ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Organizations, from a bureaucratic perspective, are “rationally ordered instruments for the achievement of stated goals” (Selznick, 1948/2005, p. 125). Bureaucratic principles are so inculcated into modern living that they are oft en considered inherent parts of daily life. In reality, bureaucracy is just one of many ways to organize collective human behavior. “Virtually all colleges and universities have been organized at least partly along bureaucratic lines, so it is important to understand their advantages and disadvantages” (Bess & Dee, 2008, p. 203). Th ough many decry the red tape and glacial pace of bureaucracies, it is diffi cult to imagine administrative operations without this form. Bureaucracy is an undeniable and enduring perspective through which to view organizational functions in higher education. While this book describes a number of ways to view organizations, aspects of bureaucracy either shape a number of those perspectives or exist as the norm against which other forms are compared. Despite the dominant and ubiquitous nature of bureaucracy in institutions of higher education, the presence of this dominant organizational form was not always the case.
