1. GROUPS & ORGANIZATIONS
Macionis, Sociology Chapter Seven

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

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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

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

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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. “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