Bureaucracies?

[MtnBiker]

What are the motives of bureaucrates to have an efficient and low cost department?

[darin]

To have extra money to pay Bonuses to people who have little to do w/ the efficiency?

[MtnBiker]

What are the bonuses based on?

[Gunny]

What are the motives of bureaucrates to have an efficient and low cost department?

Quarterly accounting to the general public might put the squeeze on.

No riders on proposed legislation would also shed the light of day on otherwise hidden pork. Probably would make people think twice about some of the crap they blow money on. A rainforest in Iowa comes to mind.

[MtnBiker]

Quarterly accounting to the general public might put the squeeze on.

No riders on proposed legislation would also shed the light of day on otherwise hidden pork. Probably would make people think twice about some of the crap they blow money on. A rainforest in Iowa comes to mind.

Ok, oversight with clear benchmarks of productivity. What then would be the repercussions if such benmarks are not met? Who sets the benchmarks?

[Mr. P]

What are the motives of bureaucrates to have an efficient and low cost department?

There are none. Bureaucrats don't produce profit they just spend. Actually the system is set up to be inefficient. If $100k is budgeted this year and not spent, next yrs budget will decrease. So, what is budgeted is spent regardless of efficiency.

[darin]

I KNOW Mr. P has heard THIS in his career: "We're at year end, and have $5000 left...what do you want? New monitor? Sure. New chair or desk? Awesome. We've got to buy SOMETHING!"

etc...

[Gunny]

Ok, oversight with clear benchmarks of productivity. What then would be the repercussions if such benmarks are not met? Who sets the benchmarks?

IMO, the repercussions of Joe Average citizen knowing exactly who is doing what would shorten some tenures in office. Face it, most of us are too busy to read each piece of proposed legislation and what's attached to it. The bureaucrats rely on this to blow BIG dollars. To us, it's just a nameless face called "pork barrel spending."

[MtnBiker]

There are none. Bureaucrats don't produce profit they just spend. Actually the system is set up to be inefficient. If $100k is budgeted this year and not spent, next yrs budget will decrease. So, what is budgeted is spent regardless of efficiency.

I belive there is alot truth in this statement. I would like to hear from some of the board liberals. Perhaps they can offer a perspective on the motives of bureaucrates to have an efficient and low cost department.

[Hagbard Celine]

What are the bonuses based on?

The bonuses are based on the accomplishment of superfluous goals, all of which further broaden the inefficiency of the department.

[MtnBiker]

The bonuses are based on the accomplishment of superfluous goals, all of which further broaden the inefficiency of the department.

There has been no support of efficiency of bureaucracies in this thread. Can it be agreed that bureaucracies tend to be inheriently inefficient?

[Hagbard Celine]

There has been no support of efficiency of bureaucracies in this thread. Can it be agreed that bureaucracies tend to be inheriently inefficient?

I thought this thread was to dog on bureacracy for being inefficient. Isn't that what my post does while also answering your question about what the bonuses are for?

I think bureacracy is the price we pay for having everyone employed. If we really cut the fat off of every bureacracy, corporate and government, there would be millions unemployed. Of course, the answer has always been robot servants. If humanity would get on the ball with the development of robot servants, we could all live recreational lives all the time while the robots run everything.

[MtnBiker]

I thought this thread was to dog on bureacracy for being inefficient. Isn't that what my post does while also answering your question about what the bonuses are for?

Yes, I just want to be clear. So far you are the only liberal on this board that has stated that bureacracies are inefficient.

[MtnBiker]

I think bureacracy is the price we pay for having everyone employed.

How do you determine that? As far as corporate business bureacracies go, yes they do exsist, however their inefficiency is greatly reduce due to the profit motive. Government bureacracies do not have a profit motive, quite the opposite they must spend all of their allocated funds or face losing future funding.

[Hagbard Celine]

How do you determine that? As far as corporate business bureacracies go, yes they do exsist, however their inefficiency is greatly reduce due to the profit motive. Government bureacracies do not have a profit motive, quite the opposite they must spend all of their allocated funds or face losing future funding.

Well, think about all the pointless jobs there are in corporations. It's the famous scene from "Office Space" where the guy is asked what exactly he "does" and all he can come up with is that he has people skills. From what I've learned working at CNN, that's a realistic microcosmic view into the corporate culture. Bureacracy is a beast that feeds on itself, which makes it able to get bigger and bigger and never shrink due to it's inherent ability to further complicate itself as it grows.

[5stringJeff]

Having worked for a gov't bureaucracy for a few years, I'll say that bureaucracies are designed to manage workers that are doing low-level work - manufacturing products, for example. However, the bureaucracy system of management is used to manage workers who are doing multi-level, complex tasks, which stifles good work and leads to inefficiences. However, bureaucracies also create accountability, since everyone knows 'who is supposed to do what.' So in that sense, I'm not sure how the government could change into a more innovative management style, at least on a large scale, and manitain accountability to higher-level executives, Congress, the voters, etc.

[MtnBiker]

I am mostly curious about government bureaucracies and their motivations or systems being efficient. I have yet to see any real evidence that they strive to be as efficient as possible. I tend to believe that bureaucracies exsist for 2 purposes, 1 to perform the function for which they exsist and 2 to be self perpetuating. How does a bureaucracy sustain perpetuation? By ever increasing its demands on needed funds, which runs counter to efficiency.