The bureaucratic way of organizing things...

The mind set:

• People have narrow skills, and therefore are easily replaced...
• Technological determinism: We design the work (technical system) first and then mandate that people (social system) fit into it...
• Workers are cogs in the machine of the enterprise (a commodity)...
• Organizational design based on total specification of everything...
• Simple jobs in a complex organization...
• The building block is one person/one task...
• Competitive structures, processes and reward systems are the best way to produce high performance.

The bureaucratic design principle...Coordination and control of work tasks is done by a supervisor.

People act as if:

• There is little of consequence left to learn...
• Their firms market and position is fundamentally stable and unchanging...
• Procedures are sufficient to guide behavior...
• Change interferes with productivity and can often be postponed...
• Responsibility and blame can be shifted to others...
• Simple solutions to problems are adequate...
• Unspoken assumptions need not be explored...
• We are separate, therefore I can win at your expense...
• We don't need to coordinate work with other functions...
• Success comes from reacting resourcefully to immediate problems.