Comparative Public Administration
February 12, 2025
Communication is a process where the information flows from the sender to the receiver through some medium. Ted to Jenny over the phone – “I want the file on my table right after the lunch”. Jenny-“Oh god I am not clear what Ted wants and he has already hung up the phone”. Why did Jenny […]
Communication in true sense is the lifeline of every organization. Individuals irrespective of their designation and level in the hierarchy need to communicate with each other for accomplishment of work within the stipulated time frame and also for better relationships at workplace. Half of the problems disappear when discussed. It is really essential for people […]
The very word bureaucracy conjures images of sloth, inefficiency and status quoist mindset. To associate bureaucracy with change would thus be looked as an oxymoron. However, it is the case that some large organizations that were otherwise bureaucratic in their organizational structures managed to bring about change in the way they worked. The best known […]
Sequence of sudden unwanted events leading to major disturbances at the workplace is called crisis. Crisis arises on an extremely short notice and triggers a feeling of fear and uncertainty in the employees. It is essential for the superiors to sense the early signs of crisis and warn the employees against the same. Once a […]
Negotiations are Part and Parcel of our Daily Lives Negotiations are part and parcel of our lives. Whether it is bargaining with the vegetable vendor or haggling with the butcher, we are all exposed to negotiations as part of our existence. Thus, one cannot but master negotiating skills if one to has to navigate the […]
We are at the next level of understanding departments within the organizations. In the earlier article we understood about the line staff and auxiliary agencies and the organization of business in departments based on the four principles of finance, process, clientele and geography. This article shall look at the distribution of authority within the department.
Based on the distribution of authority, there are two main systems namely Bureau System and the Board or Commission system within departments. When all the administrative authority is invested in a single individual within the department then the system is Bureau.
When a plural body is vested with all the administrative power then the system is known as Board or Commission. Now, the next obvious question that comes into the mind is how to decide which system to use. According to author Raj Kumar Pruthi, in his book Administrative Organizations, there are conditions that determine the choice of systems:
Also, when an organization has to perform both kinds of functions, then in such cases as well, the Board systems works better.
To sum up, for services and functions that require collective intelligence, holistic view points, mature decision making, a Board system works well as there are more members to arrive at balanced decisions.
The Board or Commission system is followed under following conditions:
There has been a lot of debate amongst the scholars regarding whether the public organizations and their structures inherently differ from those of private organizations.
Some support the argument saying that it does and some say that through the difference is there but it is only in the presence of red tapes in the public organizations.
Those who oppose the statement argue that, the public organizations are very different from the private organization in terms of lack of flexibility, excessive government control, lack of clear performance indicators like profit and loss and a lot of emphasis on rules and hierarchy.
Some researchers like Pugh, Hickson and Hinnings pointed out that the size of the organization and technological developments are other important determinants of the structures and hierarchy of any organization.
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