Power is an invisible form and has the capacity to control or influence the behaviour of a person. The claim given states that ‘employees are not the bearers of power but they suffer the effects of power’ draws attention to the key aspect of power in the organisations. For this reason, this essay will points toward the Weber’s theory for bureaucracy and how Foucault use the Panopticon as a metaphor to define the concept of power. Despite bearing some complementary perspectives, the differences between Weber and Foucault approaches to concepts of power and domination are pronounced. Weber (1968) defined power as the ability of an individual or group to achieve goals even against the resistance of others (Lukes, 1986). In contrast, Foucault (1976) …show more content…
The top management is the one who look after the entire bureaucracy. Weber suggests the bureaucracy within organisations are more rigid and authoritative, tend to be centralised, highly specialised, do not encourage empowerment, and high formalisation (Best, 2002). As a results, Weber’s conception of power connected with his interest in bureaucracy and office hierarchy (Sadan, 2004). Many organisations rely on bureaucracies to operate whether it is private or public sector such as government, hospitals, and schools. Therefore, everyone must follows the standardised procedures in order to produces similar results in the productivity and to promote the efficient attainment of the organization 's …show more content…
In Weber’s conception of power, the bureaucratic domination is required within the organsations in order to pursue the organisational goals effectively. However, the discussion of bureaucracy and post-bureaucracy still taken in the consideration in the generation nowadays. There is no right or wrong between the views of Weber and Foucault because it depends on how an employers decide to adopt a suitable organisation structure to fit with their mission and vision of the organisations. For example, Yahoo and Google may refer to the Foucault’s view because it is particular on the creative idea and innovation conversely manufacturing industries may refer to the Weber’s view because it is very particular on the results of
Content Response 1 For centuries, power has been a way of establishing hierarchy and social pyramids that have helped us create the society we live in today. However, we have become more aware of the constant influence that power has in human lives thanks to the perspective of critical theory, which has showed us that power is something that constitutes all of human interactions and relationships. Michel Foucault defines power as a behavior or process that permeates all human interaction (Allen, 2011). He states that power resides in every human encounter for the purpose of transforming structures of communication and meaning. Power is not limited to only a person in a power position, but it is present in any reciprocal relationship.
But first what is Power? When researching Power words such as authority, control, direct, command and influence all appear. These words all support the following statement “Power is the ability to influence and control the behaviour of others.” The problem with power is that it often leads to those in power abusing it. As Lord Acton famously quoted “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Athena Kennedy Philosophy Professor Berendzen Kant vs. Foucault December 1, 2015 Kant vs. Foucault Humans question their surroundings every day, weather it is “is how I am acting the way I want to portray myself,” “am I doing the right thing in this situation?” All questions can and should be debated, In philosophy we find new ways to questions everything, weather it is another’s opinion or our own, we form new ways of thinking critically and new ways to obtain answers that will satisfy our thirst for knowledge. Philosophers believe that you need to be able to question everything because there is always new knowledge out there for us to absorb and to question. In critical thinking you evaluate an issue you believe is present in order
The bureaucracy is a major base of power that can be difficult to control. Max Weber believed that bureaucracies shared certain characteristics: chain of command, division of labor, and impersonality. The chain of command is a form of organization characterized by a hierarchical structure of authority. In a military context, for example, the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed within a military unit and between different units. The division of labor is when work is divided among specialized workers in order to improve productivity.
1. Does this case support or contradict Weber’s arguments about the monolithic power position of bureaucracy in society? Both cases, How Kristen Died and The Columbia Accident supported everything Weber described. Weber wanted to maximize efficiency as well as eliminate favoritism. Weber’s overall reason for creating bureaucracy was so that a new administrative system could be created that would treat all humans equally.
Power as conceptualized by critical theorists. Power is one of the words that holds great effect. It is defined by Webster (2015) as “the ability to control people or things; a person or organization that has a lot of control and influence over other people or organizations”. In general, a person or organization that holds power has authority over others. Thus, power is conceptualized in the organizational communication by critical theorists.
Imagine a life where everything you ever wanted was yours. F. Scott Fitzgerald a man who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota (F. Scott Fitzgerald) didn’t really have everything especially since he lived Minnesota a place that is very similar too North Dakota. The Great Gatsby was one of Fitzgerald’s biggest books that made him famous. The story is narrated by Nick Carraway who served in World War I and is now trying to learn about the bond business. He moves to west egg a very rich area in Long Island and is now stuck with a big mess.
They are in a generation where they accept the logic of organizational power in short being a conformist. Even though a bureaucratic system is obvious in our government today we are still not made aware of it specially its complications and its consequences. Up to this date we still experience complications in a bureaucratic government also in a bureaucracy mandated business. A bureaucratic government isn’t all negative it has its pro’s specially being a well-organized government as well as a well-organized business organization. but in this paper were going to talk moreover on the negative or the cons of a bureaucratic government.
Based on Stuart Hall’s (2006) discussion of Foucault’s theory of discourse, a discourse is generally consisting of a group of statements that together offer a way of talking about a par-ticular knowledge on a certain topic. Many individuals can produce it together, in different institutional settings. The discourse thereby enables the construction of a topic in a specific way which at the same time limits other constructions of the same topic. A discourse is made up not only from one but a multiplicity of statements that all share the same style to talk about the same topic. However, it is not a closed off system, it draws statements from and into other discourses.
To Weber the word refers to the structure found in modern large organisations, whether they are government departments, business firms, armies or organised religion. It is a continuous organisation of official functions bound by rules. Weber thought that bureaucratic organisation was the most rational means of deploying power in any setting (Brown and Steel, 1979, p.160). In this essay, I am going to discuss how Max Weber’s theory of bureaucracy had a major impact on the development of public administration systems. Classical organisation theory evolved during the first half of this century.
(ii) Power and Conflict: The capacity the one person has the influence over the other persons such that other persons act in accordance with his/her wishes can be defined as ‘Power’. Conflicts could be both positive and negative. Good conflicts could be encouraged but bad conflicts ought to be prevented.
This leads the concepts of power to shift away from theories that associate power with just the economy and the state. It thus moves towards an ideal beneath which power functions at the most micro level of social relations (Gaventa, 2003). This is a pro because instead of ignoring the power hierarchies between individuals and the various power dynamics within society, Foucault essentially focuses on them. Other critiques have failed to mention historical contextualisation and have been inclined to occur in isolation from questions that regard the broader production of knowledge (Hook, 2004). This helps us to understand power relations and hierarchies better within society.
The process of determining what produces the best leadership may be done in terms of implementing organizational structure or process. According to an article by Smriti Chand (2014), Weber’s bureaucracy can reveal several characteristics such as fixed official jurisdiction area where each individual category within an agency would have its own fixed official duties and clear cut written rules governing each status, hierarchy of authority which governs individuals by the principle of super-ordination and subordination, clear-cut division of labor that enforces who should do what work that is decided by the agency, appointment based on eligibility that is a system for selecting employees and giving promotions based on seniority, competence of the employee and knowledge or skill, fixed salary and pension that is paid per written rules within the agency, office and maintenance of files that includes the policy and procedures for the functioning of the agency, appointment of officials on full time and long term service basis is done by appointment, difference between private matter and official issues involves written rules that an official within an agency is expected to deal with, Supervision of work by higher officials are expected to work within the written rules, systemization of official relations with officials
Weber is regarded as one of the founding fathers of sociology along with Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx. But unlike Marx and Durkheim, Weber believed that the study of society should focus on social action and not so much on the social structures. He argued that structures in society were not independent of individuals but were an effect of interplay of human actions and it was sociology’s task to find the true meaning of those actions. If Weber somehow came to know about the influence his theories wield in the field of management today, he would be more than bemused.
1.2 Power Definition Of Power Power is "The ability to effect the outcomes you want, and if necessary to change the behavior of others in order to make this happen" – Nye We can say that power is about a relationship whose strength and domain will vary with different contexts. Those with more power in a relationship are better placed to make and resist change. Empirical studies have shown that the more powerful are less likely to take on the perspective of others . Power is one of the most important thing to the politic. This is because politik is base on some form of power and its sources may be highly varied and complex .