machine (noun, ma-chine, \ məˈʃiːn \) bureaucracy (noun, bu-reauc-ra-cy, \ bjʊˈrɑːkrəsi \)
Definition: is a business management structure that is distinguished by extreme levels of specialization and formalization and that can be commonly found in large established companies. In a typical machine bureaucracy organization, most decisions are made on the highest level of its hierarchy and carried out by regular line employees. Additionally, such organizations tend to have a strict set of rules and regulations that significantly limit the creative freedom of its employees.
In a Sentence:
- Because of the specific nature of operations performed at our coffee manufacturing enterprise, establishing a machine bureaucracy structure was the best solution. Otherwise, it would be impossible to control all the interrelated processes that go down in our business units.
- I can’t stand our machine bureaucracy structure. Ever since I was forced to report all operations I perform throughout the workday, I barely manage to finish my work by five.
Synonyms and related words: bureaucratic organization, bureaucracy, bureaucratic control, bureaucratic leadership
