1. BR:
What three types of formal organizations did Amitai Etzioni identify? Name and describe each:

2. Ch. 6: Leadership and Conformity
Sociology
Ch. 6: Leadership and Conformity

3. Review: Formal Organizations
In our society, we have many large, impersonal secondary groups that are important to our society. Examples:
Schools
Businesses
Healthcare
Government, etc
Also known as institutions, these groups are formal organizations, groups that because of time, tradition, etc., have become formalized and an accepted part of society. Also, many times these become or are bureaucracies (we’ll discuss these later).

4. Main Types of Formal Organizations
Sociologist Amitai Etzioni thought that these groups fell into three main categories:
Voluntary, Coercive, Utilitarian
Voluntary, aka Normative Groups are based on shared interests. People join them because they find it enjoyable or rewarding in some way. Examples: After school clubs, etc.
Coercive Groups are groups that we are forced to join, and they are often total institutions, in that they totally control what you do, how your time is spent, etc. Examples: Prison, Rehab Center, etc.
Utilitarian Groups are groups we join because we see some material reward. Examples: School (for a diploma); Job (for $$), etc.

5. Bureaucracies:
Bureaucracies are an epitome (ideal example) of a formal organization. Pioneer sociologist Max Weber popularly characterized a bureaucracy as having a hierarchy of authority, a clear division of labor, explicit rules, and impersonality (1922).
People often complain about bureaucracies––declaring them slow, rule-bound, difficult to navigate, and unfriendly. Let’s take a look at terms that define a bureaucracy to understand what they mean:

6. Hierarchy in Bureaucracies
Hierarchy of authority refers to the aspect of bureaucracy that places one individual or office in charge of another, who in turn must answer to her own superiors.
Examples: Walmart
You have a shift leader, who reports to a manager.
That manager reports to a general manager.
That General manager reports to a regional manager.
And so on, eventually to a CEO, who answers to Board Members, who answer to stockholders.

7. Division of Labor
Division of Labor: everyone has specialized tasks to perform. This can work well, but it can also cause issues.
Good example: A psychology professor mentors students and volunteers as a school counselor (makes perfect sense, she’s an expert on that sort of thing)
Bad Example: You’re in a restaurant, and food is backed up in the kitchen. Meanwhile, a hostess is standing nearby talking on her phone. Her job is to seat customers, not to deliver food. Is this a smart division of labor? VID

8. Other Fun Bureaucracy Stuff!
Explicit Rules: Bureaucracies seem to have rules for everything, to cover any possible scenario. They have employee handbooks that explain all of these, and are VERY popular reading as you can imagine. VID
Impersonality: This is often another aspect of bureaucracies; personal feelings are eliminated as much as possible, to increase effectiveness and eliminate favoritism. Sadly though, this often leads to apathetic workers and employees who care little about their job, customers, etc. VID
In theory, a bureaucracy is supposed to be a meritocracy, where promotion, raises, etc. are based on documented skills, rather that who likes who, or other types of favoritism.
Meritocracies are not perfect though. There are many well-documented cases of successful people who are drop-outs, got famous on Youtube, etc. VID

9. Pros and Cons
Bureaucracies attempt to improve effectiveness, ensure equal opportunity, and help make sure that the most people possible are served. However, these bureaucracies were mostly developed during the Industrial Revolution.
Young workers were trained, and organizations were built for mass production, assembly line work, and factory jobs. In these scenarios, a clear chain of command was critical.
Now, in the information age, this kind of rigid training and adherence to protocol can actually decrease both productivity and efficiency. Today’s workplace requires a faster pace, more problem solving, and a flexible approach to work. Too much adherence to explicit rules and a division of labor can leave an organization behind. Example: Sears, Kmart, etc. VID

10. McDonaldization of Society
This term refers to the increasing presence of the fast food business model in other common social institutions. This business model includes efficiency (the division of labor), predictability, calculability, and control (monitoring).
For example, in your average chain grocery store, people at the register check out customers while stockers keep the shelves full of goods and deli workers slice meats and cheese to order (efficiency).
Whenever you enter a store within that grocery chain, you receive the same type of goods, see the same store organization, and find the same brands at the same prices (predictability).

11. McDonaldization, Cont.
You will find that goods are sold by the pound, so that you can weigh your fruit and vegetable purchase rather than simply guessing at the price for that bag of onions, while the employees use a timecard system to calculate their hours and receive overtime pay (calculability).
Finally, you will notice that all store employees are wearing a uniform (and usually a name tag) so that they can be easily identified. There are security cameras to monitor the store, and some parts of the store, such as the stockroom, are generally considered off-limits to customers (control).
While McDonaldization has resulted in improved profits and an increased availability of various goods and services to more people worldwide, it has also reduced the variety of goods available in the marketplace while rendering available products uniform, generic, and bland.
Think of the difference between a mass-produced shoe and one made by a local cobbler, between a chicken from a family-owned farm and a corporate grower, or between a cup of coffee from the local diner and one from Starbucks.

12. HW:
Finish your HO on “Secrets of the McJob”, and get that turned in 