The first inadequacy of the Weberian perspective in the context of Malaysia’s public sector is the

existence of red tape in our administration. The term "red tape" refers to excessive regulation or
tight obedience to formal norms, both of which are perceived to be bureaucratic and which inhibit
or obstruct activity or decision-making. It is typically used in reference to governmental entities,
corporate entities, and other similarly huge groups. Filling out paperwork, acquiring permits, having
many persons or committees accept a choice, and adhering to a variety of low-level norms are all
examples of red tape, which can make conducting one's affairs either more time consuming or more
complex, or both. In addition, "filing and certification requirements, reporting, investigation,
inspection, and enforcement techniques and processes" might be considered to be examples of
unnecessary red tape. Even though the acceptance of Weberian bureaucracy brings much positive
impact, however the existence of red tape absolutely denies the positive impact. The nature of
bureaucracy requires that it function according to a predetermined set of guidelines and standards.
As a consequence of this, there is a decreased capacity for flexibility, which frequently results in
inefficiencies. As a consequence of this, government bureaucracies have evolved into ineffective
labyrinths of bureaucratic red tape that squander the money of taxpayers. As a direct consequence
of this, the characteristics of competence and hard work no longer exist inside government agencies.
In addition, this unnecessary bureaucracy results in the waste of money provided by taxpayers,
prevents accountable behavior, and works against the public interest. Hence, by that the
complicated set of rules in a bureaucratic system often causes long delays. People become focused
on adhering to rules instead of increasing their production. Moreover, the decision-making process
inside an organisation is impacted by bureaucracy. These kinds of judgments may be broken down
into two primary categories: centralised and decentralised. The majority of public organisations,
such as our government, make centralised decisions in part because their workers have a lower
average level of experience, expertise, and training in comparison to workers in the private sector. If
we relate the red tape with human resource context, the performance of public sector personnel
tends to decline with time, which renders the organisations in which they work unproductive.
Furthermore, the mostly centralised decision-making process makes employee empowerment even
more difficult to achieve. The ineffectiveness of red tape can be shown when our former economic
adviser to the government urges the government to Set up task force to cut red tape. He stated that
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should establish a dedicated task force which can cut the red tape
and ensure that projects are implemented effectively. Apart from formulating a strategy to deal with
the global economic slowdown predicted for next year, the economist said Anwar would also have
to address structural obstacles that affect the quality of life for Malaysians. Noor Azlan also said it
was crucial for Anwar, a former finance minister, to tackle the structural issues that affect
Malaysians’ quality of life and hinder the country’s competitiveness such as food security, the high
cost of living, unemployment, the lack of job opportunities and investor confidence.