Research Paper Rosalie Q. Capistrano Bureaucraticmanagementtheory

Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
Graduate School - MASTERS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Bureaucratic Management Theory and

how it is applied in a Local Government
Organization
Submitted by:
Rosalie Q. Capistrano, RRT, RPO
Page 1 of 18
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING
Introduction
With the declaration of independence in 1946, the Philippines
became a republic. Such form of Government could be described as
resembling that of the United States, except that the Philippine
Government is a unitary form of government which is often described
as a centralized government. All powers belong to a single, central
agency, in the Philippines, it is called the national government. This
National Government creates local units of government in order to
execute its responsibilities and functions. The powers of the National
Government are decentralized through the Local Governments.
Meanwhile, the 1987 Constitution emphasizes the doctrine of
separation of powers, an outcome of the past dictatorship it
experienced from a past administration, a measure set to avoid
repeating history. Its government has three (3) branches, a Legislature
which is compose of an elected Congress consisting of a lower house,
the House of Representatives; and an upper house, the Senate. The
executive branch is headed by a President and the Judiciary branch
that is composed of the Supreme Court and Lower Collegiate Courts,
task to interpret the laws.
Page 2 of 18
These agencies are what Bureaucracy is comprised of. This form
of organization, as applied in the government is embraces different
kinds of agencies along with its employees and officials. These
agencies has implemented rules to be followed in order to avoid chaos
in an agency or organization. According to Max Weber’s bureaucratic
management theory, bureaucracy is a highly structured, formalized,
and also an objective organization which necessitates a defined
hierarchical structure, clear rules, regulations, and lines of authority
which shall govern it.
Bureaucratic theory of management is the one which is most
suitable for a working environment, one where there are rules and
superiority applied in order to enforce and implement laws for an
organization to work. A Rules-based management will ensure that
status quo will remain in the office or administration and also when
applied in the government, in the government. The specialization and
division of labor strictly applied in choosing people to work for the
organizations or agencies is highlighted. This model has a formal and
impersonal relationship between the association and all its members,
meaning there is maintenance of professional relationship between the
employees and officers, this ensures that decision-making is not
influenced by personal reasons and intentions. Promotions in the
bureaucratic model, is based on professional credentials as it
eliminates bias. A well-defined chain of command must exist coupled
Page 3 of 18
with the rules and regulations being well-defined. Further, the
employees must be knowledgeable of not only their tasks, function and
responsibilities but also their benefits and privileges as employees,
officers, and being a part of the association. All these rules,
regulations, privileges, and duties range from the bottom to the top of
the businesses.
Background of the Study
Bureaucracy is believed to carry out public policies enacted by
public officials, however, its importance is not compartmentalized by
this belief. Its importance lies in the major role played by public
agencies and how much of the policies put in place affect the daily lives
of citizens.
With this research paper, the researchers aim to realize the
importance of applying bureaucratic theory of management, especially
in a public sector. This will promote not only professionalism, but
stability, continuity and progress.
Further, the researchers and the results of the study shall also
showed that having a bureaucratic system in the government also
balances the freedom given by being a democratic state. This will
curtail whimsical decisions made by government officials, usually
elected officials from ruining our country, taking advantage of the
tendency of freedom entailed with being a democratic country.
Page 4 of 18
Statement of the Problem
This study will determine show how Bureaucratic Management
Theory is applied to Local Government Organization, specifically the
Radiologic Department of Manuel V. Gallego Cabanatuan City General
Hospital. Specifically, the study will seek answers to the following
questions:
1. How may the profile of the radiologic technologists be described
as to:
1.1 age;
1.2 sex;
1.3 civil status;
1.4 highest educational attainment; and
1.5 number of years in service?
2. How may the profile of the radiologists be described of:
2.1 age;
2.2 sex;
2.3 civil status;
2.4 highest educational attainment; and
2.5 number of years in service?
Page 5 of 18
3. How may the extent of the application of bureaucratic
management theory be described:
3.1 Rarely applied;
3.2 Not Present; and
3.3 Present?
4. Is there a correlation between the effectivity and efficiency of
services given by the Radiologic Department and the application
of Bureaucratic Management Theory in their organization?
5. How may the business sector benefit from the findings of the
study?
Hypotheses
Based on the above questions, the study postulated the following
hypotheses:
1. There is no significant correlation between the effectivity and
efficiency of services given by the Radiologic Department and
the application of Bureaucratic Management Theory in their
organization; and
Scope and Delimitation of the Study
This study will be conducted show how the Bureaucratic Theory
of Management is applied in a Local Government Organization,
Page 6 of 18
specifically the Radiologic Department of Manuel V. Gallego
Cabanatuan City General Hopsital.
Significance of the Study
The results of the study may be used as a reference in the future
formulation of policies and procedures on bureaucratic management
theory which would benefit all concerned in the local government units
and the community in dealing with the issues discussed herein. Also,
the same results may be used as a basis for the conduct of a seminar
for government employees in learning how bureaucratic theory is
applied in Local Governments.
Page 7 of 18
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The literature review provides the framework from which the
study is developed. The research documents are delimited on the
concepts of bureaucracy and bureaucratic theory of management.
These documents came from foreign and local sources and found
related to the study at hand.
In the Philippines, bureaucracy is applied in every agency. It also
has two essential elements. First, it entails structuring an organization
into a hierarchy. Second, the organization and its members are
governed by clearly defined rational-legal decision-making rules. Each
element helps an organization to achieve its goals.
The largest example of bureaucratic system being employed in
the Philippines is the decentralization of power and functions of the
government to local officials from the executive. From the President,
down to the Senators and Congressmen/women to Mayors to
Councilors down to Barangay Captains, bureaucratic model is used to
decentralize powers and responsibilities. The Philippine government is
also divided to three branches, the executive, or the Office of the
President as well as his or her Cabinet Members which may or may
not include the Vice President, they are in charge of enforcing and
implementing laws, governmental agencies are mostly under their
Page 8 of 18
command and control unless the same is independent as declared
under the laws, second is the legislative branch, composed of the
upper and lower house, the senators and representatives, in local
governments, councilors represent the legislative, lastly, the judiciary,
composed of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, and all other
Secondary and Lower Courts.
In order to keep an organization under control, formal rules are
used such as laws, constitutions, regulations, and the like that have
the character of being specific and being defined precisely. They
enable and guide behavior by creating a cognitive and normative
understanding of the situation and coordinating behavior within it
[Greif, 2006]. Informal or internalized norms, on the other hand, are
ways of doing things and in many ways are more important than formal
rules; norms and beliefs provide the motivation to follow
institutionalized rules [Greif, 2006]. What sort of formal rules, informal
norms and enforcement features characterize government
bureaucracies? Government bureaucracies are often described as
slow moving, procedure-obsessive, and bloated which block rather
than facilitate the day-today business of citizens. In contrast, private
sector organizations are usually known to be lean, hungry, and
versatile.
Here, we can see that the government system is very much
hierarchical, it also boasts a system of checks and balances which

Page 9 of 18
maintains independence between the three branches of the
government. This system makes sure that there is no encroachment of
power between the branches of the government but at the same time,
exercises a certain power of over-seeing that each branch plays their
role and functions.
Likewise, Local Government Units are composed of different
agencies that uses the same bureaucratic theory of management. Part
of this Local Government Units are governmental agencies, one of the
governmental agencies that is necessary to every LGU’s is a hospital.
In Cabanatuan City, we have Manuel V. Gallego Cabanatuan City
General Hospital is a progressive center for health established by the
LGU. I have been working in the same hospital since the year 1989 up
to present, starting as a casual employee, to a regular, and now to a
supervisorial position.
Due to the length of time that I have been working in and with the
hospital, I have seen different administrations utilized the bureaucratic
theory of management. At present, we have different counsels which
handles different kinds of issues in the hospital.
The Radiology Department, along with all the Departments at
Manuel V. Gallego Cabanatuan City Hospital (MVGCCGH for brevity)
is using a Hierarchical form of Organizational Structure, the most
popular organizational chart type. In a hierarchical organization
Page 10 of 18
structure, employees are grouped with every employee having one
clear supervisor. The grouping is done based mainly on function,
meanwhile, for organizations with different branches, on geography
and sometimes, from the product, in this case the services offered by
different departments in a hospital setting.
Below is an example of the Organizational Chart in the
Radiologic Department of Manuel V. Gallego Cabanatuan City General
Hospital:
CHIEF OF HOSPITAL
ASSISTANT CHIEF OF HOSPITAL FOR

OPERATIONS
CHIEF RADIOLOGIST RADIOLOGIC CONSULTANT
CHIEF RADIOLOGIC
TECHNOLOGIST
RADIOLOGIC RADIOLOGIC RADIOLOGIC RADIOLOGIC RADIOLOGIC

TECHNOLOGIST II TECHNOLOGIST I TECHNOLOGIST I TECHNOLOGIST I TECHNOLOGIST I
SECRETARY
CASUAL
EMPLOYEE
Figure 1 shows the Organizational Chart followed by the Radiologic
Department, to be specific, they have a hierarchical chain of command,
starting from Radiologists, down to Radiologic Technologist III as
Department head, down to other Radiologic Technologists employees.
Page 11 of 18
The above-discussed characteristics of a bureaucratic management is
applied in the organization for decision-making, to sustain balance and
keep things professional, to prioritize getting the work done rather than
keeping things at bay which happens when there is no command
coming from a superior down to the rank and file.
Page 12 of 18
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the method of research to be used in the
study, the data gathering instrument to be used, data population and
sample size, the data collection procedures, and the statistical tools to
be applied in analyzing the data.
Research Design
The descriptive-normative survey will be used in this study since
it intended to describe how bureaucracy works in small scale,
specifically a small department in a Local Government Agency.
As defined by Calderon and Gonzales (2005), descriptive
research refers to a purposive process of gathering, analyzing,
classifying, and tabulating data about prevailing conditions, practices,
beliefs, processes, trends, and cause-effect relationships and then
making adequate and accurate interpretation about such data with the
aid of statistical method.
Population and Sampling
This study shall involve 7 radiologic technologist, two (2)
Radiologists and one (1) Chief of Hospital of Manuel V. Gallego
Cabanatuan City General Hospital, Radiolig Department.
Page 13 of 18
Applying the concept of Gay (1979):
n = N ( 20%)
where:
n = sample size
N = population size
20% = constant factor
Research Instrument
A. Questionnaire
The principal instrument to be utilized in gathering the pertinent
data for the study is a questionnaire. Questionnaire will be used to
solicit and to establish a coherent view of the employees of the
Radiologic Department in the application of the bureaucratic theory
management. The same instrument will be utilized by the two groups
of respondents with some differences on the items being asked as to
the profile of the respondents.
Description of the Instrument. The questionnaire will solicit
data as regards the profile of the respondents, both for the radiologic
technologists, radiologists and chief of hospital.
The research instrument has been constructed and drafted as a
result of several readings on the different books, conducted studies,
and internet surfing collected and done by the researcher. The draft
Page 14 of 18
will be submitted to the adviser for perusal and will be face validated
using non-respondents. Afterwards, the researcher with the guidance
of her adviser will sit to improve and revise the questionnaire and
incorporate all suggestions that came out after the validation.
Unstructured interview will also be utilized to verify some related
information. To test the reliability of the instrument, the revised form
will be tested to government employees not included in the sample.
The reliability index will be computed using the Kuder Richardson
formula 20 or KR-Formula 20.
Scoring of Data. The scoring of the responses on the research
instruments will utilize a 1 to 5 scale where:
5 means Very Great Extent
4 means Great Extent
3 means Moderate Extent
2 means Low Extent
1 means To No Extent
The computed weighted means for all the responses of the
respondents were given an equivalent verbal interpretation as follows:
Computed Weighted Mean Verbal Interpretation
4.20-5.00 Very Great Extent
3.40-4.19 Great Extent
Page 15 of 18
2.60-3.39 Moderate Extent
1.80-2.59 Low Extent
B. Interview Guide. To have primary data pertinent to the
study of bureaucratic theory management as applied in a Local
Government Organization, an interview guide was used.
Data Gathering Procedure
After validating the instrument, the researcher will then seek the
approval of the concerned authorities so questionnaires could be
distributed to the target respondents. A letter of request addressed to
the school authorities to this effect shall be prepared and be signed.
Upon the approval of the said letters, the researcher will then distribute,
collect or retrieve the research instrument from the respondents and
get ready for the tabulation, analysis and interpretation of data.
To gather necessary data for the business sector, series of
interviews were conducted by the researcher using an interview guide.
Statistical Treatment
Gathered data using the research instrument will be statistically
treated using frequency counts, percentage, weighted mean, and
correlation.
Frequency counts is the systematic procedure for displaying
items from low to high, and tabulating the number of times an item or
Page 16 of 18
a group of items are grouped along the scale of measurement specified
percent of the cases or observations lie (Deveza,1994).
Percentage is the point in a distribution, which is a specified
percent of the cases or observations lie (Deveza,1994).
Weighted Mean is a mean of a collection of scores that have
been assigned different degrees of importance. In a frequency
distribution, the degree of importance is equivalent to the frequency of
occurrence of the score (Ybañez, 1999).
Correlation (Deveza,1994) refers to the degree of relationship or
correspondence between two variables. The study shall use the
Pearson product Moment Correlation. The coefficient will be computed
using the formula stored in the Microsoft Excel software stored in a
windows 2013 computer.
Page 17 of 18
References:
Bureaucratic Theory by Max Weber, Tony Waters and Dagmar Waters (2015)
Unitary Government and Federal Form of Government, Alberto C. Agra
Bureaucracy and Democracy: Accountability and Performance, By Steven J. Balla,
William T. Gormley, Jr.
Breaking through bureaucracy: A new vision for managing in government.
Berkeley: Barzelay, M., & Armajani, B.J. (1992). University of California Press
Cummings, L. (1982). Organizational behavior. American Review of Psychology,

33, 541-579.
Developing management skills, (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
Whetten, D. & Cameron, K. (2002).
Social interventions on gender differences. Columbia: Teachers’ College,

Columbia University, McFarland, C. (2002).
Page 18 of 18

Research Paper Rosalie Q. Capistrano Bureaucraticmanagementtheory

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Research Paper Rosalie Q. Capistrano Bureaucraticmanagementtheory

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Bureaucratic Management Theory and

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

With the declaration of independence in 1946, the Philippines

became a republic. Such form of Government could be described as

resembling that of the United States, except that the Philippine

Government is a unitary form of government which is often described

as a centralized government. All powers belong to a single, central

agency, in the Philippines, it is called the national government. This

National Government creates local units of government in order to

execute its responsibilities and functions. The powers of the National

Government are decentralized through the Local Governments.

Meanwhile, the 1987 Constitution emphasizes the doctrine of

separation of powers, an outcome of the past dictatorship it

experienced from a past administration, a measure set to avoid

repeating history. Its government has three (3) branches, a Legislature

which is compose of an elected Congress consisting of a lower house,

the House of Representatives; and an upper house, the Senate. The

executive branch is headed by a President and the Judiciary branch

that is composed of the Supreme Court and Lower Collegiate Courts,

task to interpret the laws.

These agencies are what Bureaucracy is comprised of. This form

of organization, as applied in the government is embraces different

kinds of agencies along with its employees and officials. These

agencies has implemented rules to be followed in order to avoid chaos

in an agency or organization. According to Max Weber’s bureaucratic

management theory, bureaucracy is a highly structured, formalized,

and also an objective organization which necessitates a defined

hierarchical structure, clear rules, regulations, and lines of authority

which shall govern it.

Bureaucratic theory of management is the one which is most

superiority applied in order to enforce and implement laws for an

organization to work. A Rules-based management will ensure that

applied in the government, in the government. The specialization and

division of labor strictly applied in choosing people to work for the

organizations or agencies is highlighted. This model has a formal and

impersonal relationship between the association and all its members,

meaning there is maintenance of professional relationship between the

employees and officers, this ensures that decision-making is not

influenced by personal reasons and intentions. Promotions in the

bureaucratic model, is based on professional credentials as it

eliminates bias. A well-defined chain of command must exist coupled

with the rules and regulations being well-defined. Further, the

employees must be knowledgeable of not only their tasks, function and

responsibilities but also their benefits and privileges as employees,

officers, and being a part of the association. All these rules,

Background of the Study

Bureaucracy is believed to carry out public policies enacted by

public officials, however, its importance is not compartmentalized by

With this research paper, the researchers aim to realize the

importance of applying bureaucratic theory of management, especially

in a public sector. This will promote not only professionalism, but

stability, continuity and progress.

showed that having a bureaucratic system in the government also

balances the freedom given by being a democratic state. This will

curtail whimsical decisions made by government officials, usually

elected officials from ruining our country, taking advantage of the

tendency of freedom entailed with being a democratic country.

Statement of the Problem

This study will determine show how Bureaucratic Management

Theory is applied to Local Government Organization, specifically the

Radiologic Department of Manuel V. Gallego Cabanatuan City General