ASSESSMENT OF OFFICE BUREAUCRACY AND ITS EFFECT ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN GHANA

Abstract

The study is “the assessment of office bureaucracy and its effects on the performance of organizations in Ghana” using the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly as a case study. The objectives of this study includes: to find out why organizations practice bureaucracy, to investigate the effects of bureaucracy on employees as well as organizational performance, and to give practicable recommendations. The methodology used was included convenience, purposive and simple random sampling techniques with a sample size of 101 KMA employees. Questionnaire was the data collection instrument used. The data collected was statistically analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) using descriptive statistics to generate the frequencies. The findings were: KMA is one of the highest bureaucratic structures governed by Law and Acts of Ghana; bureaucracy has the worse impact on performance than any other constraining factor; 80.2% disclosed that management is unwilling to attempt any de-bureaucratization; less than average thinks it has positive impact on performance; the Ghanaian bureaucracy is not in support of the socio-economic development of the nation; Meanwhile employees (65.3%) are ever ready to embrace a less bureaucratic structure to avoid the undesirable aspect of the bureaucratic processes. 58.4% consented that indeed organizations should go on with their bureaucracies but it should be made flexible. This study proposes that organizational structure, namely bureaucracy, have direct effect on employee performance and organizational growth. Organizational health and success in the future may depend more on organizational structure than on access to capital and market monopolies. It is therefore recommended that bureaucratic organizations should undergo reformation, adopt performance reward philosophy and a deliberate education to reorient the Ghanaian minds.