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Groups and Organizations
Sociology, 13h Edition by John MacionisCopyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Social GroupTwo or more people who identify and interact with
one another.
•Not every collection of individuals forms a group.
•Many people with a status in common–women, homeowners, soldiers, millionaires, college graduates, and Roman Catholics–are not groups, but categories, because of limited interactions.
Not Quite a Social Group
• Crowd– Temporary cluster of people created by an
event– A group can have temporal status
• A crowd can become a group, then a crowd again.– A large gathering of people at a football
game– A crowd that begins to riot might be
considered a group because of their purposeful interaction.
Primary Groups
• Traits– Small: friends, family– Personal orientation– Enduring
• Primary relationships– First group experienced in
life– Irreplaceable
• Assistance of all kinds– Emotional to financial
Small social groups whose members share personal, lasting relationships.
Secondary Groups
• Traits– Large membership– Goal or activity orientation– Formal and polite
• Secondary relationships– Weak emotional ties– Short term, goal directed
• Examples– Co-workers and political
organizations
A large, impersonal social group whose members pursue a specific goal or activity.
Summing Up Primary Groups and Secondary Groups
Group Leadership
• Two roles– Instrumental: Task-oriented– Expressive: People-oriented
instrumental and expressive are also used to define gender; Ch.13
• Three leadership styles– Authoritarian: Leader makes decisions;
Compliance from members– Democratic: Member involvement– Laissez-faire: Mainly let group function on
its own
Group Conformity Studies
• Asch’s research page 164
– Willingness to compromise our own judgments
– Line experiment
• Milgram’s research page 165
– Role authority plays– Following orders
• Janis’s research page 165
– Negative side of groupthink– “the tendency of group members to conform,
resulting in a narrow view” consequences?
Figure 7.1 Cards Used in Asch’s Experiment in Group ConformityIn Asch’s experiment, subjects were asked to match the line on Card 1 to one of the lines on Card 2. Many subjects agreed with the wrong answers given by others in their group.Source: Asch (1952).
Reference Group
• Stouffer’s research page 166
– We compare ourselves in relation to specific reference groups. upward
• In-groups and out-groups– Loyalty to in-group downward
– Opposition to out-groups
in-groups out-groups
A social group that serves as a point of reference in making evaluations and decisions about where
resources go, and who gets rewarded and punished
Group Size
• The dyad– A two-member group– Very intimate, but unstable given its
size
• The triad– A three-member group– More stable than a dyad and more
types of interaction are possible
Figure 7.2 Group Size and RelationshipsAs the number of people in a group increases, the number of relationships that link them increases much faster. By the time six or seven people share a conversation, the group usually divides into two. Why are relationships in smaller groups typically more intense?Source: Created by the author.
Social Diversity:Race, Class, and Gender
• Large and homogenous groups turn inward.– Members have relationships between
themselves.• Heterogeneous groups turn outward.
– Diverse membership promotes interaction with outsiders.
• Physical boundaries create social boundaries.– If segregation of groups takes place, the
chances for contact are limited.• Networks
– “Web of weak social ties”; people we know of or who know of us
Global Map 7.1 Internet Users in Global Perspective
Formal Organizations
• Utilitarian – Material rewards for members (functional-
conflict)
• Normative– Voluntary organizations– Ties to personal morality (functional-conflict)
• Coercive– Punishment or treatment– Total institutions (functional-conflict)
Large secondary groups organized to achieve goals efficiently; date back thousands of years.
Summing Up Small Groups and Formal Organizations
Bureaucracy
• Max Weber’s six elements to promote organizational efficiency:– Specialization of duties– Hierarchy of offices– Rules and regulations– Technical competence– Impersonality– Formal, written communications
An organizational model rationally designed to perform tasks efficiently
Organizational Environment
• Factors outside an organization that affect its operation:– Economic and political trends– Current events– Populations patterns– Other organizations
• Informal side of bureaucracy– In part, informality comes from the
personalities of organizational leaders.
Problems of Bureaucracies
• Bureaucratic alienation– Potential to dehumanize individuals
• Bureaucratic inefficiency and ritualism (irony)
– Preoccupation with rules, interferes with meeting goals
• Bureaucratic inertia– Perpetuation of the organization becomes more
important than the goals and the purpose for it’s existence
Oligarchy: The rule of the many by the few• Helps distance officials from the public.• Michels: Concentrates power and threatens
democracy page 174.
The Evolution of Formal Organizations
Scientific Management
Application of scientific principles to the operation of a business or large organization1. Identify tasks and time needed for tasks2. Analyze to perform tasks more efficiently3. Provide incentives for worker efficiencyWhose interests are being served???
New Challenges to Formal Organizations
• Race and gender– Pattern of exclusion– “Female advantage”
• Japanese organizations– Value cooperation– Organizational loyalty
• Changing nature of work– Information-based organizations– Creative autonomy, competitive work teams,
flatter organization, and greater flexibility
Figure 7.3 U.S. Managers in Private Industry by Race, Sex, and Ethnicity, 2005
Figure 7.4Two Organizational ModelsThe conventional model of bureaucratic organizations has a pyramid shape, with a clear chain of command. Orders flow from the top down, and reports of performance flow from the bottom up. Such organizations have extensive rules and regulations, and their workers have highly specialized jobs. More open and flexible organizations have a flatter shape, more like a football. With fewer levels in the hierarchy, responsibility for generating ideas and making decisions is shared throughout the organization. Many workers do their jobs in teams and have a broad knowledge of the entire organization’s operation.Source: Created by the author.
McDonaldization of Society
• Efficiency: Do it quickly• Predictability: Use set formulas• Uniformity: Leave nothing to chance• Control: Humans are most unreliable
factor
Each principle limits human creativity, choice, and freedom.
Weber: Rational systems are efficient but dehumanizing.
Future of Organizations:Opposing Trends
• Movement toward more creative freedom for highly skilled information workers
• Movement toward increased supervision and discipline for less skilled service workers
Class Activity
• Group 1: Explain behaviors on an elevator; group or crowd?
• Group 2: How can we make this classroom more efficient? Is that a good thing, or just more drifting toward McDonaldization?
• Group 3: After considering the differences between the American and Japanese models of automobile manufacturing (pages 176-7) , which is best and why?