Bureaucratic Rules: Bearers of Organizational Authority

Abstract

In looking at bureaucratic rules as bearers of organizational authority Mr. Anderson notes a number of latent as well as manifest functions which such rules serve. Several of the functions are quite dysfunctional in terms of the organization's goals and objectives. The author proposes that a number of hypotheses be tested in order to clarify more precisely the functions of rules, particularly in the school setting. Mr. Anderson is Director of the Division of Engineering, McCoy College, The Johns Hopkins University.