Groups and Organizations

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Groups and Organizations
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What are social groups?

• A social group consists of
• Two or more persons
• Regular interaction
• A sense of solidarity or common identity

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What is a social group?

• Groups that are not groups
• Aggregates collections of people who are in the
  same place physically but who do not interact in
  any meaningful way (can become a group if given a
  common focus of attention)
• Categories collections of people who share a
  social status may share a vague sense of
  solidarity but do not interact as a group because
  they are not physically in each others presence

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Social Groups - Types

• Sociologists are particularly interested in
• Primary Groups
• Secondary Groups
• Reference Groups
• In Groups
• Out Groups

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Groups and Organizations
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Primary vs. Secondary Groups

• Primary Groups
• Smaller, typically permanent groups
  characterized by personal relationships that are
  emotionally bonded members not easily replaced
• Members of primary groups share many activities
  and spend a great deal of time together
• Primary group membership shapes our social
  identity

• Secondary Groups
• Generally larger than primary groups
  characterized by impersonal, emotionally neutral
  relationships members valued based on roles
• Secondary groups are devoted to a specific
  activity or goal
• Can exist for quite some time but memberships
  constantly change

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The Continuum from Primary to Secondary Groups
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Reference Groups

• Groups we look to for guidance and use as a tool
  for self-evaluation (group equivalent of a role
  model)
• Reference groups serve two functions
• Normative function set and enforce standards of
  conduct and belief
• Comparison function a standard by which people
  can measure themselves or others

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In-Groups and Out-Groups

• In-Groups groups to which individuals belong
  and toward which they feel pride and loyalty
• Out-Groups groups to which individuals do not
  belong and to which they feel disdain and perhaps
  hostility
• Group membership can bias judgments and
  perceptions
• The distinction between in- and out-groups is
  highly relative!

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Significance of social groups

• Studies have shown that when people join a group,
  they are more willing to adopt extreme opinions
  or engage in behavior they otherwise would not
  engage in.
• Examples
• Riot situations or concerts
• Group membership leads to conformity
• An individuals willingness to behave like or
  take the attitude of others in a group

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Solomon Asch Experiment (1952)

• Examined the extent to which group pressure could
  determine one's perceptions
• Used college students as his research subjects
• One subject and six confederates in each group he
  studied
• Asked subject which bar on the bottom is equal to
  the one on the top
• The confederates answered aloud first and wrong
• Of those tested, 37 of the 50 conformed to the
  majoritys wrong answer
• Why?
• Fear of being ridiculed or thought of as peculiar

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Groupthink

• Identified by Irving Janis (1972)
• The tendency of highly cohesive groups to make
  poor decisions because members are unwilling to
  threaten groups solidarity by voicing opposition
• Dissent is stifled as consensus emerges
• Failure to prepare Pearl Harbor for Japanese
  sneak attack
• Kennedy Administration and Bay of Pigs invasion
• Watergate
• Challenger and Columbia explosions
• What about the current war in Iraq? A possible
  example?

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Group solidarity

• What causes groups to stick together?
• Durkheim Mechanical vs. Organic solidarity
• Tonnies Gemeinschaft vs. Gesellschaft

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The Evolution of SocietyEmile Durkheim
(1858-1917)

• Noted the increasing movement of human societies
  from simple to complex
• Interested in understanding the maintenance of
  social cohesion in light of the growing
  complexity of society
• Identified two systems of social organization
• Mechanical and Organic Solidarity

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Mechanical and Organic Solidarity

• Mechanical Solidarity
• Most societies throughout history
• Small in scale
• Economic roles involve multi-tasking
• Cohesion maintained through similarity of
  experiences

• Organic Solidarity
• Results from growth in societal size and economic
  competition
• Division of Labor Increased Specialization
• Cohesion maintained through functional
  interdependence

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The Evolution of SocietyFerdinand Tönnies
(1855-1936)

• Also examined the consequences of societal change
• Interested in the reshaping of human associations
  through the modernization of societies
• Identified to sets of human associations
• Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

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Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft

• Gesellschaft
• Rational Will
• Secondary-emotionless-rational based social
  relations
• The relationship is a means to an end
• The individual is more important
• Commercial activity is the basis of life

• Gemeinschaft
• Natural Will
• Emotional-kinship based social relations
• The relationship is the end
• The community is more important
• Family is the basis of life

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Formal Organizations and Institutions

• Formal Organizations
• Large secondary group that is explicitly designed
  to accomplish specific tasks by means of an
  elaborate division of labor
• Examples
• General Motors
• World Health Organization

• Institutions
• Predictable, established ways to provide for one
  or more of a society's basic needs
• Examples
• Family
• Religion
• Economy
• Polity
• Education

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Formal Organizations

• A form of secondary group that contains within
  it
• A set of operating principles
• An internal structure to coordinate activities
• A hierarchy of authority--leadership

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Formal Organizations

• Types of Formal Organizations
• Coercive
• Operations and order are maintained through
  forced compliance (Threat of punishment)
• Utilitarian
• Compliance is maintained and operations are
  completed through the promise of rewards
  (Securing financial privileges)
• Voluntary
• End goals of the organization are achieved
  through the shared commitment of organizational
  members (normative expectations)

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Formal OrganizationsVoluntary Associations

• Over 200,000 such organizations in the U.S.
• More than half of all Americans belong to one or
  more voluntary associations.
• Higher income individuals are more likely to
  belong in more than one such association.
• Men and women participate in voluntary
  associations equally.
• Whites more likely than any other racial group to
  belong to a voluntary association.

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Bureaucracy

• Division of Labor
• Written Regulations
• Documentation of Activities
• Hierarchy of Authority
• Mobility tied to Objective Qualifications
• Impartiality

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Bureaucracy

• Max Weber
• As society becomes more complex, it needs a more
  rational based system of organization to operate
  efficiently
• Bureaucracies will proliferate and dominate
  modern society
• The continual movement toward rationalization
  will generate social systems that are
  fundamentally dehumanizing

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Dysfunctions of Bureaucracy

• Parkinsons Law
• Work in a bureaucracy expands to fill the time
  available for its completion
• The Peter Principle
• Those that do well are promoted upward despite a
  possible lack of traits and skills required for
  success in higher placed positions

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Dysfunctions of Bureaucracy

• Communication Problems
• The direction of communication is downward
  rarely is communication directed upward
• Trained Incapacity
• Workers develop tunnel vision incapable of
  responding well to new or unexpected situations
• Ritualism
• Become obsessed with following rules to the point
  that rules become the organizations end rather
  than its previously specified goals
• Goal Displacement
• Attention is drawn toward survival rather than
  achieving defined ends

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Iron Law of Oligarchy

• Robert Michels
• (1876-1936)
• Bureaucracies often generate an enormous degree
  of unregulated social power.
• The problem lies in the nature of bureaucratic
  operation

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Iron Law of Oligarchy

• Effective functioning of an organization requires
  the concentration of power in the hands of the
  few
• Leaders have access and control over information
  that is not available to the rank-and-file
• Control of information flows contribute to
  greater power and the ability to persuade others
  of the rightness of views, and use of authority

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Efforts to Improve on the Bureaucratic Model

• Scientific Management
• Developed by Frederick Taylor (1856-1915)
• Applied during early industrialization
• Sought to improve upon productivity through
  minimizing wasted effort
• Workers viewed as a part in the production
  machine to be optimized
• Although it was quite successful it was very
  alienating for workers

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Efforts to Improve on the Bureaucratic Model

• Human Relations Approach
• Sought to increase worker productivity through
  increased morale
• Make the worker feel like they have a vested
  interest in the company
• Critics argue that while such an approach is more
  humane it is nothing more than window dressing

• Collectives Approach
• Breakaway from strict use of a division of labor
• Sacrifice maximization of efficiency and profits
  for more humane worker environment
• Critics can point to the fact that such an
  approach is only functional for small operations

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Efforts to Improve on the Bureaucratic Model

• The Japanese Model
• Success of the Japanese economy in the 1970s
  caused upper management to take a closer look at
  the Japanese Model
• Collective Hiring and Promotion
• Used as a means to create team orientationWorking
  together to achieve goals
• Holistic Training
• Movement from department to department leading to
  a generalized understanding of the
  wholeOperationally versatile

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Efforts to Improve on theBureaucratic Model

• The Japanese Model
• Decentralized Decision Making
• Input is encouraged from all workersIncrease
  morale
• Lifetime Employment
• Promotion occurs within rather than from movement
  across companiesDevelop worker loyalty
• Total Involvement
• Paternalistically involvedCompanies sponsor
  activities for workers outside of the workplace

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Efforts to Improve on the Bureaucratic Model

• The Flexible and Humane Bureaucracy
• Temporary Work Teams
• Movement and Rearrangement of work teams
• Collective Responsibility
• Effectiveness of the group emphasized over the
  individual
• Minimal Hierarchy
• Focus is on colleagueship

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Efforts to Improve on theBureaucratic Model

• The Flexible and Human Bureaucracy
• Fewer Rules
• Less detailed guidelines, workers are entrusted
  with responsibilities
• Social Inclusiveness
• Seek participation from women and minorities
• More Opportunities for Advancement
• Provide chances for enhancement of worker skills