1) When Weber analyzed bureaucracies, he developed an ideal type model, which consisted of six essential features. These features described how bureaucracies function and develop. The features Weber identified are as such: specialization; hierarchy; written rules and regulations; impartiality; impersonality; recordkeeping. These features are essential to upholding the purpose of efficiency bureaucracies were created for. Specialization in a bureaucracy means that each status or office has a set of tasks and responsibilities. This way each office has to and will only handle their responsibility; there is a clear understanding of what they have to do and they stick to it so that they do not get caught up in doing another office’s duty, making their job simple so that it gets done. The girth of the status pyramid decreases as the amount of power increases. There are more people allowed to handle the basic functions of the bureaucracies. The greater the responsibility or task, the less number of people are needed to handle it; in one or two person’s hands lies the responsibility and ability to control the matter. This hierarchal approach makes getting things done quick and easy. In fewer words: “The buck stops here.”When people know exactly what they have to do, it makes it easier for them to do it. Ambiguity leads to uncertainty, miscommunication and misunderstanding which defeats the whole purpose of bureaucracy: efficiency. If no one knows what they are doing, they are like chickens with their heads cut off, squaking and ultimately accomplishing nothing. The written rules and regulations of a bureaucracy assure that such a scenario does not occur. There is nothing more frustrating than having someone who has no idea what they are doing, taking care of your needs. Incompetence is the greatest contributor to inefficiency. In bureaucracies, people have been given training or are pre-qualified for the jobs th...
