Bureaucracy
is an administrative or social system that relies on a set of rules and
procedures, separation of functions and a hierarchical structure in
implementing controls over an organization, government or social system.
Although some form of bureaucracy is necessary for large, efficiently run
organizations, there is much debate over whether the theory is every manifested
in practice. The point here is that bureaucracy brings about delay in decision
making, does not allow for innovation and response to emergency situation.
There by showing that, the manner in which an organizational structure is set
up and administered can have a direct effect on company productivity.
Hence, it can
be said that, employees’ participation in decision making and in the
administration of an organization promotes employees productivity. Strict application
bureaucratic principles brings about delay in service delivery, under
exploration of employees’ talents, expertise and intellectual abilities. Thus,
Igweobi (2009) stated that, the solid foundation of any successful company is
its people. Employees represent a source of knowledge and idea, but oftentimes
that resource remains untapped. Involving employees in the managerial, administrative
process and decision-making processes not only empower them to contribute to
the success of an organization, but also saves the company time and money,
increase productivity and reduce outsourcing. Also, Oduma (2006) stated that, the increase in responsibility expands
employee skill sets, preparing them for additional responsibility in the
future. Employees participation in decision-making process irrespective of
their rank in an organization leads to job satisfaction, employees commitment
and increase rate of circulation of information that can lead to the
realization of the corporate objectives of an organization.
Observably
however, some administrators and managers of some organizations believe so much
in the strict application of bureaucratic principles that they do not allow
employees and subordinates to
participate in decision making processes and in the day-to-day administration and
management of the organization. Some of them hold the erroneous believe that
allowing employees to carryout certain job responsibility will make them
understand the secretes of the
organisation and which might result in the subordinate taking over their position
from them. Again, Umeogu (2010) observed that, this kind of situation is mostly
observed in government parastatals and public enterprises, where directors and
managers are so stringent with performance evaluation, appraisal and monitoring
process that, to them allowing employees to participate in the decision making
process might weaken their authority to control the employees. But, on the
average, the impact of employees’ participation in decision making process on
employee performance and productivity is so immeasurable and invaluable to the
growth of any organization.
Enugu State
water corporation is one of the state government parastatals that provides
public utility, essentially water to the inhabitants of Enugu State.
According to the hierarchy of authority in the corporation, there must be
director of the corporation, administrative staff, executive staff, clerical
staff, messengerial staff etc. Hence,
the extent the corporation supplies water to the public effectively and
efficiently could be dependent on the extent to which the director and other
key managers in the corporation relate or communicate with other employees in
terms of decision making, assignment of responsibilities, roles and in the
general administration of the corporation. Hence, in this research, effort
would be made to investigate the extent to which bureaucracy affects employees
productivity in Enugu
State water corporation.
The spread of
democratic value to virtually every society today has brought the need to
examine the implications of this trend to other spheres of life. With respect
to business and economic sector, employees are faced with the dilemma of how to
cope with authoritative management in the work places while living in a
democratic society which guarantee basic fundamental freedom. In addition, the
denial of workers active involvement in decision making is held to be one of
the major causes of the problems which are manifested daily in the work lives
of the modern employees. According to Anyanwu (2010), the refusal of work
organizations to recognize the human factor in industrial production through
greater involvement of employees in its managerial processes, administration
and decision making tend to create several human problems in this setting.
Bureaucratic structures can discourage creativity and innovation throughout the
organization. No matter how ingenious a business owner is, it is virtually
impossible for a single individual to generate the range of strategic ideas
possible in a large, interdisciplinary group. Another implication of
bureaucracy is that front line employees may receive less satisfaction from
their jobs in the rigidly bureaucratic organization.
Again,
directors of government parastatals like Enugu State
water corporation tend to demonstrate through their actions that allowing
employees to participate in decision making process might weaken the authority
of the management in controlling, evaluating, appraisal and monitoring
employees performance. But they fail to realize that, not allowing employees to
participate in the decision making process can educe the level of employee
productivity. This is because, a worker is a social being who brings his
personality, hopes, aspirations, anxieties, feelings and attitude to the work
place. When he finds that his work does not provide him with the opportunity to
realize his potentials, he tends to engage in negative behaviours like absenteeism, apathy, low commitment and
low productivity.
The following questions were posed by the researcher:
i.
To
what extent has the management of Enugu
water corporation allowed employees to participate in decision making?
ii.
To
What degree has the hierarchical structure and set rules in Enugu water corporation enhanced employees’
productivity?
iii.
To
what extent has the management of Enugu
water corporation made effective use of employee participation in decision
making to enhance organizational growth?
The general
objective of this study is to ascertain the effects of bureaucracy on
employees’ productivity in Enugu
water corporation. Specific objectives
include:
(i)
To
determine the extent to which the management of Enugu water corporation has allowed employees
to participation in decision making.
(ii)
To find whether the hierarchical structure and
set rules in Enugu
water corporation have enhanced employees’ productivity.
(iii)
To
investigate the extent to which the management of Enugu water corporation has made effective
use of employee participation in decision making to enhance organizational
growth.
The following
are the research hypotheses of this study”
Ho – The
management of Enugu
water corporation has not allowed employees to participate in decision making.
Hi – The
management of Enugu
water corporation has allowed employees to participate in decision making.
Ho - The hierarchical structure and set rules in Enugu water corporation
have not enhanced employees’ productivity.
Hi -
The hierarchical structure and set rules in Enugu water cooperation have enhanced
employees productivity.
Ho – The
management of Enugu
water corporation has not made effective use of employee participation in
decision making to enhance organizational growth.
Hi – The management of Enugu water corporation has made effective use of employee participation in
decision making to enhance organizational growth.
The research
employs the human relations theory of management. The human relations theory is
a school of management theory stressing the importance of understanding human
motivation in the work place. According
to Thompson (2004), the human relations school believes that employee
motivation is a result of recognition, encouragement and rewarding of
individual contributions. Its advocates were F.J. Roethlisberge, W.E. Moore and E. Mayo in the USA and G.
Friedmann in France.
Human relations theory developed as a response to Taylorism. Rejecting the
biological and mechanistic approaches to F.W. Taylor’s “scientific management”.
The Human relations theory prosed the implementation of methods of dealing with
workers as socio-psychological beings. Robbins (2005) succinctly explain the
human relations theory in his following words.
The theory believes in
the human aspect of a business and how to utilize humans as a valuable
resource. Without people, your business would not exist, so consider
restructuring your organization with a focus on employee relations. Spend time
and money to invest in developing employees and see higher productivity and
more success within your organization.
Also,
Zhao (1997) identified the believes of the human relations theorists to include:
i.
Workers
are human beings, so they must be treated like human beings and not like
machines. Managers should try to understand the feelings and emotions of the
workers.
ii.
An
organization works not only through formal relations but also through informal
relations. Therefore, managers should encourage informal relations in the
organization along with formal relations.
iii.
Workers
want good communication from managers. Therefore, managers should communicate
effectively with employees without feeling of ego and superiority complex.
This
theory is most suitable to the topic of this research because, a stringent
application and practice of bureaucratic principles in an organization might be
scaring for employees. It might prevent them from bringing out their hidden
talents, potentials and expertise which will improve their productivity. Hence,
if the management and Director of Enugu State Water Cooperation will adopt the
human relations theory of management, employees of the corporation will be motivated
to work thereby increasing their productivity and organizational growth.
This research will be significant or
beneficial in the following ways:
The research
will serve as a source of reference for further studies, especially for
undergraduate students in public administration and other related discipline.
The research
will make recommendations that will help to promote the productivity of Enugu state water
corporation and other similar parastatals.
The research will
serve as both educative and entertaining material to members of the general
public and those in the academic world.
The research
will contribute further to what scholars have written on the concept of
bureaucracy, employee productivity and impact of bureaucracy on employee
productivity.
This research
is focussed on the study of the impact of bureaucracy on Employees productivity
in Enugu State water corporation.
Some factors
pose limitations to the completion of the research. They include:
(i)
Financial
constraint: The researcher faced challenges in raising the fund required for
sourcing both the primary secondary data and information needed for the
completion of the research.
(ii)
Distance:
Shuttling from Abakaliki to Enugu
state to gather facts from Enugu
State water corporation
was very stressful, time consuming and capital intensive.
Respondents’
Disposition: Some of the respondents
were reluctant to give out information about Enugu water corporation without being give
some gratifications and this was also very challenging.
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