We are talking Dysfunctional Aspects. We talked Rigidity and Impersonality in our previous talk. Today we are going to talk about Displacement of Objectives and Compartmentalization of Activities.
Displacement of Objectives
Rules originally devised to achieve organizational goals at each level become an end in themselves independent of organizational goals. Thompson calls such bureaucratic behavior as a process of “inversion of ends and means”. When individuals holding office at lower levels pursue personal objectives or objectives of sub units, the overall objectives of the organization may be neglected. When objectives get so displaced it is often difficult for managers at higher levels or even for the other constituents of the organizations such as consumers and stock holders to seek redress.
Compartmentalization of Activities
Specialization and division of labor are encouraged in bureaucracies to improve organization effectiveness. But the resulting categorization breeds the notion of watertight compartmentalization of jobs, restricting people from performing tasks that they are capable of performing. For example, a pipe fitter can install a pump, but is prohibited from making the electrical connection. It would also encourage a tendency to preserving existing jobs even when they become redundant. The sequential flow of work may usually have an element of idle time at almost every level. The bickering over respective jurisdictions based on specialization and categorization may also often induce dysfunctional conflict in the place of coordination and cooperation among various submits of an organizations.
Organisational Design, Development and Change 