COMT 4516001:

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COMT 4/516-001 Leadership Seminar
The Inherent Leadership Context (a.k.a.
bureaucracy)
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Burns criticizes bureaucracy (bcb) individual
is swallowed up by org.
I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell! They'd
advertise -- you know! e.dickenson
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bcb
the means become more important than the ends
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bcb
impersonal
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bcb
power use is arbitrary
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bcb
against change
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bcb
often ignore clients
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bcb
overly rational
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bcb
rigid authority with lots of rules
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bcb
overspecialization
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bcb
good job security
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bcb
demands conformity and reliability
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bcb
workers are alienated
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Gardner more problems with the iron cage (gc)
Have to engage in extensive surveillance
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gc
hard to control
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gc
Organizations keep getting larger, and we treat
them as rational. However,the most common theme
these days seems to be fragmentation.
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gc
chain of commands becomes too long
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Kuhn we are employed in a chronic way. How
so? Kuhn compares the discourse of a demented
work ethic organization with a lifestyle firm.
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Work ethic firm serve a noble purpose,
accountability, unpredictability, hectic work
atmosphere, hierarchical structure. Lifestyle
firm work/family balance, more efficient, lots
of service, young less committed, more critical
reflection
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There is an inverse relationship between size and
democracy. Rapid change tends to produce feelings
of impotence.
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gc
dehumanizing
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Devine accounting procedures and IT structures
have come to determine the nature of
organizational communication.
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gc
turf battles
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gc
grapevine
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gc
downward communication overused upward
communication undervalued and filtered
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gc
boundaries are rarely crossed
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gc
information overload
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centralization.
gc
Change means that the power people were wrong . .
.
Wilma Mankiller
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Bean the troll who is lured into the light will
burst . . . The power of the bureaucrat is always
in secrecy.
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Boundaries are blurred in crises.
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We can cross boundaries by appearing to be
legitimate.
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constitution is like shining a flashlight around
a dark room.
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Barach and Eckhardt Leadership paradoxes
Autonomy vs. dependence
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directing vs. empowering
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formal vs. achieved authority
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leaders try to please their bosses, and are
dependent on subordinates for performance
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Barach, continued
Leaders are confined by organizational tradition
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leaders must use power maturely or lose it
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charisma vs. being a part family
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information share it to gain loyalty, keep it
private to manipulate
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positional privilege is easily abused
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Brunsson Olsen reforming bureaucracies
The word modern refers to a belief in progress.
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Organizations attain the modern by becoming
more efficient (competitive) and more adaptable
(aligned with the current environment).
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When we say bounded morality, we are suggesting
that there are limits to the imposition of one
set of values on an entire organization.
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Bounded intelligence means that there are
significant limits as to what we know about
modern organizational structures. We really do
not know what structures might be most effective
and adaptable.
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In a similar way bounded power means that there
are limits to the amount of power one can acquire
in the name of progress.
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What is the difference between describing an
organization as an instrument (means) as opposed
to an institution (culture)?
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• Whose structure?
• When is structure enforced?
• Exceptions?
• What about boundaries and channels??

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End of bureaucracy session