SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

(Campus of Open Learning)

University of Delhi
 Postgraduate Course

Administrative Theory

CONTENTS:
1. Evolution of Public Administration as a Discipline
2. Stages of Development of Public Administration
3. The Theory of Scientific Management
4. . Max Weber's Concept of Ideal Organization
5. The Human Relations Doctrine
6. Chris Argyris : Individual Actualization in Complex Organizatiqns
7. Douglas McGregor - t-:uman Side of the Enterprise
8. Riggs' Administrative Ecology
.9. Riggs' Fused - Prismatic - Diffracted Societies Models
10. Development Administration Approach with special reference to Edward Weidner
11. Development Administration Approach with special reference to Milton J. Esman

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 1
EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
AS A DISCIPINE
R.B. JAIN
Perhaps no other discipline in social sciences has had such a controversial process of
development as public administration. Ever since Woodrow Wilson wrote his first essay on the '
Study of Public Administration' in 1887, scholars in the field of political science, anthropology,
economics, sociology, psychology, management sciences and professional managers have voiced
repeated concern about the emerging scope and dimensions of public administration. It is ironic,
however, that despite the emergence of a vast literature enriching the discipline , the dilemma should
still persist as to what public administration has been, what it is and what it should be.1 It is possibly a
consequence of the fact that all those scholars who worked for the promotion and growth of the
discipline have been partly biased in their approach to the emergence of aconsensus on the nature of the
discipline. In fact the continuing dilemma also reflects the great sociological policy-conflicts persisting
practically in all societies, the developed and the developing, which seem to have defied an agreement
whether it is the responsibility of a public administrator or of a public affairs manager or of the political
leadership to find solutions to the complicated and difficult problems of the societies. Indeed, the
phenomenon that public administration is still adeveloping discipline seems to be the result of a lack of
agreement amongst the various social science scholars to arrive at a balanced overview of the component
elements which go to make the discipline of public administraton.

The confused Landscape

Despite the extending focus of the study of public administrationfrom its POSDCORB state to the
present, incorporating various new dimensions of its study, viz., organisational theories, case studies,
comparative public administration, developmental and ideological context, and the international adminis-
tration, scholars, both in the field of political science and public achpinistration, even in the l970's main-
tained that public administration as a discipline still stood in need of an identity.
While in the last two decades significant theoretical work has been done, the landscape of public
administration still continues to be confused and untidy. A proper beginning to resolve this crisis ofidentity
would be to re-examine the pre-World War II literature, which Professor Dwight Waldo thinks is more
than some of us believe it to be, which means, in tum, that what was 'rejected' out of hand might have been
due to oversimplified distortion.2
Another step suggested by Waldo for re-examination is not just the criticism of the politics-
administration dichotomy, but he attempts to respond consciously and with the help of new theories of
necessary or proper relationships . The most important agenda item in this context according to him is
Herbert Simon and his critics, more generally the development of the issues dialectically and as shaped by
the evolution ofideas and events. The main task, he admits, would be not to trace the history ofideas, but to
analyse and explicate, carefully and freely, what it means for the study, teaching, and practice of admin-
istration. This needs to be done frontally and globally in a work which puts out literature in aclassificatory
I. Some of the selected important works which discuss the various predicaments of the development of
public ad1vinistration as a discipline are given at the end.
2. Dwight Waldo. "The Scope of the Theory of Public Adm in is tration " in James C. Charlesworth (ed) Theory and
Practice of Publi c Admini strati on (1968) , p.13
analytical framework, which relates our ideas to the ' outer' world of developing ideas and events, and
concludes that a ' positionstatement' for our reaction and discussion would be ofinestimable value.
Waldo argues further that there is a need to respond to a bewildering area of value problems, for public
administration is no longer value neutral. These may range from relatively simple questions of personal
behaviour or ethics in an administrative context to the problems of politics and behaviour or ethics in an
administrative context to the problems of politics and power, of constitutional statute, oflaw and jurispru-
dence, of public and indeed of political theory and philosophy.. Thus, he contends that 'for an organisational' and
an 'administered' ciVIlization as that of ours, if it is to survive and flourish, we need the most serious attention
possible to the connection between what used to be called the 'ends of the state' and the organisational
administrative apparatus (in and out of formal government), which helps both to define and realize these
ends. Our achievement is obviously far behind our needs in framing and justifying theories to relate
administrative means to the objectives of free and democratic governments under conditions of the late
twentieth century.
In addition, Waldo suggests a large circle of theoretical concerns for public administration. Certain items that
he lists onthis agenda are:(i) external and internal security, (ii) justice, (iii) education, (iv) government by the osmosis
and symbiosis, (v) science and technology, (vi) urbanism, and (vii) development. He thinks that this list could
obviously beextended, e.g., to thesubject ofinter and supranational administration.
The future ofpublic administration,thus, according tosome, isengaged with thefuture of political science on
the one hand and with administrative science, on the other. In another way, public administration has, from
its beginning, represented ajoining of certain interests of political science with the 'management' movement ,
and it still does recognise all the additional factors-the new developments, the broad- ened spectra. What
meaning and importance would be given to 'the public' in public administration, whether it will evaporate or
remain insignificant, will depend in large part on what developments take place in political science and in the
social sciences-indeed in contemporary social and political thought as a whole."To argue that public
administration is not a sub-discipline of political scienc is not to argue that "historic" political science is
irrelevant to our concerns. The point is that contemporary political science is often indifferent to the urgent and
overwhelming problems of contemporary government and that in part and in degree, we must be our own
political scientist." 1
Towards A 'Theory of Public Administration'
Waldo's eloquent plea for professionalisationof public administration is not universally accepted.
Wallace Sayre, for instance, asserts that " much valuable partial theory construction has already been
accomplished", and that " rich deposits of relevant data have also been the subject of preliminary sifting and
analysis". The theory of public administration in these respects has no major dilemma of scope llllshared by other
social sciences, and therefore is under no necessary compulsion to flee from its present disciplinary base to
seek a new norm in some more vaguely branded half-wood called 'profession ' 2• He further asserts that in the
post-war development of public administration three major trends, which could be termed as partial theories
about public administration, are discernible in its literature.
The first set of partial theories is to be found in the writings of those interested in what may be
called the 'politics of pul:ilic administration'. Sayre claims "that this political system approach to public

I. Dwight Waldo, " Public Administration" Int ernational Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences (New York: The Macmillan
Companyaod the Free Press, 1968) ,p. 155.
2. Wallace S. Sayre, " Comments on Waldo's Paper", in James C. Charlesworth, op. cit. p.29 .

2
administration is one of the strongest ties to political science and is likely to endure; even if public
administration were to become separated, the political scientists have no choice about their necessary
concern with the roles and functions administrators and bureaucrats in the world of their to which they
are committed.
The second set has its focus upon the internal organisational life or dynamics of the bureaucratic
world,-which is to say that " it attempts to explain in greater detail the characteristics of one set of the
actors in a political system, those actors who are of greatest interest to public administration students."
Despite the fact that some other social sciences like psychology, sociology , and social psychology
contribute more directly tothisfield in theory-building; ultimately " publicadministration theory must return to its
pre-occupationin explaining albeit from a specialised perceptive, the nature and consequences of the political
system."
The third set is concerned with explaining the cross-cultu ral,more am bitiously , the universal
characteristics of public administration.In this set, the relations to political science seem close and mutually
rewarding.
There are indications that a fourth set of partial theories may emerge with what David Easton calls the '
input s' and ' outcomes ' in political system, the policies and the consequences of the working of the systems.
However, despite these trends as Sayre himself admits, " a general theory of public administration is
still lac king, - a gap shared by all social sciences, and thus suggesting that, in the absences of a great
synthesizer in its ranks, the society of those concerned with public administration must rely upon the
gradual accumulation of satisfactory partial theories until the burden of synthesis into a general theory is no long
er too great for the boldest of its members.... However primitive they may still be as theory, the students of
public administration are apparently aware of their research and theory of priorities."1 And if that is so, the
problem is how to maximise the incremental gains now in hand or well in sight, and how to encourage the
emergence of the four sets of partial theory without overstrain upon their individual vigour. Only, when the
construction of a general theory of public administrationis within the range of the possible, do the esoteric
questions about the outer boundaries, or ' scope' pushed to the uppermost, become highly relevant to theory
constructionists. Until then, those concerned with the theory of public administration have all the scope they
need for theory construction.
Theabove disc ussion, points to a clear dilemma facing the scholars of public administration in the
United States regarding the growth of the discipline of public administration in the very homeland ofits
evolution. Some , who are not so optimistic about the emergence of public administrationas an indepen- dent
disicipline, based on certain theoretical foundations, and who in certain measure regard public admin- istration
to be more practical and action-oriented, would favour its development towards a profession; while others
who are more optimistic about the eventual outcome of a 'theory' of public administration would, therefore,
(till that time) like the subject of public administration to develop a ' theoretical' within the folds of its parent
discipline, i.e. political science. Years after this prolonged debate, the issue is far from settled, and therefore
the dilemma still persits. Despite these trends and the persistent dilemma, public administrationas a
discipline has developed rather rapidly during the last two decades and is constantly on the brink of breaking
new grounds in several hitherto to unexplored directions.

I . Wallace S. Sayre, o'p.cit., p.31

'\
 In the pursuit of a theory of public administration scholars are still in dilemma. McCmdy equates it
with Collyer's dilemma.The two eccentric brothers, Langley and Homer Collyer of Fifth Avenue in New
York, never threw anything out. After their death in 1947, the police took 120 tons of accumulated things
from the house, including 14 grand pianos, 5000 books, and a thirty-year collection of old newspapers.
Public administration also has accumulated an amazing storehouse of knowledge in the past nine decades,
which has made the discipline rich but a bit unstable. Now the problem is: how to strengthen up the house
without throwing out something that might prove valuable. It needs all approaches; it is unwise to reject a
theory just because it is old or controversial.
While the great debate is still inconclusive-whether public administration is to be treated asasepa-
rate ' ind ependentdiscipline', or as a ' profession', or retained as a part of the parent discipline of political
science, the fact remains that in the majority of universities all over the US, the UK and in other continental
countries 'public administration' asasubject has not been completely eliminated from the political science
(;Oillse, notwithstanding its growing recognition as a separate independent discip li ne, which is evident
from the special independent schools, faculties, institutes or advanced centres (for studies in public
administration) that have been established at various universities abroad. On the basis of its deep
relationship with political science, the subject is likely to continue as a part of the curricula in political
studies of various educational and governmental institutions, simultaneously with the attempt to establish a
scientific theory of public administration, to enable it acquire the status of a basic social science. Till that
point is reached a complete breakaway from the parent discipline is neither desirable nor needed. The
subject of public administration in the perspective ofits development is still in its 'teens' and until it comes
of age, a breakaway from its parent discipline may be a little too prematille and strenuous for its indepen-
dent growth and existence.
Approaches to the Study of Public Administration
As we know that Public administration turned into a storehouse of different approaches and has
accumulated different theories within its broad umbrella. Some of the main approaehes adopted by the
discipline are discussed briefly in the following paragraphs.1
(a) The institutional or legal approach is perhaps one of the earliest ones in the study of public
administration. It is largely based on the legal rights and obligation of government. It emphasizes formal
relationships and the separation of powers among the three branches of the government--executive,
leglislative and judiciary. It believes in politics-administrationdichotomy and confines administration to
merely carrying out the policy designed by political arms of government. Generalizations within this ap-
proach are often based upon formal analyses of organisational structille and the constitutional delegation of
autho ty and responsibility to the three sectors of government.
(b) The structural approach was developed after scientific management movement. It tends to
focus upon organisationalstructure and personnel management. It is also concerned with the financial and
legal control of administration. Role of individual and informal organisation is more or less ignored. It
assumes that individuals usually fit themselves into theongoing system. Thisapproach is further glorified by the
application of industrial engineering to thestudyof public administration. Scholars have made comments on this
approach for not recognizing the political environment and the human sideofan organisation. Therefore it isoften
termed as 'organisation without people' approach.

I . For further' details about the approaches, see Robert Presthus Public Administrati on, (6th edn., The Ronald Press
Company, 19 75), pp.7-12.

4
 (c) The third avenue to the study of public administration is the behavioural approach which has
sometimes been called the 'people without organisations ' approach for its too much focus on informal aspects
of public administration. Contrary to the earlier approaches, it tends to focus on methodological problems, the
use of survey analysis to determine reality, and the human aspects of administration and decision-making.
Scholars trained in sociology and psychology have made a very significant contribution to this approach.
(d) The post-behavioural approach moved the study of the discipline somewhat away from its
previous concern with ins titutional, structural, and behavioural aspects. The post-behaviouralistsfocused on the
study of public policy. This approach, at the outset, relied on the policy advocacy which emphasised the
prescriptjve analysis of policy and the role of public administrators in policy-making. Later, scholars focused
their attention on descriptive aspects of public policy and began to attack governmental policy issues with the
tools of systematic inquiry. Public policy analysis, thus, occupies its highest place in the study of public
administration in the contemporary world.
Inits fundamental sense, "a policy is asilent choice made by an individual or group of individuals that
explains, justifies, guides, or outlines a certain course of action, real or contemplated"1 ••It differs from a
decision inscope or magnitude. It usually makes aframework on which decisions can be made. Conceptually, it
differs from administration. However, operationally, we cannot separate it from public administration.
There is no single definition of public policy analysis. Scholars define it with their pre-occupied
approach in mind. Thomas Dye defines it as " ...the description and explanation of the causes and
consequences of government activity".2 E.S. Quade regards it as"any type of analysis that generates and
presents information in such a way as to improve the bais for policy-makers to exercise their judgement"3 .
Another set of definition regards public policy analysis as "a future-oriented inquiry into the optimum
means of achieving a given set of social objectives".
From the above definitions, public policy may mean many things to many men or quite all things to all men.
However, public policy analysis canbe visualized from its following characteristics: •

(i) It is analytical because it utilizes the analytical techniques and research methodologies
developed in the recent past.
(ii) It is multi-disciplinary in the sense that it welcomes relevant information and expertise from
other social sciences.
(iii) It is problem-orientedfor its main concern is to provide solutions to the current problems of
the government.
(iv) And finally, it is client-centred.
Thus, it is primarily concerned with explanation rather than prescription or advocacy and a search for the causes
and consequences and also a quest for reliable research findings for general relevance.
There are different mode.ls for public analysis. The institutionalist regards policy asan institutional
activity. Group theor.ists view it as an outcome of group equilibrium. To the elitists, policy means elite
preference. The rationalists view it as efficient goal-achievement. The incrementalists-takepolicy as a
science of muddling through and-to them it is variations of the past. To the followers of game theory policy

I . Presthus, op.cit., p.14

2. Thomas R. Dye, Understandin g Pub l)c Policy, (New Jersey, Prentice Hall Inc. 1975), p.3.
3. Quoted by R.A.W. Rhodes , Public Administrati on and Policy Anal ysis: Recent Development in Britain and
Ameri ca (Croft Road , Aldershot , Hants: Gower Publishing Company, 1981), p.23

5
is rational choice in competitive situations. And, the system theoriests regard policy as the system output.
Thus, there are variations in the approaches to the study of public policy analysis too.
Thus, in the last forty years, the knowledge about public administration has simply exploded, not only
among experts who identify it with the profession, but outside of it; disciplines from biology to
mathematics have made inroads underneath the governmental umbrella to test their own approaches to
administration. The proliferation of these approaches has been in asense the primary source of itsidentify
crisis. The discipline has enormously expanded its periphery without retaining or creating a unifying centre.
Aftermath ofMinnowbrook:The New Public Administration
In 1968 , a group of young public administrators met at the Minnowbrook Conference Centre who
pleaded for a more human, proactive public administration . Their views challenged the old ideals of
scientific, value-neutral scholarship and were widely received as a call for a 'new public administration' . The
New Public Administration is characterised as"humanistic, dubious about technology, anti'- rationalist, refonnist,
and generally doubtful of the ability of present organisations to adapt to a fast changing society."
The most striking feature of the new public administration is its being against positivism. The empirical social
science research was considered as "awful, irrelevant, dull, narrow, and barren". It is arrogant, dangerous and
stupid, because it assumed that empirical theories of the world are ' value free' . So they . turned to
phenomenology, which they thought had a chance to supplant empirical social science in public administration.
The phenomenologists refuse to separate values from what are perceived to be facts and deal with
phenomena in their essential wholeness rather than dissecting them. The ' New Public Administration' uses
phenomenology and existentialism to create a bridge to a post-bureaucraticsociety in which the administrator is
regarded to be proactive, and the organisation is restructured to allow it.
The New Public Administration has a concern for social equality. They argue that value neutrality is
neither possible nor desirable in public administration. As asociety becomes more bureaucratic, problems of
equality will become more acute. Bureaucratic development creates progressivism, which in tum cre- ates a
more visible gap between the haves and the have-nots, even though the have-nots may be better off in absolute
terms , Public Administration, if it plays the role as servant of the state,'also becomes the instrument of
regression. The new public administration has also a concern for its clie nts. To reorient admini stration
around the citizen, they back a number of proposals from decentralisation and citizen participation, to
experiments with 'new styles ofadministrative leadership to replace the old management techniques. Theyaim
to experiment with counter-bureaucratic methods by embracing a model of diversity that emphasised a number
of alternative approaches to public administration.
Ironica lly, however, the young experts in public administration did not organise themselves after
Minnowbrook, so that the 'New Public Administration' remained more of a subtle mood than an actual
movement.
Despite all this realis m, public administration was poorly prepared for the explosion of governmental
programme in the seventies. Public Administrationists raised questions of organisation for results, of
management, of technology, of handling demands for participation , and of administering overseas
programmes. Public administration, with its value-free, scientific-descriptivestudies simply did not have all the
answers. This set off a scramble for solutions. " Political scient ists and economists contributed the policy
appro ch, while programmatists catalogue the lessons of practical executive control. Systems
analystsreintroduced management science into the public service. Social psychologists salvaged what they
could out ofthe human relations movement to create a planned changed strategy called organisation develo
pment. Public administrators struggled to match modem administrative methods with local
6
conditions indeveloping countries. And younger scholars agitated for new values, new formsof
organisation, a new sensitivity to the discontinuities ofchange in modem governments".
In practical terms, the identity crisis thus manifests itself in the contradictory approaches advanced by
people who call themselves administrativeexperts. For every group of people advancing one approach,
we can find another group arguing plausibly for just the opposite. As an illustration, Jet us take the
contro- versy over the future of bureaucracy. The New Public Administration is openly
antibureaucratic. Its advo- cates want to debureaucratisethe government and replace the bureau with a
more flexible, humane, demo- cratic form of organisation. However, it is a fact well- known to practical
administrators, that many phases of a government operation cannot be run according to bureaucratic
formulae, especially at the top of the organisation. Yet, at the same time, there are other parts of the
government where bureaucracy has a positive value not just at low levels, but at high levels as well.
Again those who treat public administration as a scientific problem are opposed by those who see
administrative improvement as primarily a matter ofhuman behaviour. There are the pluralists who want
to preserve the democratic state by exposing administration by taking the bureaucrat out of interest-group
politics. The analysts who want to make administration rational economic models and evaluation, are
opposed by the incrementalists, who want a more realistic model of decision making. Some want to
balance all of these approaches. It is thus natural that people who disagree on approach and method
I should also disagree on the fundamental issues of administration.
The Organisation Development Approach
Professor Golembiewsky regards Organisation Development (OD) as one of the future family of
miniparadigms, and in his pair volumes' elaborates this approach for facilitating the conceptual
develop- ment of the disciplin e. His project, can be seen in the following three themes:
(i) It accepts the sense of the common characterisations that public administration as a field is "...in
' drift', as being in an ' intellectualcrisis', as in the need ofa 'new' perspective, as 'coming apart', and as
'in a period of stress and change"; (ii) It seeks to be sensitive to the fact that the proposed sohitions to
the field's problems are often "so foreign to (public administration's) traditions or so rooted in other
disciplines that their adoption would destroy the integrity of the field asaseparate focus ofinquiry; and
(iii) It details how one approach--organisationdevelopment (OD) --relatesdirectly to public
administrationrsneeds in historical evolution; at the same time that OD is still in its early years, is not
rooted in any particular discipline, and serves several tradition fields.2
The major objectives of the Organisation Development approach are:
(a) To create an open, problem-solvingclimate throughout the organisation,
(b) To supplement the authority associated with role or status with the authority of knowledge and
competence,'
(c) To locate decision-making and problem-solving responsibilities as close to the information sources
as possible,
(d) To build trust among individuals and groups throughout the organisation,
(e) To make competition more relevant to work goals to maximize collaborative efforts,
(t) To develop a reward sys_tem that recognises both the achievement of the organisation's mission
(profits or service) and organisation development (growth of people),
I . Golembiewsky, Public Administration as a Developing Discipline (NY, Marcel Dekker Inc., 1977)
2. Charles H. Levine, Robert W. Backoff, Allan R. Cahoon and William I . Siffon, "Organizational Design: A Post
Minnowbrook Perspective for the 'New Administration", Public Administration Review, vol. 35 (July 1975),p.425.

7
 (g) To increase the sense of ownership (or organisation objectives),
(h) To increase self-control and self-direction for people within the organisation, and
(i) To help managers to manage according to relevant objectives rather than according to ' past
practices' or according to objectives that do not make sense for one's areas of responsibility."
1 Basically, the organisation isseen "asasystem in need ofcontinuing innovation", and an Organization
Development programme begins by stressing the development of attitudes, behaviours, and skills that will
support such continuing innovation.3

The Developing World: The New 'Concerns' of Public Administration

In the turbulent world of today, management is subordinate to decisions made in an action taken
through various institutions. He is not born in nature state subject to nature alone, but in an administered
society where numerous organisations allocate advantages and disadvantages to him. Because of these
reasons, human dignities, human rights and compassion seem to be essential requirements of all the
developing countries particularly of ademocratic society like that oflndia. Neither administrative nor
social stability can be assured by denying this proposition. To put it simply, men's institutions are too
important to be left to the ' professionals' and 'experts' alone. In the modem context, 'efficiency', in its
orthodox formulation asarelationship of put resources tooutput, is inadequate as the ultimate criterion of
organisation effectiveness. There is, thus, a necessity for greater moral concern and personal responsibility
by those exercising the great regulative and coercive powers of the modern state. This is not to deny the
existence ofdifficult problems and dilemmas but it merely shifts the controversy toamore meaningful level.
This moral concern of public administrationin modern societies reflects in securing for mankind what
been termed as ' human dignity'. It is in this direction, I believe, that the focus of Public Administrationin
developing countries has to shift.

Public Administration, Human Dignity and Human Rights

The growing contemporary focus of modem governments all over the world on therealisation of the
basic human rights and restoration of human dignity for all their people raises a host of political and admin-
istrative issues. Notwithstandingitscomplex political dimension, alarge number of problems are inherent in
the administrativedoctrines to a human dignity. Firstly, there is the problem of the application of human
dignity of specific situation. The conflicting claims of weighing one man'sdignity over another's pose
serious problems. Secondly, if human dignity is applicable, as it apparently is, to both administratorsand
citizens, how are potential conflicts to be resolved? Thirdly, there isthe overall problem of conditions under
which the ' public interest' may conflict with the doctrine ofhuman rights and human dignity. Fourthly, the
most crucial problem: What is the role of administrators witha commitment to human dignity, working with
traditional hierarchical organisation?And lastly, the fundamental problem: can the value ofa human being
be measured or computed?And if not, how can it be realistically utilised as acriterion for organisational
, design or administrative decision-making? What are the alternative guidelines?
Thus, it appears that in the context of the various socio-economic and political upheavals taking
place in the developing world today, the earlier orthodox and the later (ifl may use the term) ' imperialist'
view of public administratio!l, involving aconcern for policy issues, management problems, socio-economic
development, public welfare, etc., needs to be tempered with the renewed concern for human dignity and
human rights. The term 'human dignity' , involves almost all the pertinent issues of human life-e thical,
I . Robert T. Gole mbieski, Public Administration as a Developing Discipline : Organisation Development as one of
a Future Family of Miniparadigms (New York : Marc el Dekker In c., 1977), vol. 2.p. 186.

· g
social, psychological,economic and political-of our times and the public administrationists today will have
to take into account the multi-dimensional impact of these concerns all around. It is in this perspective alone that
the new substantive aspects of the discipline of public administration have to develop and if, in India, where
people have always been concerned with th moral standards of human behaviour, we are able to give such a
direction and growth to the discipline, we will be able to make a lasting contribution to its development in
other parts of the world as well..
The profession of public administration is now poised at the edge of transition. It has accumu-
lated an amazing storehouse of knowledge over the past ninety years. According to one technique, no one
theory, no one approach to public administration is really dispensable. At the same time, public
administration needs some sense of order to its affairs, aguiding theory. Diversity without a guiding theory
creates an intellectual madhouse that forces scholars free to move to solid discipline. Unfortunately, all the
single-purpose theories that have served public administration in the past are too narrow to solve this
problem: yet if public administrationabandons its search for a guiding theory, it will damage its potential as a
major field of study.

Conclusion
In the ultimate analysis, one should, however, concede that the greatest strength (as well as
weakness) of public administration today lies in its ideological diversity and in the diffusion ofleadership
between practitioners and theoreticians, system maintainers and humanistics, radicals, behaviourlists and
philosophers. No one single figure has dominated the field since Woo row Wilson, and while some
major figures belonged to many disciplines, the diffusion of intellectual leadership has, on the whole, been a
healthy influence on the expanding frontiers of the discipline of public administration.

SELECT READINGS
Gerald, E. Caiden, The Dynamics of Public Administration: Guidelines to Current Transforma- tions in
Theory and Practice , (New York: Rinchard hold, and Winston, 1971). ·
Frank Marini, (eds), Toward a New Public Administra tion: The Minnowbook Perspective (New
York: Chandler Publishing Co., 1971).
Nicholas Henry, Public Administrationand Public Affairs (Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Prentice-Hall, 1975).
William L. Marrow, Public Administration: Politics and The Political System (New York, Random
House, .1975 ).
Joseph S Uveges, Jr. The Dimension of Public Administration (Boston, Hol Brook Press, 1975) 2nd ed.
Robert T. Golembiewski and Michael Cohen, eds., People in Public Service: A Reader in Public
Personnel Administration (Itasca, Ill: F.E. Peacock Publishers, 1976), 2nd ed.
R.B. Jain , Contemporary Issues in Indian Administratio n (Delhi: Vishal, 1976).
Howards E.McCurdy, Public Administration: A Synthesis (Menlo Park,: Cummings Publiching Co.,
1977).
Robert H. Simmons and Eugene P. Dvorin, Public Administration: Values, Policy and Change
(Port Washington:Alfred Publishing Co., 1977).
Dwight Waldo, Perspective onAdministration(University ofAlabama: University ofAlabama Press,1956).
Dwight Waldo, "Scope of the Theory of Public Administration" in James C. Charlesworth (ed.) Theory and
Practice of Public Administration,(Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science,
1968).

9
 2
STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT OF
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Dr. (Mrs.) Uma Yaduvansh
Public Administration is a new discipline in Social Sciences that hasemerged in recent years asafull
fledged profession of pivotal significance. Concerned with policy implementation of the government,
public administration comprises "varied and evolving set of skills and instruments" wherein government
and private enterprises, science and technology meet and mingle.1 It aims at promoting policies responsive
to public needs, and institutes managerial practices attuned to effectiveness. Public administration exists in
all systems of government to implement government policies as approved by the legislature. Founded only
over a hundred years ago in 1887, ' Public Administ ration--the discip lin e--has undergone a very
controversial process of developmen t' 2 It has virtually become broad-ranging amorphous combination of
theory and practice3, to the extent that some regard it as heterogeneous and undefined and a discipline in
the process ofhomogenising1.
Historically, public administration is as old asorganised governmental activity. It is traceable in the
early records of civilisations in South Asia, Vedic Kingdoms in India, the Han and Tan dynasties in China,
the political and imperial systems of the Mongols extending from near Kiev (USSR) to Sinkiang, and the
Caspian, Egyptian and Babylonian empires of antiquity•5
By describing' how public administration got where it is', Prof. Golembiewski has traced the intellec-
tual development of public administration. He traces the perspective of the past, evaluates the present and
forecasts miniparadigms for the future.6 In his analysis, he has accepted the thesis that the discipline is in the
midst of an ' intellectual crisis' or in a state of 'd rift' and needs to come out from this 'stress and change',
because no discipline can flourish and develop fruitfully in such crisis and stress.
Public administration isan integral discipline. It has adistinct identity ofa useful carrier of public good
and as a vehicle to deliver them to the public. In fact, in order to maintain this integrity and identity, public
administration, throughout its developmental process, had to be separated significantly and distinctly from
Political Science- it mother discipline-on the one hand and Achninistrative Sciences on the other.
Public administration has undergone this developmental impasse through five paradigms as under:
Paradigm I 1887-1926
Paradigm II 1927-1938
Paradigm III 1938-1947
Paradigm IV 1948-1970
Paradigm V 1971 -till date
Paradigm I: 1887-1926 The Politics-Administration Dichotomy
The period under survey reflects the general thrust of the field. Woodrow Wilson focused the attention
of Political Scientists, Economists and in fact of all by his famous article on "The Study of Public
Administ ration". In this,_he stresses the need for a separate study of public administration because it has
become harder to run a constitution than to frame one. In 1900, thirteen years later, Frank J. Goodnow
wrote, " Pol tics and Administration" boldly developed the Wilsonian theme further. Since politics has
to do with Policies or expressions of the will of the state, and administration has to do with the execution
thereof, the two are different and distinct and should not he allowed to meddle with each other. By saying

10
so, Goodnow posited the Politics-administration dichotomy that was first introduced by Wilson. In 1914, the
Committee on Instruction in Government of the American Political Science Association recognised public
administration as an important sub-area of Political Science when it declared that one of the objec- tives of the
teaching of Political Science is"to prepare specialists for governmental positions".The first text book on
public administration was published by L.D.White in 1926. Public Administration began picking up
academic legitimacy. The main thought current during the period reflected that:
(i) Politic;s should not intrude administration; the two should be kept separate. The dichotomy is
in valid; it did not bother the thinkers.
(ii) Efficiency and economy are the watchwords of pubiic administration . In other words, the
object of public administration is to attain efficiency and economy.
(iii) Management lends itself to scientific study.
(iv) Public administration is capable ofbecoming a value-free science in its own right.
(v) Public admirµstration was isolated from other fields like business administration and thereby
began the carving up of analytical territory between public administrationistsand political
scientists.
(vi) Foundation was laid for the later discovery of certain scientific principles of administration.
Nicholas Henry aptly sums up the situation. The net result of the paradigm was to strengthen the
notion ofadistinct politics-administration dichotomy by relating it toacorresponding value-fact dichotomy.
Evel)'thing that public administrationistsscrutinized in the executive branch was imbued with the colourings and
legitimacy of being somehow' factual' and scientific, while the study of public policy making and related
matters were left to the political-judicial behaviour, the Presidency, State, local politics, legislative process,
comparative politics and international relations, whereas Public administrationists teach today organisation
theory, budgeting and personnel management.
Paradigm II: 1927-1938 The Princ iples of Adm inistration
The period from 1927-1938 was ofreputational zenith. It also marked the ' high noon,.of prestige as
well asorthodoxy for public administration. Willoughby's book published in 1927 on"Principles of Public
Administration" indicated that certain scientific principles of administrationexisted; that these principles
could he discovered; and that administrators would become experts if they learned the know- how of their
application . Works of Mary Parker Follet (Creative Experience, 1924) , Henry Fayol (Industrial and
General Management, 1930), and James Mooney and Allen Relleigh (Principles of Organisation,1939)
outlined varying numbers of administrative principles. Fredrick Taylor's work (Principles of Scientific
Management) is said to have less effect on public administration because its principles focused on lower
level personnel, but the ' conclusions ofUrwick and Luther Gulick were acclaimed as the highest and final
expression of Public Administration in the era. Lyndall Urwick wrote in " Papers on the Science of
Administration " : "........ There are principles which can be an·ived at inductively from the study of
human organisation which should govern arrangements for human association ofany kind. These principles can
be studied as a technical question, irrespective of the purpose of the enterprise, the personnel comprising
it, or any constitutional, political or social the01y underlying its creation."
Gulick and Urwick Were.confident of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and are said to have advised
himon various managerial matters. One has to keep in mind that their papers were a report to the President's
Committee on Administrative Science.Theirseven principles ofadministration, POSDCORB7, also known as
the ' snappy ana, gram' were what was public administration in 1937.

II
Paradigm III: 1938-1947 -The Challenge
The creative intellectuals in the field abandoned the politics-administration dichotomy by proclaiming
that politics and administration are inseparable. First dissent was noted in 1938 when Chester Bernard
published The Functions of the Executive. In 1946 came the blatant denouncement by Herbert Simon
when he pronounced these so called principles as mere proverbs. For every principle of administration
there was a counter principle thus rendering the whole idea of principles a myth. In the same year, Fritz
Morstein Marx questioned the assumption that politics and administration could be dichotomised and
reflected that the hitherto value-free administration was, in fact, value-laden politics. In 1947, Robert Dhal
challenged that public administration is a science. In 1948, Dwight Waldo attacked the socalled immutable
principles of administration, the inconsistency of the methodology used in determining them and said that
the values of economy and efficiency were narrow. In 1950, John Gaus opined that "a theory of public
administration isa theory of politics too"8. In short , principles of administration were found logically
inconsistent and moot. The result was that the disciple was conceptually shaken by behavioural revolution
and public administrationlost its epistemological identi ty.9
Paradigm IV: 1948-1970-Reaction to the Challenge
This was the crisis period for public administration. The crisis was one of identity. The public
administrationists who reacted by returning to the field of political science were not welcomed. The
political scientists advocated dominance of political science over public administration. Growing
independence of the discipline was questioned. The result was drastic. The Report of the Committee on
Political Science Association omitted Public Administration and did not include it asa sub-field of political
science . Albert Somet and Joseph Tanchaus recorded this decline in the faculty interest in public
administration in A Profile ofa Discipline. In 1967 the programme of the annual meeting of the American
Political Science Association did not include it on the agenda. The situation worsened between 1960-70.
Only.4% of the total articles published in five major political journals dealt with public administration. To
quote Nicholas Henry, it was a confused landscape. Some were hostile and othe,s were indifferent
towards public administration, it was neither separated from political science nor was its growth and
development fostered or encouraged. On the other hand, the tension between political scientists and public
administrationists escalated. New dimensions were added to the study of public administration, viz.,
organisational theories, case studies, comparative public administration, develop- mental and ideological
context and international administ ration. Literature that appeared on the theme was more complex if we
put it ina 'classificatory analytical framework' . Only one alternative was left for the discipline, that is, to ally
itself with administrativescience and in doing so it seemed to lose its distinctivenessand separate identity.
To argue, says Waldo, that public administration is not a sub-discipline of political science is not to argue
that ' historic' political science is irrelevant to our concerns. "The point is that contemporary political
science isoften indifferent to the urgent and overwhelming problems of contemporary government and that
in part and in degree, therefore, we must be our own politic scientists."
Waldo is perhaps right in his assessment; this was the period during which public administration
was sowing the seeds of its own renaissance. Two developments took place, viz., development of
interdisciplinaryapproach in public administration and secondly, appearance ofthe new publicadministration.
This conference of young administrationists on the new administration raised questions of v.alue ,
ethics, the development of the individual member, the relation of the client with bureaucracy and broad
problems of urbanism, technology and violence. They showed complete disinclination toexamine phenomena
of efficiency: effectiveness and administrative techniques.

12
 The new public administration, it is said, was a clarion call for independence from both political
science and administrativescience and never lived upto its ambitions of revolutionising thediscipline but it did
nudge public administration to reconsider their traditional intellectual ties with political science and
administrative science and contemplate the prospects of academic anatomy."10
Paradigm V: 1971- Update-Public Administration as Comparative Public Administration
By 1970 , public administration started attracting attention of scholars from other disciplines. It was
being realised that a principle of public administration"is as useful a guide to action in the public
administration of Russia as that of Great Britain, oflraq, asof the United States and that cultural factors did
not make any difference in administrative settings because principles, after all, were prin- ciples". Thus, a
truly inter-disciplinary profession of public administration emerged and cross-cul- tural public
administration developed. Courses in comparative public administration were introduced in American
Universities and special committees wereformed and conferences sponsored oncomparative public
administration by the American Political Science Association. The American Society for Public
Administration and its Comparative Administration Group outlined five concerns, viz.,
-to search for theory
-to urge for practical application
-contribution of comparative politics
-interest of researcherstrained in administrativelaw, and
-comparative analysis of public administration.
Along with it, developed yet another sub-field of public administration, viz., development administra-
tion, under the chairmanship of Fredrick Riggs.
In the years to follow, public administration became more and more 'practitioner oriented'. The
reason for this was that government got involved with real problems of this physical .world unlike
comparative public administration which had focused its attention more on 'theory building', and seeking
knowledge for the sake of knowledge' . Organisational development was treated as a special field of
administrative science and not of public administration. Public adrninistrationists, writes Nicholas Henry,
occupied a second class citizenship status till 1970, but after that the separatist movement was under
way. Public administrationists were beginning to appreciate the idea that public in public administration
can no longer he conceived in institutional terms and that itneed becast into philosophic, normative and
ethical terms. Publicadministrationnowforthemisonewhichaffectsthepublicinterest. This new dimension
exposed public administrationists to those management technologies which they needed most. Since they
had no interest in questions of values except the value of economic efficiency), the exposition led them to
think about what the 'public' in public administration really meant. Thus, unconscious ly, but distinctly,
public administration developed inter-disciplinary approach and evolved inter-disciplinary programmes.
Public administratonists started dominating the political science departments as it gave them intellectual
distinction. It was noted that public administrationistsstarted thinking of how and why organisations
work, why people in them behave and how and why decisions are made. Research progressed in applied
techniques of management sciences, their application to the public sphere and public administration
became more and more concerned with public policy, political economy and public policy-making process,
itsanalysis and the measurement ofpolicy outputs.
The outcome of so much activity was that public administration, as a field, came into its own.
Separate professional schools of Pu5lic administration and public affairs sprang up by 21 % and separate

13
departments of Public Affairs and Administration increased by 53% by 1978. The scholarly calibre of
these institutions was found to be extraordinary. It was an indicator of the fact that certain trends were
emerging. One such trend was that public administration was growing. Another trend that appeared
quite conspicuously was that public administration education had taken an aggressive posture in
recruiting minorities and women. And yet another was that aseparate academic entity of the discipline was
emerging as the profession became academically vibrant and appeared on the forefront of social change.
The traditional, rigid distinction between public sphere and private sphere was waning. It became evident
that the futurist trend of public administration in the context ofits emerging paradigm was now focussing on
organisation theory and managementscience. This meant that the discipline was having more ofaparadigm
in the future. A common core of concepts, theories and, issues were to be found in teaching and in
research. The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration had set standards for
professional master's degree programmes in public affairs and administration. They included common
curriculum components like values important to a democratic society, political processes, economic and
legal environments, organisatioi:i and management concepts, behavioural patterns of motivation and
leadership, statistical analysis, procedures, administrative planning and control, budget and accounting and
labour relations.
The account will not be complete wi'thout mentioning the organisational devel9pment (OD) Para-
digm. Prof. Golembiewski has outlined the Organisation Development (OD) Paradigm consisting of nine
guidelines which, according to him, provide full professional opportunities for public administrationists.
Basically, the organisation is seen "asa system in need of continuing innovation and it is said that in the OD
programme public administration has found a range of challenges that are professionally meaningful and
related to traditional concerns in public administration". The eight guidelines are as follows:
1 . Public administration should be defined in terms of the issues faced by public administrators, rather
than in terms of the attempted in/out classifications.
2. Auseful, working boundary definition of public administration must facilitate application as well as
analysis; it must support ' applied' as well as ' pure' effort.
3. Any viable mini- paradigm for public administration must he capable of being tied into prevailing
organisational needs in public agencies.
4. Avariable concept for public administration must permit useful attention to avariety of organisation
and analytic levels.
5. Useful mini-paradigmsfor public administration will include as kanor multiple foci the individual, his
interpersonal relations, his small groupings, and large organisations as well. Consequently, any
paradigms useful in the field must provide meaningful research and applied technologies for coping
with these complex multiple foci.
6. Even as the development of multiple foci must remain the long run goal, a' law of tactical convenience'
should govern the priorities accorded to various lines of development work.
7. Difficult as it is, the d velopment of public administration must self-consciously concentrate on its
task aspects versus maintenance aspects.
8. Overall, the development of public administration will depend on the exploitation of what may be
called 'o,pen systems', by which is meant theoretical networks that are rooted in experience and that
are testable; in consequence, they are at least potentially self-correcting.

14
 Golembewski 's OD is a mini-paradigm which focuses on change. It directly confronts issues of
choice and value and has strong applied thrust, as it provides the public administration with a panoply of
opportunities for basic and applied research.11
Ostrom advocates a democratic theory of administration which accentuates diversity. Dwight Waldo
wants that public administration should think of itself as analogous to the medical profession. Just as
medicine is guided by no single theory and draws upon a number of different medical sciences to treat the
multiple ills of the human patient, similarly, public administration should collect knowledge from different
disciplines to prepare practitioners for careers in the public services. He has emphatically asked the public
administrationist to draw from the various the disciplines and seek what they need wherever it may be
located.
Public administration in the contemporary context has to be significantly more responsive , it is a
general realisation that for tomorrow public administration has to perform the role of an organiser (to use
knowledge of the principles and functions of administration to structure the formal organisation), a leader (to
understand the behavioural basis of administration), a pathologist (to diagnose the ills of bureaucracy and
cure them), a politician (to build political support for his/her program to get along with competing
interest), a political analyst (to calculate effects and costs of public policy), and expeditor (to know the
advantages of power and how to use it), a scientist (to use scientific decision-makingto manage change), a
change agent (to use organisation developments to maximise human resources in the agency), an
intemationlist (to appreciate the impact oflocal conditions upon administration) and a reformer (to predict
future discontinuities and prepare the organisation for them) because all these roles get supported by the
accumulation ofknowledge which the discipline has displayed through itscentury-long evolution.
Arie Halachmi, while reviewing and assessing someof the main deveiopments in public administration as
a field of study during the last thirty years, had suggested contingency administration for the eighties.
Contingency administration isalso referred to as situational management. According to Halachmi, it is a
very promising approach. Trends also indicate that the contingency public administrationis fast developing due
to two reasons, viz., by 1970 , it became clear that the quantitative and behavioural approach did not have
answers for all situations, and secondly, there exist no universals in public administration. For effective
management, different organisational structures, styles ofleadership, control or methods of co-ordination are
required varying from country to country depending upon functional relationship among the different
variables of the external and the internal environments. The nature of inter-dependencies and inter-
relations is ever changing. Therefore, there isno one single best way of doing things. This means that public
administration has to be more like a ' rational calculator' of alternative ways to achieve public objectives and
stop being a 'neutral robot'. It also means that the discipline is homogenising and a global discipline in public
administration is bound to evolve.
Conclusion
Over a hundred years of growth and development of public administrationshows that it has emerged as a
neophyte but independent discipline in Social Sciences. The process of development has been
controversial, and many believe that the discipline lacks a definition. In fact, its evolution reflects the
Hegelian cycle of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. The literature on public administration is confusingly
voluminous but rich. The academic and scholarly trends in the development of the discipline have been
divergent and conflicting. The approaches to public administration are numerous and strategies that exist,
continue to multip,ly so rapidly that tracing its development becomes perilous task.

15
 The discipline has developed from simple to complex, from orthodox administrationto contigent
administrationfor tomorrow. 'Thegrowth and development reveal a single ''time line" stretching from 1887
to the present. There has been a debate whether public administration is a discipline in the strict sense of
the term because it lacks boundaries. The claim that it is a science has also been challenged and attacked.
Yet, public administration has emerged as the ' state in action' as broad as the government itself. Public
administration asa discipline relies on political science but it has tended to become multidisciplinary in
approach and contents. Its boundaries are no longer rigid and the discipline has become more client-
oriented now than it wasever before. The vitality and versatility of the discipline has come to be universally
acknowledged regardless of the ideology of the government and the style ofits functioning.

REFERENCES
1. Nicholas Henry, Public Administration and Public Affairs, Prentice Hall, INC Englewood
Cliffs, 198 0, p. 26.
2. Woodrow Wilso n, 'The Study of Administ ration' , Political Science Quarterly, June 1987 ,
pp. 197-222.
3. James Heaphy, ' Public Administration as a Discipline: Its Importance in, the Coming Decades',
Indian Journal of Public Administration , 1980, Vol. XXVI, p. 504.
4. Ibid.
5. E.N. Gadden, A History of Public Administration, Frank Cass & Co. Ltd., London, Vol. 1, p.
269.
6. Robert Golembiewski, Public Administration as a Developing Discipline Part 1, Perspectives
on Past and Present, New York, Marcel Dekker, 1977.
7. POSDCORB stands for : Planning, Organising, Staffing, Directing Co-ordinating Reporting and
Budgeting in a total of twenty nine principles set forth.
8. John Merriman Gaus, 'Trends in the Theory of Public Administration', Public Administration
Review, 10, Summer 1950,p. 168.
9. Allen Schick, The Trauma of Politics: Public Administration in the Sixties; American Public
Administration-Past, Present and Future; Fredrick C. Mosher ed, Syr·a c ase, Maxwell School of
Citizenship and Public Affairs and the NationalAssociation of Schools of Public Affairs and Ad-
ministration, 1975 , p. 152.
10. Nicholas Henry, 'Public Administration's Ninety years in Quandary', Public Administrationan.d
Public Affairs, pp. 49-50.
11. Michael Murray, ' Trends in Public Administration Education', The Bureaucrat, July 1975 p.
195.

16
 3
THE THEORY OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
Dr. R.N Mathur

The evolution of management science emerged with the growth ofindustrialism and factory system in the
United States. In the earlier days of capitalism the typical capitalist was himself his own manager. He owned
his factory and managed his own enterprise. However, with the growth oflarge scale public corporations
and technological development of modem industry the functions of the management have become more
distinctive as the capitalist who formerly performed the functions of management withdrew from management.
As a result management was a evolved as a distinct professional discipline. In this lesson we will discuss the
classical theory of Scientific Management with reference to Frederick Taylor and Henry Fayol.

Frederick Taylor
During the nineteenth century conditions of work in the factories were totally unplanned and
management was hardly competent to impart knowledge to the workers about the techniques of work. It is
against this background that Frederick Taylor (1856-1915), an engineer, formulated a systematic theory of
scientific management to be applied in industrial concerns inthe interest of higher industrial efficiency. Taylor
pointed out that managers instead of being whip men, would have to develop a new philosophy and approach to
management. They would have to develop a broader, more comprehensive view in order to see their jobas
incorporating the elements of planning, organizing and controlling.
. Taylor developed his ideas 6f scientific management gradually while working in different firms.
While working at Midrale Steel Company Plants as Chief Engineer he noticed some of the shortcomings in
factory operations . He saw (1) that management had no clear concept of worker-management responsib
ilities; (2) that no effective work standards were applied there; (3) that no incentiv.e was given to worker to
improve his performance; (4) that systematic coercion was applied on workers in their work;
(5) that managerial decisions were based on bunch institution or rule of thumb; (6) that no overall studies were
made to incorporate a total-flow concept of work among the departments, and that workers were inaptly
placed at tasks for which they had no ability or aptitude, and finally (7) that the management apparently
ignored the truth that excellence in performance and operations should be suitably rewarded to both
management and worker.
Taylor based his managerial system on his own production-line time studies. Instead of relying on
traditional work methods, Taylor analysed and timed steel workers' movement on a series of jobs. He
thereby established how many workers should be able to do with the equipment and material at hand. He broke
down each into its components and designed the quickest and best methods of operation for each part of the
job.
In 1893 Taylor worked as a private consulting management engineer in Simonds Rolling Machine
Company. The task was inspection of the balls used in bicycle ball bearings by 120 workers. The task prov
d tedious and time-consuming to the employees. Taylor made major changes in the work. He first studied
and timed the movement of the best workers. Secondly, he trained the rest in the method of their highly skilled
co-workers and then transferred or laid off the poor performers. Be also introduced rest periods during the
work day, along with his differential pay-rate system . The results proved impressive. Expenses were reduced,
productivity, quality, earnings and workers' morale went up.

17

/
 In 1898 Taylor was engaged as a consultant by Bethlehem Steel Company to inspect the work of
unloading and loading materials from railcars. Complaint was made to Taylor that workers were slow in
their work and were not willing to work faster. Taylor and his co-workers studied and timed the operations
of unloading and loading the cars. Taylor concluded that with frequent rest period each man could handle
about 48 tons a day as against 12½tons done by the workers. He fixed a piece-rate wage, that would be
paid to each worker; i.e., 1.85 dollars a day ifhe met the standard of 47-½tons fixed by him. The workers
responded favourably to Taylor to avail the incentive wage.
Philosophy behind Frederick Taylor's Techniques : Frederick Taylor outlined his philosophy of
scientific management in his two books Shop Management and Principles of Scientific Management.
This rested on four basic principl es : (1) Development of a true science of management, and the best
method for performing each task could be determined; (2) Scientific selection of workers, so that each
worker could be given responsibility for the tasks for which he or she was best suited; (3) Scientific
education and development of the worker; and (4) Intimate, friendly cooperation between management
and workers.
These principles, Taylor pointed out, could succeed only on complete mental revolution on the part of
management and labour. Both of these were required to increase production. By so doing, profits would
increase to an extent that managers and labour would be mutually benefited. Taylor's principles were
scientific because they were based on experimentation in and keen observation of the work situations and
the managerial dynamics. Taylor's ideas covered a wider sphere. They related to systems application,
personnel management, cooperation between labour and management, functional organization, time and
motion study and techniques of planning.
Taylor's main objective was increased labour productivity as he proposed concrete measures
for a rational utilization of workman's labour and the means of production. He insisted an a
strict regimentation of the utilization of materials and instruments;standardisation of implements
and operations, the strict accounting oflabour time, the study of work process by c4lividing them into
their components and measurement of each with a stop-watch (Time study), the establishment of
control over every operation, the introduction of differential wages and so on. Taylor was of the view
that an employee was motivated by the payment of higher wages. He suggested that payment should be
made to the worker on the basis of higher output of work. Various methods of measuring workers' output
were devised. According to him the payment should be fixed on the basis of merit of performance and not
on any other criteria. He discouraged the practice of monthly salaries and preferred piece-rate wages in
which pay was directly determined on the basis of actual amount of the work done.
Taylor's Contribution
Taylor's ideas had revolutionary effect not only in the U.S.A. but throughout the world, including the
Soviet Union. Taylor viewed man as an adjunct of machine. The individual in his view did not understand
the subtleties of the industrial organization and he should therefore adjust himself to the requirements of the
management. He reduced worker to a state of dependency. The worker was required to work to the limit
of his physical capacity and he was to be given a high wage in return. The management was to determine
' One best way' of doing the work and the worker has not to bother for it. Taylor's assumption was that
individual worker was isolated from his social environments.
Criticism of Taylor
Taylor bas been rejected both by the organized labour and the management. The labour leaders
consider Taylp rism i:!,S destroying trade unionism and also the principle of collective bargaining. It is a
18
menace as it causes continuous increase in unemployment. Taylor, to them, is more interested in the
mechanical aspectofthework. Hoxie criticises Taylor's approach to scientific management as
unconcerned with the human aspect of production. He also holds the basic ideals of scientific
management as incompatible with labour unionism.
Taylor is also criticised by the managers, in particular for his stand on training by highly trained
experts.
Oliver Sheldon, Marry Parker Follett, Sam Sewisohn, Elton Mayo and many others have criticised
Taylor saying that his scientific management isimpersonal, and underemphasizes the human factor. Elton
Mayo holds that the structural arrangements of the organization are not important for increasing
productivity and efficiency; it is the emotional attitude of the worker towards his work and colleagues .
Work is an essential part in man's life, since it is that aspect oflife which gives him status and binds him to the
society. When they do not like it the fault lies in the psychological and social condition of the job, rather than
the worker. (J.A.C. Brown, The Socia/Psychology of industry, Pelican 1954)
Taylor does not properly understand the anatomy of work. He lays much emphasis in minute division of
work and specialization. It is criticised on several grounds. Firstly, the work gets depersonalized, the worker
becomes a mere cog in the machine, the relations between the worker and the manager are remote and the
worker has no sense of participation; the worker has little opportunity to show his skill and ability. Secondly, it
may lead to automation of the worker with physiological and neurological consequences. The organization
becomes a piece of poor engineering. Thirdly, Taylor's division of work into planning and executive
divisions is criticised . In such a situation it is difficult to develop a proper team spirit. It is also argued that the
principle of minute sub-division of work is subject to the law of diminishing return.
The criticism ofTaylor is summarised in these words : first, he confuses the principle of analysis with the
principle of action. Second, planning and doing are separate aspects of the same job, they cannot he totally
divorced."
The Behaviouralists criticise Taylor that he sacrifices the initiative of the worker, hi; individual
freedom and use of his intelligence and responsibility. Simon describes the scientific management as
physiological organisation theory.
HenryFayol
Another exponent of the Scientific Management movement was Henry Fayol. He was a French
engineer. His famous work is General and Industrial Management (1916). He was appointed Manager, of a
mining company in France, which was on the verge of bankruptcy (1880), but by the time he retired in 1918
it became one of the most powerful French concerns. He attributed the success of his company to the
consistent and systematic utilisation in management of a series of simple but extremely effective and
universally applicable principles.
Fayol maintains strongly that any valid theory of management cannot be limited to business but must be
equally applicable to all forms of human endeavour. He further adds that all undertakings require some degree
of planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling. Since management is all-pe rvasive,
Fayol suggests that a general knowledge of management would benefit everyone and this subject should be
taught in schools and universities. He emrhasises that the managerial activity deserves the utmost attention
ofev:ery one. It ismade upof planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling.
Fayol further laborates on each of these components. Planning consists of envisaging the future and
drawing up a plan of action. Organising consists of a dual structure of human and material to achieve the

19
objective of the undertaking. The organiser (Manager), according to Henry Fayo,l, has to discharge fifteen
managerial duties:
(l) Insure that the plan is judiciously prepared andstrictly executed,
(2) To see at human and material organisation is consistent with the objectives, resources and require-
ments of the concern,
(3) Harmonise activities and co-ordinateefforts,
(4) Formulate clear, distinct, precise decisions,
(5) Arrange for efficient selection of personnel,
(6) Define duties clearly,
(7) Encourage initiative and responsibility,
(8) Provide fair and suitable recompense for services rendered,
(9) Make use of sanctions against faults and errors,
(10) Ensure maintenance of di cipline,
(11) See that individual interests are subordinated to general interests,
(12) Pay attention to the unity of command,
(13) Supervise both human and material order,
(14) Maintain control over everything, and
(15) Fight against excessive regulations, red tap and paper control.
Fayol explains that Commanding implies maintaining activity among the personnel oftheorganization.
The manager should possess thorough knowledge of his personnel. He should set a good example
and eliminate the incompetent workers. He should be well-versed with the agreements binding the busi-
ness and its employee.sHe should conduct periodical audits of the organisation and maintain organisation
charts. He should hold conferences to bring together his chief assistants to draw attention to directions and
efforts.
Co-ordinating,according to Fayol, implies binding together, unifying and harmonising all activity and
efforts.
Fayol also explains that the purpose of Controlling was to ensure that everything isaccomplished in
conformity with the established plan and Command.
The ability ofa manager depends on his position in the hierarchy of the organization. !fa person is
doing a lower-level job he needs no specific technical skill and very little managerial ability. When he
moves up to a higher level of authority, managerial ability is much more required forhimthan mere specific
skill. Managerial ability is also relative to the size of an organization. We need a relatively greater measure
of managerial ability in a big business organization than in asmall-sized firm Fayol suggests formal mana-
gerial training to be imparted in schools for prospective managers.
Principle of Management : Henry Fayol completed his next work of managerial theory by stating
that the management to be effective should be founded on the following fourteen principles:1 '(1) Division
of work;, (2)Authority and responsibility;(3) Discipline; (4) Unity of command; (5) Unity of direction;
(6) Subordination ofindividual interest to the general interest; (7) Remuneration (fair and reasonable
reward of effort); (8) Centralisation; (9) Scalar /chain (line of authority); (10) Order (A place for every
one, and ev ryone in his place); (11) Equity; (12) Stability of tenure of personnel; (13) Initiative; and (14)
Esprit de' corps.

20
 These principles do not need any elaboration. Of all these principles, Fayol greatly emphasises the
importance of Unity of Command, stating that each individual, whether manager or labourer, should have one
and only one boss. He takes Taylor to task for his idea of functional foremanship, whereby each worker
may have as many as eight bosses. Henry FayoI is of the view that there is nothing of rigidness or absoluteness
in these principles. They are flexible and can be adopted to meet the changing needs and circumstances.
Henry Fayol'stheory of management is comprehensive and all the principles are based on his practical
experience.
Contribution of Henry Fayol to Management Theory: Henry Fayol has made a significant
contribution to management thought. He points out that management is9 separate body of knowledge and is
applicable to all forms of group activi ty. He is first to suggest that management curricula be introduced, and
taught in schools and universities. He displays logical thinking and foresight in his management theory.
His influence on the thinking in France and many other European countries has been equal to that of
Frederick Taylor although they differed in their approach. Taylor concerned himself primarily with the
worker level and the technical aspect of production, concentrated on management, from the top down,
emphasising managerial ability and the application of sound managerial principles and techniques to all
organizations.
Fayol's approach to organization theory is more flexible than that of Frederic Taylor. Taylor's
scientific management isconcerned with organizational efficiency interpreted only in mechanistic terms. He
views man as an adjunct of machine. Taylor considers that administrativeactivity is the privilege of the
management and the worker is a dependent variable. Fayol, on the other hand, feels that administrative
activity is not confined to privileged few, but permeates the entire organization. Taylor does not allow the worker
to participate in admini stration . Fayol, on the other hand, is of the view that workers can participate in
the administrative activity to some extent. He thinks that as one goes up the ascending order
oforganization, responsibility increases. and vice-versa.
•
Taylor believes in the theory of unity of command but modifies his stand by reconciling it with the
principle of functional specialization. According to him a worker can be subjected to the supervision and
control of eight functional foremen. Henry Fayol criticisesTaylor for undermining the principle of unity of
command, according to which one worker receives order from one boss only.
Finally, Fayol points out that the principles of management are not to be applied with rigidity. They
have flexibility and can be adjusted to changing needs of human beings. It would appear from this that
Fayoldoes not ignore human aspect of the individual in a sense which is done by Taylor.
Criticism of Scientific Management Theory
Although Taylor's methods led to dramatic increases in productivity and to higher pay in a number of
instances, workers and unions became uncomfortable with Taylor's approach. They feared that working
harder or faster would exhaust whatever work was available and bring about mere lay-off. Some
organizations following Taylor's approach laid off workers. Increasing number of workers became
convinced that they would lose their jobs if Taylor's methods were adopted.
Scientific Management theorists are also criticised for their interpretation of human behaviour. It is
pointed out that people are completely rational, that they are motivated primarily by a desire for gain and
act in a manner best suited to satisfy their economic and physical needs. Taylor and his followers ignore the
social needs of th workers as members of group and do not consider the tension created when these
needs are frustrated. They assume that as rational people, workers would do more work on an incentive

21
 wage to earn more money. This assumption has become inappropriate for modem managers today. The
Hawthorne Experiments (1927-28), a research in group dynamics rejected the over-simplified notion that
'economicincentive' largely explains employees' behaviour in the organization. Scientific Management
predicts that better illumination would increase production. The Howthome experiment disproved this and
· showed that there was no relation between the two variables. 'The wiring room experiment involving the
wiring of switch boards disproved the assumption made by Scientific Management theory that piece-rate
wage system led to increase in production. It, on the other hand, proved that non-economic rewards
played a central role in determining the output of production. The experiments established that organisational
efficiency was not determined by physical capacity of the workers but by social norms.
Another factor which Scientific Management theorists ignored was "Job Satisfaction". It has been
observed that workers go out on strike not only on the question of salary or economic earnings but on the
question of job conditions also.
The Scientific Management Theory which proved so successful for generations is out of date in the
present day changed world. Taylor's view that Job is separable from man has dehumanising effect on the
organisation. Social scientists all over the world have rejected this approach and are united by their
common revulsion from the concept of man, the worker, as a mere commodity. Their positive view is that
workers are human beings with the right to work and live with dignity. The Hawthorne Experiments,
referred to above, prove that motivation cannot be ngineered and the piece-rate wage incentive cannot
improve productivity unless workers are allowed to work in a social environment favourable to them.
Summary
Although Taylor's work provided the framework for much of the original thought regarding the
function of management it was primarily directed toward those management activities normally associated
with first-line supervision and other lower-level management positions. Not until the late 1930s did
attention begin to focus on management activities normally associated with upper adn}inistrative levels. It
was at about this time, for example, that the work of Henry Fayol, a French industrialist, was first published
in the English language and began to appear in the United States. Fayol and other members of what was to
be called the "functional" school of management, including James D. Mooney andA.C. Reiley, Luther
Gulick and Lyndall Urwick, Ralph C. Davis, and Harold Koontz and Gryil O'Donnell, provided the
impetus for a new approach to the management process. This approach emphasized the administrative
activities of a manger as they were performed at all levels in the organization. Their primary focus was on
developing a list offunctions that must necessarily be performed as part of the overall administrative -
process. Although the exact number of functions to be performed will vary from author to author, those of
planning, organizing and controlling are considered to be classic, and in general they will be found in the
writings of all members of this school of thought. It was the objective of these writers to examine the
organisation as a separate entity, to analyse the basic function·s a manager must perform, and from these to
develop a series of principles that could he utilized to guide management behaviour in all organizational
situations. These principles provided direction for managers in areas such as authority and responsibility
relationships, line and staff organisation, business policies, span of control, leadership, and division of
labour. Following is a representative listing of management principles drawn from the writings of several
well-known thinkers in this area:
1. Clear lines of authority must run from top to bottom in the organization,
2. No one in the organization report to more than one line supervisor,
3. The responsibility and authority of each supervisor should be clearly defined in writing,

22
4. Responsibility should always be coupled with corresponding authority,
5. The responsibility of higher authority for the acts of its subordinates is absolute,
6. Authority should be delegated as far down the line as possible,
7. The number oflevels of authority should be kept at a minimum,
8. The work of every person in the organization should be confined as far as possible to the performance
of asingle leading function,
9. Whenever possible, line functions should be separated from staff functions , and adequate emphasis
should be placed on important staff activities,
10. There is a limit to the number of positions that can be coordinated by a single executive,
11. The organization should be flexib le , so that it can be adjusted to changing conditions, and
12. The organization should be kept as simple as possible.
It is generally advocated by members of this School of thought that these principles have application to
all forms of organization in all environments. This being the case, they believe that it would be possible for a
manager to improve the effectiveness of his organization by a conscientious application of these principles .
Several writers ofthis period do however, discuss the need to give adequate consideration to each situation
when applying these principles to a given organization.
This school of thought has had a most significant effect on management practice, for it represents the first
major attempt to develop and apply guidelines to be utilised in the administration of all levels of the
organization. It creates a body of knowledge that can be studied and then applied to the business organi-
zation so as to bring about a more effective and efficient utilization of resources.
Although this school of thought has been severely criticized in recent years because it tends to disregard
the human element within theorganization, it still represents a major milestone in the development of
asysternized body of knowledge regarding the practice of management. The contributions of admin- istrative
and functional management are to: (a) Focus attention of administration and upper levels of management
within the organization; develop a series of "functions" that must be perf01med by every manager within
anorganization (planning, organizing, controlling), and (b) Develop a series of"principles" believed to have
application to all organizations (unity of command, span of control, delegation of authority, division ofl
abour, etc.).

SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Claudes, George Jr. The History of Management Thought (Prentice Hall, Inc. Englewood
Cliffs, 1968, New York) pp. 79-85 and pp. 86-99.
2. James AF. Stoner, Management (Prentice Hall Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 1978), pp.
33-43.
3. Edggar F. Hass & James L. Bariditch, Behaviour in Organizations (Addison-Wesley
Publishing
Co., 1977), pp. 251-273.
4. Frederick Taylor (!) , Scientific Management , (New York, Harper and Brother, 1947)
--(2) Shop Management; (New York, Happer, 1947)
5. Henry Fayol, General and Industrial Management , (London, Pitman Co. 1949)

23
 4

MAX WEBBER'S CONCEPT OF IDEAL ORGANIZATION

Dr. OP Minocha
Max Weber
Max Weber (1864-1920), the famous German sociologist, conceptualized bureaucracy as amodel
of ideal organization for the modem public administration. In fact his model of bureaucracy has been the
single most influential item in the literature on public administration. After studying law, he joined the
teaching profession at Berlin University. Unlike both Taylor and Fayol, he had an academic background
and in fact remained academic for the rest of his life. Through his writings, Weber contributed ideas
generously to all the social sciences. His main studies concerned with the sociology of organization and
religion. His works, which have been translated by H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, are available in the
form of a book "From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology."
Proceeding from the interpretationof man's nature and motivations, the champions of"classical"
theory of oraganisation like Taylor, Gulick . Mooney and Urwick, concentrated their attention on the
administrative aspects of organisation. The main feature of this school, which has not lost its influence even
today, is its striving to formulate general principles of management or administration. Organisation is treated
as totally formal, i.e., built up before hand by experts. Any deviation from which is regarded asa violation
of the normal state to the detriment of efficiency. The organisation has been regarded asa closed system
deprived of any effective connections with the external environment. Max Weber also followed the
"classical" school of thought represented by Taylor and Fayol. However, the difference between Weber
on the one hand and Taylor and Fayol on the other is basically differences of approach. Weber unlike his
two contempoarries, had not the urgency of practical problems of organisation, compelling him to seek
solutions. As a result, his writings tend not to be prescriptive, but merely descriptive. His first thought is not
to say what the basis of organisation should be, but merely to analyse, what it is.
Max Weber can he regarded as the founder of the systematic study of bureaucracy. He can be
considered as the mentor of those scholars who subsequently became interested and contributed to the
understanding and classification of the term 'bureaucracy'. In terms of the i uence it has exerted and the
argument it has stimulated, Max Weber's writing on bureaucracy is more important than the sum total of
the contribution made by all others. Yet, there is dearth of detailed exposition of his work as opposed to
straightforward borrowing of particular ideas on theone hand or the crjtical discussion ofsome fragment of
his writings on the other. The results of these difficulties with Weber'stext have been paradoxical. He has.
placed more emphasis, than any other of the founding fathers of modem sociology, upon clarity and
coherence of concept formulation. What he wrote about is a part of his efforts to codify the concepts of
social science. Organisation for him signified an ordering of social relationship, the maintenance of which
certain individuals took as their special task.
Authority, Organisation and Legitimacy
Max Weber"identifies three kinds ofauthority in an organisation: Firstly, where obedience was
justified because of a person giving the order has some sacred or altogether outstanding characteristic.
This Weber termed as "Charismatic authority". Secondly, acommand might be obeyed out of reverence
for old established pattern of order. He calls it "traditional authority".And thirdly, where one might believe
that a person giving an order was acting in accordance with duties as stipulated in acode oflegal rules and
regulations. sis Weber's category of"legal authority" which he says is"rational authority". It is this type
of authority which characterises the modem organisation. It is the most efficient form of organisation and a

24
pure rational and "ideal" type oforganisation.
Weber differentiates authority, power and control. "Power" in social relationship means capacity to
enforce will despite resistance. It manifests when a"command of definite content elicits obedience on the part
of specific individuals". 'Authority' is identical with the authoritarian power of command. Its fine essential
components are : (1) an individual or a body of individuals who rule, (2) an individual or a body of individuals
who are ruled, (3) the will of the rulers to influence the conduct of the ruled and an expression of that will or
command, (4) evidence of the influence of the rulers in terms of the objective degree of command, and (5)
direct or indirect evidence of that influence in terms of the subjective acceptance with which the ruled obey
the command.
Authority exists as long as it is accepted as legitimate. To Weber, "all administration means
domination". An organisation consists of persons :(a) accustomed to obey commands, (b) personally
interested in seeing the existing domination continue because they derive benefits, (c) who participate in that
domination in the sense that the exercise of functions is divided among them, and (d) who hold them- selves in
readiness for the exercise of these functions.
Weber prescribes three types of organisations and authority: Legal authority, Traditional Authority and
Charismatic Authority.All these three types of authority claim legitimacy as long as the"ruled" accept them.
Further, these are pure types, but there may be combinations of them also, with different and distinct features.
Weber prefers the 'legal type', he has designed his model bureaucracy on the basis of ' legal
rationality'. Weberian model of bureaucracy is an institutional mechanism for the exercise oflegal -
rational authority.

Bureaucracy
Max Weber who evolved this "idealtype" of administrative organisation, termed it as bureaucracy. He
has not defined bureaucracy in any clear manner. What he did was to specify the feature of what he
considered the m·os t rational form of bureaucracy. However his general concept of bureaucracy as
opposed to specific concept can he constructed by inferences from the large number of passages where he has
made reference to bureaucracy. One clue to Weber's general concept is provided by giving the
functions of modem official Law.
Weber emphasizes 'legitimacy' ofauthority which depends on the following ideas:
(a) existence ofa legal code which claims obedience from the members of the organisation,
(b) law is a system of abstract rules applied to specific cases, and the
(c) administration looks after the interests of the organisation within the precinets of law,
(d) this impersonal order is observed by the individuals exercising authority,
(e) a member obeys the law in his capacity as member of the organisation, and
( t) the obedience is to the impersonal order which grants him the position and not the person who
· exercisesthe authority.

Max Weber's.writingson bureaucracy can be distinguished among several levelsof analysis.These

are:
( I ) the historical and technical reasonsfor the advancement of bureaucracy and its relation to the

25
 growth of modem state, especially in the Western countries;
(2) the impact of the rule oflaw upon the functioning of the bureaucracy organisation;
(3) the occupational position and typical personal orientation of bureaucratic officials asastatus
group;and
(4) the consequences of bureaucratization in the modem world.
While discussing the process of bureaucratization, Max Weber points out theconditions that have led
to the emergence and advancement of bureaucracy and the consolidation of modem state. Though
bureaucracies haveexisted in ancient times in non-money economies like Egypt, the beginning ofextensive
employment of officials in states and organisations made it imperative to provide them with salaries on a
regular basis in order to neutralize any threat to the"master" as well as lessen the temptation to appropriate
bureaucratic property for their own personal ends. Thus, according to Weber the first condition that led to
the emergence ofbureaucrncy was the development of money economy. Secondly, advancement of bu-
reaucracy has also been due to the growth in size and activities of states and organisations. Thirdly, the
technological development and resultant social, economic and cultural development gave rise to large
scale formal system of organisation and bureaucracy. Fourthly, this formal system oforganisation as pro-
vided by 'classical' school of thought came to be recognised as technically superior administrative man-
agement system ascompared to other forms of administrativemanagement systems. According to Weber,
legal order, compulsory jurisdiction over a territory, monopolization of the legitimate use of force and
bureaucracy are the essential characteristicsof a modem state.
Features of ideal Type
Based on European methods of organisation, chiefly on Prussion experience, Weber's "ideal type" is
generally identical with the models created by the"classic" theory of management. The following are the
main features in the" ideal type" proposed by Weber :
1. Definition of Position: The entire activity needed for the achievement of the aims set by an
organisation is divided into elementary simple operations, which in its turn, is presupposed to be a strict,
formal definition of tasks and duties of every link of the organisation. A maximum possible division of
labour makes it possible to utilize all l nks of the organisation'sexperts who are fully responsible for the
effective fulfilment of their duties.
2. Hierarchy : The organisation of offices follows the principle of hierarchy, that is, each lower
officials is under the control and supervision of higher one. Every subordinate in the administrative
hierarchy is accountable to his superior not only for his own decisions and actions, but also for those of the
people subordinate to him. In order to be able to bear the responsibility for the work of the latter, he must
have authority and power over them and issue orders which must be obeyed by the subordinates.
3. Rules : The activity of the organisation is regulated by aconsistent system of abstract rules and the
application of these rules to particular cases. Max Weber in The Theory of Social and Economic
Organisations (1947), points out that asystem of standard and general rules must be worked out in order
to ensure the identical implementation ofevery task, irrespective, of the number of people engaged in its
fulfilment. Clearcut rules arid instructions define the responsibilityof every member of the organization and
the forms of the co-ordination of their individual activities. This does not mean, according to Weber, that
bureaucratic duties are inevitable, simple and routine. A strict adherence to general standards in the
solution of specific questions eliminates possible deviations in the fulfilment of tasks evoked by individual
differences.

26
 4. Impersonality. The ideal administrator manages his activities in a spirit of formalistic
impersonality, without hatred or passion and hence without affection or enthusiasm. Thus, the normal
functioning of theorganisation in accordance with rational standards excludes the intervention of personal
consideration and emotions. There must be an unbiased approach-both within the organisation and of
others outside the organisations. The exclusion of all personal considerations in official matters isan essen- tial
precondition for both impartiality and efficiency. Impersonal impartiality promotes anequally just atti- tude
towards all and, hence, the development of democratic principles in administration.
5. Career Based Service: In an organisation, service or employment is based on correspondence
between the technical qualification and the position held, and employees must be protected from arbitrary
dismissal. Service constitutes acareer. There is a system of promotion according to seniority or to achieve-
ment, or both.
6. Efficiency : Experience tend-s universally to show that the purely bureaucratic type of
administrative organisation is, from a purely technical point of view, capable of attaining the highest
degree of efficiency. The structure inherent in an organisation of an "ideal type" makes the bureaucratic
form of administration, asystem far superior to any other as regards its accuracy, stability, strict discipline
and reliability.
The above-mentioned characteristics of Weberian ideal type of bureaucracy can be summed up as:
I. Bureaucracies are hierarchically organised.
2. Bureaucracies are based on a systematic division oflabour.
3. All bureaucratic operations are governed by a system consisting of abstract rules.
4. Bureaucratic operations in the application of these rules to particular cases.
5. Bureaucracies are impersonal in character.
6. Bureaucracies are rational in their decision-making.
7. Bureaucracies are career-based.
8. Recruitment ofbureaucra...:ies is based on merit and technical qualifications.
Thus, the characteristics like hierarchy, division oflabour, objectivity, rationality, impersonality, rule-
orientation and merit, constitute the"ideal type" of administrativesystem propounded by Max Weber. The
former category consists of hierarchy, division oflabour and system ofrules; while the latter one consists
of impersonality, rationality and rule-orientation.
Weber also indicates the principles behind the position of the officials. These are:
I. Office holding asa"vocation", requiring a prescribed course of training.
2. The official enjoys a social esteem in accordance with his rank in the hierarchy.
3. The official is appointed by asuperior authority.
4. The official enjoys tenure of office for life.
5. Security is ensured for the official by the payment of asalary in accordance with his status in the
hierarchy anµ there is a pension at the end of his service.
6. Career-stages characterize the official's life and he is expected to be moved from less-paid
office to well-paid office with time.
Consequences of Bureaucracy
Max Weber who was aware of the consequences of bureaucracy, pointed out several of them. The first
and the foremost of the consequences is alienation. Alienation is fairly common within large and
bureaucratic org isation and it cannot be eradicated on a permanent basis. Secondly, according to Roth

27
 and Wittich, bureaucratization leads to a depressed form of democracy, for not only are the democratic
mass parties bureaucratically organized, but this leads to decline in the active share of the subjects in the
government and "the levelling of the governed in the face of the governing and bureaucratically articulated group,
which intum may occupy a quite autocratic position both in fact and in form." Thirdly, the modem bureaucratic
system has a levelling effects on social and economic difference. Fourthly, a fully devel- oped bureaucracy
implements a practically indestructible system of authority relationships. It becomes indispensable to the
extent to everyone that life would stop without it. Fifthly and laslty, an entrenchedbureaucracy can serve any
interest. Bureaucratic allegience being to the authority, it matters little whether changes have taken place at the
political level. Training and proper orientation can help the bureaucrats to adapt quickly to thechanging
situations.
According to Weber, the bureaucratic form makes it possible to give an optimal solution to the
problem ofhowto raise the effectiveness of the organisation as a whole. If the members of the organisation
possess the requisite skills and know-how and use them rationally and energetically, they will work effi- ciently.
So they should have specialised technical qualifications. But various personal motives bring about irrationality
indecision-making. Weber points out that this source ofirrationalitycan be eliminated by the consistent
implementation of the"impersonal detachment" principle in the entire organisation. This ratio- nally,
independent of one another, will bring inlack of coordination, which in tum will effect the efficiency. That is why
there must be discipline, a system of rules and instructions and hierarchy of control. All em- ployees must
observe them rigidly. The bureaucratic form creates social conditions tl}at make every em- ployee considers
them rational or irrational. It must beorganisation, irrespective of whether he personally considers them rational
or irrational. It must be noted that Weber did not include all officials within the notion of bureaucracy. The
elected officials do not form part of bureaucracy.
Critical Appraisal
The Weberian model of bureaucracy has attracted the attention of many scholars and has generated
discussion and debates almost immediately when Weber's writings became available inEnglish. His con- cept of
bureaucracy created tremendous influence academically. Like other 'classical' thinkers, the central theme
ofcriticism levelled against Weberian bureaucracy is its neglect of the informal aspect of human relationships
and formal structure within an organization. The human variable is taken for granted. Over reliance has been
placed on hierarchy and rules to ensure the continuance of the organisation, which sometimes results in rigid
structure and conflict. Carl Friedrich (who was quite familiar with Weber's writings before they were translated
from German to English) points out that Weber has neglected the notion of responsibility.
Peter Blau, a Chicago University professor, has published his empirical research on two govern- ment
agencies-a federal law enforcement agency and an employment agency in The Dynamics of Bureaucracy
(1963). Blau points out that Weber's theory explains the social structure only through the functions ofits
competent elements. Such an approach, however, excludes the need for a thorough ipvestigation of
the"disturbances" that various elements produce in the structure of an organisation. As a results, according to
Blau, Weber's presentation may make the social structure appear to function more smoothly than it actually
does, since he neglects the disruptions that doin fact exist. To protect ourselves against this danger, it is
essential to extend the analysis beyond the mere consideration of functions. According to Peter Blau, rules
and procedures, at least most of them, can encourage the achievement of organizatio.nal objectives and at the
same time produce dysfunctions which may interfere with the organization's capacity to undertake
changes to continue functioning. The same factor that enhances efficiency in one respect often threatens it
in another, it may have both funct,io nal and dysfunctional
28
consequences. Aclose consideration of Weber's scheme shows that it contains a contradiction which
cannot he justified by the fact that it reflects the principle of ideal organisation. For example, according to
Weber, efficiency isachieved by introducing the principle ofimpersonal detachment and espirit de corps can
emerge. Likewise bureaucratic hierarchical relations prompt the subordinate to concede defects in their
work and thus to interfere with the flow of information from the bottom to the top of the hierarchical ladder,
which inevitably lowers the effectiveness of management. Similarly, principle of merit and seniority as the bases
of promotion, constantly contradict each other.
According to Peter Blau, Weber hardly perceived the need to talk in terms of rule adjustment,
redefinition and amplification which may prove crucial for the survival of the organization. Blau also
challenges the myth implied in the Woberian concept ofbureaucracy that rationality comes only from the top.
Maximum rationality in the organisation, therefore, depends on the ability of operating official to assume
the initiative in establishing informal relations and instituting unofficial practices that eliminate operational
difficulties as they occur. Max Weber, it is clear, ignored some practical problems of management of
organisations that are gaining importance these days. The ideal bureaucracy is unattainable.
Chester Barnard was one of the first to draw attention in his The Functions of the Executive(1968) to
the fact that "informal organisations are necessary to the operation of formal organisations. Informal models
are now considered an essential ingredient of bureaucratic organisations and are inevitably included in
the system of factors when an analysis of organisational activity is made." But Weber 's conception of
organisation proceeds from the assumption that every deviation from aformal structure interferes with
efficient management. Informal relations and unofficial practices often contribute to efficient operation.
Robert Merton, one the most influential sociologists in America today, argues that while Weber
elaborated on the positive attainments and functions of a bureaucratic organisation, he at the same time
completely neglected the internal stresses and strains which are the resultant of such structure. In his article,
"Bureaucratic Structure and Personality" (1968) Merton points out that adherence to rules, conceived as
means, becomes as end-in-self, develops rigidities and an inability to adjust readily. It also induces timidity,
conservatism, technicism and such other dysfunctional consequences.
Philip Selznick in his essays "An Approach to a Theory of Bureaucracy" and "Foundations of a
Theory of Organisation" has pointed out the inadequacies of the bureaucratic model. He has based his
discussion on bureaucracy in the following three hypotheses.
I . Every organisation creates aninformal structure;
2.In every organization, thegoals are modified, abandoned, deflected orelaborated by processes within it,
and
3. The process of modification is effected through the informal structure.
Rejecting the Weberian concept of bureaucracy Selznick points out that bureaucracy is concerned with
the behaviour of officials. Selznick not onlyextended Merton'sanalysis ofbureaucraticdysfimctionalism but points
out the resistance of individuals toconform tothe Weberian mechanistic model ofblJ,feaucracy.
Alvin W. Gouldner in this essay "Metaphysical Pathos and the Theory of Bureaucracy" (1955), not
only discusses the results of applications of Weber's concept of bureaucracy and its functioning but at the same
time talks about the metaphysical pathos of bureaucracy. He feels that Weber'semphasis on size as the crucial
determinant of bureaucratic development is unsatisfactory as there are many activities which are carried on an
enormous scale which are not bureaucratic inany serious sense. Moreover, the increasing use of modem technology
does not necessarily lead toagreater degree of division oflabour. He challenges the

29
Weber's hypothesis that effectiveness of bureaucracy is based on uniform and rigid rules with little scope for
variablity. Gouldner indicates that Weber has neglected the authority based on expertise and has given importance
to authority based on hierarchy. The former, as per Gouldner, 5 typology, is known as · "respresentative
bureaucracy" and the later as"punishment centred" bureaucracy.
Michel Crozier in his book, The Bureaucratic Phenomenon (1964), considers bureaucracy as a part
of social system which consists of a distinctive culture and a system of shared values. According to Crozier
bureaucracy isa pathological condition, for there isa tendency for centralization and rule-making to become or
to be taken as irreversible. He aptly remarks that,"a bureaucratic organization isan organisation that cannot correct
its behaviour by learning from its error." Crozier agress with Weber's analysis that bureaucracy isinevile in
today's complex and fast, changing world, but at the same time emphasizes the dysfunctional consequences of
a typical bureaucratic organization, which Weber has ignored. Crozier's central contribution lies in clarifying
sometimes complex and often confused relationships between culture, value, and the bureaucratic system.
The writings on bureaucracy inthe context ofdeveloping countries havedemonstrated the inadequancy
of Weberian model in non-Westen environment. Morroe in his study, Bureaucracy and Society in Modern
Egypt (1957), has found that there was phenomenal difference in terms of professionalization and norms
toward office between Egyptian civil servants and what has been written by Weber. Robert Presthus has pointed
out that economic compensation as epoused by Weber was not enough to motivate workers to produce more in
coal industry in Turkey. Joseph La Palombara (ed.), Bureaucracy and Political Development (1963), not only
indicates the dysfunctionalism in Weberian model, but doubts whether the rational type of bureaucracy is
advisable for the developing countries. Similarly, Fred W. Riggs in The Ecology of Public Administration
(1961) points out that as against the legal-rational model of Weber, the developing countries have the features
of "formalism," "overlapping" and "heterogeneity" in their administrativesystem.
Talcott Parsons points that here is a lack of internal consistancy in Weberian model of
bureaucracy. Even there is confusion on the terms used. Terms such as bure;ucracy, modern
administration, and officialdom have been used as interchangeable terms. Weber has completely ignored the
non-Western bureaucracies, especially of Russia, China and Japan, which do not conform to Weberian model ,
yet are efficient and effective. Weberian model is only an ideal theoretical model, which is operationally
and empirically not valid. It ignores the personal traits of the individuals working in organisation. The
characteristics produced by Weber includes various hypotheses which cannot be verified, since they are,
essentially, a prior views identifying bureaucracy with rational administration of organisatio ns. For
example, the question of whether a strict hierarchical authority can increase effi- ciency can be resolved
only on the basis of empirical research,, but not on the basis of a prori defini- tions flowing from the
concept of "ideal organisation". Ideal bureaucracy is unattainable. Factual re- searches have revealed that
the "unformal relations" and "inofficial practices" play a major role in the relations between members of a
bureaucratic organisation and even acquire organised forms which are not sanctioned officially.
According to Pai Panandiker and Kshirsager, Weberian model appears to be somewhat static. To have
a more valid and useful bureacuractic theory it is essential to examine behavioural postulates also. The
bureaucracies involved in development tasks tend to be less structured and behaviourally more flexible than
secretariat-based remote bureaucracies. We need t'o build into theory factors, such as its functional contents
and the degree of citizen participation in its operations which give it a more dynamic character.

30
 Both the "classical" theory of organisation and Max Weber's conception have many essential
features in common, and their approach tothe analysis ofasocial organisation and itsadministration can be
considered as being more or less identical. Both consider the organisation as a purely formal structure,
strictly defined system of rules, instructions and recommendation. binding on all itsmembers. This makes the
organisation coercive in character. The individual is isolated from the rest of the staff and is to be ideally adjusted
by means of purely economic level, while the organisation asa whole isseen asaclosed and self- contained
structure.
Despite these limitations, the principles of the ideal bureaucratic model developed by Max Weber have
gained widespread recognition in practice and continue to influence the development of modem theory of
bureaucracy, organisation and administration. The Weberain model has been used to study bureaucracies
in developing countries and has helped to compare these bureaucracies whlch differ from one another
significantly in many respects. According to Federal Heady for comparative purposes bureaucratic
model presents a meaningful starting point, Weber's model identifies the universality of the structural
characteristics of bureaucracy.

SUGGESTED READINGS
1 . H.H. Gerth and C.W. Mills (eds.) From, Max Weber:. Essays in Sociology, New York, Oxford University
Press, 1948.
2. Peter H. Blau, The Dynamics of bureaucracy, Chicago, Chicago University Press, 1963.
3. Alfred Diamont,"The Bureaucratic Model: Max Weber Rejected, Re-discovered, Reformed" in
Federal Heady and Sybil L. Stakes, Papers in Comparative Public Administration, Ann Arbor
(Michigan) Institute of Public Administration, 1962.
4. D. Gvishiani, Organisation and Management: A Sociological Analysis of Western Theories,
Moscow, Progress Publishers. 1972.
5. Martin Albrow, Bureaucracy, New York, Preeger Publisher, 1970.

31
 5
THE HUMAN RELATIONS' DOCTRINE
Dr. 0. P Minocha
The human relations approach to public administration offers a viable alternative to Frederick W.
Taylor's scientific management school. This looked at the organisation from ahighly mechanistic view and
saw the employees as rational, profit-maximizing element of the organization. In the last few decades since
the end of World War II, we have seen profound technological and social change. These fore:es have
affected the evolution of organization theory. New knowledge has come from conceptualization and em-
pirical research in a number of related disciplines like psychology, sociology, anthropology, mathematics,
statistics and industrial engineering. Though it is difficult to summarize the scientific research carried on in
these disciplines and their impact on the organization theory, it is clear that two broad and fundamental
categories have emerged: (1) The behavioural sciences which emphasize the psycho-social system and the
human aspect of administration; and (2) the administrative sciences which emphasize quantification,
mathematical analysis and the application ofcomputer technology.
The Behavioural Approach
Many forces both within the organization and in the external environment have stimulated change in
theory and approaches to administration. Most of the organisations have had an unparalleled increase in its
size and complexity, specialization within the organization has increased. Much has been written aoout the
human consequences of the socio-technical changes brought about by the advancing industrialization.
Emile Durkheim (1930) believed that the rapid industrialization has broken down the solidarity within
social groups. Family and community relationships have been destroyed. The work organization has
become an important substitute for the traditional system of social interaction and psychological attach-
ments which people had earlier in the pre-industrial societies. Increased general education levels provided
employees with more intellectual skill and required new inducements to secure effective participation in the
administration. Apart from the economic needs, many other social and emotional needs raised new levels
of aspirations. Unionisation, especially after 1930, raised the demand for collective decisions and action.
All these factors forced modifications in the old "classical"theoryoforganization.
In the study of organizations the behavioural approach emphasizes the psycho-social system with
primary consideration of the human components. It is concerned with studying organization in the real
world and less interested in establishing normative models. They have used an open system and have
considered many variables which were excluded by the 'classical' thinkers. As against emphasis on struc-
ture and task, the behavioural approach isconcerned with human factor and the way employees behave in
actual organisations. The method employed by this school of thought has been the empirical investigation
into the interaction and cooperation between employees individually and collectively.
The behavioural approach has gained some respectability during the recent years because of the
empirical research. This approach emphasizes the need for insights into human behaviour over the whole
spectrum of man's activi ties.Asa field of study it.must satisfy two basic criteria: (1) it must deal with human
behaviour, and (2) it must use "scientific" approach. The scientific aim isto establish generalizationsabout
human behaviour which are supported by empirical evidence collected in an impersonal and objective way.

Human Relations Approach

This school of thought holds that every person is different and is influenced to a large extent by the
work group and social factors around him. This behavioural approach contributed a lot to the organization
32
theory and has given rise toa new school of thought, namely, "human relations". This school concentrates on
the human aspect of administration and believes that when people work together to accomplish objec- tives "
people should understand people".
The writers and scholars have focusedon the individual and his or her motivations and relationships with
others. They are also concerned with behaviour of the people in a group. Group relations, group standards,
the problems of conflict and co-operation, communication barriers, informal organization and the like are the
behavioural elements which have been introduced inan integrated form into the administra- tive theory.
The new intellectual input has been provided by a large number of researchers, philosophers and
practitioners belonging to diverse fields making it truly an interdisciplinary approach. These contributions have
added to our knowledge and understanding, but at the same time they have increased the problem of
integration of all findings to have a clear idea about the operation of the organisations.
According to the human relationship protagonists the worker is not an isolated, unrelated individual
animal. He has hisown norms, values and holds himself to an informal groupin awork situation. This group
exerts its influence on productivity. Membership in the group is prized for more than any reward that
management could offer with the possible exception of employment itself. Acceptance by the group is the key
motivator. The human relationship has now moved on to"participative management".
This has replaced the "authoritarian" system of control and leadership developed by the "classic"
school. The "human relations" school advocates the view that man desires "first a method ofliving in social
relationship with other people, and second, as part of this, an economic function for and of value to the
group". This school of thought stresses on the informal factors inorganization's activity. The ideologists of this
school focus attention on the studyof group relations and have attempted to suggest ways of resolving the inter-
group contradictionsin an organization. In short, according to its adherents the"human relations" concept may
be reduced to three propositions : (I) man is a 'social animal', (2) a rigid J1ierarchy of subordination-
aformulation of organizational process is incompatible with human nature, and (3) the solving of man's
problem is the concern for the management of the organization.
Besides Elton M. Mayo and Fritz J. Roethlisberger, D. McGregor, Chirs Argyris and1 Rensis Likest
are the other notable representativesof the human relation school of administrative thought.
Contribution of Elton Mayo ,"I'

Elton Mayo (1880-1949) was trained as a medical student but he soon abandoned it to follow his
interests in psychology and philosophy. AnAustralian by birth, he went to the United States, joined the staff
of Harvard University, eventually becoming Professor of Industrial Research at Harvard Graduate School of
Business Studies. He was primarily interested in the people in the organizations. His two most widely read
books are: The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization (1933), and The Social Problem of an
Industrial Civilization (1949) '
The Emergence ofhuman relations doctrine is linked with Elton Mayo. He is known for his research in
the field of the"sociology ofindustrial relations" and for his experiments widely known as ' Hawthorne
Studies'. According to Elton Mayo the determination ofoptimum working conditions for the human being is left
largely to dogma and tradition, guess or quasi-philosophical argument. In modem large scale industry the three
persistenfproblemsof management are:
I. The application of science and technical skill to some material good or product,
I. We shall be studying McGregor and Chris Argyris in subsequent lessons.

33
 2. The systematic ordering of operations; and
3. The organisation of teamwork, that is, of sustained cooperation.
Mayo is of the view that the last aspect must take account of the need for continual reorganizationof
teamwork as operating conditions are changed in an adaptive society. This aspect is almost wholly
neglected and this is the aspect which makes an organisation efficient.
The Hawthorne Studies
It was in 1926 that a special department of industrial relations was set up at the Harvard University. In
1927 under the direction of Elton Mayo an extensive investigation was started at the Hawthorne Plant, near
Chicago, of the Western Electric Company. The main aim of these on the spot experiments was initially
toexamine the affects of fatigue on worker. Later on it was extended to study thesocial organisation within work
groups. It took nearly five years before the project was finished . During this time Fritz J. Roetlisber ger acted
as research assistant to Mayo. Mayo's main conclusion wasthat psychological and social, rather than material
factors, affect the growth of productivity.
The first phaseof the Hawthorne Studies was an experiment involving five girls engaged on electrical
assembly testing. The researchers separated the girls from the rest of the labour force, placed them in a
special room which came to be known as the Relay Assembly Test Room. Asupervisor was asked to keep
records and maintain friendly atmosphere with the girls. Over a period of one and half years various
improvements were introduced in the working environment and conditions. The working hours reduced from
48 hours to 42 hours and rest periods were increased.
As these studies continued it was found that regardless of variations in these conditions, production
increased. Even more astounding, production continued to increase even after the girls were returned to the
original conditions with longer working days, without rest pauses and with poor surroundings. Mayo and his
group hypothesised that the increased production was result of changed social situations of the workers,
modification in their motivation and satisfaction and differing pattern of supervision.
This experiment disproved the traditional view ofthe scientific management, which held that physical and
physiological variablescombined with strong economic incentive were the primary factors influencing output and
productivity. Social and psychological factors were seen to be more important in determining worker satisfaction
and productivity.
This led to the second stage of Hawthorne studies in which over 21,000 people were interviewed during
a period of three years. Although this phase of the programme did not lead to a quantifiable result, it did indicate
the importance ofhuman and social factors in the total wor situation. Some generalizations from this programme
were:
1. Acomplaint is not necessarily an objective recital of facts, it isasymptom of personal disturbance the
cause of which may be deep-seated.
2. Objects, persons and events are carriers of social meanings. They become related to employee
satisfaction or dissatisfactiononly as theemployee comestoviewthem from his personal situation.
3. The personnel situation of the worker is aconfiguration of relationships composed of a personal
reference involving sentiments, desires , and interests of that person and a social reference
constituting the person's social past and his present interpersonal relations.·
4. The position or status of the worker in thecompany is a reference from which the worker assigns
meaning and value to the events,objects, and features of his environments, such as hours of work, wages
etc.

34
 5. The social organisation of the company represents a system of values from which the worker
derives satisfaction or dissatisfaction according to his conception of his social status and expected
social rewards.
6. The social demands of the worker are influenced by social experiences in groups both inside and
outside the work plant.
The third and last phase in the Hawthorne Studies consisted of an in estigation into the work practice of
a non-experimental group, consisting of fourteen men and four supervisors for a period of six months. These
employees were in the Bank Wiring Observation Room. The operatives were under constant super- vision
and their output was carefully recorded. It was soon clear that they were restricting their output despite
an individually based incentive scheme. It revealed that there was a definite code of conduct operating
among these employees. The informal work group established production and output norms which were
often in conflict with those set forth by management. In spite of the fact that the workers were · paid on a
group piecework incentive plan, each worker restricted output, thereby reducing possible earnings. The
work group determined the output of individual workers, indicating that production was more determined
by social rather than aptitude and physiological factors. The group also established many other types of social
norm s in addition to output standards. These norms set forth various roles for individual workers.
Theexperiment indicated the strength of informal social organisation which was based upon sentiments and
feelings, status and roles and social interactions which were often far removed from the formal
organizational policies and procedures.
The results of the Hawthorne Studies clearly demonstrated that some of the basic premises of the
classical theory of management were untenable. According to Elton Mayo,"man isa uniquely social animal
who can achieve complete freedom only by fully submerging himself in the group". He is of the view that
industrialisation destroys cultural traditions, produces social disorganisation and unhappy individuals. There-
fore, to bring social stability there should be leadership which is"people oriented" rather than "production
oriented" . According to Mayo, "if our social skills (that is, our ability to secure cooperation between
people) had advanced step by step with our technical skills, there would not have been another European
War." The work per se, the production process itself, and the purely physical demands made upon it
according to Mayo are relatively less important than the worker's social and psychological attitudes.
Therefore, all organisational problems should be considered in the light of human relations, taking into
account social and psychological factors.
Mayo was fully convinced that the conflict between man and the organisation could befully resolved if the
social and psychological needs of the workers were satisfied. The drive for efficiency had to be backed up by
an understanding of the human factor at work. All this have had a shattering impact on the then existing
thinking about organisation and administratio n, especially to the traditional hypothesis of economic theory
which considered society to be made up ofindividuals who were trying to maximize self-interest. Mayo called
for modifications in this approach by giving greater recognition to human values.
Mayo along with his colleagues Roethlisberger and Whitehead developed many concepts about
human behaviour in an organisation, such as:
1. The business organisation is a social system as well as a technical-economic system. The social
system defines individual roles and establishes norms which may he at variation ,vith those of the
formal organization.
2. The indivi ual is motivated not only by economic incentives but also by diverse social and
psychological factors. This behaviour is effected by feelings, sentiments, and attitudes.

35
 3. The informal work group became a dominant unit of consideration. The group has an important role in
determining the attituder and performance of individual workers.
4. Leadership patterns based upon the formal structure and authority of position in the organization under
the traditional view should be modified substantially in order to consider psycho-social factors. The
human relationists emphasized "democratic rather than "authoritarian" leadership patterns.
5. The human relations school generally associated worker satisfaction with productivity and emphasized
that increasing satisfaction would lead to increased effectivenes.s
6. It is important to develop effective communication channels between the various levels in the hierarchy
that allow the exchange of information. Thus "participation" becomes an important approach of the
human relations movement.
7. Management requires effective social skills as well as technical skills.
8. Participants can be motivated in the organization by fulfilling certain social-psychological needs.
Critical Appraisal
Elton Mayo's emphasis on human relation in an organisation had a major impact upon administrative
thought. His ' Hawthornestudies' set the foundations for the·later investigation inbehaviour researches. His
writings have influenced the later behavioural scientists and provided greater insights for organisation theory
and administrative practices. Within ten years of Mayo's findings every practitioner in personnel manage-
ment or human relations started reconsidering his contention. It gave a new role to management in dealing
with employees, and a new concept of social order based on individual cooperative attitude and system of
coordination and communication. N€w concepts like group dynamics, sensitivity training, etc. have been
added to the literature on administrativetheory.All these approaches have created new work situation and
have helped in maximising productivity of an organisation. These new ways of raising labour productivity are
getting greater recognition.
However, there has been substantial dissent. Some of the findings of Elton M yo have been
thoroughly criticised and some other have become subject of continued intense debate. As the traditional
theorists overemphasized the formal, technical and structural aspects, the human relations and the psycho-
social aspects have been overstressed by Elton Mayo. Viewing human relati<?ns in a closed system and not
considering economic, political and other environmental forces have been criticised. Inadequate consider-
ation of the role of union in the industrial society has also become apoint of criticism. Mayo's findings have
been criticised on the ground that they are based on a purely capitalist unders ding of the worker's social
and psychological needs, that is, he proceeds from the view that capitalism is cfule to transcend the contra-
dictions it is creating. According to D. Gvishiani, this explains the sentimental aspect of "humanisation"of
the relations between the workers and the owners, the attempts to picture the manager of a capitalist
enterprise as a person interested only in the achievement of the"common aims" of all the firm's employees
and, moreover, the common aims of the nation (growing oflabour productivity, universal welfare, social
peace and so on)".
There is another contradiction in Mayo's findings that first it was the presence of autonomous
groups with independent interests of their own; it was regarded as a dysfunction but at the same time it
is considered as a natural reaction coming out of"division oflabour". Moreover, it is held that there is a
contradiction between formal and informal groups and between administrators and workers. But at the
same time one gets the impression from Mayo's writings that he thought that unions were rather unneces-
sary if management was performing its functions effectively. This also leads to the conclusion that Mayo
was authoritari and he was bent upon the maintenance of the hierarchical structure by giving greater

36
consideration to human factors in order to maintain the traditional system.
In spite of these criticisms Elton Mayo's Hawthorne studies and his writings had tremendous impact
upon management and administrative practices.

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. D. Gvishiani, Organisation and Management, Moscow, Progress Publishers, 1972

2. D.S. Pugh (ed) Organisation Theory, Penguin Books, 1971.
3. Elton Mayo, The Human Problem of an Industrial Civilization, New York, 1933.
4. Elton Mayo, The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilization, London, 1949.
5. Bertram M. Gross, The Managing of Organisations, London, 19 46.
6. Amitai Etzioni, Modern Organizations, New York, 1964.
7. Fritz J. Roethlisberger, Managem ent and Worker, Cambridge, 1941.

37
 6
CHRIS ARGYRIS: INDIVIDUAL
ACTUALIZATION IN COMPLEX ORGANIZATI ONS
Dr. 0. P Minocha
Chris Argyris has propounded the thesis that mere absence of conflict between the individual and the
organizational goalsand of a closed human system are inadequate. He attempts to study the human behaviour
in organizations in the context of the conflict between the system and the individual. The formal administra-
tive structure tends to make the employees feel dependent, submissive and passive.
To Argyris, " human relations" is becoming a scientifically rooted field asevidenced by the increasing
use of behavioural sciences to understand why people behave the way they do. Asystematic picture of a
basic and useful field of knowledge could only emerge by bringing together some ofthe present behavioural
science research results, and presenting such a picture is the main objective of Argyris's famous work. The
attempt, as rationalized after Einstein, is a striving for unification and simplification of the premises of the
theory asa whole. This would enable the administrator or the scientist to understand human behaviour as
also to predict and to control it.
ChrisArgyris emphasizes the role ofhuman personality in an organization; human beings are the living
organisms and striving for self-actualization. The nature of human personality therefore becomes an impor-
tant component in organizationalbehaviour. Personality is something different from the sum of the parts; it
is an organization of these parts. One cannot conceive of an individual only as one with an itemized list of
characteristics like honesty or loyalty or initiative. Obviously, change in one aspect is not enough; it is
necessary to change the total behaviour or total personality. Argyris distinguished between internal
personality balance and external balance. ln_ternal balan ce exists when the parts of the individual's
personality are inequilibrium or in balance with each other. Persons with internally balanced personality
are adjusted. External balance exists when the personality as a whole is in equilibrium with the outside
environment. People whose personalities are externally balanced are called adapted. Total balance occurs
when the internal balance 'J ibes" with external balance, i.e., where a person is both adjusted and adapted
or integrat ed. Adjustment indicates the soundness of the internal arrangements of an individual's
personality. Adaptation indicates the arrangements a person has worked out to adapt to his environment,
e.g., his job. However, it is possible that a person may be adapted but not adjusted.
Since parts of the personality are in balance or equilibrium, a change in one part tends to affect other
parts. If the change or disturbance is not marginal but above a certain point, the balance is upset and
disequilibrium or imbalance among parts of personality occurs. The amount of change which upsets the
balance differs with different people depending on tolerance or personality. Higher the tolerance, less the
imbalance.
The total personality balance occurs when the parts are in balance with each other and when the
personality as a whole is in balance with the world. Equilibrium isthe solution that the personality arrives at
so that it may adapt to the world in which it exists. Balance in personality is 'thus not static. It is maintained
through active behaviour. Personality continuously works to maintain itself in its present basic state. The
inherent tendency to maintain itself is called a basic trend toward self-actualization which guarantees the
constancy of personality.
In' the following exerpts Chris Argyris discusses his views on the organization and the personality*.
*see Mental Hygiene, Vol. 44, No.2,April 1960 , pp. 226-37.

38
 Individual Actualization in Complex Organizations
Although the research to be discussed is being conducted in an industrial organization, the theoryand the
results are believed to apply to other kinds ofcomplex organizations (for instance, hospitals, school,s banks,
and government agencies). Therefore, although the terms " management" and "employee" will be used, it is
assumed that the results apply to any(genotypically) similar relationship between any administra- tor and
employees:
Theoretical framework
Since discussion of the theoretical framework and the many studies from which it is evolved
are available in other publications, only some of the main propositions are defined in order to givethe reader
an acquaintance with the theoretical foundations of the research. The most relevant propositions follow:
Personality is conceptualized as (a) being an organization of parts in which the parts maintain the
whole and the whole maintains the parts; (b) seeking internal balance (usually called adjustment) and
external balance (usuallycalled adaptation); (c) being propelled by psychological as well as physical
energy; d) located in the need systems; and (e) expressed through the abilities; (f) The personality
organization may becalled"theself ' which(g) acts tocolour all the individual's experiences thereby causinghim to live
in"privateworlds" and which(h) iscapable ofdefending ormaintaining itself againstthreatsofall types.
The development of the human personality can be hypothesized to follow the directions and
dimensionsoutlined in the following model. It is assumed that human beings inour culture:
a) Tend to developfrom astate of passivity as infants to astateof increasing activity asadults. (This is
what Erikson in Childhoodand Society has called self-initiative and Bronfenbrenner has called self-
determination).
b) Tend to develop from a state of dependence upon others as infants to a state ofrelative
independence as adults. Relative independence is the ability to "stand on one's own two feet" and
simultaneously to acknowledge healthy dependencies'. It is characterized by the liberation of the individual from
his childhood determiners of behaviour (for example, his family) and the development of his own set
ofbehavioural determiners. The mature individual does not tend to react to others (for example, the boss) in
terms of patterns learned during childhood;2
c) Tend to develop from being capable of behaving only in a few ways as an infant to being capable of
behaving in many different ways asan adult:3
d) Tend to develop from having erratic, casual, shallow, quickly-dropped interests as an infant to
having deeper interests as an adult. The mature state is characterized by an endless series of challenges; and
the reward comes from doing something for its own sake. The tendency is to analyse and study
phenomena in their full-blown wholeness, complexity and depth;
e) Tend to develop from having a short time perspective (that is, one in which the present largely
determines behaviour) asan infant, to a much longer time perspective asan adult (that is, one in which the behaviour
is more affected by the past and the future). Bakke cogently describes the importance of time

I. This is similar to Erikson 's " sense of autonomy" and Bronfenbrenner 's "state of creative interdependence ."
2. White, Robert W. Lives in Progress, New York, Dyden Press, 1952.
3. Lewin and Kounin believe that as the individual develops needs and abilities the boundaries between them become
more rigid. Thi explains why an adult is better able than a child to be frustrated in one activity and still behave
constructively in another .

39
perspective in the lives of workers and their frup.ilies and the variety of foresight practices by means of
which they seek to secure the future [seethe Unemployed Worker, Yale University Press, 1940];
f) Tend to develop "from being in a-subordinate position in the family and society as an infant to a
spiring to occupy an equal and/or superordinate position relative to their peers;
g) Tend to develop from a lack of awareness of self as an infant to an awareness of and control over
self as an adult. The adult who tends to experience adequate and successful control over his own behaviour
tends to develop a sense of integrity and feelings of self-worth. Bakke shows that one of the most impor-
tant needs of workers is to enlarge those areas of their lives in which their own decisions determine the
outcome of their efforts.
Most human problems in organizations arise because relatively healthy people in our culture are
asked to participate in work situations which coerce them to be dependent, subordinate, submissive, to
use few of their more than skin-surface abilities.
There are three major sets of variables which cause the dependence and subordination. The formal
organization structure is the first variable. (This includes the technology). Directive leadership is the
second, and managerial control (budget, incentive systems, quality control, motion and time studies) isthe thrid.
The degree of dependence and subordination that these three variables cause tends to increase as
one goes down the chain of command, and the lower echelons of the organization take on the
characteristicsof mass production.
Healthy human beings (in our culture) tend to find dependence, subordination and submissiveness
frustrating. They would prefer to be relatively independent, to be active, to use many of their deeper
abilities; and they aspire to positions equal with or higher than their peers. Frustration leads to regression,
and tension. These in tum lead to conflict. (The individual prefers to leave but fears doing so). Moreover,
it can be shown that under these conditions, the individual will tend to experience psychological failure and
short time perspective.
•
Individuals will adapt to the frustration, conflict, failure, and short time perspective by creating any
one or acombination of the following informal activities:
a) Leave the situation (absenteeism and turnover);
b) Climb the organizational ladder;
c) Become defensive (daydream, become aggressive, nurture grievances, regress, project, feel alow
sense of self-worth);
d) Become apathetic, disinterested, nonego involved in the organization and itsformal goals;
e) Create informal 11ps to sanction the defense reactions inc) and d);
t) Fom1alize the imonnal groups in the form of the trade unions;
g) Deemphasize in their own minds the importance of self-growth and creativity, and emphasize the
importance of money and other material rewards; and
h) Accept the above described ways ofbehaving as beingproperfortheirlivesoutsidetheorganiz.ation;
Management will tend to increase the employees' dependence, subordination, submissiveness, which
in tum will increase their frustration, and sense of failure, which in tum will increase the infor,mal activities.
Management will react tothe increase in the informal activities by the formal structure, directive leadership
and managerial controls. This closes the circuit and one hasacirbular process inseemingly perpetual motion.

40
 Focus of the study and the sample
The objective of the research, conducted in a multi-storey manufacturing plant, is to study the mental health
of highly skilled as compared to low-skilled employees. Our hypothesis is that since highly skilled employees
tend to have a greater opportunity to express more mature behaviour (be creative, use many abilities, be
challenged in their work, and so on), they will tend to have a healthier work world. This in turn should lead to the
highly skilled employees behaving in more mature ways (as defined by our model above). For example, the
high-skill employees (Department A) should express less indifference, apathy, dependence and
submissivenessthan the low-skill employees (Department B).
Also the high-skill employees should express greater sense of self-worth, self-satisfaction, and
develop more lasting friendships than the low-skill employees.
Thirty-four employees from Department A and 90 employees from Department B constitute the
sample. The schedules of the questions used are semi-structured. They outline specific areas which ought to be
covered but leave the interviewer free to decide upon the sequence of the questions.
The interviews were held in the plant, on company time. Notes were taken during the interview and
recorded immediately at the4 end of the day. Interviews were held on different days of the week for a
period of seven Months.

Evidence that experimental conditions exist for employees

The design of the study calls for a priori predictions about employee behaviour in Departments Aand
B. The differences, if any are found, are to be attributed to the differential characteristicsassumed to exist in the
technology of Departments A and B. For example, Agives employees much more opportunity for varied,
creative work than does B. Before the hypotheses can be tested, however, we must show some evidence that
the employees perceive the differences between A and Bas we assume they do. The researcher's
assumptions of differences are based upon management's job classification structure. It is one thing for
management to classify the jobs in Department Aas skilled and Department Bas non-skilled and to pay the
employees according to these classifications; it isquite another for the emplotees to perceive these
differences.
Evidence that the employees experience the experimental conditions as the researchers assume can be
obtained from a number of sources. Ninety-four per cent of the employees in Department A (high- skilled)
report that they have jobs in which they experience "plenty of variety,""as much variety as they can han
_ dle or
more." Eighty-seven per cent of the employees in Department B report that they have jobs which are
"completelyroutine," "dull,""monotonous,"''with little if any variety."
Further evidence isobtained by analysing the data related to "perceived personal satisfaction" about their
jobs. Eighty-five per cent of Department B(low-skilled) report that they obtain "no satisfactions from their work
excepting good wages." Eighty-three per cent of the employees in Department A report that they gain "much
personal satisfaction because they have challenging and creative work."
A few qualitative examples to illustrate the differential feelings are:
Department A: "I think the satisfaction I get is to know that I have done a job well. 1 like to do a
perfect job; I like to feel something's done really good; it's really perfect. When I take a look at a piece that I can
tell has been made well, l get a real sense of satisfaction."

4. A monograph l?rovides detailed discussion of the research methods and an analysis of the organization as a social
system ' Theo ry and Method of Diagnosing Organi adonal Behaviour,' entitled

41
 Department B: I. "If the work is all right, then I make money, and that'sµiy biggest satisfaction. Ifl
don't, I get pissed off. What else is there to be satisfied about? I learned long ago the only thing you can get out
ofa good job is good pay."
2. "The only reason I work is to make money. No other reason. Some guys (damn few) say they work for
pleasure. They must be bats. How the hell am I supposed to get satisfaction from this job? I'd just as soon get
out and dig holes, at least I'll be in the fresh air".

A second assumption made by the research design is that the degree of dependence and subordi-
nation required of the employees by the leadership and the managerial controls will not vary significantly
between Departments A and B. These assumption must also be verified as representing reality from the
employees' point of view.
Seventy-five per cent of the employees in Band 84 per cent in A view the leadership as"excellent
because they hardly ever bother us, because they continually try to help us earn good wages and have
secure jobs." In discussing the contracts that they have with management, 63 per cent in Band 68 per cent in A
view the management as being "friendly," "down-to-earth,""interested in the employees," and "continually
striving to make the employees feel they are not simple ma hines."
Turning to controls, we find that almost no employees in either department describe the budgets as
pressuring them. One explanation of this may be that the budget system is only a few months old and has not
had an opportunity to be felt by the employees. Turning to the incentive system, 67 per cent in
Department Band 62 per cent in Department A view the piece rates as "bring fair,""some rates tough, some
easy, but the overall average is fair," and ''wish they were slightly higher, but this is not acomplaint."
In response to a question on the freedom the employees feel, reflecting on the leadership and the
controls together, 83 per cent in Department B and I 00 per cent in Department A report that they have "as
much, or almost as much, freedom as they desire." Finally, in an over-all indication of the degree of
pressure the employees feel, 91 per cent in Department B and 100 per cent in Departmer'lt Asay that they
"never, or hardly ever, experience pressure."
It seems reasonable to assume that the degree of dependence and subordination required of the
employees in Department Aand B does not vary significantly between the departments. This says nothing about
the amount of dependence and submissiveness perceived by the employees. We are simply saying that
whatever the amount is, it is about equal in both departments.
Some differences between high-skill and low-skill employees
A method has been developed to infer the predispositions that individuals manifest while at work,
plus their potency (in the Lewinian sense of the term). 5
A word about our use of the concept "predisposition." For the sake of consistency and simplicity the
personality aspects upon which we focus are all categorized as " predisposit ion." Apredisposition is
defined as a tendency to act in a particular situation. The predispositions are inferred from the interview data.
The analyst combs the interview for any themes from which he can infer the desires that the participant
wishes to satisfy while at work. An analysis of these data shows that statistically the high-skill (HS) employees
differ significantly from the low-skill (LS) employees asfollows:

5. Lewin , Kurt ' Time Perspective and Morale,' Resolv ing So c ial C on fli c t, NY Harper & Broth ers 1958 .

42
 These data confirm the hypothesis that the technology has an impact upon the predisposition and
activities ofhurnan beings. Further analysis, however, raises the question ofhow significant this impact is if one
is focusing on mental health problems.

STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE 6

High Skill Low Skill

1. Express a high sense of self-worth .001 1. Express a very low sense of self-worth
and self-regard related to their and self-regard.
technological capabilities
2. Express need to be active. .001 2. Express need to be passive.
3. Express need to work with others. .001 3. Express need to be alone.
4. Express need for variety and .001 4. Express need for routine, non-challenging
challenge in their work world. work.
5. Express need to have some close .01 5. Express desire not to make close
friendships while at work. friendships while at work.
6. Express need to produce quality work. .001 6. Express need to produce adequate
(quantitative) work to make a fair day's pay.
7. Express almost no need to over- .01 7. Over-emphasizethe importance of
emphasize the importance of material material rewards.
rewards.
8. Express need to learn more about other .001 8. Express almost no need to leal]l other
kinds of work within the same job family. kinds of work.
9. Participate in activities outside their work .01 9. Participate in activities outside
place judged by the researcher to be their work place judged by the
creative. researcher to be non-creative.
The degree of self-actualization of HS and LS employees
The answer to this question becomes evident when we note that the self-actualization scores of the LS
and HS employees do not differ significantly. Both sets of employees have equally high scores. These
scores purport to quantify (in a primitive manner) the degree to which an individual actualizes himself while
in the organization.

6. A predisposition is not assumed to be as basic as the "needs" or " ne ed system" postulated by many psychologists.
The psycho logis t's concept of"need" usually refers to those predispositions (to use our terms for the moment) that
are more genotypic (that is , they are manifested in many different types of situations). Our predisposition are limited
to the organizational context being studied.
7. The probability of obtaining by chance a difference as large as that reported is computed by employing statistical
method appror,riate for use with independent proportions. See Quinn McNemar, Psychological Statistics, New
York, John Wiley & Sons, 1955. p. 60

43
 Inother words, even though the LS and HS employees differ significantly in termsofthecharacteristics listed
above, their degree of self-actualization is the same. Thus, in this case, theoften-quoted generalization by mental
health practitioners that low-skill employees will tend to have a lower degree of self-actualization than high-skill
employees is not upheld.
Similarities between HS and LS Employees
If the HS and LS employees do not differ significantly in self-actualization, then it must be that in
addition to the dissimilar predisposition, they must have similar ones which are of higher potency and
which are being expressed. The data confirm this hypothesis. The four predispositionswith the highest
potency are similar for both groups of employees. They are:
Frequency of choice
(Present)
HS LS
I. To be left alone by management 97.0 89.0
2. To be non-involved, indifferent and apathetic about
the formal goals and problems of the organization 96.0 86.0
3. To experience skin-surface inter-personal relationships 96.0 90.0
4. To earn fair wages and to have secure jobs 92.0 89.0
From the first two predispositions we may infer the employees' desire to be left alone by the formal
authorities and not to be required to become ego-involved in the objectives of the company. Apparently the
employees have withdrawn psychologically from theorganization. They may be said to be in a state of apathy.
Apathy also seems to characterize the employees' predispositions with regard to their interpersonal
relationships with others. We note that they desire few interactions and those to be mere skin-surface
relationships. This apathy toward human relationships (as differentiated from apathy toward non-human
relationships) may be defined as alienation. Employees who are alienated are therefore.defined as those who
do not tend to desire the rich interpersonal activity usually assumed by some personality theorists to be a basic
characteristic of man.8 ln short, alienated people are willing to separate themselves from human relationships.
From the employees' point of view (especially those on low-skill jobs) alienation may be a sensible way
to adapt to their working world. Why, they reason, should they become ego-involved in a world that will not
permit them to express mature aspirations and to gain satisfaction of their adult needs?
At this point, the data simply permit us to hypothesize that the primitive state of interpersonal
relationship inferred to exist inside the plant also seems to exist in the activities the employees engage in
during their non-working hours.9Thus the employee may be hurting his"long-range self' without realizing it
Here is an important area for research. What precisely are the mental health implications of
prolonged experiences of apathy and alienation? Can prolonged apathy and alienation lead to mental
illness? If so, by what processes and toward what types of illness?

8. See Lewin , urt, A Dynamic Theory of Perso nality, Ne w York, McGraw-Hill Book Co.. 1935:
From, Erich, The Sane Society, New York, Rinehart & Co.,1955 ;Sul/ivan,Hary Stack Conceptions of Modern
Psychiatry, William Alanson Wh ite, Psychiatric Found ation, 194 7; Rogers Carl R., op. cit
9. Argyris , Chris, Personality and Organization , New York. Harper & Brothers, 19 57.

44
 Returning to the data, one may further hypothesize that the alienation (apathy towards others and towards
one's self) will tend to lead the employees in both groups to express a low degree c,f competence in their
relationships with people. At the same time, recalling the job differences between the LS and HS employees, we
may hypothesize further that only the latter will tend to express a high degree of competence in their dealing
with "things." These hypotheses are confirmed. LS and HS employees' sense of competence and regard for their
competence in interpersonal relationships is low and about the same for both groups. On the oth.er hand, we have
seen that only the HS employees report a high degree of competence in their dealing with "things."
Some comments on the "human climate" of the organization
Let us now look briefly at the enviromnental culture of the organization in which these results are being
obtained.
An analysis of the data shows that management believes, and the employees agree , that the
organization is not pressure-oriented. The leadership consciously refrains from pressure tact ics. As to
managerial contro ls, they are just being established. One of the highest officials rcma1 ks that if controls upset
people, the controls will go !
The employees in both groups report they appreciate the lack of pressure. They are very loysil to the
organization, produce an amount that is appreciated by all levels of management. have continually voted down a
un ion, and have a long record oflow absenteeism, low turnover. and low grievance rates.
Oversimplified theories of individual-organizational health
From the above, it is not difficult to see why both management and employees are quite content with each
other and with the organization. Each group feels it is getting what it desires.
On the other hand, the employees report that they desire a world in which (1) they are not required to
become ego-involved and made (partially) responsible for the organization's health, (2) they are permit- ted tq be
alienated; and (3) they are paid well (from their point of view) and guaranteed a s cure job. It must be stressed
again that no adequate evidence exists to help the mental health practitioner decide how mentally unhealthy or
healthy is this state of affairs. (As far as the writer is aware, not even a reliable and valid concept of mental health
exists.) It may be that the situation herein described is not unhealthy for individuals and will not lead to mental
health problems. On the other hand, there is enough evidence to hold with equal vigour the hypothesis that, as
Fromm implies, alienation can lead us to become asick society. 1 tend to believe that From has made an important
point. However, much research is needed really to test the hypothesis.
The other side of the argument that must be kept in mind is that mental health of the individual is a product
ofhis total life situation. It may be that an individual can endure a significant amount of deficiency in actualization
within the plant and made up for it in activities outside the plant. What little evidence l have seen seems to suggest
that there is a correlation between the in-plant actualization and outside activities. People with low actualization
within the plant do not seem to make up for it as judged by the kind of community activities in which they
participate. Recent, and as yet unpublished, research by the writer reinforces the above conclusion. For
example, most of the employees (low-and high-skill) do not participate in "outside" organizations in the
community. However, systematic research is lacking and no definite conclusion may be drawn at this time.
On the other hand, we find that the managers' concept of organizational health is equally obscure if not
invalid. Management is using a set of criteria about organizational health which leads the executives to

45
diagnose the health of the organization as high. For example, they see that absenteeism, turnover, grievance rates
are low and that the production and loyalty are high, and on the basis of their theory,judge that all is well. The
problem is that their theory about organizational health is oversimplified and internally inconsis- tent. It
isoversimplified because it does not include the health of the individuals working for the organiza- tion. It is
inconsistent because it has two inconsistent and independent sets of criteria for organizational health rather
than one unified set. Forexample, management assumes that an organization with low absen- teeism, low
turnover, low grievance, will also tend to have employees who are productive and who desire to be identified
with the company, to participate in all decisions that directly influence them, to worry about making the company
more effective, to feel some responsibility for the over-all health of the company, and to develop close
relationships with management and each other so that such phrases as"one happy family'', and " we're in a close
company" mirror reality.
Our data show that the above theory is not as integrated as management assumes. For example, the plant
has a very low rate of absenteeism, turnover, and grievances. The employees are productive. Up to this point,
management's theory holds.The same employees, however, also express little identification with thecompany,
little desire to feel some responsibility for its over-all health, little desire to win promotions as foremen, little
desire to have close friendships with management or with each other. Nor do they express strong needs to
belong to cohesive groups.
This does not mean, however, that the plant isn't "one happy family." The employees, according to our
measures, are very loyal to the organization because they need to be in situations where they are simply asked to
produce and not required to become identified with, or deeply involved in, the company. As one employee
puts it, "I love this company; it's a wonderful place. They pay excellent wages, give good benefits and
they leave you alone. There's a relaxed friendly feeling here. You don' t feel the constant pressure as you do
in Company Y. No sir, I wouldn't leave this company even if someone wanted to pay me more." Thus, strong
loyalty is not necessarily built upon an active, interested, healthy employee group. On the contrary, the
opportunity to be apathetic, disinterested, non-involved, could generate strong loyal- ties within the employees
as long as wages and job security remain high.
The most crucial needs HS and LS employees report are wages, job security, job control, non-
involvement and togetherness, following that order. Does this mean that money is most important? Are we back
to the economists' theory of rational man? The answer to the first question is, " Yes," and to the second,
"No."If money isimportant, it is not because man isthe inherently rational being pictured by some economists.
The employee is still acomplex organism with inner strivings to grow, to develop, to have a sense of inner
worth. It is precisely because he is not permitted truly to actualize his potential that he makes adecision
to"simplify" his personality, making money and other material factors most important. It is as if the employee
says to himself, "I want to be a healthy creative human being; I cannot be, and still produce what I am required
to produce. Therefore, I will say, 'To hell with my total personality,' and place the major emphasis on
money." 10
Such a decision is not a rational one. It is a deep, emotional human one. Nevertheless, it makes
money and job security very important to the employee. If this is valid, then administrators of complex
organizations are faced with one of the most difficult human problems ever to challenge them. On the one hand,
it becomes·easyfor both the administrator and the employees to deemphasize human values and to

I 0. Two points worth no ting are: It is not only indu s try which forces the employee to simp li fy his persona li ty. The famil y, sc hools,
churches, etc., may all have simi lar impacts, Second , the emp lo yee is willin g to simplif y his personality up to a poin t. This does
not mean he will accept money to be treated in an inhuman mann er.

46
operate on a quid pro quo basis of money,job security, and benefits. As long as a minimum standard of
human relationships is maintained, the "rational man relationship" could well flourish. But, as thedata point out,
such a theory will produce and reward apathy, indifference, alienation, and non- involvement.
Relating individual health to organizational effectiveness
If the above is valid, clearly individual and organizational "health" are so interrelated that it may be
impossible to consider one without considering the other. Men like Lewin and Harry Stack Sullivan showed
years ago that man cannot be separated from his environment. In studying the problems ofindustrial mental
health, it may be that man may not be separated from the organization. The unit becomes the individual-
organization.
In stating this position, are we making a value judgment that it is good for organizations to exist? The
answer must be provided on two levels. First, asfar as the researcher is concerned, organizational survival is
not a matter of value. Organizations must exist for the researcher as do leaves for the botanist, human
bodies for the biologist, and birds for the ornithologist. Without organ izat ions, the researcher on
organizations would have nothing to study.
Turning to the value problem from the mental health practitioner's point of view, the following may be said:
Most students agree that, basically, organizations are created by man to fulfill needs that require the collective
efforts ofhuman beings. These needs are essential if man is to survive. Thus, stating that organi- zations must
survive is simply affirming the most basic needs of mankind. It is precisely because human survival and health
are crucial that organizational effectiveness is emphasized. Without organiza- tional effectiveness, man could
lose his individual health.
This position is openly acknowledged by the employees. Interviews with the employees show quite
clearly that they feel responsible for keeping the organization alive. The problem, from amental health point of
view, is thar they too have internalized management's inadequate standards of organizational
effectiveness.Consequently, they too, feel that low absenteeism, turnover, grievance rates and high
production imply a healthy organization. They report a high degree of satisfaction with their mental health. In
fact, our data lead us to predict that over 90 per cent of the employees and 100 per cent of the
management in this plant would resist or even reject a mental health program that attempts to emphasize
individual health '"vs-" or "over" the requirements of the organization. The employees report themselves to be
"too realistic" to see such a programme as in their interest.
Difficult as the situation may sound, there is at least one possible direction to consider. These feelings of
responsibility for organizational effectiveness could become the foundations for the building of an
effective preventive mental health program in industry. Is it not asign of some health when an individual is
willing to see himself in a realistic perspective in his relationship with his society. To be willing to give one's self
withou feeling one is giving upone's self may be an important building block for a healthy society.
The argument is not being made that an overemphasis on organization could not lead to the ideal of an
"organization man" who submits his uniqueness and his health to the demands of the organization.This
possibility is admitted and must be avoided.
It is the contention of the writer that , in the final analysis, the existence of the organization man is
symptomatic of sick organizations. Organizations are tools which help man to survive. They arecreated by man.
Man can charige them to facilitate individual growth.
Changing organizations today, however, is a very difficult task and the major barrier is that there
exists no theory or empirical knowledge that tells us in which direction changes ought to be made. As

47
 mentioned above, the traditional management theories are inadequate, but the new human relations
theories may heequally inadequate. One must conclude from this study that the informal employee system,
assumed by many social scientists to be one answer to the problem, does not offer a solution. The informal
employee system in this plant sanctions and protects employees' apathy, indifference, and alienation.
Herein lies the challenge of the future for preventive mental health. Much thinking needs to be done on
developing dimensions of organizational effectiveness.I I Much research needs to be conducted on how to
maximize individual-organization health. In the organization studied orily such a theory would appeal to
both the employees and the management, who express a deep desire that the plant must survive, even, if
necessary, at their "psychological expense."

Propositions of Chris Argyris

Regarding the relation of the individual and the organizations-formaland informal , ChrisArgyris
has laid down some hypothesis . Formal and informal activities of the organization constitute the total
organization and thus organization includes all the behaviour of the participants. Many managers diagnose
the informal behaviour as bad and they try to neutralize or do away with informal behaviour through
directive leadership, controls and pseudo- human relations. All this compounds the feeling of formal orga-
nizations and strengthens informal organizations.
In addition to the above process of strengthening informal organization, the fact is that roots of
disorganization lie rooted in the formal organization. The author identifies the following propositions which
should he " viewed as grand hypothesis:"
Proposition I states that there is a lack of congruence between the needs of healthy individuals and
demands of the formal organization.
Proposition II mentions that the resultants of this disturbance are frustration, failure, short time
perspective and conflict.
Proposition III states that the degree of frustration, failure, short time perspective and conflict will
tend to increase under certain circumstances, e.g., as individual agents increase in degree of maturity or as
directive leadership or management controls increase.
Proposition IV states that the nature of the formal principles of organization cause the subordinate to
experience competition, rivalry, inter-subordinate hostility and to develop a focus toward the parts rather
than the whole.
Proposition V specifies how employees adaptive behaviour maintains self-integration and impels
integration with the formal organization.
Proposition VI is that the adaptive behaviour of the employees has a cumulative effect; it feedbacks
into the organization and reinforces itself as all these behaviours reinforce each other. Since their total
impact is to increase the degree of dependence and submissiveness as also increase in the resulting
turnover, apathy and disinterest , the adaptive mechanisms become self-maintaining. Impact of defence
m1 echanism is that greater input (energy, money, machine) is required to maintain a constant output.
Proposition VII relates to management reactions which tend to increase the antagonisms underlying
the adaptive behaviour. The organizations which base their judgment on the logics of the formal
organizations and their self-conception will tend to dislike the employees adaptive behaviour.

l L. For some pre li mina ry dimensions of organizational health, see the author's "Organizational Leadersh ip", ONR
Conferen ce, March, 19 59.

48
 Proposition VIII narrates some management actions which can decrease the degree of incongruency between
the individual and the formal organization. Attempt may be made to decrease the antagonism by using a new input
ofindividuals who do not aspire to be healthy mature adults and also to change formal organization structures.
Employee-centred leadership and role enlargement are experimented ways to modify directive leadership and
thereby reduce incongruence.
Propositions IX and X suggest that job-enlargement and employee-centred leadership will not tend to work to
the extent that the adaptive behaviour has become embedded in the organizational culture and the self-conception
of the individuals. This difficulty would be minimized by the use of reality oriented leadership.
The Contribution
Professor Chris Argyris has put a model of the behaviour of the individual, the formal organization and the
informal organization in a neat perspective. His assumption ofincongruence between the needs of the individual and
the organization is important and visible in big industrial organizations as evidenced by empirical evidence cited by
him at every stage. According to him every individual has "psychological energy" to expand. An individual feels
motivated or self-acutalized when thisenergy spending helpshim to meet his social and egoistic needs. The principal
challenge, according toArgyris, is tohave self- actualization ofboth theorganization and the individual. The author has
integrated the thoughts and his own experience as consultant with large corporations like I.B.M., DuPont and
Shell Oil. As Professor of Education and Business heisinstrong stead to analyse the behaviour inan academic style
without leaving the reinsof reality.
While the author has poured his thoughts in 15 books and over I 00 articles, his greatest contribution is"his
illuminating idea that formal organizations are basically anti-maturing and therefore act against employees
achieving a sense of self-actualization"as explained in his illustrious work Personality and Organization which is
the base of this chapter. It could be argued that the author has integrated the concepts, as he himself
acknowledges. Argyris has propounded his basic incongruency thesis in his book, Personality and Organization
(1957). Incongruency exists between the needs of the mature employees and the requirements of the organization.
"The formal organizational principles make demands of relatively healthy individuals that are incongruent with their
needs. Frustration, conflict, failure. and short-time perspective are predicted as resultant of this basic
incongruency." He has given examples of behaviour patterns that result from this incongruency. Inhis view, itcannot
be assumed that individuals working within the organization adapt formal structures automatically.
Argyris' basic incongruency thesis is an extension of the work ofE. W. Bakke, who analysed orga- nization
from the viewpoint of a fusion process. This process recognises the existence of separate goals of the individuals and
that of the organization, and that organization is an open system, full of dynamic activity and includes formal as well as
informal behaviour. There are three processes: (a) socialising, which refers to those activities which contribute to the
goals of organization; (b) personalising, which includes activities that contribute to individual actualisation; and (c)fusion,
indicative ofsimultaneous operations of personalising and socialising.
Argyris has developed the fusion process theory of organization in collaboration with E. W. Bakke. Both of
them conducted extensive empirical researches for developing a new theoretical framework of organization . The
basic objective is to find out the processes by which individuals and the organizations adapt to the needs of each
other. The fusion process was developed over a period of more than twenty years of intensive research in different
types of organizations. From these researches came out the fusion process theory of organization. The fusion model
is based on the properties of organization and the indi-

49
vidual. Thus two behaviour processes operate in a situation. These are known as the"socialising process"
and the"personalising process." The socialising process is defined as one by which individuals are made
into agents of the formal organization and/or the informal group. The process by which the individual is
made into an agent of the formal organization iscalled the formal socialising process; that by which he is
made into an agent of the informal group is termed as informal socialising process.
The personalising process isone by which the individual actualises himself and by which aspects of
the organization and informal groups are made into agencies for the individual.
Both the processes operate simultaneously in the organization. The fusion occurs in reality when
personalizing and socialising demands are simultaneously being actualized. Thefusion process is the simul-
taneous operation of 'socialising' and 'personalising' process. The fusion process presents a conceptual
mode of the organization.

SUGGESTED READINGS
Ishwar Dayal & Kamal Kamini Adhikari, Organization and Administration,Progressive Coproration
Private Limited, Bombay 1969 , pp. 131-148;
M.L. Mishra, Contemporary Management Thinkers, Associated Publishing House, New Delhi, 1980,
pp. 50-64.
R.N. Singh, Management: Thought and Thinkers, Sultan Chand & Sons, New Delhi, 1984, pp.
360-374 Chris Argyris, Personalty and Organization, New York, Harper & Brothers 1957 .
-Organization and Innovation, Richard D. Irevin Inc., Homewood, 1965.

50
 7
DOUGLAS McGREGOR: HUMAN SIDE OF THE ENTERPRISE
Dr. 0. P Minocha
Developments in physical science theory during the first half of the twentieth century have led to the creation
of a new world. If anyone had been able to predict in 1900 what life in the United States would be like in 1960, he
would have been regarded as a complete fool. Passenger traveling 6 to 8 miles above the earth at 600 miles per
hour, space vehicles encircling the moon, radar, a nuclear-powered submarine traveling under the icecap at
the North Pole, air conditioning, television, frozen foods, stereophonic reproduction of the music of world-
renowned musicians in the home-these things and hundreds more were almost inconceivable sixty years ago.
They would still be inconceivable were it not for developments in scientific theory and man's inventive genius in
exploiting them.
Although the parallel may seem unreasonable to some, we are, today in a period when the development
of theory within the social sciences will permit innovations which are at present inconceivable. Among these
will be dramatic changes in the organization and management of economic enterprise. The capacities of the
average human being for creativity, for growth, for collaboration, for productivity (in the full sense of the term)
are far greater than we yet have recognized. If we don't destroy life on this planet before we discover how to make it
possible for man to utilize his abilities to create a world in which he can live in peace, it is possible that the next half
century will bring most dramatic social changes in human history.
The industrial enterprise is a microcosm within which some of the most basic of these social changes will be
invented tested and refined. As Peter Drucker has pointed out, the modem, large, industrial enter- prise is itself a
social invention of great historical importance. Unfortunately, it is already obsolete. In its present form it is
simply not an adequate means for meeting the future economic requirements of society. The fundamental difficulty
is that we have not yet learned enough about organizing and managing the human resources of enterprise.
Fortunately, an increasing number of managers recognize the inadequacy of the present methods. In this
recognition lies the hope of the future. Industrial management has again and again demonstrated an amazing
ability to innovate once it is persuaded of the opportunity to do so.
Management isseverely hampered today in its attempts to innovate with respect to the human side of
enterprise by the inadequacy of conventional organization theory. Based on invalid and limiting assump- tions
about hwnan behaviour, 'this theory blinds us to many possibilities for invention,justasthe physical science theory of a half
century ago prevented even the perception of the possibility of radar orspace travel.
It is not important that management accept the assumptions of Theory Y. These are one man's
interpretationsof current social science knowledge, and they will be modified-possiblysupplanted-by new
knowledge within a short time. It is important that management abandon limiting assumptions like those of
Theory X, so that future inventions wiili respect to the human side of enterprise will be more than minor changes in
already obsolescent conceptions of organized human effort.
Following are the exerpts from McGregor's Human Side of the Enterprise:'
Human Energy
Let me begin with an analogy. Aquarter century ago basic conception's of the nature of matter and energy had
changed profoundly from what they had been since Newton's time. The physical scientists were persuaded
I. Adv enture in Thought and Action, Proceedings of the Fifth Anniversary Convocation of the School of Manage-
ment , Massachusettes, 1957.

51
 We know what has happened since then. First came the bomb. Then, during the past decade, have
come many other attempts to exploit these scientific discoveries-some successful, some not.
The point of my analogy, however, is that the application of theory in this field is a slow and costly
matter. We expect it always to be thus. No one is impatient with the scientist because be cannot tell
industry how to build a simple, cheap, all-purpose source of atomic energy today. That it will take at least
another decade and the investment of billions of.dollars to achieve results which are economically
competitive with the present sources of power is understood and accepted.
It is transparently pretentious to suggest any direct similarity between the developments in the
physical sciences leading to the harnessing of atomic energy and potential developments in the social
sciences. Nevertheless, the analogy is not as absurd as it might appear to be at first glance.
To a lesser degree, and in a much more tentative fashion, we are in a position in the social sciences
today like that of the physical sciences with respect to atomic energy in the thirties. We know that past
conceptions of the nature of man are inadequate and in many ways incorrect. We are becoming quite
certain that, under proper conditions, unimagined resources of creative human energy could become
available within the organizational setting.
We cannot tell industrial management how to apply this new knowledge in simple, economic ways. We
know it will require years of exploration, much costly development research, and a substantial amount of
creative imagination on the part of management to discover how to apply this growing knowledge to the
organization of human effort in industry.
Conventional view of the Management task: "Theory X"
The conventional conception of management's task in harnessing human energy to organizational
requirements can be stated broadly in terms of three propositions. In order to avoid the complications
introduced by a label, I shall call this set of propositions "Theory X" :
.
I. Management is responsible for organizing the elements of productive enterprise-money, materials,
equipment, people-in the interest of economic ends.
2. With respect to people, this is a process of directing their efforts, motivating them, controlling their
actions, modifying their behaviour to fit the needs of the organization.
3. Without this active intervention by management, people would be passive-even resistant/to organi-
zational needs. They must therefore be persuaded, rewarded, punished, controlled-theiractivities
must be directed. This is management's task-in managing subordinate managers or workers. We
often sum it up by saying that management consists of getting things done through other people.
Behind this conventional theory there are several additional beliefs-less explicit, but widespread:
4. The average man is by nature indolent-he works as little as possible.
5. He lacks ambition, dislikes responsibility, prefers to be led.
6. He is inherently self-centered, indifferent to organizational needs.
7. He is by nature resistant to change.
8. He is gullible, not very bright, the ready dupe of the charlatan and the demagogue.
The human side of economic enterprise today is fashioned from propositions and beliefs such as
these. Conventional organizational structures, managerial policies, practices, and programs reflect these
assumptions.
In accomplishing its task- with these assumptions asguides- management has conceived of a range of
possibilities between two extremes.

52
 The hard or the soft Approac h? : At one extreme, management can be "hard" 'or "strong". The methods
for directing behaviour involve coercion and threat (usually disguised), close supervision, tight controls over
behaviour. At the other extreme, management can be "soft" or "weak". The methods for directing behaviour
involve being permissive, satisfying people's demands, achieving harmony. Then they will be tractable, accept
direction.
This range has been fairly completely explored during the past half century, and management has
learned some things from the exploration. There are difficulties in the "hard" approach. Force breeds
counter forces: restriction of output, antagonism, militant unionism, subtle but effective sabotage of man-
agement objectives. This approach is especially difficult during times of full employment.
There are also difficulties in the"soft" approach. It leads frequently to the abdication of management- to harmon
y, perhaps, but to indifferent performance. People take advantage of the soft approach. They continually,
expect more, but they give less and less.
r
Current ly, the popular theme is "firm but fair." This is an attempt to gain the advantages of both the
hard and the soft approaches. It is reminiscent ofTeddy Roosevelt's "speak softly and carry a big stick."
ls the Conventional View Correct?: The findings which are beginning to emerge from the social
sciences challenge this whole set of beliefs about man and human nature and about the task of manage- ment.
The evidence is far from conclusive, certainly, but it issuggestive. It comes from the laboratory, the clinic, the
school room, the home, and even to a limited extent from industry itself.
The social scientist does not deny that human behaviour in industrial organization today is
approximately what management perceives it to be. He has, in fact, observed it and studied it fairly
extensively. But he is pretty sure that this behaviour is not a consequence of man's inherent nature. It is a
consequence rather of the nature of industrial organizatio ns, of management philosophy, policy, and
practice . The conventionaf approach of "Theory' is based on mistaken notions of what is cause and what is effect.
" Well," you ask, "what then is the true nature of man? What evidence leads the social scientist to deny
what isobvious?" And, ifl am not mistaken, you are also thinking:"Tell me- simply, and without a lot of scie ntific
verbiage-what you think you know that is so unusual. Give me-without a lot of intel- lectual claptrap and
theoretical nonsense-some practical ideas what will enable me to improve the situ- ation in my organization. And
remember, I'm faced with increasing costs and narrowing profit margins. I want proof that such ideas won't result
simply in new and costly human relations frills. I want practical results, and I want them now."
If these are your wishes , you are going to be disappointed. Such request can no more be met by the social
scientist today than could comparable ones with respect to atomic energy be met by the physicist fifteen years
ago. I can, however, indicate afew of the reasons for asserting that conventional assumptions about the human side
of enterprise are inadequate. And I can suggest-tentatively-some of the propositions that will comprise a more
adequate theory of the management of people. The magnitude of the task that confronts us will then, I think, be
apparent.
Factors of Human Motivation
Perhaps the best way to indicate why the conventional approach of management is inadequate is to consider
the subject of motivation . In discussing this subject I will draw heavily on the work of my colleague,
Abraham Maslow of Brandeis University. His is the most fruitful approach I know. Naturally, what I have to say
will be over-generalized and will ignore important qualifications. In the time at our disposal, this is inevitable.

53
 Physiological and Safety Needs: Man is a wanting animal-as soon as one of his needs is satisfied,
another appears in its place. This process is unending. It continues from birth to death.
Man's needs are organized in a series of levels- a hierarchy of imp011ance. At the lowest leveL but
preeminent in importance when they are thwarted, are his physiological needs. Man lives by bread alone,when
there is no bread. Unless the circumstances are unusual, his needs for love, for status, for recognition
are'inoperative when his stomach has been empty for a while. But when he eats regularly and adequately,
hunger ceases to be an important need. The sated man has hunger only in the sense that a full bottle has
emptiness. The same is true of the other physiological needs of man- for rest, exercise, shelter, protection from
the elements.
satisfied need is not a motivator of behaviour. This is a fact of profound significance. It is a fact which is
regularly ignored in the conventional approach to the management of people. I shall return to it later. For the
momen t, one example will make my point. Consider your own need for air. Except as you are deprived of it, it has
no appreciable motivating effect upon your behaviour.
When the physiological needs are reasonably satisfied, needs at the next higher level begin to domi- nate
man's behaviour - to motivate him. These are called safety needs. They are needs for protection against
danger, threat, deprivation. Some people mistakenly refer to these as needs for security. However, unless man is
in a dependent relationship where he fears arbitrary deprivation , he does not demand secu- rity. The need is for
the fairest possible break. When he is confident of this, he is more than willing to take risks. But when he feels
threatened or dependent, his greatest need is for guarantees, for protection, for security.
The fact needs little emphasis that since every industrial employee is in a dependent relationship, safety
needs may asswne considerable importance.Arbitrary management actions, behaviour which arouses uncertainty
with respect to continued employment or which reflects favoritism or discrim i nat ion, unpredictable
administration of policy- these can be powerful motivators of the safety needs in the employment
relationship at every level from worker to vice-president. •
Social Needs: When man's physiological needs are satisfied and he is no longer fearful about his
physical welfare, his social needs become important motivators of his behaviour - for belongin g, for
association, for acceptance by his fellows, for giving and receiving friendship and love.
Management knows today of the existence of these needs, but it often assumes quite wrongly that they
represent 'a threat to the organization. Many studies have demonstrated that the tightly knit, cohesive work
group may, under proper conditi ons, be far more effective than an equal number of separate individuals in
achieving organizational goals.
Yet management , fearing group hostility to its own objectives, often goes to considerable lengths to
control and direct human efforts in ways that are inimical to the natural " groupiness" of human beings.
When man's social needs-and perhaps his safety needs, too-are thus thwarted, he behaves in ways which tend
to defeat organizational objectives. He becomes resistant, antagonistic, uncooperative. But this behaviour is
a consequence, not a cause.
Ego Needs : Above the social needs- in the sense that they do not become motivators until lower needs
are reasonably satisfied-are the needs of greatest significance to management and to man himself.
They are the egoistic need, s and they are of two kinds :
I . Those needs that relate to one's self: esteem- needs for self-confidence, for ind ependence , for
achie ve ment, for competence, for know ledge .

54
2. Those needs that relate to one's reputation - needs for status, for recognition, for appreciation, for the
deserved respect of one's fellows.
Unlike the lower needs, these are rarely satisfied; man seeks indefinitely for more satisfaction of these needs
once they have become important to him. But they do not appear in any significant way until physi- ological,
safety, and social needs are all reasonably satisfied.
The typical industrial organization offers few opportunities for the satisfaction of these egoistic needs to
people at lower levels in the hierarchy. The conventional methods of organizing work, particularly in mass
production industries, give little heed to these aspects of human motivation. If the practices of scie ntifi
management were deliberately calculated to thwart these needs- whic h, of course, they are not- they could
hardly accomplish this purpose better than they do.
Self-fulfilment Needs : Finally-a capstone, as it were, on the hierarchy of man's needs-there are what
we may call the needs for self-fulfilment. These are the needs for realizing one'sown potentialities, for continued
self-development, for being creative in the broadest sense of that term.
It is clear that the conditions of modem life give only limited opportunity for these relatively weak needs
to obtain expression. The deprivation most people experience with respect to other lower-level needs diverts
their energies into the struggle to satisfy those needs, and the needs for self-fulfilment remain d01mant.
Approach to Motivation
Now, briefly, a few general comments about motivation:

We recognize readily enough that a man suffering from a severe dietary-deficiency is sick. The
deprivation of physiological needs has behavioural consequences. The same is true-although less well
recogn ized- of deprivation of higher-level needs. The man whose needs for safety, association,
independence, or status are thwarted is sick just as surely as is he who has rickets. And his sickness will have
behavioural consequences. We will be mistaken if we attribute his resultant passivity, his hostili ty, his refusal to
accept responsibility to his inherent "human natw-e." These forms of behaviour are symptom of illness - of
deprivation of his social and egoistic needs.

The man whose lower-level needs are satisfied is not motivated to satisfy those needs any longer. For
practical pw-poses they exist no longer . (Remember my point about yow-need for air.) Management often asks,
"Why aren't people more productive? We pay good wages, provide good working conditions, have excellent
fringe benefits and steady employment. Yet people do not seem to be willing to put forth more than minimum
effort."
The fact that management has provided for these physiological and safety needs has shifted the
motivational emphasis to the social and perhaps to the egoistic needs. Unless there are opportunities at work
to satisfy these higher-level needs , people will be deprived and their behaviour will reflect this deprivation.
Under such conditions, if management continues to focus its attention on physiological needs, its efforts are
bound to be ineffective.
People will make insistent demands for more money under these conditions. It becomes more important
than ever to buy the material goods and services which can provide limited satisfaction of the thwarted needs.
Although money has only limited value in satisfying many higher-level needs, it can be come the focus of
interest ifit is the only means available.

55
thwarted needs. Although money has only limited value in satisfying many higher-level needs, it can be- come the
focus ofinterest ifit is the only means available.

The Carrot and Stick Approach : The carrot and stick theory of motivation (like Newtonian physical
theory) works reasonably well under certain circumstances.The means for satisfying man's physiological and
(within limits) his safety needs can be provided or withheld by management. Employment itselfis such a means,
and so are wages, working conditions, and benefits. By these means the individual can be controlled so
long as he is struggling for subsistence. Man lives for bread alone when there is no bread.
But the carrot and stick theory does not work at all once man has reached an adequate subsistence level
and is motivated primarily by higher needs. Management cannot provide a man with self-respect, or with the
respect of his fellows, or with the satisfaction of needs for self-fulfillment. It can create conditions such that he is
encouraged and enabled to seek such satisfactions for himself, or it can thwart him by failing to create these
conditions.
But this creation of conditions is not"control." It is not agood device for directing behaviour. And so
management finds itself in an odd position. TI1e high standard ofliving created by our modern technological know-
how provides quite adequately for the satisfaction of physiological and safety needs. The only significant
exception is where management practices have not created confidence in a"fair break"- and thus where safety
needs are thwarted . But by making possible the satisfaction of low-level needs, management has deprived
itself of the ability to use as motivators the devices on which conventional theory has taught it to rely-
rewards, promises , incentives, or threats and other coercive devices.
Neither hard nor soft : The philosophy of management by direction and control- regardless of
whether it is hard or soft- is inadequate to motivate because the human needs on which this approach relies
are today unimportant motivators of behaviour. Direction and control are essentially useless in motivating
people whose important needs are social- andegoistic. Both the hard and t)1e soft approach fail today because
they are simply irrelevant to the situation.
Peop le, deprived of opportunities to satisfy at work the needs which are now important to them,
behave exactly as we might predict- with indolence, passivity, resistance to change, Jack of responsibility,
willingness to follow the demagogue, unreasonable demands for economic benefits. It would seem that we are
caught in a web of our own weaving.
In summ ary, then, we make these comments about motivation:
Management by direction and control- whether implemented with the hard, the soft, or the firm but fair
approach- fails under today's conditions to provide effective motivation of human effort toward
organizational objectives. It fails because direction and control are useless methods of motivating people whose
physiological and safety needs are reasonably satisfied and whose social, egoistic, and self- fulfilment needs are
predominant.
Modern Approach : "Theory Y"
For these and many other reasons, we require a different theory of the task of managing people based on
more adequate assumptions about human nature and human motivation. I an1 going to be so bold as to suggest
the broiid dimensions of such atheory. Call it"Theory Y," if you will:
1. Managem nt is responsible for organizing the elements of productive enterprise- money, materials,
equipment, people- in the interest of economic ends:

56
2. People are not by nature passive or resistant to organizational needs. They have become so as a result
ofexperience in organizations:
3. The motivation, the potential for development, the capacity for assuming responsibility, the readiness
to direct behaviour toward organizational goals are all present in people. Management does not put
them there. It is a responsibility of management to make it possible for people to recognize and
develop these human characteristicsfor themselves.
4. The essential task of management is to arrange organizational conditions and methods of operation so
that people can achieve their own goals best by directing their own efforts toward organizational
objectives.
This is a process primarily of creating opportunities, releasing potential, removing obstacles, encouraging
growth, providing guidance. It is what Peter Drucker has called "management by objectives" in contrast to"
managementby control."
And I hasten to add, it does not involve the abdication of management, the absence ofleadership, the
lowering of standards, or the characteristics usually associated with the "soft" approach under Theory X. Much
on the contrary. It is no more possible to create an organization today which will be a fully effective application of
this theory than it was to build an atomic power plant in 1945. There are many formidable obstacles to
overcome.
Some Difficulties
The conditions imposed by conventional organization theory and by the approach of scientific
management for the past half century have tied men to limited jobs which do not utilize their capabilities, have
discouraged the acceptance of responsibility, have encouraged passivity, have eliminated meaning from work.
Man's habits, attitudes, expectations-his whole conception of membership in an industrial organization- have
been conditioned by his experience under these circumstances . Chttnge in the direction ofTheory Ywill be
slow, and it will require extensive modification of the attitudes of management and workers alike.
People today are accustomed to being directed, manipulated, controlled in industrial organizations and to
finding satisfaction for their social, egoistic, and self-fullfilment needs away from the job. This is true of much of
management as well as of workers. "Genuine industrial citizenship"-to borrow again a term from Drucker-is a
remote and unrealistic idea, the meaning of which has not even been considered by most members of industrial
organizations.
Another way of saying this is that Theory X places exclusive reliance upon external control of human
behaviour, while Theory Y relies heavily on self-control and self-direction. It is worth noting that this
difference is the difference between treating people as children and treating them as mature adults. After
generations of the former, we cannot expect to shift to the latter overnight.
Application the Theory
Before we are overwhelmed by the obstacles, let us remember that the application of theory is always slow.
Progress is usually achieved in small steps.
Consider with me a few innovative ideas which are entirely consistent with Theory Yand which are today
being applied with some success:
Decentralization and Delegation: These are ways of freeing people from the too close c,ontrol of
conventional organization, giving them a degree of freedom to direct their own activities, to assume

57
 responsibility, and, importantly, to satisfy their egoistic needs. In this connection, the flat organization of Sears,
Reebuck and Company provides an interesting example. It forces "management by objectives" since it enlarges
the number of people reporting to a manager until he cannot direct and control them in the conventional manner.
Job Enlargement : This concept, pioneered by I.B.M. and Detroit Edison, is quite consistent with Theory Y.
It encourages the acceptance of responsibility at the bottom of the organization; it provides opportunities for
satisfying social and egoistic needs. In fact, the reorganization of work at the factory level offers one of the more
challenging opportunities for innovation consistent with Theory Y. The studies by
A.T M. Wilsonand his associates of British coal mining and Indian textile manufacture have added appreciably to
our understanding of work organization. Moreover, the economic and psychological results achieved by this work
have been substantial.
Participation and Consultative Management: Under proper conditions these results provide
encouragement to people to direct their creative energies toward organizational objectives, give them some voice
in decisions that affect them, provide significant opportunities for the satisfaction of social and egoistic needs. I need
only mention the Scanlon Plan as the outstanding embodiment of these ideas in practice.
The not infrequent failure of such ideas as these to work as well as expected is often attributable to the fact
that a management has"bought the idea" but applied it within the framework of Theory X and its assumptions.
Delegation is not an effective way of exercising management by control. Participation becomes a farce when
it is applied asa sales gimmick or a device for kidding people into thinking they are important. Only the management
that has confidence in human capacities and is itself directed toward organizational objectives rather than toward the
preservation of personal power can grasp the implications of this emerging theory. Such management will find
and apply successfully other innovative i eas as we move slowly toward the full implementation of atheory like Y.
Performance Appraisal : Before I stop, let me mention one other practical application ofTheory Y which-
while still tentative- may well have important consequences. This has to do with performance appraisal within the
ranks of management. Even a cursory examination of conventional programmes of performance appraisal will
reveal how completely consistent they are with Theory X. In fact, most such progranm1es tend to treat the individual
as though he were a product under inspection of the assembly line.
Take the typical plan: substitute "product" for "subordinate being appraised", substitute "inspector" for
"superior making the appraisal", substitute "rework" for "training or development", and except for the attributes
beingjudged, the human appraisal process will be virtually indistinguishablefrom the product inspection process.
A few companies- among them General Mills, Ansul Chemical, and General Electric-have been
experimenting with approaches which involve the individual in setting ''targets" of objectives for himself and in a
self-evaluation of performance semi-annually or annually. Of course, the superior plays an important
leadership role in this process--one, in fact, which demands substantially more competence than the conve tional
approach.
The role is, however, considerably more congenial to many managers than the role of "judge" or
"inspector" which is forced upon them by conventional performance. Above all, the individual is encouraged
to take a greater responsibility for planning and appraising his own contribution to organizational objectives
, and·the accompanying effects on egoistic and self-fulfilment needs are substantial. This approach to
performance appraisal represents one more innovative idea being explored by a fe.w managements who are
moving toward the implementation ofTheory Y.

58
 And now I am back where I began. I share the belief that we could realize substantial improvements in the
effectiveness of industrial organizations during the next decade or two. Moreover, I believe that social
sciences can contribute much tosuch developments. We areonly beginning to grasp the in1plications of the
growing body of knowledge in these fields. But if this conviction is to become a reality instead of a pious hope,
we will need to view the process much as we view the process of releasing the energy of the atom for
constructive human ends- as a slow, costly, sometimes discouraging approach toward a goal which would
seem to many to be quite unrealistic.
The ingenuity and the perseverance ofindustrial management in the pursuit of economic ends have changed
many scientific and technological dreams into commonplace realities. It is now becoming clear that the
application of these tenets to the materialistic achievements but will bring us one step closer to"the good society."
Shall we get on with the job?
Conclusion
McGregor looks at the manager as a source that influerices behaviour of people in his command. He
differentiates between mechanical and agricultural approaches to management. The mechanical approach is
characterized by a mechanistic approach, i.e. a person must perform the task mainly as it is conceived by the
manager; a deviation from the predetermined manner is a violation of expected behaviour. lbe agricul- tures
approach conceives man as a seed which grows in its own characteristic way if the soil and other
accompanying conditions are satisfactory. The individual is the key for his own growth. The manager merely
supports his growth by an understanding of the needs and provides opportunity necessary for him to grow.
A large body of behavioural scientists, however, argue that people respond to the demands of the
bureaucratic structures not by accepting responsibility or developing requisite relationships as conceived by the
bureaucratic manager, but by seeking adjustments to the situation by various patterns of behaviour. They
withdraw from involvement with tasks or become aggressive as a response to organizational de- mands or the
like. These are often manifested in rigid habits of work, blind insistence on rules of work or conduct or by
putting impregnable boundaries on their rights and privileges. They argue that sources of conflict in
bureaucratic systems lie in the incongruency of how people behave in contrast to the assumptions made
about their behaviour. The administrator can effectively achieve an integration of organizational and
individual goals only by recognising the basic characteristicsof how people behave anq by formulating his policies
which areconsistent with emerging patternsof behaviour.
McGregor hasexamined what motivates people and its implications to administration. He has argued
that there is direct relationship between the manager's assumptions and beliefs about people and the
behaviour of hisemployees. The beliefs are translated or reflected, often unconsciously, in his interpersonal
relationships which in tum set his image for others. Often the manager sees himself and his motives
differently from others. The incongruence between the self-image and his image as seen by others often
becomes a barrier to establishing "trust" between himself and his subordinates and other people in the
organization. Thus McGregor is emphasising the need for explicit understanding or acceptance of the
assumptions and beliefs by the manager as well as explicit knowledge of its consequences in his admin- impact
on managerial thinking. Getting the clues from McGregor's thinking some management thinkers have, developed
similar systems for managing human effort. Blake-Mouton's"Managerial Grid Approach" and Likert's "System
!=System IV" concepts are more or less an extension of McGregor's findings.

59
 McGregor has continuousl y worked on motivation from the viewpoint of the "human relations" concept.
His Theory X and Theory Y represent two types of organization of management. His theories establish connection
between human relations and motivations of individual in an organization.. In his view, the development of
organization is hampered by several misconceptions about the motivation of people working in organizations. He
states, "Theory X leads naturally to an emphasis on the tactics of control- to procedures and techniques for telling
people what to do, for determining whether they are doing it, and for administering rewards and punishments. Since an
underlying assumption is that people must be madeto do what is necessary for the success of the enterprise,
attention is naturally directed to the techniques of direction and control. Theory Y, on the other hand, leads
toapreoccupation with the nature of relationships. with thecreating of an enviromnent which will provide opportunities
for the maximum exercise of initiative, ingenuity and self-directionin achieving them."

SUGGESTED READINGS
Ishwar Dayal & Kamini Adhikari, Organization and Administration, pp 315 - 328
M.L. Mis hra, Contemporary Management Thinkers, pp 65-88
R.lV.Singh, Management : Thought and Thinkers.pp333-338.
Douglas McGregor: The Human Side of Enterprise, Tata-McGraw Hill, New Delhi, 1985.
- The Professional Manager, NY, McGrawHill Book Co., 1967

60
 8
RIGGS' ADMINISTRATIVE ECOLOGY

Dr. (Mrs.) Noorjahan Bava

The post-World War II era witnessed, among others, two great developments on the global scene. The
first was the emergence of a large nwnber of newly independent nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America
after their liberation from the yoke of colonialism and imperialism. What iscommon to all these developing
nations is their growing poverty and increasing population, and lack ofeconomic development. Massive
programmes of development have been launched by these nations in order to meet the challenges of development
and modernization.
The second major development took place in the academic world. It heralded the genesis, in the United
States, of a new academic discipline called the Comparative Public Administration along side Comparative
Politics. An altogether new approach was adopted which challenged the traditional modes of analyses of social
phenomena. It became fashion par excellence of the social scientists to apply multi- disciplinary "macro"
approach to the urgent and baffling problems of the new nations. Ethnocentrism horn of Western experience-the
hitherto dominant mode of social analysis, was found to be wanting in many respects in thecontext of political
instability, loweconomic growth, mounting population pressure, growing unemployment, increasing gap
between the rich and the poor, malnutrition, illiteracy, disease etc. of rd world countries. It was criticised,
attacked and abandoned in favour of cross- cultural, cross national and truly comparative mode of analysis of
political, economic and social problems of contemporary society. New conceptual constructs and categories
ofanalysis, suchasstructural, functionalism","systems approach", "ecological orientation", "development
perspective", "input", "output", "feedback", "political culture", and models and paradigms like the"fused
prismatic", "diffracted" societies, the"sala" model, the"Bazar Can- teen" model came to beextensively used by
administrativetheorists and practising administrat9rs. The new behavioural, ecological, systemic, comparative
approach thus became the dominant mode of analysis of problems of developed and developing
societie.sStudents ofcomparative government and administration already puzzled by the new approaches,
became even more baffled by the burgeoning literature on comparative public administration in general and
development administrationin particular.
Fred W. Riggs is, perhaps, the most innovative contemporary theorist in comparative public admin-
istration., He has been primarily concerned with conceptualising theadministrativeecology-the interaction between
the administrativesystem and its environment. His"fused","prismatic" and "diffracted" societies and the"sala"
and " bazar canteen" models are the result of such attempts.
Administrative Ecology
In hisattempt at conceptualising administration in developing countries, Riggs' prime orientation has
been"ecological" and his approach "structural-functionalism". Environment plays an important role in human life.
There goes on aconstant and continuous interaction between man and his environment. One influences the
other. "By ecology", writes Riggs, "I refer tq environmental forces which both influence and are influenced by
1
politics, by the political system." According to the ecological perspective the larger society is "a system
J
containing administrative institutions as a sub-system.,,- Besides the
I. Fred W. Riggs, "The Structure of Government and Administrative Reform" in Ralph Braibanti (ed), Political and
Administrative Development, Duke University Press, Durham, N.C. 1966, p.230.
2. Fred W. Riggs Administration in Developing Countries : The Theory of Prismatic Society, Houghton Miffin
Company, Boston, 1964, [hereafter referred to as The Adniinistration) p. 19.

61
 administrative sub-system, there are other sub-systems the political, economic, cultural, religious, and
technological in society. The sub-systems are component parts of a larger system.
Riggs, under the profound influence of Marion Levy, has identified five functional requisites for the
survival of any society-e conomic, social, communicative, symbolic and political.3 These, must be per-
formed in the simplest undifferentiated (undeveloped) and the most complex, differentiated (devel-
oped) ones. The same set offunctional requisites applies to an administrativesub-system. Nowhere Riggs
offers an explanation as to why he has selected only these functional requisites. However these categories
have been given a central place in his work, The Ecology of Public Administration. Let us now examine one
by one how these five factors affect the behaviour of the administrative system of a developed and
developing (prismatic) society, and how the administrative system, in tum affects these environmental
forces, thereb y focusing the interaction between the administrative sub-system and the economic, social,
political, communicative, symbolic sub-system of the society on the one hand, and the interaction between
the administrativesystem and society and its environment as a whole, on the other.
1. Economic Factors : The dominant characteristics of American capitalist economy is the market
mechanism. It isargued that it encourages individuals to work in such a way as to increase productivity and
consequently increase their own wealth as well as that of the nation. This arrangement involves the use of '
rational' criterion for the use of scarce resources so as to maximise the attainment of tangible goals in an
order of priorities. The price marking system enables people to make free choices to buy and sell at the
most advantageous prices and to make profits to increase their income as a desirable goal in life. The
primary criterion for the utilization ofavailable resources is accordingly, the increase of wealth. Thus the
market mechanism combines in itselfboth the"rational" and "utilitarian" principles. According to this line of
thinking, it leads to great increase in the output of goods and services. It treats many social values including
human labour, time, money etc. as a commodity to be bought and sold in the free market at the most
econo mical price. The value ofacommodity is measured in terms ofits price. Commodities possessing the
same value are supposed to sell for the same price. Though prices fluctuate sometimes and the value of a
commodity may rise or fall, in an ideal free market conditions, prices are said "to adjust" themselves and one
' homogeneous' price for the same commodity will be adopted in the market.
Riggs shows how the market mechanism has brought about direct and indirect influence onAmerican
Public Administration. When applied to the field of public personnel administration, this principle echoes
itself as "equal pay for equal work". According to the market system the work of the bureaucracy or an
agency chief is acommodity which he offers for sale. The amount paid, i.e., the ',salary" is supposed to
vary with the value oflabour. Hence the characteristic of personnel administration equal pay for equal
work. Of course this norm s is or can never be fully realized. "But this is the foundation stone of
administration and it rests on market consideration. Political, social, humanitarian considerations are, in
principle ruled out, though in practice, not eliminated. The principle of seniority may apply to army or
university positions but the principle ofequalizing the prices for bureaucratic labour is deeply ingrained in
American personnel administration.
It is said that the free market system offers freedom of choice to market users-buyers and sellers. One
is ideally free to accept or reject any commodity offered for sale. The same outlook is transferred to
personnel administration. An employee sells his service in exchange for the best offer. Ifhefinds that hecan
better his position, he moves to another employer. This explains the chronic tendency of American

3. Riggs', The Ecology of Public Administration, Asia Publishing House, New Delhi, 1961 [hereafter referred to The
Ecology} p. 4: Administration, p.99.

62
bureaucrats to shift their service from public to private or business administration as the offer of the latter,
in most, if not all, cases is more lucrative financially and, therefore, attractive. Further each government
agency or administrative bureau seeks to find the best qualified person for each position without regard to
social. family, religious or racial background. "The position is thought of, not as an attribute of the incum-
bent, not as a status or right to which he may lay claim, but as a set of duties to be performed, as a slot in
the machine which must be filled in for the required output to be produced. No wonder, the American
position classification system is "duty" (responsibility) oriented" rather than status (rank) oriented as the
British. If an official does not perform his duties satisfactorily, he may be discharged; or if an agency's
budget is cut, members of the staff may be "laid off '. Of course, in practice , the state which is the model
employer in the case of public administration, has to modify and tone down the rigours of the dehumanising
tendencies of market economy. Hence concepts like 'security of tenure', career service" are increasingly
applied to public service.
Another fundamental pillar of the market as an institution is the right of contract. This principle is
extended to the relationship between the employer and employees including the government and its
servants. Both the civil servant and his employing agency, say the labour department , or the irrigation
department, consider their relationship to be specific in scope, governed by the terms of a contract with a
provision for the termination of the relationship, should either partner become diss atisfied.
Riggs observes that all aspects of public administration are similarly pervaded by the market
orientation. Planning, communications, public relations, management, line and staff organizations in each
instance the administrative bureau is viewed as a kind of "market" in which the participants seek to
maximize the attainment of specified goals- the implementation of public policy, with the most efficient"
use of scarce, available means. "In general, then the administrative bureau is the counterpart of the formal
economic market. Both are utilitarian, rational, maximizing institutions for making choices in a situation
where means are scarce."
Let us nowexamine the influence of public administration on the market system. Althm1gh the market
is sometimes spoken of"as self-regulating," the market can persist only if the state provides numerous
facilities and services and enforces innumerable regulations governing market behaviour. Public
administration, for instance has to lay down and enforce rules regarding weights and measures,
securities, exchange regulations, rates of public utilities, licensing of merchants, automobiles, etc. The
whole pattern of highly productive agriculture in America can be obtained only because a multitude of
regulations and services are enforced and furnished by government. In short, "the content of An1erican
public administration is in large part, determined by the economic needs ofits market society". Thus the
interdependence between marketized, industrial society of America and itssystem of public administration
is so much that the economy cannot survive without the administrative system and vice versa. The economy
would not survive because the administrativesystem is itself determined in many respects by the require-
ments ofthe economy. The administrativesystem would not survive but for the productivity of the economy
supporting it. Both the market and the bureau are essential structures of an industrial society. It is not so
much the market place but industrialization which makes the establishment of a rational, achievement-
oriented system of public administration both possible and indispensable.
2. Social Factors : By focusing on two important social factors, namely the place of associations in
the American social life and the class structure of the American society, Riggs seeks to highlight the
interactional relationship between these social factors andAmerican Public Administration.
a. Relationship between Association and Public Administration: The American society like its
counterparts elsewhere has its social structures. These take numerous forms. The American Society for
63
Public Administration, American Political Science Association, American Medical Association, Bar
Association, the Civil Service Assembly, Workers Unions, Sports Clubs,American political parties, busi-
ness corporations, to mention a few, are all typical examples of social groups and associations dominating
the American government, economy and society. In fact the American society lives and moves and has its
being through these myriad forms of groups and unions. They have certain common features. Of these,
functional specificity is a central feature of all associations. Each association has a fairly specific function or
set of objectives towards the attainment of which all its members strive. All associations recruit members
on a universalistic basis- all those who share its objectives, norms and standards are enrolled as its
members. Membership of an association is voluntary. The rules provide for resignation or expulsion of
members. Associational membership is also contractual. Here we see the close connection between the--
various associations and the market orientation.
Every association has its agent or agency which when sufficiently large and professionalised may be
called its" bureaucracy". The business corporations are such associations having large bureaucracies. The
company bureaucracy is responsible to the members to use the capital so as to maximize returns on
investments in the form of dividends. "The important fact for understanding America is that there the
corporation, i.e., an association, has become the dominant pattern of organisation for participation in the
market." The association as a special structure is integrally related to market institutions.
The analogy of associations and administration now becomes apparent. The corporation
bureaucracy is under the same kii;id of obligation to manage limited resources to achieve specified goals
that the public bureaucracy is under. Of course the goals of the former are set by the market and that of the
latter by the political system. But internally the criteria of"rationality'',"utilitarianism" and "efficiency" are
equally applicable to the company and thebureau. The principles of administration both public and private
directly derivable from the pattern of the associational organisation, as well as from the market. The
similarity between "business administration"and"public administration"isso striking that in some American
Universities both are taught in the same school. We may think of the whole nation asone association and
the governmental service as its bureaucracy. The basis of governmental association is also a "contract"
formulated in the Constitution which sets forth the common aimsofall members. Admission to membership
is likewise, in principle, universalistic, in so far as those who agree with these goals and meet specified
requirements may become a "naturalized citizen" and is normally free to surrender his citizenship ifhe
chooses to migrate to another state.
b. Associational Character of Public Administration : We have seen that associations play a
dominant role in American life, specially in polity, economy and society. There exists a close parallelism
between government, business corporations and professional societies. As in the case of business
bureaucracy, the efficiency of the public bureaucracy is measured by its ability to achieve the specific goals
laid down by the legislature, it is recruited on the understanding that it will promote those objectives or is
discharged for its failure to do so; the bureaucrats can leave the governmental services according to their
degree of participation in its goals and standards; the government spends the tax-payers, money just as its
private counterpart does with the shareholders, capital. And the political responsibilityof the state to the
citizens becomes the special responsibility of the public bureaucracy to his associations' memberships.
In short, associations make it possible to "aggregate" interests and to "articulate" them to find out
what wants antl demands are shared by a large number of people and then to give effective public
expression to these demands . Thus they become a vehicle through which many kinds of specific
interests are communicated from the citizens to the government. These associations (known as interest

64
 groups or pressure groups in public administration) enter into close relationships with their corresponding
government departments, agencies and bureaus to further their interest. In fact some of these bureaucratic units
owe their very existence to these interest groups. The latter are instrumental for bringing them into existence by
getting appropriate legislation enacted and necessary funds provided by American Congress. The government
departments and units are often in daily communication with their respective interests groups in carrying out
the law. The associations or the interest groups formed by the "clientele" of various administrativeagencies often
constitute the source of influence and power over these agencies. Directly or indirectly, they control, reward and
punish the agencies in many ways. The civil servants who faithfully execute laws intended to promote the
interests of particular interest groups may be suitably rewarded through proper channels. For instance their
agency budgets may be increased, they may receive honour, recognition and promotion and desirable
legislation or amendments may be secured.
The administration, in its turn makes full use of these groups in ensuring faithful compliance by citizen with
laws and securing public cooperation for the attainment of their objectives. The Public Health Service, for example,
may call upon the American Medical Association ofNurses, hospital administrators, pharma- cists and doctors to
assist it in acampaign to vaccinate or to inoculate public against polio or cholera and to educate the people.
Similarly the Department of Commerce can look to the Chambers of Commerce and trade associations for
help.
In this way the sociations and administrative agencies interact with each other to their mutual benefit.
The former keep the administrators alert and responsive by providing them with the information and making
them conscious of the clientele's interests, and providing them with a weapon of incalculable power to
implement governmental programmes. Thus the associational pattern, while fundamentally shaping the
conduct of administration, serves also to multiply its effectiveness.
The class system in the United States is relatively open or mobile despite obstacles on the way of
religious and racial minorities to reach the apex of the social ladder. The public bureaucracy forms an
integral part of this open class system of the American society. In other words, the bureaucracy is not
segmented into a number of ranks, i.e., into the top bureaucratic levels, where the ordinary functionaries, clerks
are classed with middle and lower class strata. The personnel system of the United States is "democratic"
in that any citizen with the required qualification can enter the civil service at any stage or level. He can start
his career at the lowest rung of the civil service ladder and hope to reach the apex position before he retires
from service. The personnel system is also "open" besides being "mobile". It does not allow recruiting
favoured, "administrative officers" as is possible in the U.K. where the "aristocratic" system of personnel
administration prevails. In Riggs' own words, "those who stand at the lowest rung on the bureaucratic ladder
(in the U.S.) are not quite so low as the lowest social strata and those who stand highest on it do not quite attain
the highest position in the general social system."
We have just seen how the open class system affects the pattern of recruitment and promotion of civil
servants in American public administration. Let us now turn our attention to the influence that public
administration exercises on the class structure. In a nutshell, it helps society to maintain a mobile class
structure. This is done in ways more than one. In the first place opportunities for promotion within the
bureaucracy provide an important channel for class mobility. Secondly, programmes carried out by
government also reinforce an open class. system. The "universalistic" recruitment system is another
reflection of the one class system in American society. In this way the open class system and the public
recruitment and promotion system interact with one another to their mutual advantage.

65
 3. The Communication Net Work : .The administrative system of a democratic polity
presupposes a high degree of communication, between the public and administration. Experience
demonstratesthat a high percentage ofliteracy, linguistic homogeneity, a widespread communication net-
work consisting ofr adio, telephone, television, cinema, press, etc. is bound to increase the degree of
communicatio n betweena people and its government and administration. Where such high degree of
communication exists, ' publicopinion" can he strong-so strong asto compel government to pursue or not to
pursue certain policies which are not in public or national interest.
Two important dimensions of communication, viz., 'mobili zation' and ' assimilation' , are particularly
relevant to our central question. Mobilization occurs when a population has joined, and participates in a
large scale communication net. Spread of education, urbanization, industrialization, quick means of
transportation are someof the contributin g factors of mobilization . "As similati on", on the other hand,
shows the extent to which a population shares the same symbol, identified with same basic values and
goals as theelite. Language, religionand ideology help either in laying the foundation for assimilation or
disrupting it. It is imp ortant to remember that mobilization and assimilation do not always take place
simul taneously. If a population is fortunate as to become both mobilized and assimilated, it becomes a
'national community' . If , on the other hand, a population isonly mobilized but not assimilated it becomes a
differentiated population or ' poly-communal'. It becomes a plural but nota pluralistic society.
American people are highly mobilized and assimilated. They form, therefore, a national community.
Theyarea pluralistic society, for as we have seen above, the American life is dominated by associations and
groups but not a"poly-cqmmunal", or"plural" society.
Howdoes thisaffectadministration ? Because the American people and public officials share same
language and value system, it is easier to trust each other, to gain access and acceptance for ideas, to
express thoughts and explain situations and needs. Communication within administration is also made
easier to theextent that national administration has been achieved.
Besides, the existenceof a national community indirectly helps in establishing a public recruitment
systembasedon universaltic criterion. In the absence of suchacommunity, there wili be apoly-communal
society whererivalryand mutual suspicion prevail between diverse linguistic and religious communities; it may
be necessary to use a"quota" systemtoensure equitable representationofeach community in public service
or else to practice outright exclusion of one or more communities. In either case recruitment is
handicappedand a major source of friction develops in administration. The same is true of programmes
execution as well. Where poly-communalismexists instead of one medical association, or trade union for all
steel workers, for instance, there would be an association for eachlinguistic, religious, racial, social
groups,and administration would be faced with an endless number of rival groups and associations each
claiming to represent the same kind of functional interest. In such a situation programme effectiveness
becomesthe first casualty. Last but not least, the existence ofa national community explains the success of the
two-party system of the United States.
Similarly, Riggs feels that the openness ofaclass structure can exist only under conditions of national
community. A differentiated society, by definition, is a closed class system. But for the existence of a
national community the danger to national integration arising from the inherent tensions ofamarket system
cannot be averted. The conflicts inherent inamarket system will eat up the vital parts of society and thus
jeopardise the social order.
4. The Symbol System : Riggs strongly believes that the administrative sub-system of a social
systemis, to a large extent, influenced by its political symbol system, even as it influences that system. The

66
symbol system consists of the"myth", "formulae" and"codes" to use Lasswell and Kalpan's phrases. The
"myth" refers to whatever symbols and doctrines are used to characterize the ultimate source of
sovereignty, the nature and destiny of man, his rights, duties and essential relationships. By
"formulae" we mean the set of rules which determine the structures of government, how rulers shall be
chosen and what their duties shall be. Laws and regulations are examples of code.
Many countries lack basic agreement regarding their symbol system. By contrast the United States
derives its myth and formulae from theAmerican declaration oflndependence,the Constitution and Lincoln's
Gettsburg Address and laws from the Congress.
The content of these political symbols have profound influence on the degree of consensus of a
people. Consensus in turn bestows a high degree of ' authority'4 on acts ofadrninistration. Mere pos-
session of authority is not enough to ensure obedience. "The effectiveness of authority varies with the
degree of consensus of the population on the validity and obligation to obey authority". High degree of
consensus makes authority" legitimated"; and authority becomes "illegitimate" when people stop believing in
the right of those who claim authority to rule. Legitimacy is essential for effective administration.
Authority is the cheapest and most effective means of control, especially when large number of people are
involved in law enforcement. The "Consensus" results in voluntary compliance with law.
Let us examine the influence of the political symbol system on the American administration. The
"myth" of"popular sovereignty" on the one hand and of"equality" on the other has brought about a
tremendous influence on the way in which the American political and administrative system ope tes.
The notion of popular sovereignty rests on the idea of popular equality. The myth of equality is at the
foundation of the American "spoils" system, and the system of"elective' officials. It was only when the
spoils system could not provide administrative personnel with sufficient talent and experience to meet the
growing needs of an extremely complex and industrializedsociety that it was abandoned in favour of the
''technical examination" system. Even here, the American society has not copied the British or the Indian civil
service examination system for theAdministrative class which aims at discovering men of superior talent and
capacity for ruling position. In American view there can he no"superior men" because "all men are born
equal". The American civil service is founded on this view and it follows, therefore, that public servants
recruited on technical basis do not possess any inherent authority to give orders, or command others. They
are regarded as public servants not only in the general sense of serving the public but in the specific sense of
serving the President and Congress who have been elected by the people and who have been vested with
authority to make crucial decisions on the public issues arising from time to time. In a nutshell, the structure
of American administration, its mode of recruiting, promoting and organising @d the demand for delegation of
power- all reflect this underlying political myth".
5. The Political System : The political system of any society is a major factor of influence upon its
administrative sub-system. It is true that the other sub-systems like the economic, social, symbolic and
communicational and cultural, as seen above, interact with the administrative system. But the interaction
between the political and administrativesystems is most sharp and powerful. The governmental setting is one
of the fundamental determinants of administrative behaviour, for, the administrativesystem is, in a sense,
an integral part of the political system. The relationship between the American constitutional structure,
separation of powers, cheeks and balances, federal system, political parties etc. and the Ad- ministrative
system is very well known.

4. When power is exercised in accordance with a political fonnula it becomes "authority". A man without authority
might have power as in the case with a mob leader; a man of authority may lack power just as the British or Japanese
monarch.

67
 Another aspect of the interaction iseven more crucial to our analysis, i.e., the universal tendency of public
bureaucracies of modem, welfare states to increase their power to the detriment of the rule oflaw, individual
liberty and public interest and at the cost of administration, public, and the nation. All contemporary
states, democratic as well as totalitarian, draw asubtle distinction between political and
administrativeorganisations. The bureaucracy is regarded as an instrumental apparatus under the control and
direction of the political organisations. Butin reality this distinction remain formalistic. The"politicians" are not
fully effective in framing policy [this is more true in the case of developing countries] and the
"administrators"are scarcely neutral instruments of policy execution. Unless the bureaucracy, in whose hands
all the main weapons of government are placed, is brought under the ontrol of non-bureaucratic centres of
power, the former will not hesitate to misuse and abuse its power for its own self-aggrandisement and self-interest.
Riggs strongly feels that an increase in bureaucratic power cannot assure improvement in
administrativeefficiency. Quite the contrary, it is only when non-bureaucrats are powerful enough to
control and reward officials for faithful performance of their duties, and clearly lay down policies to be
implemented that we can expect a high level of administrativeoutput. When imbalance takes place
between bureaucratic power and non-bureaucratic power and development, it results in "intra-
bureaucratic rivalry of politics" and paves the way for military dictatorship.
In the United States, Riggs opines, thedanger to thedemocratic fabric arising out of such imbalance
between political and administrative development does not exist. For, the constitutional and the social
systems have strengthened non-bureaucratic power on the one hand, and institutionalized bureaucratic
power and its weakness on the other.
Not only the maintenance of non-bureaucraticcontrol over the bureaucracy has been institutionalised in a
rule oflaw and constitutional pattern of separation of powers facilitating the formation of numerous centres of
non-bureaucratic power around the market, church, schools, associations, clµbs, etc., but even bureaucratic
weakness has been institutionalised. This has been done by territorial and functional fragmentation of
the bureaucracy.
This pattern of functional fragmentation tends to keep government bureaucracy powerless at all levels and,
therefore, more amenable to the direction and control by political organisation and non- governmental power
centres. However, Riggs warns µis readers from jumping to the conclusion that because functional
fragmentation helps maintain control over bureaucracy, it was invented for that purpose. Or, because the
American market system has contributed to the growth and development of American administrative
system and the latter has reinforced the former; we cannot deduce from this that administration was
deliberately designed and modelled after the market and the market was instituted because of the
administrativeconsequences. To think on such lines, according to Riggs, will be guilty of"teleological"
fallacy.
An Estimate
Fred W. Riggs' conceptualizationof administrativeecology represents his magnificent response to the
clarion call of Dwight Waldo in 1956 to construct a 'model of what an administrativesystem is like as general
type." His"fused-prismaticand diffracted" models of societies are the outcome of this great effort to
conceptualise and study administrative systems of developing nations. His aim wasobviously to project a theory
of ac;irninistrative ecology.
In building his theory he has largely drawn froni his American experience on the one hand and the
multi-disciplinary approach to the study of social problems on the other. Third world countries constitute a

68
strange new phenomenon for social scientists and development analysis. The failure of the American tech- nic-al
assistance programmes launched under international auspices in developing countries to bring about development
actually helped challenge the wisdom of applying Western administrative concepts, tech-niques and practices
to these nations emphasised the need to develop truly comparative, cross-national and cross-cultural studies. It
is this challenge which paved the way for a burgeoning literature on various aspects ofdevelopment-economic,
political, social, administrative-bya galaxy of social scientists and scholars. Riggs' contribution has to be
assessed against this background.
Riggs' supreme effort throughtout his prolific writings has been directed towards theory-buildingon the
administrative systems of developing nations. Hisfabulous capacity for theorising has resulted in his discovery
of a new frame of reference for the study of the new nations, the theory of prismatic societies. It is to explain
the"administrativeecology" of transitional or developing societies that he constructed the prismatic-sala
model and the bazaar canteen mod"els. Certainly these models help increase our under- standing ofthe
ecological setting ofthese nations. Hissh\dy of the Thai and Philipine administrativesystems
is undoubtedly based on this framework of analysis. \
'\
Rigg's contribution lies not only in innovating conceptual constructs and tools of analysis for the study of
administrativeproblems of developing societies-but also, in applying the macro approach, for the first time
towards such studies. His theory of administrative ecology based on this approach and ecological
structural functionalism-helpsus understand the interaction between administrative system and its
environmental structure. Prior understanding of the ecological forces and their impacts on administration
by administrators, politicians and social scientists is imperative to maximize the effectiveness of
developmental bureaucracy as the instrument of change.

SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Fred W. Riggs," Agraria and lndustria" in William Siffin (ed), Toward Comparative Study of ·
Public Administration.
2. Bureaucrats and Political Development -A Paradoxical View" in Joseph La
Palombara (ed), Bureaucracy and Political Development, Princeton University Press, New
Jersey, 1963,
3. "The Structures of Government and Administrative Reform" in Ralph Braibanti (ed), Political
and Administrative Development, Duke University Press Durban. N.C, 1969, pp. 220-324.
4. Administrative Change Vol. IV. No. I, July- Dec. 1976 for Riggs' reply to Daya Krishna 's
comment.

69
 9
RIGGS' FUSED-PRISMATIC-DIFFRACTED SOCIETIES MODELS
Dr. (Mrs.) Noorjahan Bava
The central concern of Riggs has been to conceptualise the interaction between administrative
systems and their environment in transitional or developing societies which he has christened as
" pris matic " . It attempts to explain the "administrative ecology" of such societies , which he calls
"pris ma. ti c sala" and " bazaa.r cante od l in orde t distinguish the " prismatic socie ties "
from trad1t1onal and modernized or uilustnahzed societies , he has constructed the "fused" and
" di ff racted" (refr acted) soc ieties ' mode ls .
Before constructing the fused-prismatic-difracted typology, Riggs first hascomeout with his"agrarian
and industrial" models to distinguish between societies that are predominantly industrial from those in
1
which agrarian institutions predominate. It is based on three of the five pattern variables to Talcott
Parsons ' , namely, universalism vs. particularism, achievement vs. ascription and functional specificity
vs. funct ional diffusene ss.2 These polar type models are not of much use to study the " mixed type"
(developing ) societies, as they lack the mechanism to analyse such societies.
Definition and Features of Fused Prismatic and Diffracted Societies
Inconformity with his"ecological orientation" and" structural-functional" model ofanalysis (dealt in
the previous lesso n), Riggs has distinguished between the"functionally diffuse" and the"functionally spe-
cific" socie ties . If social structures perform a large number of functions they are said to be"functior(ally
diffuse"; if they are "functionally specific"they perform a certain limited functions only. Riggs has termed
the functionally diffused societies as"fused" and the functionally specific onesas"diffracted" (also known
as refracted) societies. The model society intermediate between these two polar types is"prismatic 3 • Here
one may find structures some of which are functionally diffuse and some others functionally specific. In
other words, a fused society is one in which one structure serves all the functions in society. A refracted
society isdefined as a society in which for every function there is a corresponding concrete structure.

I. Fred W. Riggs, " Agrar ia and Industri a" in Williain Siffin (ed) Toward the Comparativ e Study of Public
Ad ministra tion.
2, Talcott Parsons, a great American Soc iologist , has suggested that there are five and only five pattern variables- a
pattern variable bein g "a dic hotomy , one scale of which must be chosen by an actor before the meaning of the
situation is determinate for him and thus before he can act with respect to that situation". (Parsons and Edward
Shi/s(ed) Toward a Gener': / Theory of Social Action, Cambridge Mass: Harward University Press, I 9 51, p.77.)They
are:-
! . atfectivi ty- neutr ali ty;
2. self orie ntation-co llectiv ity orientation;
3. un iversalism-pa rticula ris m;
4. ascription-achievement ; and
5. funct ion ! specificit y-funct ion al diffuseness.
3. Fred W. Riggs, The Administration in Developing Countries- The Theory of Prismatic Socie ty, Houghton Mifflin
Company Boston,1964,p.23 (hereafter referred to as Adminis tration ).

70
The Prismatic Model
Continuing the metaphor oflight, Riggs calls a model "prismatic" which lies at the mid point between the
polar extremes of fusion and refraction, just as a prism lies between fused white light and its refracted
spectrum as is clear from the following figure.

We know that the white light passing through the medium of a prism gets refracted into the spectrum
of seven different rainbow colours. Anyone who looks through a prism, may discover acomposite scene
in which the upper half is inverted and superimposed in a non-integrated fashion upon the lower half.
Similarly in a prismatic society there is a 'mixture of traditional and modem administrative structures. The
traditional dimension or trait can be seen in the hinterland and rural areas ofa transitional society, as well as
in the traditional attitudes and values ofits people. Whereas its modem trait can be discerned in the towns
and cities, Western style super bazars, sky scrapers, modernized offices of administration and in the
determination of leaders and elites of such societies to bring about socioeconomic change or
modernization . Thus, the prismatic societies, in Riggs' opinion are partly tradition-bound with their
traditional administrative structures, attitudes and value system and partly determined to be" modernized"
by adopting Western specialised (differentiated) structures to carry out the economic political, social,
culttrral, and religious function of thesociety.
Using Parsonian pattern variables, Riggs makes another point of distinction between these ecological
models. He writes,"a difracted system would rank high in terms of universalism and achievement
orientation, a fused model high in particularism and ascription with prismatic model intermediate in these
scales." Unlike Parsons, Riggs has developed "intermediate" pattern variable to suit prismatic societies.
Accordingly a prismatic society is characterised by "selectivism" (intermediate category between
universalism and particularism),"attainment" (intermediate category between achievement and ascription)
and" Poly-functionalism"(intermediate category between functional specificity and functional diffuseness).
This does not mean, Riggs cautions his readers, that the correlation among the variable isoneof definition
but it is only a matter of hypothesis.
Riggs also makes an analytical distinction between a prismatic society and a transitional society. He
writes.''tocall asociety prismatic is not equivalent assaying that it is transitional". For the idea of transition
connotes movement and direction which is not implied by the word "prismatic". He continues, 'transi-
tional' and ' underdeveloped' countries may have strong prismatic characteristics. But the words are not
synonyms. Inspite of this analytical distinction, Riggs, in providing concrete examples, has identified those
societies as prismatic which are generally known as"developing" and"transitional"(Philippines, Thailand,
India, etc.)
The focus of analysis of Riggs is the study of the administrative ecology of the prismatic society, i.e.,
the interaction between the. prismatic "Sala" 4 or the administrative sub-system of the prismatic society and
the sociocultural, economic-politicalenvironment structures in that society.

4. The term 'Sala' is of Spanish origi n, and has a variety of meanings such as room, pavilio n, government office, etc.

71
 In Riggsian analysis the general term "bureau" indicates the locusofadministrative action ina society. A
diffracted society has a diffracted bureau or office, whose central characteristicsare rationality and efficiency.
Similarly a fused society has a fused bureau or a"chamber". Likewise, prismatic society has its 'sala' which reP,
sents an"interlocking mixture of elements from the diffracted office and the fused chamber". Let us now
examine its main features.
Salient features of the Prismatic-Sala Model
Three central characteristics, according to Riggs, mark a prismatic society and its administrative
system. They are :
1. Heterogeneity
2. Formalism; and
3. Overlapping .
1. Heterogeneity : While the fused and the diffracted models are relatively homogeneous, the
prisma tic model is marked by great heterogeneity. By 'heterogeneity' ismeant "thesimultaneous presence, side
by side, of quite different kinds of systems, practices, and viewpoints. A prismatic society presents the
spectacles of curious mixture of fused and diffracted traits, structures and value systems. This coexist- ence
is a sure sign of uneven and incomplete social change sweeping through the developing nations. Thus, one
comes across in a prismatic society, urban areas with a sophisticated intellectual class or elite, Western style
offices and modern structures of administration alongside the rural areas with traditional outlook, values and
village elders combining various political, economic, administrative, social and religious roles. This
heterogeneity is applicable to the administrativestructures of a prismatic society as well. Thus the ' sala' - the
administrative system of a prismatic society, comprises of both the modem ' bureau' and the traditional '
court' chambers.
2. Formalism: A prismatic society is characterised by a high degree of formalism . Riggs defines
formalism as "the degree of discrepancy or congruence between the formally prescribed and the
effectively practised, between norms and realities. While congruence between norms and realities or
between theory and practice speaks of the degree of 'realism', discrepancy between these elements
indicates theexistence of formalis m. The greater the discrepancy between the formal and the effective the more
formalistic is a system. A prismatic society is highly "formalistic" in that there is wide discrepancy between the
impression given by the constitution, laws, regulation, organisation charts and statistics on the one hand and the
actual practices and behaviour of administrators, pressure groups, politicians and the people on the other.
Asagainst this, the fused and diffracted societies have relatively high degree of realism. Riggs also admits the
possibility of prismatic characteristics in diffracted societies such as the United States.
Because of formalism, the actual behaviour of the sala officials will be at variance with what statutes, laws
and regulations lay down. For instance, public officials may insist on meticulously following some technical
provisio nsoflaws and rules but overlook others particularly those relating to general terms and objectives.
According to Riggs, formalistic behaviour is caused by"the lack of pressure towards programme
objectiveness, the weakness of social power as a guide to bureaucratic performance and a great permissi
veness for arbitrary administration. The motivation forsuch behaviour maycome fromanofficial's material " in
clinatio ns", or from the pay-offhe gets from interested parties in the society. Thus formalism often results in
official corruption. This explains the growing corruption in administration of developing

72
nations. It has also far-reaching policy implications. Administrative reforms intended to change administra- tive
behaviour in the desired direction in prismatic societies often fail to produce such desired changes owing
to this discrepancy. Such reforms bring about the desired changes in diffracted societies. It is, therefore,
imperative that before bringing about any institutional and behavioural changes in the administrative
system of prismatic societies, attitude fostering realism must be nurtured among public officials.
3. Overlapping. Related to formalism as a manifestation or result is the phenomenon of overlapping. It
refers to"the extent to which formally differentiated structures of a diffracted society coexist with undif-
ferentiated structures of a fused types." Overlapping does not occur in diffracted societies as distinct
structures exist for distinct :functions in such societies. Nor does it occur in fused societies because in such a
society there is no discrepancy between the formal and the effective. Overlapping structures are a basic
feature of a prismatic society where although new modern structures are created, in effect, the
undifferentiated structures continue to dominate the social system. In other words, in a fused society, one
cannot distinguish in the role of an archaic king, what is political and administrative from what may be
religious, educational or economic ; whereas in fully refracted society, the economic structures would be
governed exclusively by economic criterion, educational structures by educational criterion, religious by
religious, political by political, administrative by administrativecriteria.
In the·prismaticsala model, overlapping may be judged by the"extent" to which what is described as
administrative behaviour is actually determined by non-administrativecriteria, i.e., by political, economic,
social, religious or other factors. In addition to strictly administrative criteria the sala recognises and reflects
many non-administrativeconsiderations.
According to Riggs', overlapping has several dimensions in a prismatic society. These may be
identified as nepotism,"Policycommunalism", theexistence of"poly normativism",lack of consensus and
separation of"authority" from control. Here Riggs highlights the interaction between the ecological forces and
the administrativesub-system of the society. Let us examine them in that order:
1. Nepotism : In a diffracted society where the problem of overlapping does not exist,
considerations of family loyalty and obligations are not allowed to influence official behaviour. The
public recruitment system is, therefore, governed by the rational principle of merit. In a fused society, the
patrimonial character ofits politico-administrativesystem gives the pride of place to kinship or family. On the
contrary, in the prismaticsociety where"modern" formal structures are superimposed on the family and
kinship, universalistic norms and achievement orientation associated with diffracted structures are paid lip
serviceonly and they are overlooked and bypassed in favour of old norms and traditional values which
continue to have dominant influence on the way in which the politco-administrative system :functions in
society. Extraneous considerations based not only on family but native origins, 'old school tie' play a
dominant role in Philippine and Thai Administration. Thus nepotism, favouritism and patrimonialism con-
tinue to characterise the public personnel system in prismatic societies.
2. " Poly-Communa lism" or "Clects" : From the standpoint of communication system, a diffracted
society is a highly ' mo bilized ' and ' assimilated' one. Despite the presence of minority communities in
such a society, it has a 'national community', thereby indicating a relatively high degree of mobilization and
"ass imilation" . It is "pluralistic" and not a "plural" one. The interest groups which "aggregate" and
articulate the demands and needs of their members before decision-making authorities in government give
wide representation to the public. And their activities are governed by universalistic achievement norms
and considerations. They are functionally specific too.

73
 In a fused society on the other hand, there is no mass media and therefore, no mobilization since
primary groups, like family and tribe, have adominant influence in such asociety. It is not assimilated either. Each
ethnic, linguistic religious group, village or tribe exists asa relatively closed system. They do not share "
conunonvalues" nor possess a"national character".
Between these two polar systems falls the prismatic society where the people are "differentiated", i.e,
"mobilized but unassimilated" and therefore " poly-communal" or a"plural society."
Riggs defines poly-commw1alism as that situation in which there is simultaneous existence in society of
various ethnic, religious, racial, linguistic groups which live ina"relatively hostile""interaction" with each other.
In such plural societies, the interest groups which Riggs calls as"Clects" are bound to have communal
membership.Theseelectshavethecharacteristicsof"attainment orientation","selectivism" and''polyfunctioning"5.
Poly-communalism anclcl.ects which represent the non-administrativeecological forces interact and
influence the behaviour of the prismatic sala and the sala officials in many ways. The interaction leads the sala to
adopt a mixed "rank" (status) and "duties" classification rather than purely "duties" classification system. In
relatively diffracted societies like the US where the formal market and bureau models apply, salary is directly
adjusted to the work performed and the criterion for compensation is achievement. In contrast, a traditional
(fused) system adjusts perquisi tes, honour etc. to the 'status' of each official. Here the criterion for compensation
isascription. In the intermediate prismatic society the position classification system combines both duties and
status and achievement and ascription. The key basis is "rank", the criterion "a ttainment".
A public official in a prismatic society is likely to develop a greater sense ofloyalty towards the
government. Not only recruitment to public positions in a prismatic sala is made on selectivist rather than on
particularistic basis even public funds may be allocated to favoured groups to the detriment of the
disfavoured ones.
3. Poly-Normativism and Lack of Consensus: Quoting Lasswell and Kaplan and Riggs observes
that the symbol system of the society manifests itself through its ' myth, formula and codes'.6 The fused society
tends to see the world in sacred and supernatural terms. For instance, under the belief system of such a society
people believe that diseases like small pox, chicken pox, etc. are caused by certain spirits and supernatural
powers or godnesses and proceed to propitiate such spirits by performing ritual prac- tices. Whereas the
industrial and diffracted society sees through the ' secular and mundane' lenses the
5. Riggs says that " Atta in ment " orientation manifests itself in the tendency of public officials to recruit.public
servants not only on the basis of their professional attainment but also on the lo yalty and willingness of the latter
to "go alo ng" with various schemes to supplement low salaries thereby outweighing professional competence is
a criterion of appointment. "Se lectivene ss" denote s the tendency on the part of public servants to confer
benefits of official policy on favoured groups selected on particularistic rather than on universal basis . " Poly-
fun ctionali sm" indicates the performance by interest groups of diffuse functions as against the modem associa-
tio ns and groups which are characterised by funct io nal s pecific ity.
6. Harold Lasswell and Abraham Kap la n, Power and Society (New Heaven Conn. Yale University Press 19 50. pp.
( 116-132); These authors offer the concepts of myth , formulae and code on which this analysis is based . " Myth"
refers to under lying no rms, the basic values or goals or the ultimate purposes by which any human society
guides itself; " formu lae" are the ground rules ideologic l or utopian by which a society allocates rights and
d uti es, decides who sha ll make and defend its rules, what may be possessed or alienated or what means are
sepa rab le ; "codes" refer to "s peci fic policies, programmes and decisions which result from political and admin-
istrative actio n and the general format" which shapes them .

74
former copes with environment by 'ritual' and the latter seeks "rational means to achieve its goals." In the
prismatic model the two orientations are superimposed on one another. Although the diffracted ways of
viewing the world are introduced, the fused or traditional ways also continue; they are not displaced but
undermined. Hence the prismatic society is characterised by polynormativism.
If a society is poly-normative, and normlessness is widespread, a substantial divorce appears
between the formal and the effective, between theory and practice, between law and its implementation and
between the authority and control. Thus, law fails to achieve its intended resu lts, and leads to formalism
. When formalism speads, laws are subverted, the administration is corrupted, deviant communities
deviate more and counter-elites become more hostile.
Poly-normativism and normlessness resulting in high degree of formalism manifest themselves in the
behaviour of the prismatic _s ala and its officials. The laws enacted by such a society would not be grounded in '
publicopinion' but based on inadequate data or misunderstanding of problems or through mixing of foreign
models, their intent becomes obscure and their goals unfeasible. Such laws would be honoured more in their
violation than in their observance.
Administration called upon to implement such laws would then resort to literalism , sometimes to
deliberate nullification. Thus formalism would result in over conformity and non-enforcement. When such a
situation arises goal-oriented administrators become trapped by proceduralism and red-tapism, as lack of
clearcut policy directives from political executive is missing and the legalistic bureaucrats manipulate rules to
their own advantage.
4. Authority versus Control: Formalism is both the cause and consequence oflack of consensus. In the
fused and diffracted models there exists a fairly high degree of consensus on fundamental goals or on the way
in which political authority can be acquired. Hence the authority of those in power becomes ' legit imate'
and people feel that it is their obligation to obey those in authority. But in the prismatic model, by con trast,
poly-normativism carries dissensus of consensus (lack) as a corollary. When there is little or no aggreement
among people on fundamentals, control becomes divorced from authority afld it would be enforced not by
legitimate authority but by coercion , violence, money or by, chrismatic' leaders. People and administrators
lose faith in legal and constitutional procedures and forms or use them for their own self- interest
Economic Sub-system Riggs has evolved the bazaar-canteen model to explain the economic sub-
system of the prismatic society, the characteristic features of which are
(i) Dependency syndrome;
(ii) Tributary Taxation;
- (iii) Budgetary arena; and
(iv) Stymied accounting.
The Appraisal
The ecological models of Riggs- the fused prismatic refracted societies-constitute the most
innovative framework of analysis of contemporary transitional societies. They provide useful conceptual
constructs not only for, "heuristic purpose" but also for identifying and analysing the contexual values that
motivate administrative behaviour in developing countries. However, the ecological models enable only
qualitative and functional comparisons among various societies. Even such comparisons become less
useful with such impressionistic categories as a more or less" prismatic ", "highly prismatic"

75
and "typically as prismatic" . Besides, a truly ecological approach in public administration would examine the
interaction between administrative system and itsenvironment and the influence ofeach over the behaviour of the
other. Throughout his analysis, Riggs' treatment of the ecological influence is one-sided. This is precisely the
case in his analysis of the prismatic societies. To him public administration is a dependent variable with little
autonomy or independent capacity to control or modify its environment except as a result of external
(exogenic) forces. Thisone-sided treatment of the interaction between the ecological forces ana
theadministrativesystem is more pronounced in the interaction between thesala officials and sociocultural and
economic environmental structures and lessmanifest in hisanalysis of the relationship between the political and
bureaucratic system. In the latter case, Riggs over-emphasises the dominance of bureaucracy over the political
system
Since many traditional (prismatic) societies, such as India, have a relatively independent
administrativesub-system capable of directing socio-economic changes in the analysis of prismatic
societies, an account should be taken of the variation in the capabilities of administrativesystems in differ- ent
setting. But the concern of Riggs seems to be on the input side of the administrative system rather than on
output, on administrativeecology rather than on administrative systems themselves. "The prismatic model
is relatively more successful asa conceptualization of developing social system than asan analysis of the place of
administration in such system".7 This is so because, as Richard Chapman says, Riggs has not fully worked out
the implications of his theory for public administration.
Many critics feel that Riggs should have constructed more "mixed" type categories for the analysis of
transtional societies which would take into account the autonomy of each sub-system in the society. For the
transitional societies vary even in the limited degree of diffraction that they tend to attain; some of them have a
prismatic sociocultural sub-system as is the case in India and Malaysia. The absence of such mixed categories
has led to far reaching implications. Edgar Shore points out: "It is not necessarily true, for example, that
formalism enhances the power of bureaucrats or that increased power of adminis- trators leads to
administrative ineffectiveness. Nor can it be claimed that subordination of bureaucrats necessarily makes
the functioning of power centres more effective."8
Riggs' analysis could have been more useful to practical administratorsand administrative theories had
he dwelt upon extensively on the inter-relationships among certain structural conditions within a· prismatic
society. For instance, R.S. Milne has suggested that certain specific structural conditions are responsible
for the emergence or existence of other structural characteristics. He had hypothesized that under two
conditions administrators cannot become dominant and powerful. First, if there is the tradition ofcivil
service "neutrality" and second if politicians are powerful enough to control the administors.9 Thus in Pakistan the
first condition obtains, but not the second. In India, both prevail to a degree while in the Philippines the
second exists but not the first. Thus, Riggs' analysis needs more categories, incorporating structural
variation among different prismatic societies . Critics contend that Riggs' concept of overlapping is
quite"restricted" in that it is designed to indicate only the simultaneous presence of traditional and modernized
structures, systems and viewpoints. It does not include other sources of over lapping found in developing
countries of developed or refracted societies. Overlapping, per se, is not

7. Jackson, " Analysis of Comparative Pub lic Administration movement." p. 124.

8. Edgar L. Shore-, " Comparative Admin istration : Static Study versus Dynamic Reform", Public Administration Review,
xxn.
9. R.S. M il ne, Concept and Models in Public Adm inistrat ion, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi,
1966, p. 18

76
 dysfunctional to the process of administrative development. For, in some cases, as Crozier has
remarked, it may throw up "new ideas and interesting change." 10
By associating overlapping largely with prismatic societies and emphasizing its adverse effects on the
administration, polity, economy and society, Riggs' analysis helps only to reinforce the negative image of
prismatic societies which in essence, applies to all the developing societies of today. Riggs is as much guilty of
ethnocentric attitude asthe pre-World War II writers in public administration.To him, an industrialized
society, like the United States, is a model, the ideal of a diffracted (developed) society. It implies that the
prismatic societies of ' to-dayare "deviant" from the model society. Michael Monroe rightly observes,
Riggs' theory appears to use developed nations, like the United States, as the standard for evaluating
activities in the prismatic nations . In this way, development setbacks in the prismatic countries are
explained as dysfunctional applications of diffracted norms to bewildered and unstable societies.11
Riggs has, therefore, chosen to study only those aspects of the prismatic society which appear to
violate "Western ideal standards" of efficiency, economy and morality. He has failed to make effort to
compare the standard of morality, economy and efficiency in the developed nations.
Riggs' observation that the United States come very close to the diffracted model, although it has few
prismatic characteristics, is not true. For, as Michael Monroe has pointed out, the American social
structures abound in prismatic features: violation of the constitution in letter and spirit, in civil rights,
indifference of public servants towards strike laws, corruption in high governrnental circles, labour union
activities in violation oflabour legislation, tax loopholes, phenomenal military budgets, etc.
Besides, Riggs has assumed a close relation between diffraction of social structures and the legal-
rational behaviour of its participants. Thus, in his ecological models, the prismatic behaviour signifies a
medium level of differentiation while diffracted behaviour isconcomitant with high level of differentiation.
Riggs has cited several examples in support of his first assumption but failed to carefully analyse the
implications of the second assumption., and in doing so the reasons for prismatic behaviour in a diffracted
society have been left undiscussed. •
The negative image of prismatic model increases not only because Riggs has identified its"real" goals
with "formal" ones, but also because of his failure to discuss the existence of diffracted behaviour in a
prismatic society.
Critics also draw attention to the"positive" side of formalism apart from its negative side which Riggs
associates with a prismatic society with its concomitant effects of official corruption, arbitrary
administration and failure to achieve programme objectives. 1 2 Structural-functional analysis and the
ecological perspective suggest that a particular structure may he either functional or dysfunc- tional
depending, among other things, on its environment. Riggs has not looked at this aspects of"formal- ism". His
implication that formalism is dysfunctional militates against and contradicts his prime "ecological orientation"
. Valson, on the other hand, cites examples of public administration in India, Philip - pines and Stalinist
Russia to stress the point that formalism fosters "a positive and creative effect useful for development " by
skipping several slow moving routines of government. Thus, formalism can be
I 0. Michael Crozie r, The Bureaucratic Phenom enon, Chic ago, University of Chicago Press, 1965 . p. 253.
11 . Michael Monroe, "The Prismatic Behaviour in the United States, Journal of imperative Administration- II, 19 77, p.
230.

12. See E.H. Vals on , " Positive Formalism : A Desideration for Develo pment" , Philippin e Journal of Public Admini stra-
tion Xll ,(196 8) pp 3-6.

77
 "functional,' which Yalson calls"positive formalism".
While negative formalism leads to, what Riggs has called "negative development"13, "positive formal- ism
helps PC!Sitive development."" The terms,"fused", "prismatic" and "diffracted" which Riggs has made so
central to his analysis and understanding of societies have nothing to do with development at all.
It is pointed out that Riggs , like Weber, has not provided analytical categories to explain
"development" in social and particularly administrative system. Weber 's assumption of the unilinear
development of bureaucratization is not very helpful for studying the crises of modernization. Riggs, like-
wise, chose not to analyse the impact of increasing diffraction upon development in his ecological models. At
least Weber had not seen the emergence and problems of developing nations; but Riggs has been
tremendously influenced by third world countries. Thus , both ecological and developmental per-
spectives should be included in comparative public administration.
Despite the foregoing shortcomings in Riggs' writings on prismatic society, the fact should not be lost sight
of that his contribution to the growth of the discipline of Development Administration is quite substantial.
His ideal type models, by underscoring the significance of "administrative ecology" have influenced much
research in comparative public administration. Systemic models which follow a macro- sociological
approach, as Riggsian constructs do, are essentially logical frameworks of analysis, designed to suggest certain
correlation among the different variables they incorporate.
SUGGESTED READINGS
I . Fred. W. Riggs :Administration in Developing Countries : The Theory of Prismatic Society,
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1964.
2. :' Models in the Comparative Study of Public Administration', GAG, American
Society for Public Administration, 1959 .
3. :The Ecology of Public Administration, Asia Publishing House, New Delhi, 1961.
4. Richard AChapman :"P1ismatic Theory in Public Administration: A Review of the Th ories of Fred W.
Riggs", Public Administration (London), XLIV. (19 66).
5. Michael Monroe · :"Prismatic Behaviour in the United States", Journal of Comparative Adminis-
tration, II (1970) .
6. E.H. Yalson :" Positi ve Formalism: A Desideration for Development", Philippine Journal of
Public Administration , XII (1968), pp. 3-6.
7. Riggs :"The Sala Model: An Ecological Approach to the Study of Comparative
Administration", Philippines Journal of Public Administration, VJ (1962)
pp. 3-16.
8. Daya Krishna :"Shall We Be Diffracted?- A critical comment on Fred Riggs ' Prismatic
Societies and Public Administration", Administrative Change, June 1974, SL
No. 2 No. pp. 48-55.
:Administrative Change Vol. IV. No. 1 , July- Dec. 1976 For Riggs' reply to
Daya Krishna's comment.

I 3. R iggs says that negative development occurs when undesirable changes take place in economic productivity
economic securi ty, d is tr ibut ion of wealth and non-econom ic va lues. When " desired " changes take place in th ese
areas, it sign ifies ·'positive deve lopment" .

78
 10
DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION APPROACH WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO EDWARD WEIDNER
R.B. Jain
The present study is concerned with the elements of Development Administration with special refer- ence to
Edward Weidner. In this context, firstly, we will trace the evolution of the concept of development administration in
modem times and then attempt adiscussion oftheconcept and the issues involved in it.
Genesis of Development Administration
The genesis of the idea behind the planned and administered development in the United States of
America (where the expression "Development Administration" was coined) dates back to the establishment of
the Tenessee Valley Authority (TVA)intheyear 1933 whichaimedatimprovingnavigation, produce electricity along
with the Tenessee river and its tributaries, and also irrigate and develop the whole valley. Formed as a public
corporation and governed by a board of three directors appointed by the President with the consent of the
Senate, the TVA soon became the source of America's major achievements in regional economic
development, upgrading the land industry and overall standards of li ving. It_s success provoked the thinking of
the practitioners and the academicians that if administered properly, development is not remote from reality.
Emergence of the Concept
Since the World War II, interest in development has been witnessed all over the world. Reasons behind
this were the reconstruction of devastated areas, provide minimum basic needs to the poverty- ridden people
and thereby curtail the revolutionary slogans propounded by the radical circles, and finally, divert the whole
concentration on creativity, dedication, and hard work rather than on utopian thinking. Therefore, almost every
branch of knowledge has been affected and various new fields like Development Education, Development
Economics, Development Agriculture, and Community Development have emerged for study. Inevitably much of the
leadership in development has come from governmental agencies, be they regional, national, international, state
level or local. Moreover, for the developing countries, it was the only agency which possessed monopoly in
resources and coercive power. As governments of several countries have increasingly turned their attention to
development problems, public administration practitioners and scholars have found themselves enmeshed with
problems of development. Gradually, asub-field of public administration begari to emerge, and in the last two
decades it has become increasingly fashionable to call it ' developmentadministration'. This fashion itself has been
a source of inspiration to many other popular phases such as 'development communication', ' deve lo pment
politics', 'development literature' 'devel- opment agriculture' ' develo pment decade' and the like.
The concept of development administration has thus been an'off-shoot' of the growing interest in
comparative public administrationarena. Students in this field had long been searching for new concepts in order to
understand and respond to the rapid changes in diverse administrative systems. Their dominant interest was
primarily in the problems of public administration in rapidly changing societies which were termed as 'developing
societies'. The perspective of technological as well as procedural developments has thus provided a base to the
scholars to think once more op administrative theory for comparative study of public administration. The classic
administrative and organization theorists did not pay much attention to the problem of organizational change and
behaviour. The early writers in this field Mary Follet, Luther

79
Gulick, James Mooney, Lyndall Urwick were not basically concerned with this problem, and the later ones Elton
Mayo, Barnard, Simon, and others assumed change to take·place in such a way that the system or organization
which was in a state of balance earlier would have returned to its equilibrium position at the end of the change
process. Even some of the major theoretical concepts in/public administration, like the Weber 's ideal-type
bureaucracy, neglected or underestimated the dynamic elements within the organization which is always
composed of the human element.
It is only with the writings of John Gaus, Fred Riggs, Edward Weidner that one comes across with the
attempt to fill this gap in administrative theory through giving shape to the ecological dimension of public
administration and coining the concept of "development administ ratio n". In the broadest sense,
development administration has been associated with the means of shaping, modifying, and accomplishing
progressive political, economic , and social changes that are authoritatively determined in one manner or
another. The focus is on the relation of public administration to one kind of value. There are many other values
that compete for men's attention and allegiance. Because of the crucial role of development in a society,
theory and practice of public administration must relate to development. Thus development administration
has been designed to study how public administration in different ecological settings operates and changes
in order to achieve a set of social goals.
Although numerous definitions of development administration have been advanced, common
elements recur in most of them. As noted by Fred W. Riggs, development administrationis closely related to
comparative administration and constitutes the major focus within it. The domain of development administ
ration, then encompasses cross-national and cross-cultural diversity.
Development administration also implies a focus on the objectives of public policy, or on the goals of
organizations, and these goals go beyond traditional policy objectives.
No longer is administration limited to the maintenance oflaw and order, the provision of some limited public
services, and the collection of taxes; rather, it is specifically involved in the mobilization of resources and their
allocation to a great variety of development activities on a massive scale.
Thus, the basic objectives of development administration involve the inducement of change in the
larger societies . This emphasis has been the source of much normative discussion in the field, but its
implications for the empirical study of development administration have been neglected.
Therefore, the focus of development administration must be on relating the design of administrative
organization to the realization of policy objectives in a variety of environments. As recently observed by a
scholar, comparative administration might have been better off by adopting the notion of 'design' as its central
informing purpose rather than emotive terms such as 'development', or synthetic approaches such as ' ins titution
-buildin g' , or concepts like 'administrative development' which were not sufficiently discriminating. Recent
scholarly attention to operational procedures seems increasingly to recognize the importance of purposive
behaviour in development administ ration. There has been, for instance, a particular emphasis on measuring
administrative performance and productivity.1
A variety ofinterpretations are given to the term ' develo pmentadministration'. If one analyses the word
development, one finds that the root idea of"develop" is to bundle , roll or fold up. Two antonyms based on this
root are "en-velop" and "de-velop", the first one similar to"enfold" or ' wrap up', and the second ' unfold' or '
unwarp'. Thus, the core idea of development, says Fred W. Riggs, is very simply to take off the covers and
reveal what lies within. Therefore, development is a far-reaching transformation of social system: and the goal
requires not only the creation of new social system but also the end of an old one.2 The literal meaning of the term
' develo pment' thus , refers to "growth into a higher, fuller and mature
80
 condition. Students of Development Administration view development as a dynamic change of society from
one state of being to another without positing a final mature condition. Rather than a fixed goal, it is interpreted
as rate of change in a particular direction. Development can be measured in terms of " performance"
and "output" or in regard to justice and equality. It would thus appear that the concept of development as found
in the literature of development administration is quite broad-based, value-based and even elusive. Therefore,
the "terms like nation-building, modernisation, social change and national integration are frequently used in
the day-to-day vocabulary of contemporary political leaders, administrators and academicians
elsewhere". These phrases are used "to denote to the process of overall development."3
Weidner's Definition: Let us now consider the definition of the concept as given py Edward Weidner., who
made a poineering effort in this direction. He reviewed the various uses of the term "development
administration"and found one common element in all these uses: all seem to describe an action-oriented, goal-
oriented administrative system. He himself defined it as the "means of selecting and accomplishing progressive,
political, economic and social objectives that are authoritatively determined in one manner or other".4 In other
words, it isconcerned with achievement of definite programmatic goals; indeed it is these · programmatic
values which go to transform the "routine" administration into "development". It may, however, be noted that
Weidner did not proceed to provide an operational framework indicating the kinds and nature of
administrativechange that will be necessary to transform a non-developmental system into a developmental one.
Weidner viewed development as adynamic process of change or transformation from one state of being to
another without any mature end to that process. This is obvious from his definition of development.
"Development is ... never complete; it is relative, more or less of being possible. Development is a state of
mind, a tendency, a direction. Rather than afixed goal, it is a rate of change in a particular direction." 5 Focusing
his attention on the types of the goals of development in developing countries, he finds the clue as follows: "...in
common usage of the term, a rapidly developing country isa goal-oriented country, headed in the direction of
modernity, with special emphasis on nation-building and socio-economic progress."6
The above extracts certainly deal with the manifested objectives of the system and of the leaders in the
developing countries. Like Fred W. Riggs, Weidner also concentrates his study of public administration
inecological perspective and observes the interactions between theadministrativesubsystem on the one hand and
the political, economic and socio-cultural subsystems on the other.
Weidner views development administration from two different perspectives: one asa process without policy
emphasis and the other asa part of policy sciences. Thus, his views can be studied under two broad headings:(1)
Programatic value and goal-orientation, and (2) Social ecology orientation.
At the outset Weidner offered a broad initial definition of development administrationand said that it was
basically "an action-oriented, goal-oriented, administrative system ... (It is) the process of guiding an organisation
towards the achievement of progressive political, economic, and social objectives that are authoritatively
determined in one manner or another." 7 Later on, "the process of guiding an organization towards the achievement
of development objectives."8
Weidner also out!ined the types of administrative systems into : (1) production-oriented, (2)
consumption-oriented, (3) democracy-oriented, (4) communism-oriented, (5) defense-oriented, (6) law and-order-
oriented, and (7) non-development or tradition-oriented.9 This distinction is based on values or goals of the
administrativesystem.

81
 One could also view development administration as a carrier ofinnovating values-those connected with
modernization and industrialization. Indeed, the functional dimension of such an administration often provides
the'differentiation'; the administration for change will be known by wide and varied army of new functions assumed
by developing countries embarking on the path of modernization and industrialization. So viewed, development
administration is carrying out planned change in the economy (in agriculture or industry, orthe capital
infrastructuresupporting eitherofthese) and, toa lesser extent, in the social services of the state (especially education
and public health). It is not usually associated with efforts to improve political capabilities.
Riggs' Interpretation: Riggs has defined development as "a process of increasing autonomy
(discretion) of social systems, made possible by rising level of diffraction." 10 According to him, discretion is the
"ability to choose among alternatives", and 'diffraction' "refers to the degree of differentiation and integration in
asocial system." Riggs has considered diffraction as the"necessary and perhaps the sufficient condition for
development, i.e., for increased discretion." The emphasis on discretion has enabled Riggs to view development as
involving "the increased ability of human society to shape their physical, human, and cultural environments."
George F. Gant'sView:To George Gant, the term is used to denote "the complex of agencies,
management system and process, and a government established to achieve its development goals. It is the public
mechanism set up to relate the several components of development in order to articulate and accomplish
national social and economic objectives. It is the adjustment of the bureaucracy to the vastly increased number,
variety, and complexity of government functions required to respond to public demands for development.
Development administration is the administration of policies, programmes, and projects to serve development
purposes". It is characterised by its purposes, loyalties and attitudes. The purposes are to stimulate and facilitate
defined programmes of social and economic progress. So far the loyalty is concerned, it must be to the people and
to its own vested institutional interests, and not to a non-public sovereign such as 'King of empire.' The attitudes
of development administrationare positive rather than negative, persuasive rather than restrictive. It encourages
innovation and change to accomplish development purposes and discourage adherence to traditional norms and
forms for their own sake. Its attitude is outward reaching and not inward looking." 11
Different Uses of the term "Development Administration"
The term development administration has been used in two interrelated senses. In the first sense, it refers to
the administration of development programmes, to the methods used by large-scale organizations, mainly
governments, to implement policies and plans designed to meet their development objectives. In the second sense,
by implication rather than directly, it involves the strengthening of administrative capabilities. Development
of administration and administration of development are functionaliy interrelated with each other. The two
different aspects of the use of the term are intertwined in most definitions of development administration. The
reciprocal relatedness of these two aspects, according to Riggs, "ihvolves achicken and egg type of causation".
Administration cannot normally be improved very much without changes in the environmental constrains that
hamper its effectiveness,and the environment itself cannot be changed unless the administration of development
programmes is strengthened." 12 Thus in the study of Development, government capacity must be taken into
account. Such a view is held by Riggs, Weinder, Joseph La Palombara and Martin Landau. Increasingly the
administrative capacity to achieve developmental goals in an efficient manner is associated with the concept
of planned development. Thus today development administration is concerned with formulation and
implementation of four P's: Plans, Policies, Programmes and Projects. It is in this
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sense that development now is recognized as a comprehensive social, economic, political and admin-istrative
process which demands not only sound economic and fiscal measures, but also programmes and projects capable
of bringing about change. Macro and micro elements are being integrated. Programmes and projects
increasingly are related to overall development strategy to achieve the balance among such sectors as
agriculture, industry, public works, education and public health."13

Development and Non-Development Organization

The concept of development administration has given rise to a dichotomy between development and
non-development public organizations. There is a tendency to associate traditional public agencies with non-
development administration. Development Administration is very much similar to traditional (apparently
non-developmental administration), in so far as it is concerned with how rules, policies and nonns are
implemented by government organization, but differs from non-development administration in its objective,
scope, complexity, and degree of innovation and operation. Thus a City-Water Department may be an
example of a non-development administration while the Urban Renewal Programme may be an example of the
development administration. However, in the context of a developing nation, running a Water Department may
also be a development programme. Thus according to Swerdlow, differing mixes ofadministrative departments
will be seen as developmental in different "ecological" settings.14
Some other misconceptions also need to be removed in this context. There is a popular contention in
developing nations, that development starts after political freedom is achieved. Thus adistinction is sought to be
maintained between a colonial and a non-colonial bureaucratic and administrative system. Such a distinction is
not largely tenable as many a time the processes of development may start even in a colonial administration. Also
it is not entirely correct to treat some organizations within an administrative system as concerning with purely
developmental and others with non-developmental activities. Such a rigid distinction between developmental and
non-developmental institutions may neglect the adoption of exist- ing institution to changing environmental
conditions. Similarly some scholars tend to identify development administrative system, but in a sense all
administrative activities need innovation. Thus a neat distinction between development and non-development
administration cannot be made, and there cannot be any rigid dichotomy in administration, and there cannot be
any rigid dichotomy between developing and developed societies.
In the context of"developmental" administration, the functions oflawand order and revenue collection
(traditional non-development activities) are important to the extent they support the developmental
programmes. The shift is on the emphasis placed between the primary developmental objectives of the
administrative apparatus and the secondary elements here are the clearcut programmatic values expressed in
operational terms which have to be attained by the administrative apparatus. 1 5
The Political Context of Developm nt Administrat ion
Let us now consider the political context of Development Administration. Writing in 1887, Woodrow
Wilson, one of the earliest and the most notable advocates of administrative reform, drew a distinction
between politics and administration. However, he was we!! aware of their interdependence. For him not only
were politics and administration closely intertwined, but administrative action was scarcely conceivable
except as the implementation of general policies formulated by political means.
Thus, Wilson was under no illusion that administrativedevelopment could take place in a political
vaccum. The separation of politics and administration did not mean the disappearance of political context. He did
argue, however , that in a democratically controlled political system, one could employ

83
 administrative principles developed under European authorisation.
Adaptation, moreover, would be necessary. Borrowing administrative principles, then would be
permissible for a democracy only under the constraint of political responsibility. For Wilson such
responsibility was to be attained largely through the subjection of official actions to the controls imposed by a
watchful public opinion, monitored by elected officials. Thus, the experts as civil servants would be subject to
political direction.
In the context of Wilson's thinking, several questions arise which merit careful examination to-day. · Do we,
for example, endorse
r
the deliberate export of administrative technology, asdeveloped in American experience, to
help buttress the administrative capabilities of autocratic or authoritarian regimes? There seems little doubt that
Wilson gave his highest loyalty to democratic government and that he viewed administrative expertise as
justified only by its dedication to the public welfare.
However, there are many shades of gray between the extremes of black and white. In a
developmental framework, there are different kinds of politics which require identification. Consequently the
impact designed to improve administrative technology varies within wide limits depending upon the type of
political system encountered. Wilson had some such ideas, and his reflections on this subject are instructive.
"T here may be said to be three periods of growth", he wrote, "through which government has passed in all
the most highly developed of existing systems, and through which it premises to pass in all the rest '
The first of these periods is that of absolute rulers, and of an administrative system adapted to
absolute rule; the second is that in which constitutions are framed to do away with absolute rulers and
substitute popular control, and the third is that in which the sovereign people undertake to develop
administration under this new constitution which has brought them into power.
While Wilson's framework of stages cannot be defended on empirical grounds, we must consider that he
wrote in an age when optimism about the universal rise of democratic institutions-prevailed, when notions of
social evolution were widely accepted, and when little was known about the non-Western world.
Nevertheless his ideas are germane to the value issues underlying present technical assistance programme in
public administration. They highlight the political context ofdevelopment administration and suggest the
importance of a sound empirical framework, firmly rooted in comparative analysis.
The academic world, therefore, does not rest satisfied. If development was universal, and if
modernized societies had already experienced the problems confronting modernizing or transitional
societi es, they had to be universal. Perhaps they could be derived from historical models of the great
powers, which in no case might prove useful to practitioners in the field groping for guidelines. With
development becoming a more magical word every moment, and with more resources available for the study
of anything about development, development administration becomes a catch-all for all social scientists.
Development administration has manifested in modernization, nation-building, social change,
industriaiization, cultural anthropology, urbanization, political ecology, and anything else that seem
. to
promise help for policy-makers in the developing countries.
Concluding our discussion on 'Development Administration', we can say with Caiden that it is not
merely administrative development. "It is that aspect of public administration that focuses on government
influenced change towards progressive political, economic, and social objectives, once confined to
recipients of foreign aid, but now universally applied ...... It consist of efficient management of public
development programmes and the simulation of private development programmes". 16 Esman defines the tasks
of nation-building and socio-economic development in broad political rather than administrative
84
 terms asfollows:"17
1 . Achieving security against external aggression and ensuring internal order,
2. Establishing and maintaining consensus onthe legitimacy of the regime,
3. Integrating diverse ethnic, religious, communal, and regional elements into a national political
community,
4. Organizing and distributing formal powers and functions among organs of central, regional and
local governments and between public authority and the private sector,
5. Displacement of vested traditional social and economic interests,
6. Development of modernizing skills and institutions,
7. Fostering of psychological and material security,
8. Mobilization of savings and current financial resources,
9. Rational programming of investment,
10. Efficient management of facilities and services,
11. Activating participation in modernizing activity especially indecision-makingroles, and
12. Achieving a secure position in the internati?nal community.
Viewed thus, the developmental tasks become universal. Although stating these, Esman has the Third World
in mind, but he does not recommend anything for the underdeveloped countries that he would not recommend
for the developed countries. The range of interest is wide from philosophical speculation about the nature of
development administration objectives to technique for introducing peasants to adopt improved seeds, fertilizers,
and mechanical tools. The view of the administrator inadevelopment system is not only that of programme
formulator, manager, and implementer, but following Almond, also of policy, maker and adviser, interest
aggregator and articulator.
By the late 50'sand early 60's development was taken for granted. All that needed was its becoming explicit.
This was the " midwife" task ofDevelopmentAdministration. It would be sufficient to state that not only
development could not be taken for granted any longer by the 1970s but also that decaying trends had become
noticeable in the Third and Western Worlds. Events like the energy crisis, the growing economic recession in the
major industrial countries and acrisis ofliberal democracy in the early l970's dampened most traces of early
optimism. An increased contradiction between market economics and market poli- tics, the fiscal crisis of the
state and a manifest trend towards stagnation and political statement are obvi- ously a"new" context for Public
Administration. In the"new'' context, mobilisation and participation have been displaced by social control as the
key device of government administration; the ''technocraticcorpo- rate" (or institutional paradigm) has substituted
the"development administration", and national security and anti-development policies, the old
"developmentalist" rhetoric.
From the very beginning people at the left are against the useof the term and the approaches to
development forwarded by the Westerners. They regard the movement of developme9t administrationas a
movetowards containment since this approach to development, after all, will provide the minimum basic needs to
the Third World people and thus the movement may not be conducive or supportive to the achievement of"
good life" as propounded by Karl Marx.18
Despite this crisis, however, it cannot hedenied that the focus of development administrationeven in l 980's
was largely on the study of those government administrationsor organizational systems, which were primarily
engaged in thetask ofbringing rapid socioeconomic and political changes. The newemphasis of Development
Administration would be in favour of the quality oflife, satisfaction of basic needs, and improvement of the
human condition.s"Modernization" and "economic growth" will no longer be the only

85
goals of development The dominant concern of development administration is the emergent nations, but the
concept as such is relevant to all the countries and, therefore, to the whole area of omparative public
administration. There is thus a need for truly inter-disciplinary and cross-cultural approach to the study of
development administration.

REFERENCES
1. J. Fred Springer, "Observation and Theory in Development Administration" in Administrationand
Society (London, Sage Publication), VoL 9 (1) (May 1977).
2. Fred. W. Riggs, Applied Prismat ions: A Developmenl'al Perspective (Kathmandu, Centre for
Economic Development and Administration, 197 8,).
3. Edward W. Weidner, " DevelopmentAdministration: ANew Focus for Research" in Ferrel Heady and
Sybil Stokes (eds) Papers on Comparative Public Administration (Ann Arbor, University of Michi-
gan, 1962),p.98.
4. - " DevelopmentAdministration: ANew Focus for Research",: Ferrel Headly and Sybil Stokes (ed.)
Paper s in Comparative Public Administration (Ann Arbor, Mich: Institute of PublicAdn1inistration,
1962, p. 99.
5. - (ed.)Development Administration in Asia (Durham N.C. Duke University Press, 1970),p.7.
6. - "DevelopmentAdministration",n.5. p98.
7. Technical Assistance in Public Administration. The Case for Development Administration
(Chicago: Public Administration Service, 1964), p.200.
8. - Development Administration . n5. pp. 108-110.
9. John D. Montgomery, "ARoyal Invitation : Variation on Three Classic Themes" in John D. Montgom-
ery and William 1. Siffin (ed.), Approaches to Development, PoliticalAdministraponand Change
(New York, McGraw Hill, 1966) . '
10. Fred W. Riggs, "The Idea of Development Administration" in Edward Weidner (ed.), Adminis-
tration in Asia (Durham, N.C., Duke University Press, 1970), p.69.
11. George F. Gant, Development Administration (Madison, Wisconsin, The University of Wisconsin
Press, 1979),pp.20-2 l
12. Riggs,n.9, pp. 32-33
13. Donald C. Stone, "Public Administration and Nation-building", in Roscoe C. Martin (ed.), Public
Administration and Democracy : Essays in Honour of Paul H Appleby (Syracuse, Syracuse
University Press, 1965), p250.
14. . I. Swerdlow (ed.), Development Administration: Concepts and Problems (Syracuse, N.Y.,
Syra- cuse University Press, 1968),p .x (Introduction).
15. VA. Pai Panandikar, " Development Administration: An Approach" , JJPA, Vol. X.No. 1 January-
March 1964,p.37.
16. Gerald E. Caiden, The Dynamics of Public Administration: Guidelines to Current Transforma-
tions in Theory and Practice (N.Y., Holt, 1971) p. 266.
17. N.J. Esman, "ThePoIitics of Development Administration", in Montgomery and Siffin, Approaches
to Development, pp.61-64 .

86
18. . For detailed discussion see, Public Administration Review, no. 6,1976.

SUGGESTED READINGS
Ferel Heady and Sybil Stokes, Papers in Comparative Public Administration (Ann Arbor,
University of Michigan, 1961).
Edward W. Weidner (ed.), Development Administration in Asia (Durham, N.C., Durke
University Press, 1970).
John D. Montgomery and William J. Siffin (eds.), Approaches to Development: Administration
and Change (New York, McGraw Hill, 1966).
Fred W. Riggs (ed.), The Frontiers of Development Administration (Durham, N.C. Duke
University Press, 1970)
I. Swerdlow (ed.) Development Administration : Concepts and Problems (Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse University Press, 1963)
J. Fred Springer, "Observations and Theory in Development Administration" in Administration
and Society (London, Sage Publications), Vol. 9 (May 1977).
V.A. Pai Panandikar, " DevelopmentAdministration : An Approach", Indian Journal of Public
Administration, vo . X, January March 1964 .
Fred W. Riggs, "Releasing an Old Lesson: The Political Context of Development Administration"
Public Admi_nistration Review, Vol. 25, March 1965.
Romesh K. Arora, Comparative Public Administration : An Ecological Perspective (New
Delhi, Association, 1972), pp. 140-67.
Hahn-Been Lee, Future, Innovation and Development (Seoul, Panmum Book C6mpany, Ltd.,
1982) .
S.K. Sharma (ed.), Dynamics of Development, Vol. 1 and II (Delhi, Concept Publishing House,
1978) .

87
 11
DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION APPROACH WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO MILTON J. ESMAN
Dr. (Mrs.) Uma Yaduvansh
Prof. Esman has made significant contribution in the field ofDevelopmentAdministration.According
to him, development administration isanewand rapidly growing field ofacademic inquiry and professional
practice. As a field of action, Development Administration is universal in scope because new technologies
and ideas cause rapid changes in all contemporary societies. The central theme of Development Admin-
istration is the role of governmental administration in inducing, guiding and managing the interrelated
processes of nation-building, economic growth and social change though its outer limits are not clearly
defined.
Prof. Esman regards Development Administrationasan inter-disciplinary field. It draws heavily from
Sociology, Social Psychology, Political Science and Economics. In practice, it is multi-professional in its
concern with the management and the output ofaction programmes in education, agriculture, industry and
transport. In the context of contemporary process of cultural change and development of developing
countries, ' development ' means, according to Esman, a major societal transformation, achange in states
system. 1ruschange is qualitative and continues in peasants and industrial levels of society affecting values,
behaviour, social structure, economic organisation and political process. 'Critical ingredients' of this change
are assimilation and institutionalisation of modem techonological values of society.
Development Administration at any level ofgov€rnment in any sector of activity has four interrelated
elements, viz., thesubstantive element, the managerial element, the political element and the element of
social change. The substantiveelement isconcerned with goals and outputs of public action, wi shaping
policy choices, allocating resources and planning and guiding programmes of action. The administration
participates in shaping policy and thus in impressing its preferences on present and future events the
administrator is concerned with the ends of public policy as well as with the means ofachieving them. The
managerial element guides actions towards established substantive goals with the objective of maximising
programme effectiveness and the efficient use of means. This requires competent use of management
technologies and information systems and a managerial definition of the administrator's role. It sanctions
the mixture ofinstruments, i.e., bureaucracy in its various fonns, market incentives and mechanisms,
associational and voluntary groups and local authorities to achieve public objectives. The political
element represents the need of the polity to constitute groups, responds to demand for the differential
distribution of the costs and benefits of public services and mediates and regulates conflict among
individuals and groups affected by public programmes of action. The element of social change uses
governmental initiative to induce attitudinal and behavioural changes among clientele groups consistent with
publicity and determined objectives, for example, inducing farmers to double crop or providing incentives
to manufacturers to produce for export. Such activities draw administratorsinto institution-building
activities and into close and continuous interaction with clients because they involve a high degree of
uncertainty, experimentation, bargaining and dialogue. These are required to determine what changing
mixtures of incentives, services, and regulation are likely to be effective. These four elements of
administrationcan be summarised as policy, management, change agent and political roles.
These element6.are analytically distinct but operationally inseparable. Many administrative positions
involve their incumbent more in oneelement than another but the prime function of general administrator is
to keep all of them in view in making choices and in guiding action. Much public decision-making is done
88
 by bureaucrats, and nearly all decisions are influenced by them but they are not a monolithic group in any
society, nor are they the only decision-makers. Politicians, businessmen, educators and other "influential"
people participate in public decision-making, depending on the issue. The main responsibility is borne by
senior politicians, but only the most innocent maintain the fiction that administrators merely carry out deci- sions
made by others.
In most developing countries, the increased and expanded role of government has imposed new
demands on administration. The image of the colonial administrator as the high status mandarins keeping order
and performing routine services by developing instruments of authority towards a passive and compliant
public, from whom he maintains an appropriate social distance, now appears archaic and dysfunctional .
New role definitions and new intellectual and operational capabilities are required if administrators are to
be effective political decision-makersand programme managers in the context of nation-buildingand
induced socio-economic change. While the need for this transformation has been widely recognised, the old
behaviour patterns have a remarkable sustaining quality, and performance tends to lag behind normative
requirements. This problem takes different forms in different countries.
All developing societies have two- fundamental and interrelated goals, viz, nation-building, and other
socio-economicgoals, irrespective of their divergent social origins, ideological commitment and political
strategies. The elite and mod mizing elements of these third world societies exert external pressures and
provide 'internalised drives' to upgrade them as political goals of developing societies. These transitional
societies have other goals also like those of survival, enrichment in office, territorial expansion and
protection of political and economic interests which sometimes and in some societies compete and take
precedence over the goals mentioned above. This traditional administrator strives to lay emphasis in office
holding, routine services and control functions. They are mostly imposed by change-oriented political elites and
by public demand for dynamic governmental performance. In less developed countries, economic growth,
systems change and social justice are regarded as the outcome of governmental policy and action. This calls
forth a deep analysis of the pattern of organisation and action to move these transitional societies
towards these goals with a twin focus, viz,
(i) to develop administrative institutions and capabilities which would improve the managing of change
process, and
(ii) to administer, shape and implement development programmes in all sectors of public policy.
Esman assigns the following major significant tasks to the governments of transitionl societies:
1 . Achieving security against external aggression and ensuring internal order is the primordial
duty of all governments so that nation-state can become a viable entity within which peace can
prevail.
2. Establishing and maintaining consensus on the legitimacy of the regime. The maintenance of
consensus is the continuing and creative process of establishing and sustaining a responsive
relationship between the governing elite and thecommunity. The effectiveness of this relationship
contributes to the stability of regimes and their capacities to organise and carry out plans and
programmes of development.

3. Integrating diverse ethnic, religious, communal and regional elements into a national
political community. This is the essence of nation-building.
4. Organising and distributingformal powers and functions among organs of central, regional,
and local governments and between public authority and the private sector. Constitution-

89
 making is acontinuing adjustment and re-interpretation oflegal norms in response to changing
needs originating in such areas as technological and social development, international pressures,
ideological commitments, and shifts in relative power among organised int erests. Especially in
transitional societies, institutions and arrangements relating to the distribution of power are likely to
be in a flux and under pressure for frequent modification . The governing elites have to guide and
manage these adjustments.
5. Displace men/ of vested Western social and economic interests . Nation-building and
socio-economic development require shifts in centres of power so that new technologies may be
successfully introduced and institutionalised , resources may be mobilised and allocated to
development functions , and the population may be brought into an effective pattern of
communication with national political and administrative authorities. It is necessary to reduce the
power of traditional elites, tribal chiefs, landlords, pries ts, local notables, urban merchants and
moneylendersthrough gradual shrinkage.
6. Development of modernising skills and institutions. Managing the affairs of a modem nation
requires a wide range of complex and sophisticated skills which are virtually unknown in peasant
societies. Modem physical and social techniques must he carried out through specialised
institutions which either did not exist in traditional societies or require radical restructuring in order
to discharge the functions associated with nation-buildingand development. The building of new
institutions is as deliberate a process in developing nations as the fostering of modernising skills.
7. Fostering of psychological and material security. Phenomena as alienation, anomie, crisis of
identity, self-hatred, and other symptoms of psychological disintegration appear on a large scale in
transitional societies. They tend to be magnified by the economic dependency. Mitigating these
tensions through community organisation, welfare measures, etc. can reduce the possibility of so-
cial and political disturbance, and hence, individual and group productivity, and•fosterthe integra- ·
tion of the individual into modem roles and institutions.
8. Mobilisation of savings and of current financial resources. The struggle to mobilise financial
resources for investment and for public services is a major and critical preoccupation of all
government oriented to development.
9. Rational programming of investment. This process of programming applies to capital as well as
manpower and is important for developing countries.
10. Efficient management of facilities and services to enhance the efficient use of existing facilities,
both in the public and private sectors.
11. Activating participation in modernising activities, especially in decision-making roles. One
of the tasks of nation-building and of development is to bring members of the national community
into a network or relationships and institutions which enable them to participate actively in the
decision affecting their individual and group welfare. Nation-buildingcannot beachieved by elities
alone, nor can development activities be carried out exclusively by administrators or technicians.
Thus, providing opportunities and mechanisms for relevant and widspread popular participation
becomes an important development priority.
12. Achieving a secure position in the international community.
This list does not exhaust the major tasks involved in nation-building and development, yet the

90
emphasis on purposeful and far-reaching change, to which the political systems of developing nations must
respond, distinguishes this list of tasks from those associated with institutional maintenance in stable societ
ies, traditional as well as modem.. In developing countries, the execution of these tasks requires a large
measure of governmental intervention. Present-day governments irrespective of their political caste, use their
authority to organise programmes in pursuit of the action objectives to which they are committed. Little nation-
buildingor development activity can be conceived in transitional societies as stimulated or deliberately
programmed by governmental authority. Actually, stimulation and activation has become a function of
government in these societies.
Nation-building and socio-economic development is, says Esman, purposeful, meaningful and
relevant only in its historical context. They do not take place in acultural vacumn. Traditional societies have no
survival chances as they are completely and fundamentally shaken up by dynamic and destructive
technologies of the industrialized societies of Europe and North America, by commercial activities, military inv
asion, secular education, mass communications, political colonialism and foreign aid etc." Thus,
transitional societies are very complex and differ widely among themselves because new and more
specialised institutions grow in urban areas generating new roles, opportunities for new types of employ- ment
in offices and factories. This increased social mobility creates new social classes which inspire the elite class
to compete vigourously and successfully with the traditional elites. In some countries they have supplanted the
traditional elites, in others they have forced a favourable place for themselves and in still others they have
forced the traditional elites to reconsider their claims to legitimacy and adapt their tactics and programmes
accordingly. Many elites are influenced by socialist theories which reinforce the tradi- tional values of
peasant societies and reject the profit-seeking businessman. In many countries where modernising elites
though do not control, yet yield considerable influence in defining broad issues interna- tionally as well as
within their borders. There have grown second generation intellectuals who are trained as professionals. They
reject politics and seek protected careers in expanding industrial and governmental bureaucracy in countries
like Puerto Rico, Mexico, Israel, Yugoslavia, India and the former Soviet Union. Almost in all transitional
societies there is a gap between aspiration and achievement which creates tension. It is aggravated by clashes
of interests beyond the capacities of the elites to resolve. There are also shortages of physical and financial
resources and of technical and managerial skills.
Esman regards development not as a 'natural' process which needs only to be let free to evolve. It is also
not a series of bottlen cks which enlighten policy-makers like production expediters and those who can force
the restrained energies to flow freely. To quote Esman again, development is aseries of humdrum tasks for
which the physical, social, psychological and institutional resources are seldom available in suffi- cient
quantity or in the proper combinations. The obstacles to achievement are often over-powering and time is a
relentless enemy to those who hope to realise results in decades rather than in centuries. It is evident that
substantial governmental power must be generated and applied if the tasks of the government are to be
effectively performed. The above analysis shows that the twelve points mentioned above are very
important because they show that (i) governmental control is necessary; (ii) a doctrine which legitimises
in terms of programmed action the norms, priorities, instruments, and strategies of the governing elite, and (iii) a
series of instruments through which two-way communication is facilitated and through which commitment
to action is translated into operating programmes. These elements must be given sys- tematic analysis of the
capacities of political systems to realise their goals of nation-building and socio- economic progres·s under
the conditions that prevail in transitional societies.
It should be remembered that all governing elites are not change-oriented as some may be having
vision but lack strength, others may have both but they may use their instruments ineptly. It is a fact that 'the

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 more fundamental the changes, the more pressing the time element, the more deliberate and sustained such
initiation must be. When values must be transformed, behavioural patterns modified, traditional loyalties
successfully changed, and new institutions built, heavy responsibility falls on change-oriented group.
Governing elites are those who exercise major decision-making power in the national government. It
includes those who hold formal positions ofresponsibility as well as those who are sympathetically
associated with them and exert important influence in the decision-making process. The governing elites work
within the social, cultural and physical environment. Even if the capacity exists and is utilised, they face a
difficult task of moderating special claims and channelling them into directions of national interest. Generation
and guidance of energies necessary for nation-building must have governing elites committed to change and a
doctrine which can effectively motivate action and legitimise programmes of development objectives .
The diverse political systems of development areas can be classified into five regime types in developing
societies on the basis of common structural and behavioural characteristics. They are known as conservative
oligarchies, competitive interest-oriented party systems, dominant mass party systems, authoritarian military
reforms and communist totalitarians. Instances of conservative obligarchies are Iran, Ethiopia, Northern Nigeria,
etc. These countries are interested in building a modern polity and in improving social and economic conditions of
their countries. They are equally interested in maintaining power also. But they do not articulate a clear view of
the future. They emphasise gradual change because, according to them, rapid change is destructive of the complex
network of relations which hold society together. They do not bother ideologues, more occupied with problems of
today than of tomorrow, they rely on administration as principal vehicle of action and change.
Competitive interest-oriented party systems lay emphasis on regular elections, representative
institutions, rule oflaw, free political expression, and encouragement to private enterprise. The system has been
tried in Philippines, Costa Rica, Greece, Chile, Malaya and Jamaica. Records show that in many countries it
has been abandoned and in a few it has been reinstated.
The dominant element in the governing elites of this regime are the landlords, urban merchants and
representatives of other established interests. There is mobility and opportunity in the system but no attempt
is made to mobilise the masses politically or functionally. Administration is continuously badgered by groups
demanding previliged treatment or claiming immunity from administrative action.
The military reformers favour active policy of nation-building and development. Such regimes are operative
in Burma, Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand and Brazil. The regimes are impatient with the present procrastination,
corruption and futility of their civilian predecessors and they demand results. Though they initiate social reforms
and use governmental authority to intervene in the economy, they do not play the role of social revolutionaries.
These competitive regimes are not mass mobilisers. When governing elites with military background become
social revolutionaries they organise a single mass-mobilising party and transform its character.
The dominant mass-party systems (Egypt, Algeria, Mexico, India) are created by urban secularised
intellectuals strongly committed to national r generation, social reform and modernisation. The mass-
mobilising party is its standard institution. It is either the single legal party or it dwarfs and eclipses the others.
No elite group is monolithic. Ideology is important in this system as it attracts and sustains mass support,
projects the image of a desired future and permits opportunistic adjustment to changing needs of maintaining a
broad community consensus. The system tends towards mixed economies, planned and directed by public
authority but with significant scope for private enterprise and decentralised decision-

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making. Their programme activity has large scope. They depend on public authority, administrative
organisation and bureaucracy. They easily communicate and project an image of the future through their
development plans and thus convey asense of purpose to the administrator. This helps to orient his current
decision-making more confidently to a series oflong-term goals. But these regimes face the problem of
sustaining the hjgh quality ofleadership required of governing elites or of a single charismatic personality. Many
countries find the mass-mobilising system useful for modernising their nation. But the forms into which this
dominant mass party system will evolve isambiguous and uncertain and there is no assumption that it will
develop into Western style competitive parliamentary system; for exan1ple, regimes in Burma (AFOEL) and in
Bolivia (MNR) failed to manage the growing complexity of an industrialised society.
The communist totalitarian system has elites which are everywhere intellectuals and are committed to
Marxist-Leninist ideolo gy. They have a strong power drive. Psychologically the system has ready
application in developing countries. Its doctrine is comprehensive and focusses purposeful change as it
eliminates exploitation and humiliation of the low income countries and gives prospects of building of a
scientific society promising dignity, well-being and justice. As instruments of action, the system uses all
channels and monopolises all political activity, interest associations, mass expression and economic
activity. It rejects voluntarism as a principle ofa ction. Every activity outside the scope of party and state
sponsorship is brought under appropriate control or is interdicted. The entire economy is planned, directed and
operated by public authority so that the burden on administrative state is very great because not only reliability
but professional competence is also required for administrative posit ions. They have to administer
enormously detailed and complex economic regulations. High value is placed on mass- mobilisation and
individual participation in party-approved programmes. The communists guarantee cultural pluralism, co-
option of members of minority groups into party and governmental organisations under unified political
control. But the communist totalitarian model, says Esman, was being given up by modernising elites due to
the fact that it made a country dependent on the then Soviet Union and China both psychologically and
materially and also because they did not accept terror as a legitimate instrument of policy. •
Each regime offers some opportunjties and imposes some limitations on governing elites for nation-
building and socio-economic progress. Development is possible in all these reginles but their capabilities to
develop differ. Oligarchies and authoritarian military reformers are able to deploy only administrative
instruments. They can achieve only limited productivity and are in no way conducive to dynamic or innovative
administrative behaviour. The competitive interest-oriented party regimes offer limited prospects for effective
and purposeful modernising change. The dominant mass party regimes.are handicapped by an over-rigid
doctrine . Though capable of mobilising vast human energies and resources, their operating techniques overload
the administrative system and their resort to terror blocks communication inhibits administrative initiative and
affronts human dignity. On the advantage side the regime is relevant to the needs of many transitional societies
undergoing rapid and radical change. It has a developmentally relevant doctrine, a purposeful leadership and
capacity to mobilise and discipline widespread support and participation.
The utility of these regimes depends upon the stage of development of the society. This means, while the
regimes differ in the degree of competitiveness, they maintain a humanistic commitment and a responsive
relationship with the community. While they are able to provide dynamism, institutional stability suiting the needs
of changing societies, their success might doom them over time, i.e. , the party may lose its utility at a certain yet
undefined point in the development process and may become unable to adapt itself to the problems of more
complex and sophisticated societies. Each government in a transitional society is

93
controlled by an identifiable elite. The behaviour of elites is influenced and regulated by their ideological
comrnitments. Regimes in transitional societies may beclassified into types according tothe following crite1ia:
1. The purposefulnessof their elites..
2. The relevance of their doctrine to the goals of nation-building and socjo-economicdevelopment as
determined by their scores on a series of doctrinal variables.
3. Their style ofaction, particularly their capacity to create and deploy multiple instruments of
communication and action. The regimes differ in their capacity to initiate, guide and sustain action
leading to the goals of nation-building and socio-economic development. It is impossible to classify
regime types operationally either for analytical or for predictive purposes.
The effectiveness ofa regime, according to Esman, depends on numerous specific and environmental
factors. Success under such diverse conditions cannot be correlated with any group of doctrinal variables or
styles of action. The character of a regime is not relevant to success in development. Even if regimes can be
meaningfully typed, the dominant mass-party type covers a wide range of experiences. The competitive
interest-oriented party-system is the most effective vehicle for political development, because it makes
official action institutionally responsible and predictable, permits the free articulation of all relevant int
erests, develops habits of citizen participation and responsibility, and effectively maintains boundaries
between polity, society, economy, and administration. The evolution of political systems into competitive
interest-oriented party system is both desirable and inevitable path of political development.
Critical Appraisal
Esman has presented an action theory but it is incomplete and has yet to be proved. A number of
researchable yet untested propositions are derived by him to identify some of the problems raised. Each one
is paired with one or more alternative propositions so that major evaluative and analytical issues may be
highlighted to provide a conceptual base for ascience of development administration. To give some
illustrations, Esman gives a proposition that development or modernisation is a social process which can
•
be influenced by human design in large measure. The counter-proposition to this is that development is
primarily a historical-evolutionary process which can be marginally influenced by purposeful effort. Progress
towards the interrelated goals of nation-building and socio-economic progress depends on the
performance of a group of tasks which are carried out through action programmes. It is a major concern of
contemporary governments. Acontrary proposition to it is that actions of governments are situationally
determined, by the pressure of events and that behaviour of governing elites is more expedient than goal-
oriented. One proposition is that developmental drive depends on the initiative and the sustained and
purposeful guidance of public authority. The counter-proposition to it is that drive for development comes
from the society; primarily it comes from entrepreneurial initiative and other voluntary agencies. The
function of government is to facilitate, liberate and protect these energies and permit them under a minimum
restraint. Membership in the governing elites represents a shifting position of personal and institutional
interests bound together by common doctrine or by common will to power. But according to a counter-
proposition, the concept of governing elite is meaningless. Each function and interest in the society has its
particular elite, the members of which are constantly shifting and difficult to identify. Similarly, governing
elites, it is said, set the goals and criteria of public policy, initiate and supervise the execution of programmes
contributing to nation-building and socio-economic development goals, stimulate individual and group
initiative and activity in the society, and discipline competing claims on the political system according to
developmental criterion fixed by the regime. This proposition is, countered on moral grounds. Legitimate
initiative for action flows primarily from organised interests or from the aggregate preferences of individuals

94
within the society. The establishment of policy and the authorisation of programmed action should depend
on the reconciliation of these interests and preferences in the political system. The effectiveness of
governing elites in undertaking the tasks of development depends on their achieving some freedom
to act independently ofinstitutional controls. This enables them to initiate social experiments, conceive
and implement long range plans and programmes, and achieve and maintain such autonomy by
establishing mass consensus and confidence in their dedication to the interest of the common man or by
using coercive sanctions, or by a judicious combination of both. The contrary proposition challenges both
the value and the efficiency of autonomy of governing elites. It emphasises the self-seeking character of
eli tes, the opportunity for abuse of autonomy, and the alienation of elites from the community when such
autonomy is possible.
Conclusion
The basic orientation of development administration isecological, i.e., public administration of any
country cannot be understood without grasping the social setting in which it operates. Since all developing
countries put new and increased demands on administration, the administratorsare expected to possess
intellectual and operational capabilities for effective decision:making, nation-buildingand socio-economic
change. Institution building and guided change is a strategy of planned and guided social change
particularly applicable in relatively stable structures. Esman believes that induced changes directly
provided by the government are based on new knowledge and (technological) practices supported by
eff011s to modify values, roles, cultural definitions and by political changes in incentives and rewards. He
takes a relatively extreme position in his stress on an unbalanced social growth strategy. He views
bureaucracy as a ' powerful, indispensable and generally beneficent agency of public service especially
under conditions of rapid change when social and economic progress depend s in great measure on
governmental performance.' This is the reason when he advocates a strategy which 'places higher priority
on building its capabilities than containing its abuses'.
The perspective of development administrationenvisages three major classes of outp t programme,
viz., those which attempt to induce behaviomal changes among large, diffuse, low income clienteles (changes
in agricultural practices); those which provide additional opportunities and resources to smaller groups of
clients who are already motivated towards development pattern of behaviour (industrial promotion) ; and
those which improve the effectiveness of development services provided by government agencies
(education and land development). All efforts at induced administrative change draw on technical, cultural
and political methods ofinducing change whether they involve the central government or any of the three
classes of action programmes. The effective programmes of change involve combinations of all the meth-
ods, the class of change problem tends to determine the more effective emphasis.
Esman has presented a ' very thought-provoking analysis of thepolitics ofdevelopment adrninistration.
His inquiry is embryonic in character and propositions are considered crude and tentative. They indicate
problem areas requiring research , but, to quote his own words, they are not reduced to verifiable
hyp othesis . Social and physical environment i_s a major factors and such factors like geography, size,
ethnic homogeneity or diversity, resource endowments, stages of development, and colonial heritage.
This may require the development of a typology of transitional societies and the empirical testing and
refinem ent of each hypothesis for each societal type. All these propositions exclusively deal with transi-
tional societies ancl Esman makes no claim that they apply universally or in other environments.
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