Max Weber (1864-1920) was a German sociologist who studied social action and developed theories of bureaucracy, ideal types, and rationalization. He identified four main types of social action - goal-oriented rational, value-oriented rational, affective, and traditional - and recognized that most behavior involves a mix of motivations. Weber also developed the concept of ideal types to allow for historical comparative study and described bureaucracy as a rationally organized means of carrying out social action through a hierarchy with specialized roles and standardized rules of conduct.

1. MAX WEBER(1864-1920)

2. Life History
 Born on 21,April 1865 in Erfurt,
Germany.
 Father was a bourgeois
politician.
 Mother was a Calvinist.
 In 1882, he studied law in
University of Heidelberg.
 In 1883 he worked as a junior
lawyer and lectured in
university.

3. Max Weber
Social Action:
According to Weber:
Humans attach to their
actions and interactions
within specific social
contexts.

4. Social Action:
Four Major Types of Social Action:
o Goal-oriented Rational Action
o Value-oriented Rational Action
o Affective Motivation Action
o Traditional Action
 Weber was well aware that most behavior
is caused by a mix of these motivations

5. Max Weber
Ideal Type:

6. Ideal Type
 An ideal type provides the basic method for
historical- comparative study.
 The ideal type never corresponds to concrete
reality.

7. Max Weber
Bureaucracy:
According to Weber,
“The means of carrying
community action over into
rationally ordered social action”
‘‘An instrument for
socializing relations of power.”

8. Bureaucracy
Weber’s Bureaucracy
Hierarch
y
Division
of
Labor
Efficienc
y
Rules of
conduct
Impersonali
ty
Bureaucrac
y should
have

9. Bureaucracy
 Researchers have found that bureaucracy
works well in certain contexts
 Theory of bureaucracy has been used in a
variety of contexts to study and understand
organization in society.