Something I'm not sure is generally understood: when a politician or businessman says they're going to reduce bureaucracy, it means they're making a grab for power.
The main benefit of bureaucracy in businesses and government is to diffuse power. Conversely, abuses happen when that power is grabbed by smaller and smaller parties.
It's why the current rogue's gallery of fuckwits are all populists promising to cut headcount. It's how they dress their lust for power as a public good.