1. BureaucracIEs and formal OrganIZatIons
SOCI 100: Introduction to Sociology
Instructor: Deniz Yükseker
Fall 2012

2. RATIONALIZATION
Max Weber argues that, during the transition from traditional (horticultural and agricultural) to modern (industrial and later, post-industrial) societies, a process of rationalization took place. There was a transformation from “substantive rationality” to “formal rationality”

3. FORMAL AND SUBSTANTIVE RATIONALITY
Substantive rationality: Values or clusters of values that guide people in their daily lives, especially in their choice of means to achieve certain ends.
Substantive rationality was dominant in traditional societies.
According to Weber, formal rationality emerged in the modern world and has become the dominant form of rationality.
Formal rationality: rational calculation of means to ends based on universally applied rules, regulations, and laws. Formal rationality is institutionalized in large-scale structures such as bureaucratic organizations, modern law, and the capitalist economy. Under formal rationality, in order to make decisions, we use rules, regulations and organizations that yield optimal results.

4. FORMAL RATIONALITY
Disenchantment and intellectualization of the world; and the tendency to view the world as a causal mechanism subject to rational control
The growing importance of specialized technical knowledge in the economy, in administration and in education
The objectification and depersonalization of law, economy and polity, and the consequent increase in the regularity and calculability of action in these domains
Development of technically rational means of control over humans and nature

5. Can you think of examples of how we rationally calculated decisions in our daily lives?

6. In the textbook, disregard pp
In the textbook, disregard pp (Marx: capitalism broke tradition; Weber: religion broke tradition)

7. Formal organIZAtIons
Large secondary groups that are organized to achieve specific objectives efficiently and rationally Examples: corporations, political parties, government agencies, international agencies, universities, international charity organizations Less personal, and very formal atmosphere

8. Types of formal organizations
Utilitarian organizations: they provide material rewards for their members (e.g. business enterprises, corporations)
Voluntary organizations: they pursue goals that are morally worthwhile (e.g. environmental organizations, human rights organizations, charitable organizations, etc.)
Coercive organizations: membership is involuntary; people are put into such organizations typically against their will (e.g. prisons, armies)
However, this classification of formal organizations is only suggestive; a single organization can have characteristics of both a utilitarian and a coercive, organization, etc.

9. BureaucracIEs
All of the above are usually bureaucracies Bureaucracy: A formal organization with a hierarchy of authority and a clear division of labor; emphasis on impersonality of positions and written rules, communications, and records

10. Is Koç UniversITY a Bureaucracy?
Check out

11. CHARACTERISTICS OF Bureaucracies
Hierarchy of offices: assignments flow downward, accountability flows upward
Division of labor
Written rules and regulation
Written communications and records
Impersonality and replaceability

12. dysfunctIONs of bureaucracies
Bureaucratic alienation
Bureaucratic inefficiency (red tape)
Informality in bureaucracies  social networks (see Chapter 6)
Corruption

13. socIAl NETWORKS (see chapter 6)
A network is a web of social ties that links people to each other 
A social web that extends outwards
Groups and organizations have boundaries
Networks are about a field of relations and connections (people, groups, states)
Are networks important?
“who you know might be more important than what you know”

14. The “McDonaldization” of Society”
George Ritzer says that Weber’s bureaucratization has taken a new dimension  McDonaldization
The spread of organizational principles used first by the McDonalds chain
efficiency
calculability
uniformity and predictability
control through automation

15. Can you think of examples of MacDonaldization?

16. «IRON law of olIgarchy»
Bureaucratic abuse of power  oligarchy: the rule of the many by the few (Robert Michels)
The iron law of oligarchy: a few people govern powerful political organizations  concentration of power, delimiting of democracy

17. “Bureaucracy’s darkest hour” the Holocaust
Zigmund Bauman: “We live in a type of society that made the Holocaust possible.” Modern society made possible a bureaucratic structure in which people fulfilled commands without feeling responsible  6 million Jews, several million gypsies, gays, disabled people, and others were killed

18. The power of authorIty The Milgram experiment (1963, 1965)
What were the results of the experiment?
What does it tell us about bureaucracies and the Holocaust?
What are the ethical problems in this experiment?
(check chapter 6 on Groups)

19. The next slide is provided for your information, but is not included in Midterm Exam 2

20. Can bureaucracies be humanized?
When you graduate, many of you will work in corporate workplaces, which are bureaucracies.
Can the working environment be “humanized”?
Social inclusiveness
Sharing of responsibilities
Expanding opportunities for advancement
Collective decision making (quality circles, team building)
Worker empowerment
Corporate child care