The concept of role is an important tool that can be made use of in the study of bureaucracy. Through the
individual actually involved, the role he performs helps us to understand the 'basic content and processes in the bureaucratic situation' (Reissman quoted in Stein et al 1961). Workers employed in industrial situations, from the time they clock in, till the time they clock out, are entrusted with a set of activities associated with their jobs.It becomes necessary for the modern industry to employ the 'formal socialising process (Bakke 1953), so that the workers carry on imprint of the image of the
organisation. However, a 'personalising process' (Bakke 1953) in which the individuals endeavour to impose their image on the organisation may be seen as operating simultaneously. The status and role, the obverse and reverse, are the products of the 'process of fusion' (Bakke 1953), which prescribe the performance expected of individuals in the employ of the organisation. Role
Conception is an important aspect of one's participation in a work organisation, since it is recognised that the role performance in an organisation is not precisely according to the blue-print of the organisation, nor does it closely correspond to the rational rules and procedures established within an organisation. On the otherhand , it is recognised that the role performance is very much determined by the type of role conception one has of one's role. It is one's role conception that becomes crucial in explaining one's relations with others within the organisation.
Role Conception itself is influenced by a number of factors. Among them, the more significant are, one's position within the organisation,the professional or technical skill that one has, and the kind of opportunity one gets for utilising one's abilities and skills in the position that one occupies within the organisation. The above are some of the significant factors within the work organisation which play a vital role in explaining the kind of role conception that one has.
Another set of factors that may also have an important influence over one's role conception pertains to the larger society. It is from a specific 'social milieu' that one derives one's occupational values and role expectaions. In that way, each member of an organisation is associated, both directly and indirectly, within, as well as outside the organisation, with members and non-members whose influence upon the behaviour of the members may at times be pronounced. These constitute the 'role-set' (Merton 1959). The 'role-set' is afterall, the 'dialectic personal growth or the dialogue of the self and others..... the give and take between the individual and his fellows (Baldwin 1961). The members and non members who make up the role set of a worker, hold certain expectations of him/her, since the worker's role performance or behaviour has consequences for them. Role expectations held by some constituents of an individual's 'role-set' at times go far beyond the job description. Since they may have an interest, conformity with the expectations, both written and unwritten, is sought to be brought about by 'role pressures'. Though the worker reels under role pressures, sanctions and penalties, perceived as a consequence of following conflicting role expectations prove to be a major basis for ensuring compliance with the requirements of the formal organisation. In that way, role pressures may be seen as partial determinants of the behaviour of the worker. The motivation, however, for proper role performance , might perhaps, stem from the intrinsic satisfaction that one derives from the role content. Though jobs carry very few prestige differentials, forfeiture of workers' control over the pace of their ork, lack of scope for exhibiting ability and creativity, and close supervision are conducive to low role conception. Role conception increases with the control over work pace increasing. Role conception can be seen as decreasing with the amount of close supervision increasing. In other words, high role conception and close supervision are inversely correlated, whereas, there is positive correlation between high role conception and the realised need for control.
Workers' conception about their choice of the Company for whom they work is intended to establish a linkage between their role in the Company, and whether they view their own roles as meaningful and rewarding or just a meaningless and routine. The workers' image of the Company is very much determined by the way their role in the Company is viewed. The findings about the way the workers view their own Company in terms of their own conception of their role could be interpreted
Reference: International bibliography of Social Sciences: Sociology Volume XLV 1995, page 243.