Groups and organizations

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Social Group
Two 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–aren’t groups but categories.

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Not Quite a Social Group
Crowd
Temporary cluster of people
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.

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Primary Groups
Traits
Small
Personal orientation
Share activities, spend time together
Enduring
Members think of it as end in itself rather than means to end
Primary relationships
Family
First group experienced in life
Members viewed as unique and irreplaceable
Small social groups whose members share personal, lasting relationships.

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Secondary Groups
Traits
Large membership (impersonal)
Goal or activity orientation
Formal and polite
Secondary relationships
Weak emotional ties
Short term
Examples
Co-workers and political organizations
A large, impersonal social group whose members pursue a specific goal or activity.

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Group Leadership
Two roles
Instrumental: Task-oriented
Expressive: People-oriented
Three leadership styles
Authoritarian: Leader makes decisions; Compliance from members
Democratic: Member involvement
Laissez-faire: Mainly let group function on its own

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Group Conformity Studies
Asch’s research
Willingness to compromise our own judgments
Milgram’s research
Role authority plays
Following orders
Janis’s research
Negative side of groupthink
Groupthink: Tendency of group members to conform, resulting in a narrow view of some issue

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Reference Group
Stouffer’s research
We compare ourselves in relation to specific reference groups.
In-groups and out-groups
Loyalty to in-group
Opposition to out-groups
A social group that serves as a point of reference in making evaluations and decisions

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
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

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Social Diversity:
Race, Class, and Gender
Larger groups turn inward.
Members have relationships between themselves.
Heterogeneous groups turn outward.
Diverse membership promotes interaction with outsiders. (other groups)
More Social parity= forming more ties w/ diverse backgrounds
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

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Formal Organizations
Utilitarian
Material rewards for members
Normative
Voluntary organizations
Ties to personal morality
Coercive
Punishment or treatment
Total institutions
Large secondary groups organized to achieve goals efficiently; date back thousands of years.

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
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

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Organizational Environment
Factors outside an organization that affect its operation:
Economic and political trends
Current events
Population patterns
Other organizations
Informal side of bureaucracy
In part, informality comes from the personalities of organizational leaders.

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Problems of Bureaucracies
Bureaucratic alienation
Potential to dehumanize individuals
Bureaucratic inefficiency and ritualism
Preoccupation with rules, interferes with meeting goals
Bureaucratic inertia
Perpetuation of the organization
Oligarchy: The rule of the many by the few
Helps distance officials from the public.
Michels: Concentrates power and threatens democracy

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
The Evolution of Formal Organizations
Scientific Management
Application of scientific principles to the operation of a business or large organization
Identify tasks and time needed for tasks
Analyze to perform tasks more efficiently
Provide incentives for worker efficiency

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
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

Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright © 2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
McDonaldization of Society
Efficiency: Do it quickly
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.