Throughout our lives, and society we have experienced a bureaucratic organization and don’t even realize it. A lot of people don’t understand or know how it works but realistically it impacts daily lives. Just about every organization you see is a bureaucratic organization. An organization will always depend on the characteristics and hierarchical levels of authority to allow things to run smoothly. For a bureaucratic organization to be successful it needs to have a hierarchical structure, division of labor, written rules, written records and communication replaceability, and impersonality. According to Cambridge University, bureaucracy is defined as 'the official, employees, and people who run government offices and employees who manage the details of operating a large business (Cambridge University). Bureaucracy tends to be characterized by the hierarchical effect, the most powerful will always be at the top of the pyramid, and the lower-class employees at the bottom. The middle of the pyramid will always have employees of advanced levels that have been promoted from the general employees.
Bureaucracy is also characterized by its specializations and division of labor (Larkin 2015). The sociology book, states that there are five different characteristics of bureaucracy, it needs a structure of hierarchical levels of authority, specialization of division labor, written rules, written records, and communication and replicability and impersonality (Larkin, 2015). Dutch Bros is a well-known coffee shop well known throughout the western united states. In the Dutch bros' bureaucracy is easy to see that the hierarchical level flow downward is very smooth. At the top of the pyramid, you would have the CEO and the owners which are Dane and Travis Boersma, then you would have the upper management, which in this case would be the managers and location managers. In the Dutch bro's bureaucracy, there is also a division of labor. Each employee in the shop is given a role they need to fulfill for the company to be successful every day and reach their goals given. Dutch Bros also has written rules often referred to as protocols that each employee must follow or they could potentially get fired (Larkin, 2015). Dutch Bros, employees are properly trained on how to make beverages as it is a high priority to give and make the proper drink for each customer that comes through the drive-thru. Following the written rules are written records and communication. In any bureaucracy written information is crucial to make sure what is said is credible. If any issue happens at the locations Dutch Bros demands the employee to fill out an incident report. When employees have to request time off or change shifts with another employee Dutch Bros requires employees to fill out a form to notify the managers about their availability, this then gets placed on the records to make sure that the employees have their time off or schedule change as they wish. It is always super important to have written records and communication to ensure proof and make sure everything is correct.
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In a bureaucracy are replicability and impersonality. Within the organization, the top priority is the work as long as all the work is done and goals are met that's all they care about, not so much the employee everyone in the organization is replaceable. The result comes impersonality it's clear that the employees are not what is valued within the organization. In every organization and bureaucracy, they will run into dysfunctions. Having to operate in ways of bureaucracy, there are big steps of productivity and efficiency, aside from the dysfunctions happening in a bureaucracy (Larkin, 2015). In any bureaucracy communication is the number one dysfunction. Throughout the different levels of the pyramid, each level has to make sure they communicate effectively with the other levels to make sure the work is being done correctly from start to finish. Another major dysfunction in a bureaucracy is Red Tape's “difficult to change a rule'(citation). It is a lot of paperwork with a formal chain of command that needs to be able to change the rules or regulations. In this case, group thinking can be dangerous due to the rules and standards present. This can also cause discomfort in the bureaucracy keeping in mind that the main focus is the organization and the goals they have. This being said “workers start feeling more like objects” due to how the organization is set up. Employees tend to be viewed as functions and roles rather than individual employees. Due to how the standards and the organization are functioning it cusses a lack of respect and honor towards the employee's work ethic and determination to strive for higher every day, the begin got fill not as 'important' to the organization. Dutch Bros may experience a lot of dysfunctions throughout all their locations opened. At Dutch Bros, customers are the number one priority making the employees feel like the hard work they give is nothing compared to the drink the customers order every day. When issues come up in customer service the number one thing to make sure of is that the customer leaves as happy and as pleased as possible. When this happens, it is the organization's job to make sure that the employee still feels as if they are important to the team, rather than taking it as a mistake or being treated like they didn’t matter. In conclusion a lot of the organizations you see around town work as a bureaucracy. Working as a bureaucracy puts a front and makes it appear that the organization is performing and running great. There are a lot of characteristics that help as to how it functions. Through the five characteristics: a hierarchical structure, division of labor, written rules, written records and communication replaceability, and impressionability. An organization can easily work as a bureaucracy as we can see that most organizations do work as a bureaucracy. As every organization is being introduced to dysfunctions, it is a big part to remember the value of each employee and the amount of work they put in every day.
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