In our time, terms like “bureaucracy” and “authority” have mostly negative connotations.
This was not the case at the start of the 20th century. In fact, when sociologist Max Weber developed his management theories detailing the “characteristics of bureaucracy,” they were considered groundbreaking and novel among academics and business managers alike.1
In spite of modern distaste for the term, most businesses are still modeled on bureaucratic principles, and most large corporations display at least some characteristics of bureaucracy, as defined by Weber.
In this article, we’re going to discuss the Management Theory of Max Weber, including the following: