Groups and Organization

Learning Objectives
Types of Groups
• Understand primary and secondary groups as the two sociological groups
• Recognize in-groups and out-groups as subtypes of primary and secondary groups
• Define reference groups
Group Size and Structure
• How size influences group dynamics
• Different styles of leadership
• How conformity is impacted by groups
Formal Organizations
• Understand the different types of formal organizations
• Recognize the characteristics of bureaucracies
• Identify the concepts of the McJob and the McDonaldization of society

Types of Groups
Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929): 2 types of groups: primary (главные) and secondary (второстепенные) (Cooley 1909).
Primary groups
small and made up of significant others (вторая половина) and those individuals who have the most impact (влияние) on our socialization
expressive (выразительные) function: serve emotional need (необходимость)
Ex.: family
Secondary groups
large and impersonal (обезличенные)
serve an instrumental function: goal- or task-oriented (ориентированные на результат)
Ex.: a classroom/office
NB: Neither primary nor secondary groups are bound by strict definitions. People can move from one group to another: graduate seminar can start as a secondary group focused on the class, but as the students work together throughout their program, they may find common interests (общие интересы) and strong ties (тесные отношения) that transform them into a primary group.

In-Groups and Out-Groups
Primary groups Secondary groups
in-groups out-groups
William Sumner
(1840–1910):
In-group - the group that an individual feels s/he belongs to (принадлежит), and s/he believes it to be an integral (неотъемлемый) part of who s/he is.
Out-group - a group someone doesn’t belong to; often there may be a feeling of disdain (презрение) or competition (соперничество) in relation to an out-group.
+ sports teams – competition, – bullying (травля) poorly performing (отстающий в учебе) students
Cyberbullying - the use of interactive media by one person to torment (причинять боль) another: sending threatening (угрожающий) texts, harassing (изводить) someone in a public forum (such as Facebook), hacking someone’s account and pretending (притворяться) to be him or her, posting embarrassing (смущающий) images online, etc.
Cyberbullying allows bullies to harass others from the privacy (секретно) of their homes without witnessing (быть свидетелем) the damage (вред). This form of bullying is dangerous because it’s widely accessible (доступно) and therefore easier to accomplish (совершить).

Reference Groups
Reference (авторитетное лицо) group - a group that people compare themselves to, ususally peer groups (сверстники).
1< Reference groups: a middle school boy might not just look at his classmates but also at his older brother’s friends and see a different set of norms.
Often, ref. groups convey (выражать) competing (противоречивые) messages: on TV young adults often have wonderful apartments, cars, and lively social lives despite not holding a job. In music videos, young women might dance and sing in a sexually aggressive way that suggests experience beyond their years.
At all ages, we use reference groups to help guide (направлять) our behavior (поведение) and show us social norms. Identifying (определение) reference groups can help you understand the source of the social identities you aspire to (стремиться) or want to distance (отдалить) yourself from.

Group Size and Structure
Small groups
Small groups: nuclear family, a dyad, or a triad.
Georg Simmel (1858–1915): difference between a dyad, or two-member
group, and a triad, which is a three-member group (Simmel 1902).
Dyad: if one person withdraws (уходить), the group can no longer exist (существовать). Ex.: divorce (развод); two best friends never speaking again.
Triad: if one person withdraws, the group lives on (продолжать жить). If there are three in the group, two-against-one (2 против 1) dynamics can develop and there exists the potential for a majority opinion on any issue (по любому вопросу).
Small groups: strong internal cohesiveness (внутренняя связь). The challenge, however, is to achieve large goals because they are easier to ignore than large groups.

Large groups - …∞?
Group Size and Structure
When there are too many people to join in (принять участие в) a simultaneous (одновременный) discussion.
When a group joins with other groups as part of a movement (движение) that unites (объединять) them. These larger groups may share a geographic space, such as citizens of one same country, or they might be spread out around the globe.
The larger the group…
- the more attention it can garner (получить), and the more pressure (воздействие) members can put toward whatever goal (любая цель) they wish to achieve (достигнуть).
- the more the risk grows for division (разногласия) and lack of cohesion (отсутствие сплоченности).

Group Leadership
Groups require (требуют) some kind of leadership (руководство).
Small, primary groups - informal leadership
Larger, secondary groups, overt (открытый) leadership ? clearly outlined (четко обозначенные) roles and responsibilities (обязательства), with a chain of command (ряд команд) to follow.
Ex.: army - highly structured and clearly understood chains of command, and many lives depend on those. After all, how well could soldiers function in a battle if they had no idea whom to listen to or if different people were calling out orders?
Other secondary groups, like a workplace or a classroom, also have formal leaders, but the styles and functions of leadership can vary (отличаться) significantly (существенно).

Leadership function refers to the main focus or goal of the leader.
Instrumental leader - goal-oriented (целеустремленный) and largely concerned (заинтересован) with accomplishing (достигать) set tasks (поставленные задачи). Ex.: army general or a CEO (Chief Executive Officer, исполнительный директор).
Expressive leaders are more concerned with promoting emotional strength and health, and ensuring that people feel supported. Ex.: social and religious leaders—rabbis (раввин), priests (священник), imams, directors social service programs (соц. услуги гос-ва населению: образ-е, мед. обслуж-е).
Stereotype: men are more instrumental leaders and women are more expressive leaders ? many women and men who exhibit the opposite-gender manner can be seen as deviants and can encounter resistance. Despite the stereotype, Boatwright and Forrest (2000) have found that both men and women prefer leaders who use a combination of expressive and instrumental leadership.
Leadership Functions

Leadership Styles
Democratic leaders encourage group participation (участие) in all decision making (принятие решений). Challenge (трудность): work will proceed slowly since consensus building is time-consuming (трудоемкий).
Laissez-faire [ˌleɪseɪ'fɛə] leader (French for “leave it alone”) - allowing group members make their own decisions: art teacher who opens the art cupboard (шкаф), leaves materials on the shelves, and tells students to make some art. + for highly motivated and mature participants who have clear goals and guidelines, but – for others - lack of progress.
Authoritarian leaders issue orders; clear instrumental leaders with a strong focus on meeting goals (достижение целей). Entrepreneurs (предприниматели), like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Risks to alienate the workers.
In different circumstances, each of these leadership styles can be effective and successful.

Conformity
Conformity (соответствие; подчиненность) is the extent (степень) to which an individual complies (соответствовать) with group norms or expectations. We use reference groups to understand how to act, to dress, and to behave. Young people are particularly (в особенности) aware of (осведомлены) who conforms and who does not.
A high school boy whose mother makes him wear ironed button-down shirts (отутюженные рубашки) might protest that he will look stupid––that everyone else wears T-shirts. Another high school boy might like wearing those shirts as a way of standing out (способ выделиться).
Psychologist Solomon Asch (1907–1996) conducted experiments that illustrated how great the pressure (гнет, бремя) to conform is, specifically within a small group (1956).
Two main causes for conformity: people want to be liked by the group or they believe the group is better informed than they are. Intelligent, well-educated (хорошо образованные) people would, with very little coaxing (уговаривание), go along with (соглашаться с) an untruth - problems with the education system and values in the society (Asch 1956).

Formal Organizations
Society is dominated by large and impersonal secondary organizations. From schools to businesses to healthcare to government - formal organizations, +they are highly bureaucratized. All formal organizations are, or likely will become, bureaucracies.
Types of Formal Organizations
Sociologist Amitai Etzioni (1975): 3 categories of formal organizations:
Normative /voluntary (добровольные) organizations, are based on shared interests. Joining them is voluntary and typically done because people find membership (членство) rewarding (полезный) in an intangible (нематериаильно) way. E.g., ski club.
Coercive (принудительные) organizations are groups that one must be coerced, or pushed, to join. E.g.: prison, rehabilitation center.
Utilitarian (практические) organizations - are joined because of the need for a specific material reward. E.g.: high school or a workplace (рабочее место) – one joined in pursuit (с целью получить) of a diploma, the other in order to make money (заработать денег).

Types of Formal Organizations
общее сходство, похожесть
«связующее» чувство
членство
выгода
нематериальный материальный

Bureaucracies
Max Weber: bureaucracy - a hierarchy of authority (иерархия власти), a clear division of labor (разделение труда), explicit rules (четкие правила), and impersonality (безличность) (1922).
Hierarchy of authority aspect of bureaucracy that places one individual or office in charge (под надзор) of another, who in turn must answer to her own superiors (начальникам).
Clear division of labor - each individual has a specialized task (конкретное задание) to perform.
Explicit rules - the way in which rules are outlined, written down, and
standardized.
Impersonality - takes personal feelings out of professional situations. This characteristic grew, to some extent, out of a desire to protect organizations from nepotism (кумовство), backroom deals (закулисные сделки), and other types of favoritism, simultaneously protecting
customers and others served by the organization. Impersonality is an attempt by large formal organizations to protect their members.
Sociology tutor, not economy of finances
Rules of the studying process
Late for class

Bureaucracies
Bureaucracies are, in theory at least (по крайней мере в теории), meritocracies (система, при которой положение человека в обществе определяется его способностями )- hiring and promotion is based on proven (доказанный) and documented skills (навыки) , rather than on nepotism (кумовство) or random choice (случайный выбор).
In order to get into a prestigious college, you need to perform well on the exam and have an impressive transcript. In order to become a lawyer and represent clients, you must graduate law school and pass the state exam.
Many examples of success by those who did not proceed through traditional meritocracies like
- technology companies with founders who dropped out of college,
performers who became famous after a YouTube video went viral.
Q.: How well established meritocracies identify talent?

+ aspects of bureaucracies. They are intended to improve efficiency,
ensure equal opportunities, and increase efficiency. And there are times when rigid hierarchies are needed. But:
Bureaucracies grew large during the Industrial Revolution. Young workers were trained and organizations were built for mass production, assembly line work, and factory jobs ?a clear chain of command was critical.
Now, in the information age, rigid (жесткий) training and adherence (приверженность) to protocol can actually decrease both productivity and efficiency. Today’s workplace requires a faster pace (темп), more problem-solving, and a flexible approach to work. Too much adherence to explicit rules and a division of labor can leave an organization behind (оставить позади).
Once established, bureaucracies can take on a life of their own, e.g. state governments. It is almost impossible to make quick changes, leading states to continue, year after year, with increasingly unbalanced budgets.
Bureaucracies grew as institutions at a time when privileged males held all the power – gender discrimination at work
Bureaucracies