“Any plan of administration which contemplates a concentrating of responsibility is open to the dangers which follow the creation of a bureaucracy. “
- Arthur Capper

The following article presents a very common phenomenon in large/ growing organizations. It strives to explain the rational flow of how having rigid specific systems leads to bureaucracy. A thought flow presented to highlight a common issue.

Though apparently seemingly trivial, it is a part of vital reality in organizations.

A huge organization…well, requires more organization… that’s where the systems come in.

The author uses the word ‘system’ in the context of having departments, sub-departments and their own set of external consultants, etc. This is something analogous to franchise to a mother brand. (Though some might argue that this analogy is seemingly far-fetched)
Yet, we see that each department (be it marketing, HR, IT-back desk, etc.) gets its independence and more ownership towards its respective functionality. But then, what they are compromising on is again the age old vital concept called integration!!
As in most large-scale domestic companies in India, this is observed commonly:

So technically at the generic level, it’s a system that brings in integration. But because of the exclusive systemization of each department added to the slacking off work culture in most companies in India, Bureaucracy becomes a bad thing.
E.g. The Marketing dept of a company has to formally log numerous calls within the organization to the IT help desk, who in turn outsource a certain e-ad requirements to the external consultants. So not only is the process compartmentalized, but the compartments themselves are delayed due to this process-phase delegation which generally leads to a huge time delay. Hence, it actually creates a cost-leakage machine.
This post is an attempt to explain the phenomenon and define a problem statement. An attempt backed by a rationale that understanding the origins of the contingency would reveal a solution too. The author does have a solution in mind, which we would look at in the post’s sequel…

This post is conceptualised by Harish Baba . After his graduation from IIM Calcutta, Harish has joined an Indian MNC – a very large one at that. He will post on a variety of topics – from politics to organisation to sport to even abstract thinking. Team Strat. In warmly welcomes him on board.

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