Bureaucracy and organizational performance in Nigeria: problems and prospects

Abstract

Bureaucracy exists in larger organization that adheres to a hierarchical structure and is often referred to as "red tape." Hierarchical institutions rely on a strict chain of command for decision-making and are organized by functional departments as opposed to teams or a "boundary less" structure. The larger the company the more likely it is to have developed bureaucratic tendencies in an effort to maintain efficient operations. Therefore, this paper explored the principles and characteristics of bureaucracy, which included hierarchical structure, specification of laws and management by rules, separation of official and personal property. Others are impersonal, functional specialty and division of labor. The paper highlighted some problems such as loss of competitive advantage, loss of innovation, very bad in dealing with unexpected situations and communication breakdown. The paper identifies some prospects of bureaucracy which includes the lines of authority should be clearly stated and run from top to bottom of the organization, the responsibility and authority of each supervisor should established clearly and in writing, the higher managers should be responsible for the acts of their subordinates and the span of control should be reasonable and well established. The paper concluded that there should be a refined structure in organizations with more stable, organized and easy-to-operate framework to avoid the problems of bureaucracy.