it is possible to obtain commitment to objectives, it is better to


explain the matter fully so that employees grasp the purpose of an action. They will then exert
self-direction and control to do better work - quite possibly by better methods - than if they had
simply been carrying out an order which the y did not fully understand.
The situation in which employees can be consulted is one where the individuals are emotionally
mature, and positively motivated towards their work; where the work is sufficiently responsible
to allow for flexibility and where the employee can see her or his own position in the
management hierarchy. If these conditions are present, managers will find that the participative
approach to problem solving leads to much improved results compared with the alternative
approach of handing out authoritarian orders.
Once management becomes persuaded that it is under estimating the potential of its human
resources, and accepts the knowledge given by social science researchers and displayed in
Theory Y assumptions, then it can invest time, money and effort in developing improved
applications of the theory.
McGregor realizes that some of the theories he has put forward are unrealizable in practice, but
wants managers to put into operation the basic assumption that:

Staff will contribute more to the organization if they are treated as


responsible and valued employees.

Public administration, the implementation of Public


policies
Public administration, the implementation of government policies. Today public
administration is often regarded as including also some responsibility for determining
the policies and programs of governments. Specifically, it is the planning, organizing,
directing, coordinating, and controlling of governmentoperations.
Public administration is a feature of all nations, whatever their system of government.
Within nations public administration is practiced at the central, intermediate, and local
levels. Indeed, the relationships between different levels of government within a single
nation constitute a growing problem of public administration.
In most of the world the establishment of highly trained administrative, executive, or
directive classes has made public administration a distinct profession. The body of

public administrators is usually called the civil service. In the United States and a few
other countries, the elitist class connotation traditionally attached to the civil service has
been either consciously abandoned or avoided, with the result that professional
recognition has come slowly and only partially.
Traditionally the civil service is contrasted with other bodies serving the state full time,
such as the military, the judiciary, and the police. Specialized services, sometimes
referred to as scientific or professional civil services, provide technical rather than
general administrative support. Traditionally, in most countries, a distinction is also
made between the home civil service and those persons engaged abroad on diplomatic
duties. A civil servant, therefore, is one of a body of persons who are directly employed
in the administration of the internal affairs of the state and whose role and status are not
political, ministerial, military, or constabulary.
In most countries the civil service does not include local government or public
corporations, such as, in the United Kingdom, the National Coal Board. In some
countries, howeverparticularly those unitary states in which provincial administration
is part of the central governmentsome provincial staffs are civil servants. In the United
States, all levels of government have their own civil services, federal, state, and local,
and a civil service is specifically that part of governmental service entered by
examination and offering permanent tenure.
Certain characteristics are common to all civil services. Senior civil servants are
regarded as the professional advisers to those who formulate state policy. In some
countries entry requirements for a career in the higher civil service stress qualifications
in technical fields such as accounting, economics, medicine, and engineering. In other
countries legal training is deemed appropriate, and in others no specific technical or
academic discipline is required among candidates for senior posts. Whatever their
precise qualifications, senior civil servants are professional in the sense that their
experience of public affairs is thought to provide them with the knowledge of the limits
within which state policy can be made effective and of the probable administrative
results of different courses of action. Civil servants in every country are expected to
advise, warn, and assist those responsible for state policy and, when this has been
decided, to provide the organization for implementing it. The responsibility for policy
decisions lies with the political members of the executive (those members who have
been elected or appointed to give political direction to government and, customarily,

career civil servants). By custom, civil servants are protected from public blame or
censure for their advice. The acts of their administration may, however, be subject to
special judicial controls from which no member of the executive can defend them.
Civil services are organized upon standard hierarchical lines, in which a command
structure rises pyramid-fashion from the lowest offices to the highest. This command
implies obedience to the lawful orders of a superior, and in order to maintain this system
the hierarchy of offices is marked by fixed positions, with well-defined duties, specific
powers, and salaries and privileges objectively assessed. In some countries there may
be direct appointment to higher office of persons not previously employed by the
service, but even then a recognized system of internal promotion emphasizes the
nature of the hierarchical pyramid.
This article discusses the growth of public administration through history as well as its
development under different political systems. Special attention is paid to the problems
of administrative law and bureaucratic structure. For discussion of a subject integral to
public administration, see government economic policy. For further discussion of the
various regimes under which public administration operates,

maslow's hierarchy of needs


Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs motivational model

Abraham Maslow developed the Hierarchy of Needs model in 1940-50s USA, and the Hierarchy
of Needs theory remains valid today for understanding human motivation, management training,
and personal development. Indeed, Maslow's ideas surrounding the Hierarchy of Needs,
concerning the responsibility of employers to provide a workplace environment that encourages
and enables employees to fulfil their own unique potential (self-actualization), are today more
relevant than ever. Abraham Maslow's book Motivation and Personality, published in 1954
(second edition 1970) introduced the Hierarchy of Needs, and Maslow extended his ideas in
other work, notably his later book Toward A Psychology Of Being, a significant and relevant
commentary, which has been revised in recent times by Richard Lowry, who is in his own right a
leading academic in the field of motivational psychology.
Abraham Maslow was born in New York in 1908 and died in 1970, although various publications
appear in Maslow's name in later years. Maslow's PhD in psychology in 1934 at the University
of Wisconsin formed the basis of his motivational research, initially studying rhesus monkeys.
Maslow later moved to New York's Brooklyn College.

The Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs five-stage model below (structure and terminology - not the
precise pyramid diagram itself) is clearly and directly attributable to Maslow; later versions of
the theory with added motivational stages are not so clearly attributable to Maslow. These
extended models have instead been inferred by others from Maslow's work. Specifically Maslow
refers to the needs Cognitive, Aesthetic and Transcendence (subsequently shown as distinct
needs levels in some interpretations of his theory) as additional aspects of motivation, but not as
distinct levels in the Hierarchy of Needs.

Where Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is shown with more than five levels these models have been
extended through interpretation of Maslow's work by other people. These augmented models and
diagrams are shown as the adapted seven and eight-stage Hierarchy of Needs pyramid diagrams
and models below.
There have been very many interpretations of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in the form of
pyramid diagrams. The diagrams on this page are my own interpretations and are not offered as
Maslow's original work. Interestingly in Maslow's book Motivation and Personality, which first
introduced the Hierarchy of Needs, there is not a pyramid to be seen.
Free Hierarchy of Needs diagrams in pdf and doc formats similar to the image below are
available from this page.
See also the free Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Quiz, which can be used to test/reinforce the
learning offered in this article.

(N.B. The word Actualization/Actualisation can be spelt either way. Z is preferred in American
English. S is preferred in UK English. Both forms are used in this page to enable keyword
searching for either spelling via search engines.)

maslow's hierarchy of needs

Each of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic needs are inborn, having evolved over tens of
thousands of years. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs helps to explain how these needs
motivate us all.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first,
which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself.
Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we
concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development.
Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer
concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs.
Maslow's original Hierarchy of Needs model was developed between 1943-1954, and first
widely published in Motivation and Personality in 1954. At this time the Hierarchy of Needs
model comprised five needs. This original version remains for most people the definitive
Hierarchy of Needs.

maslow's hierarchy of needs - free pdf diagram and free doc diagram

1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.
2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc.
3. Belongingness and Love needs - work group, family, affection, relationships, etc.
4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige,
managerial responsibility, etc.
5. Self-Actualization needs - realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal
growth and peak experiences.

This is the definitive and original Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.


While Maslow referred to various additional aspects of motivation, he expressed the Hierarchy
of Needs in these five clear stages.

Here is a quick simple self-test based on the original Maslow's 5-level Hierarchy of Needs. It's
not a scientific or validated instrument - merely a quick indicator, which can be used for selfawareness, discussion, etc.

Pakistan Public Bureaucracy


Webers bureaucracy model

difference

from

How we think of Bureaucracy


Bureaucracies try to expand authority
Bureaucracies try to develop political constituencies
Bureaucracies fight over jurisdiction
The spend it or lose it mentality
Bureaucracies expand their internal work
Bureaucracies become protective and aloof

The colonial legacy is evident even in the inherited negative


features of bureaucracy such as elitism, paternalism,
despotism, dis- trust, centralization, secrecy, formalism,
aloofness, hierarchical rigidity, and urban bias.

This legacy was perpetuated further through the arrangement


of foreign study programs, establishment of administrative
training institutions, employment of foreign experts, and
adoption of bureaucratic reforms based on Western technical
assistance.

All these components constituted the so-called development


administration field, which remained distinctively Western in
terms of a practical policy guideline and intellectual paradigm,
and it allegedly became the mechanism to preserve Western
dominance over developing countries and prevent them from
being influenced by communist ideology.

Most developing nations adopted such Western bureaucratic


models without experiencing similar socio- historical events
and contextual realities.

THE
NATURE
AND
DIMENSIONS
BUREAUCRACY-SOCIETY INCONGRUITY

OF

In developing countries, the above incompatibility between the


bureaucratic superstructure and the remaining social
formation is manifested in three major dimensions of
incongruity,

including the incongruity between bureaucracy and politics,

between bureaucracy and economy,

and between bureaucracy and culture.

As a result, the political representatives have become more


dependent on bureaucratic experts, leading to a form of
incongruity between the expansive power of bureaucracy and
the diminishing power of political representatives.

The military intervention in politics created a vicious cycle of


political underdevelopment because the military emphasized
strong state apparatus, order, professionalism, and discipline,
but undermined political
mobilization, pluralism, and
spontaneity.

The purpose of citing these examples is to make a point that in


developing countries, there is incongruity between the rhetoric
of political neutrality of state bureaucracy and the reality of its
politicized nature and role.

Pakistans prime need a real bureaucracy

Yet, the question is why the Pakistani bureaucracy is so ill


organized?

The paradox is that if the state has to provide services, administer


justice, maintain law and order and bring about prosperity, and if it
has to be effective, it has to have a good bureaucracy

A country of 180 million people cannot be managed as a tribe


on the basis of personal dealings and Jirga morality.

It needs rulesbased and impersonal decision-making, which is the


hallmark of a real bureaucracy

To rebuild Pakistan, the first priority should be to restructure


the bureaucracy, because that is the machine that maintains
law
and
order,
implements public policies and produces services.

Pakistans civil services worked relatively effectively until the


1960s.

The British legacy of requiring public servants to resist social


pressures and act according to rules lasted a few years after
1947.

But our clannish tendencies could not bear the relative


neutrality and inapproachability of civil servants.

Steadily, the walls between the public and private


interests were breached. Thus began the rot of public services,
which continues unabated.

Public servants began to be rewarded and punished for their


willingness to collude with politicians, notables and the
military.

The deadly blow to the bureaucracys professionalism and


integrity was given by the democratic regime of 70s, which
removed the constitutional security of tenure for civil
servants.

After that
retire began
submission.

the
authority
to be used to

to
beat

post,
public

transfer
officials

or
into

Not that political rulers should have no part in public


administration. They lay down the laws, define objectives and
decide strategic policies. Yet, transforming laws and policies into
actions is the job of professional bureaucracy, to be carried in
transparent and accountable ways.

What is good governance?


There is no single and exhaustive definition of good governance, nor is there a delimitation of
its scope, that commands universal acceptance. The term is used with great flexibility; this is an
advantage, but also a source of some difficulty at the operational level. Depending on the context
and the overriding objective sought, good governance has been said at various times to
encompass: full respect of human rights, the rule of law, effective participation, multi-actor
partnerships, political pluralism, transparent and accountable processes and institutions, an
efficient and effective public sector, legitimacy, access to knowledge, information and education,
political empowerment of people, equity, sustainability, and attitudes and values that foster
responsibility, solidarity and tolerance.
However, there is a significant degree of consensus that good governance relates to political and
institutional processes and outcomes that are deemed necessary to achieve the goals of
development. It has been said that good governance is the process whereby public institutions
conduct public affairs, manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in
a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption, and with due regard for the rule of law. The
true test of "good" governance is the degree to which it delivers on the promise of human rights:
civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. The key question is: are the institutions of
governance effectively guaranteeing the right to health, adequate housing, sufficient food, quality
education, fair justice and personal security?
Key attributes of good governance
The concept of good governance has been clarified by the work of the former Commission on
Human Rights. In its resolution 2000/64, the Commission identified the key attributes of good
governance:

transparency

responsibility

accountability

participation

responsiveness (to the needs of the people)

By linking good governance to sustainable human development, emphasizing principles such as


accountability, participation and the enjoyment of human rights, and rejecting prescriptive
approaches to development assistance, the resolution stands as an implicit endorsement of the
rights-based approach to development.
Resolution 2000/64 expressly linked good governance to an enabling environment conducive to
the enjoyment of human rights and "prompting growth and sustainable human development." In

underscoring the importance of development cooperation for securing good governance in


countries in need of external support, the resolution recognized the value of partnership
approaches to development cooperation and the inappropriateness of prescriptive approaches.
How are good governance and human rights linked?
Good governance and human rights are mutually reinforcing. Human rights principles provide a
set of values to guide the work of governments and other political and social actors. They also
provide a set of performance standards against which these actors can be held accountable.
Moreover, human rights principles inform the content of good governance efforts: they may
inform the development of legislative frameworks, policies, programmes, budgetary allocations
and
other
measures.
On the other hand, without good governance, human rights cannot be respected and protected in
a sustainable manner. The implementation of human rights relies on a conducive and enabling
environment. This includes appropriate legal frameworks and institutions as well as political,
managerial and administrative processes responsible for responding to the rights and needs of the
population.
The links between good governance and human rights can be organized around four areas:

Democratic institutions

When led by human rights values, good governance reforms of democratic institutionscreate
avenues for the public to participate in policymaking either throughformal institutions or
informal consultations. They also establish mechanisms forthe inclusion of multiple social
groups in decision-making processes, especiallylocally. Finally, they may encourage civil society
and local communities to formulateand express their positions on issues of importance to them.

Service delivery

In the realm of delivering state services to the public, good governance reforms advance human
rights when they improve the states capacity to fulfil its responsibility to provide public goods
which are essential for the protection of a number of human rights, such as the right to education,
health and food. Reform initiatives may include mechanisms of accountability and transparency,
culturally sensitive policy tools to ensure that services are accessible and acceptable to all, and
paths for public participation in decision-making.

Rule of law

When it comes to the rule of law, human rights-sensitive good governance initiatives reform
legislation and assist institutions ranging from penal systems to courts and parliaments to better
implement that legislation. Good governance initiatives may include advocacy for legal reform,
public awareness-raising on the national and international legal framework, and capacitybuilding or reform of institutions.

Anti-Corruption

In fighting corruption, good governance efforts rely on principles such as accountability,


transparency and participation to shape anti-corruption measures. Initiatives may include
establishing institutions such as anti-corruption commissions, creating mechanisms of
information sharing, and monitoring governments use of public funds and implementation of
policies.

Local governments and service


delivery
Poverty takes many forms, and demands a corresponding breadth of
responses. Making
services accessible to the poor is integral to the effort to achieve the MDGs.
Basic
government services allow people to be productive members of society;
therefore, the
provision of fundamentals like agricultural support and irrigation, roads,
health, and
primary education are essential for accelerating attainment of the MDGs. For
citizens that
face adversity, the provision of social protection is particularly important.
Government
services in the fields of economic development and culture, for instance, are
also deemed
to be public goods that bring benefits to individuals and communities.
Substantial improvements in the provision of public services are key to
achieving most
of the MDGs. For example, most child deaths in developing countries could
be prevented
through the implementation of effective and low-cost public health
interventions, such
as the provision of free vaccinations. As such, attaining the MDGs will require
financial
resources, although the solution is not just about allocating more money.
Effective
delivery is situation-specific and requires tailored delivery arrangements that
fuse the
efforts of state and non-state actors. Each of these actors also needs to
better assess
their challenges and determine suitable and sustainable service delivery
responses.
Additionally, effective delivery requires good governance and performance
management,
so that funds are directed quickly to the most urgent needs, and incentives
enable service
providers to make good use of available resources.

What are the main actors involved in public service delivery?


The national government is not the sole actor in public service delivery. The
private
sector, communities and civil society should all play important roles in
shaping demand,
developing state policies, and delivering services. The relationship amongst
these actors
shifts as the state consolidates or weakens, democracy finds roots, and
citizens become
more assertive.
In recent decades, national governments have increasingly shared the
responsibility
for service provision with the local governments, in a variety of
intergovernmental
public arrangements that aim to increase the accountability and
responsiveness of
service delivery. In a developing country context, governments have
experimented with
different forms of decentralization to bring service delivery closer to the
people. They
have been assisted by a variety of development partners, including the main
multilateral
and bilateral agencies. Some decentralization reforms include approaches
that increase
the supply and quality of local government services, while others stimulate
the demand
forand community oversight oflocal government services. Several of
these reforms
are proving promising.
11

Pursuing the MDGs through local government

How can local governments contribute to effective public service


delivery?
Around the world, developing and developed countries alike have observed
that
decentralized service delivery can result in quicker gains than with
centralized systems.
It is important to note that the national governments have several options in
this regard.
In many countries, central government ministries responsible for service
delivery have
created field offices and delegated more decisions and resources to their
local staffa
process referred to as deconcentration. In principle, a well-deconcentrated
government

system is able to increase the total amount of resources available for propoor public
services and can allocate these resources across the national stage in
accordance with
where local needs are greatest. Yet while deconcentrated units are
potentially able to
adopt more efficient management practices and link more closely with local
stakeholders,
they are unable to achieve the same degree of responsiveness and
downward
accountability that is possible in a public sector where public services are
delivered by
elected local governments.
The strongest form of decentralization is achieved by employing devolution,
in which
elected local governments are empowered, either by the acknowledgement
of general
competences in certain policy areas, or by the transfer of specific service
delivery
functions. The global trend has been toward the development of elected
forms of local
government that have, in addition to their vertical accountability, a strong
public service
delivery role and direct accountability to its citizens. Where devolution is the
chosen
mode, central authorities typically retain some involvement over the
functions assigned
to the local level (for instance, by setting national service delivery standards,
supervising
and providing support), but still grant the local governments the main
responsibility of
providing the public service.
The weight of public service responsibilities and the degree of autonomy
acquired by local
government varies greatly from country to country. There is widespread
acknowledgment
that local governments are well-situated, but need to be more empowered to
make a
contribution to the achievement of the MDGs. Local governments that are
large, urban,
well-established and have a productive economic base are in the forefront of
this effort.
Conversely, new, small and poorly supported local governments struggle to
take on
meaningful service functions.

Meaning of Human Resource Management HRM

HRM means to Select, Develop, Motivate and Maintain human resources, in the organisation. It
first selects the right human resources or staff (i.e. managers and employees). It trains and
develops them. It motivates them by giving them recognition and rewards. It also provides them
with the best working conditions.

Image Credits HRM At WORK.


HRM is directly concerned with the "people" of the organisation. It is people oriented process.
That is, it manages people at work.

Features of Human Resource Management HRM


Following is the nature or features of Human Resource Management HRM :-

1. HRM as a Process
HRM is a process of four functions :1. Acquisition of human resources : This function includes Human Resource
Planning, Recruitment, Selection, Placement and Induction of staff.

2. Development of human resources : This function includes Training and


Development and Career development. The knowledge, skills, attitudes and
social behavious of the staff are developed.
3. Motivation of human resources : This function includes giving recognition
and rewards to the staff. it also includes Performance Appraisal and handling
the problems of staff.
4. Maintenance of human resources : This function includes providing the
best working conditions for employees. It also looks after the health and
safety of the staff.

2. Continuous Process
HRM is not a one-time process. It is a continuous process. It has to continuously change and
adjust according to the changes in the environment, changes in the expectations of the staff, etc.
HRM has to give continuous training and development to the staff due to changes in technology.

3. Focus on Objectives
HRM gives a lot of importance to achievement of objectives.
The four main objectives HRM has to achieve are :1. Individual objectives of the staff.
2. Group or Departmental objectives.
3. Organisational objectives.
4. Societal objectives.

4. Universal Application
HRM has universal application. That is, it can be used for business as well as for other
organisations such as schools, colleges, hospital, religious organisations, etc.

5. Integrated use of Subsystems


HRM involves the integrated use of sub-systems such as Training and Development, Career
Development, Orgnisational Development, Performance Appraisal, Potential Appraisal, etc. All
these subsystems increase the efficiency of the staff and bring success to the organisation.

6. Multidisciplinary

HRM is multidisciplinary. That is, it uses many different subjects such as Psychology,
Communication, Philosophy, Sociology, Management, Education, etc.

7. Developes Team Spirit


HRM tries to develop the team spirit of the full organisation. Team spirit helps the staff to work
together for achieving the objectives of the organisation. Now-a-days more importance is given
to team work and not to individuals.

8. Develops Staff Potentialities


HRM develops the potentialities of the staff by giving them training and development. This will
make the staff more efficient, and it will give them more job satisfaction.

9. Key Elements for solving problems


Today, we have rapid technological, managerial, economic and social changes. These changes
bring many problems. HRM continuously tries to solve these problems.

10. Long Term Benefits


HRM brings many long term benefits to the individuals (staff), the organisation and the society.
It gives many financial and non-financial benefits to the staff. It improves the image and profits
of the organisation. It also provides a regular supply of good quality goods and services at
reasonable prices to the society.

Scope of Human Resource Management HRM


The Scope of Human Resource Management HRM is discussed below :-

1. Human Resource Planning (HRP)


HRP estimates the manpower demand and manpower supply of the organisation. It compares the
manpower demand and manpower supply. If there is manpower surplus then it gives voluntary
retirement, lay-off, etc. to some employees. If there is manpower shortage then it hires
employees from outside, gives promotion to employees, etc.

2. Acquisition Function
Acquisition function includes Human Resource Planning, Recruitment, Selection, Placement and
Induction of employees. HRM uses the scientific selection procedure for selecting the right man
for the right post. The "right man" is given proper placement and induction.

3. Placement Function
HRM also performs the placement function. Placement is done after selection of employees. It
means to put the right man in the right place of work. Proper placement gives job satisfaction to
the employees, and it increases their efficiency.

4. Performance Appraisal
HRM also conducts a performance appraisal. Performance appraisal is a systematic evaluation of
the employees' performance at work. It informs the employees about their strengths and
weakness. It also advises them about how to increase their strengths and remove their
weaknesses.

5. Career Development
HRM also helps the employees in planning and developing their careers. It informs them about
future promotions and how to get these promotions. It helps them to grow and develop in the
organisation.

6. Training and Development


HRM also provides training and development to the employees. Training means to increase the
knowledge and skills of the employee for doing a particular job. Training given to managers is
called development. So, training is given to employees while development is given to managers.

7. Quality of Work Life (QWL)


HRM also includes Quality of Work Life. QWL is a technique for improving productivity and
quality of work. It involves labour management co-operation, collective bargaining and
participative management.
QWL provides good working conditions, job security, good pay and other facilities such as
flexible working hours, freedom to suggest changes or improvements, etc. OWL creates a sense
of belonging. This benefits the organisation as well as the individual employees.

8. Employees' Welfare
HRM provides employee's welfare. Welfare measures include paid holidays, medical insurance,
canteen facilities, recreation facilities, rest room, transport facilities, etc. Proper and timely
welfare facilities motivate the employees to work hard in the organisation.

9. Compensation Function
Employees must be rewarded and recognised for their performance. HRM makes proper
compensation packages for the employees. These packages motivate the employees and increase
their morale. Rewards are given to individuals, and teams. The rewards may be in the form of
higher pay, bonus, other monetary incentives, and non-monetary incentives such as a certificate
of appreciation, etc.

10. Labour Relations


HRM is also includes industrial relations. It includes union management relations, joint
consultations, negotiating, collective bargaining, grievance handling, disciplinary actions,
settlement of industrial disputes, etc.

11. Maintenance Function


HRM also performs the maintenance function. That is, protecting and promoting the health and
safety of the employees. HRM introduces health and safety measures. It also provides other
benefits such as medical aid, provident fund, pension, gratuity, maternity benefits, accident
compensation, etc., to the employees.

Human Resource Management: Pakistani Scenario


Increasing globalisation and competitiveness have brought to the fore the importance of effective
human resource management for national and international organisations. In recent years, there
has been a remarkable development in HRM throughout the world, however, the majority of
research has focused on HRM in advanced industrial societies. The challenges of management of
HRs in developing countries are complex and demanding.
As the world develops into a global business village, there is a greater need to know how
managers in various parts of the world cope with issues and problems related to management of
human resources. Thus, we must highlight the major factors that impact on HRM policies and
practices in different contexts. Pakistan is the seventh most populous country of the world. At
2.18 percent, it has one of the worlds highest population growth rates, such that in the next
decade its population is expected to surpass 260 million. The total employed labor force is
estimated at 38.18 million, which is only 27.66 percent of the total population. In effect, 41
percent of the total population is under the age of 14. Also, due to slow economic growth for the
past two years, well over 2.36 million people are unemployed.

The economy is agrarian in nature as 46 percent of the labor force is employed in the agricultural
sector. Since the early 1990s, Pakistan has been implementing a comprehensive program of
deregulation and fostering a climate for private investment by opening up activities previously
monopolized by the public sector. Bold steps have been taken to privatize the entire public
sector, including financial institutions and industrial units and lucrative incentives have been
offered for private investment. These efforts, aimed at reversing the trend of nationalization and
improving economic growth, have created a suitable business environment in the country. Public
sector organizations have been marked by a passive management culture. Political patronage
rather than sound business decisions have often determined their operations. Therefore, from the
onset, the private sector was encouraged to develop forward-looking management systems.
However, it was not until 1997 that the government undertook the task of changing the
prevailing corporate culture of public sector enterprises by appointing professional teams of
managers at the top-most hierarchical levels whose task was to change the HRM culture by
making it meritocratic, decentralized and responsive to employees needs , and outlining a unique
program that distinctly outlined the need to refashion a new work culture whose building blocks
are characterized by innovation, quality and discipline.
The initial success of invigorating the economy was dampened by nuclear tests, subsequent
imposition of sanctions by the G-7 countries and frequent changes of governments, with the
result that the economy started to stagnate and the public began to grow disillusioned with the
state of affairs.

HRM in Pakistan is passing though an embryonic stage.A majority of businesses in Pakistan


(both local and foreign) have restructured their personnel divisions as human resource divisions.
However, they do not provide any information about what this change entails. Very few
organizations have adopted an integrated and focused approach to HRM, taking cultural and
structural changes into consideration. In these organizations the role of HRM had been
broadened, HR departments had been brought up to par with other business areas and
communication channels had been opened up.
Whereas, most of the organizations were following a piecemeal approach whereby only certain
HR activities had been introduced in installments. Despite their efforts, most of these
organizations suffer from lack of communication, a gap between managers promises and
implementation of policies and an inconsistency of HRM practices among employees and the
centralized structure of the organizations. Employees have expressed dissatisfaction with the
existing norms. They clearly understood the vital role that HRM played in adding value to the
work environment and building their long-term careers and they aspired for a pro-active,
professional and participatory approach to people management.

Over the years, a number of researchers have highlighted the significance of national factors
(like national culture, work-related values and external environment) in understanding HRM
systems. Research has shown that social institutions such as family, education through
socialization process influence companies strategies and organizational practices in a systematic
way, with the result that companies structures and processes reflect typical national patterns .
Pakistani culture is a mixture of religion, Indian origins, British inheritance and American
influences. It has largely been observed that Pakistani managers want to follow American
management style. American management is considered to be more progressive and resultoriented, whereas British managers are hailed as slow and bureaucratic, trademarks which the
Pakistani civil service seems to have inherited from them.
The corporate culture of Pakistan, like many developing countries, is such that there is a general
unquestioning respect for authority, people are integrated as cohesive groups and are emotional.
Organizations have a formal and hierarchical structure. Policies formulated at head offices are
cascaded down to each office/division for a uniformity of objectives and culture. Employees
cannot approach their HR departments directly. Going through the proper channel is always
stressed. Autonomy given to employees is low and they are not often encouraged to rely on
themselves or to learn new things. There is a communication gap between management and
employees. Typically, HR policies are made in isolation; feedback from employees during
formulation process or afterwards is not sought. Employees seldom know what decisions are
being made at their HR departments as communication between employees and HR departments
is kept to a minimum. The talk of management does not always match their walk. HR
managers are generally praised for their policies but employees expressed dissatisfaction with
their role and impact.
In 1990, a government privatization program was introduced that was deemed a success as
investors interest was sparked and many new enterprises especially in the banking sector were
set up. At the same time, multinationals that had long been operating with a low profile, started
reinvesting in the market through expansion of services or diversification of products. The
government also took initiatives to foster a business-driven culture and to encourage the use of
professional and modern management practices. This created a healthy, profitable and
competitive business environment making the private sector more progressive than the public
sector.
It is apparent that Pakistani organizations and their culture are undergoing a dramatic change.
The public sector organizations that were run on colonial patterns are being revamped. The
private sector is a valuable addition to the business environment, it has added impetus to the
economy, made it more competitive and added a fresh perspective to HRM systems.

HRM holds a promise for employees in Pakistan and is the way forward. Employees recognize
the significant role of HRM and aspire towards it. There seems to be a large amount of room for
growth for HRM activities as the economy develops further. However, it must be emphasized
that the current state of affairsthe uncertain political/economic environment is not conducive
to development. Therefore, political stability, along with rules of good governance, should be
achieved and sustained if Pakistan wants to recognize its peoples needs to enhance their
productivity in order to maximize the full potential of the economy.

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