The organizational form known as bureaucracy tends to be perceived in pejorative terms, but bureaucracies play a vital role in contemporary radiology. Individual radiology departments, hospitals, and national radiology organizations exhibit features of bureaucratic organization. When bureaucracy underwent its most rapid period of development in the 19th century, it offered several advantages . For one thing, the impersonality of bureaucratic decision making and procedures reduced the arbitrariness and bias that previously characterized the work of many large organizations such as governments and corporations, making them operate more fairly. Moreover, through specialization of function, bureaucracies were often able to enhance efficiency.
Bureaucracies played an important role in making large organizations fairer, leveling the playing field for job candidates and employees. Organized bureaucratically, such organizations tended to provide greater equality of opportunity. People could not be hired, promoted, or fired on the basis of their sex, race, or ethnicity. Personal idiosyncrasies such as appearance were deemphasized in favor of objectively observable and verifiable parameters of job performance. At their best, bureaucracies helped ensure that people were evaluated on their merits, especially their ability to do the job, rather than extraneous factors. For example, today we take it for granted that the employees of state departments of motor vehicles exercise little personal discretion in granting drivers licenses.
What are the essential features of a bureaucracy? Two key features deserve special examination. One is the tendency of bureaucracies to depend on an elaborate system of rules, often codified in a policy and procedure manual or its equivalent. The other is their tendency to rely on extensive documentation as a means of ensure that work is done and done properly. Because of these latter two features, bureaucracies tend not to function well in some situations.
Among the situations in which bureaucracies tend to function poorly are those in which rapid change is either inevitable or desirable and in which a substantial degree of creativity and innovation are called for. If the organization, its mission, and its environment are not changing and do not need to change very much or very rapidly, then a bureaucratic model of organization can function quite effectively. Consider the auto industry. If Detroit’s mission is to keep building the same kind of cars in the same way year after year, then a bureaucracy is likely to accomplish the task quite well. If, on the other hand, technological innovation, new competitors, or changing customer expectations are in play, the relatively hidebound bureaucratic model may prove a liability .
Another area in which bureaucracies tend to perform relatively poorly is in fostering personal dedication to the mission of the organization. Bureaucracies are partial to traditional organization charts, in which the structure and function of the organization are instantiated in positions, job descriptions, and lines of authority, not the particular people doing the work. From a bureaucratic point of view, each worker should be replaceable and interchangeable without compromising the performance of the organization. Bureaucracies are inherently impersonal forms of organization, and it is relatively unlikely that people functioning in a bureaucratic context will develop a strong sense of personal commitment to an organization or its mission.
A bureaucracy is relatively good at doing the same thing more efficiently and ensuring that the people doing it are treated fairly. A bureaucracy is relatively poorly suited to finding new ways to do things and new things to do. Bureaucracies are relatively good at treating people in an impersonal and fair manner but relatively poor at fostering personal engagement and cultivating character, particularly such traits as personal initiative, creativity, and courage.
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References
1. Mises L.: Bureaucracy.1944.Yale University PressNew Haven, CT
2. Mintzberg H.: Mintzberg on management.1989.Free PressNew York
3. Gunderman R.B.: Competency-based training: conformity and the pursuit of educational excellence. Radiology 2009; 252: pp. 324-326.