GROUPS & ORGANIZATIONS Macionis, Sociology Chapter Seven

Overall Goals for Chapter 7 Look at groups and their behavior Learn about organizations and their role in society Review leadership styles

SOCIAL GROUP A social group is defined as two or more people who identify and interact with one another

NOT QUITE A SOCIAL GROUP Category People with common status Crowd Temporary cluster of people A group can have temporal status There are times when a crowd can become a group and then a crowd once more A large gathering of people at a football game A crowd that begins to riot may be considered a group

PRIMARY GROUPS Traits Primary relationships Assistance of all kinds Small Personal orientation Enduring Primary relationships First group experienced in life Irreplaceable Security Assistance of all kinds Emotional to financial

SECONDARY GROUPS Traits Secondary relationships Examples Large membership Goal or activity orientation Formal and polite Secondary relationships Weak emotional ties between persons Short term Examples Co-workers Political organizations

Categories of Groups Instrumental Expressive Task oriented PTO Spinning ARL Expressive People oriented Book club Bike team

Decision Making Styles Authoritarian Leader makes decisions Compliance from members Democratic Member involvement Everyone is equal Laissez-faire Group functions on its own

REFERENCE GROUPS Groups act as point of reference in making evaluative and decisions Stouffer’s research We compare ourselves in relation to specific reference groups INGROUPS and OUTGROUPS Loyalty to INGROUP Opposition to OUTGROUPS

GROUP SIZE MATTERS The dyad The triad A two member group Intimate, but unstable given its size The triad A three member group More stable than a dyad and more types of interaction is possible

SOCIAL DIVERSITY Large groups turn inward Members have relationships between themselves Heterogeneous groups turn outward Diverse membership promotes interaction with outsiders Social equality promotes contact If members are equal in standing, then members of all backgrounds are more likely to associate Physical boundaries create social boundaries If group is segregated then chances for contact are limited Networks Web of weak social ties, people we know of & who know of us

BUREAUCRACY Rational model designed to perform complex tasks efficiently Max Weber’s six elements to promote organizational efficiency Specialization of duties Hierarchy of offices Rules and regulations Technical competence Impersonality Formal, written communications

Organizational Environment Factors outside an organization that affects its operation: Economic and political trends Current events Populations patterns Other organizations

BUREAUCRACY PROBLEMS Bureaucratic alienation Potential to dehumanize individuals Bureaucratic inefficiency and ritualism Preoccupation with rules, interferes with meeting goals Bureaucratic inertia Perpetuation of the organization Oligarchy Rule of the many by the few

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 workers efficiency

Future Opposing Trends McDONALDIZATION Efficiency -Do it quickly Uniformity -Leave nothing to chance Control -Humans are most unreliable factor Movement toward more creative freedom for highly skilled information workers. Movement toward increased supervision and discipline for less skilled service workers. Future Opposing Trends

“Fear colludes with our most conservative self and allows us to stop before we try, dismiss before we think, mock before we imagine.” - Carol Lloyd