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?