© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Sociology Eleventh Edition Richard T. Schaefer Chapter 6: Groups and Organizations

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 2 Groups and Organizations  Understanding Groups Understanding Groups  Understanding Organizations Understanding Organizations  Case Study: Bureaucracy and the Space Shuttle Columbia Case Study: Bureaucracy and the Space Shuttle Columbia  Voluntary Associations Voluntary Associations  The Changing Workplace The Changing Workplace  Social Policy and Organizations: The State of the Unions Social Policy and Organizations: The State of the Unions

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 3 Types of Groups  Group: any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who interact on a regular basis Primary group: small group with intimate, face-to-face association and cooperation Secondary group: formal, impersonal groups with little social intimacy or mutual understanding

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 4 Types of Groups In-groups: any groups or categories to which people feel they belong Out-groups: any groups or categories to which people feel they do not belong Conflict between in-groups and out-groups can turn violent on a personal as well as political level

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 5 Types of Groups Reference group: any group that individuals use as standard for evaluating their own behavior  Reference groups set and enforce standards of conduct and belief  Often two or more reference groups influence us at the same time Coalitions: temporary or permanent alliances geared toward common goal

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 6 Table 6-1: Comparison of Primary and Secondary Groups

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 7 Studying Small Groups  Small group: group small enough for all members to interact simultaneously  Size of a Group Smaller groups have greater interaction opportunities Dyad: a two-member group Triad: a three-member group

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 8 Studying Small Groups  Groupthink: collective pressure to conform to predominant line of thought High-level government leaders and advisers particularly prone to groupthink Outside facilitators can help avoid groupthink

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 9 Research in Action  6-1: Decision Making in the Jury Room Have you ever served on a jury?  Were you aware of jurors who made up their minds early in the trial, despite the judge’s instructions?  Did you experience stress from being exposed to graphic images of violence and bloodshed? Is a jury a typical small group?  Would a large group be more effective than a small group in determining a defendant’s guilt or innocence?

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 10 Formal Organizations and Bureaucracies  Formal organization: group designed for a special-purpose and structured for maximum efficiency In U.S., formal organizations fulfill enormous variety of personal and societal needs Ascribed statuses can influence how we see ourselves within formal organizations

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 11 Characteristics of a Bureaucracy  Bureaucracy: component of formal organization that uses rules and hierarchical ranking to achieve efficiency  Ideal type bureaucracy: (Weber) construct or model for evaluating specific cases Weber emphasized basic similarity of structure and process found in dissimilar enterprises of religion, government, education, and business

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 12 Characteristics of a Bureaucracy  Ideal type bureaucracy 1.Division of labor 2.Hierarchy of authority 3.Written rules and regulations 4.Impersonality 5.Employment based on technical qualifications

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 13 Characteristics of a Bureaucracy  Division of labor Specialized experts perform specific tasks  Fragmentation of work can remove connection workers have to overall objective of the bureaucracy Alienation: condition of estrangement or dissociation from the surrounding society Trained incapacity: workers become so specialized that they develop blind spots and fail to notice obvious problems

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 14 Characteristics of a Bureaucracy  Hierarchy of Authority Each position is under the supervision of a higher authority  Written rules and regulations Rules and regulations ensures uniform performance of every task Provide sense of continuity Goal displacement: when rules and regulations can overshadow larger goals of an organization and become dysfunctional

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 15 Characteristics of a Bureaucracy  Impersonality Bureaucratic norms dictate that officials perform duties without personal consideration to people as individuals  Employment based on technical qualifications Peter Principle: every employee within a hierarchy tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence (Peter and Jull 1969)

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 16 Characteristics of a Bureaucracy  Bureaucratization as Process Bureaucratization: process by which group, organization, or social movement becomes increasingly bureaucratic  Can take place within small group settings  Oligarchy: Rule by a Few Iron Law of Oligarchy: even a democratic organization eventually develops into a bureaucracy ruled by a few

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 17 Table 6-2: Characteristics of a Bureaucracy

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 18 Sociology in the Global Community  6-2: McDonald’s and the Worldwide Bureaucratization of Society Do you patronize McDonald’s and other fast- food establishments?  What features of these restaurants do you appreciate?  Do you have any complaints about them? Analyze life at your college using Weber’s model of bureaucracy.  What elements of McDonaldization do you see?  Do you wish life were less McDonaldized?

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 19 Bureaucracy and Organizational Culture  Classical theory: (also known as Scientific Management Approach) workers are motivated almost entirely by economic rewards  Human relations approach: role of people, communication, and participation within a bureaucracy emphasized Difficult to research because of Hawthorne effect

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 20 Case Study: Bureaucracy and the Space Shuttle Columbia  In February, 2003, space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it reentered earth’s atmosphere Accident Investigation Board found causes  Foam struck spacecraft’s wing during liftoff Foam labeled as a maintenance problem and not a safety issue  NASA’s bureaucratic organizational culture Condemned “acceptable risk” attitude

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 21 Voluntary Associations  Voluntary association: organization established based on common interests with members who volunteer or pay to participate More than 456,000 voluntary associations in U.S.  Largely segregated by gender  Importance of associations increasingly being recognized

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 22 Figure 6-1: Membership in Voluntary Associations in the United States Source: J. Davis and Smith 2001:347.

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 23 Research in Action  6-3: Hired Guns What do you think of the trend toward the temporary employment of skilled workers?  How might it affect the value you place on a college education? Besides the growing dominance of service industries and information systems, what other factors might be contributing to the trend toward temporary employment of skilled workers?

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 24 Organizational Restructuring  Formal organizations experimenting with new ways of getting the job done since late 20th century Collective decision making Minimal hierarchy Project teams and task forces Fostered growing number of independent consultants and outside contractors who labor off site

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 25 Telecommuting  Telecommuters: employees who work full- or part-time at home rather than in an outside office  Number of telecommuters increased from 8.5 million in 1995 to 50 million in 2005 Telecommuting may move society further along the continuum from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft Could pull fathers and mothers back into the home

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 26 Electronic Communication  efficient, rapidly communicated, and democratic Does not convey body language, leaves a permanent record, and can be monitored  Electronic communication contributes significantly to fragmentation of work

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 27 The State of the Unions  The Issue What diminished importance of organized labor unions?  Membership dropped from 39% of private sector workers in 1954 to 12.5% in 2005 Have unions perhaps outlived their usefulness in a rapidly changing global economy dominated by the service industry?

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 28 The State of the Unions  The Setting Labor unions: organized workers sharing either the same skill or the same employer Reasons given for decline of labor unions  Changes in the type of industry  Growth in part-time jobs  Legal system  Globalization  Employer offensives  Union rigidity and bureaucratization

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 29 The State of the Unions  Sociological Insights Marxists and functionalists view unions as logical response to emergence of impersonal, large-scale, formal, and often alienating organizations Conflict theorists note the longer union leaders are in office the less responsive they are to the needs and demands of the rank and file Many union employees encounter role conflict

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 30 The State of the Unions  Policy Initiatives U.S. unique in allowing employers to actively oppose employee’s right to organize  Major barrier to union growth exists in 22 states with right-to-work laws  Union power waning on the national level  In Europe, labor unions tend to play major role in political elections  Debate in Congress raised question whether unions should use dues to support political candidate or position

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 31 Figure 6-2: Union Membership in the United States Source: Hirsch and Macpherson 2006.

© 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Slide 32 Figure 6-3: Union Membership in the United States Note: “Right to work” means that legally, workers cannot be required to join a union or pay union dues. Source: Developed by the author based on data from Bureau of Labor Statistics 2005; National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation 2007.