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CHAPTER 6: GROUPS, NETWORKS AND ORGANIZATIONS
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I. Introduction: Social Groups
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II. Groups Within Society
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III. Group Dynamics
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IV. Rationalization of Society
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V. Characteristics of Bureaucracy
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VI. Bureaucratic Dysfunctions
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VII. Conclusions
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I. INTRODUCTION: SOCIAL GROUPS
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A. Social Groups and Identities
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1. What is a social group?
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a. a collection of people who regularly interact with one another on the basis of shared expectations
concerning behavior and who share a sense of ________________________
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b. e.g. a _____________ shares an interest in relationships with the opposite sex, music, sports, activities
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A.2. Who are you?
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3. Who are you: ______________________________________
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a. all are groups to which ____________________________
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b. this sense of belonging is the key to social integration and _________________________ (Durkheim)
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II. GROUPS WITHIN SOCIETY
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A. Aggregates, Categories and Groups
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1. social _____________________: a simple collection of people who happen to be together in a
particular space but do not significantly interact or identify with one another
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2. social ___________________: people who share a common characteristic but do not necessarily
interact or identify with one another
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3. social ________________: a collection of people who regularly interact with one another on the basis
of shared expectations concerning behavior and who share a sense of common identity
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B. Primary and Secondary Groups: Charles Horton Cooley
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1. ___________________ group: groups that are characterized by intense emotional ties, face-to-face
interaction, intimacy, and a strong, enduring sense of commitment
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a. examples: ___________________________________
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b. central to socialization and our _________________________
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c. may _____________: become dysfunctional, hurt their members, or fall apart
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B.2. _____________ group: groups characterized by large size and by impersonal, fleeting relationships
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a. relatively temporary, more anonymous, formal, and impersonal group based on some interest or
activity, whose members interact based on ______________________________
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b. examples: ______________________________
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c. What is your most important characteristic, according to WMU?
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C. In-groups and Out-groups
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1. _____________________________: groups toward which one feels particular loyalty and respect, the
group to which “we” belong: WMU
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2. __________________: groups toward which one feels antagonism and contempt, “those people”: CMU
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3. Consequences of this division of the world into in-groups and out-groups:
______________________________________________
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D. __________________________ Groups: a group that provides a standard for judging one’s attitudes or
behaviors, even if we do not belong to the group
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1. e.g. how to become a successful politician?
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E. _____________________: sets of informal and formal social ties that link people to each other
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1. provide members with valuable information, _____________________________________
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F. _____________________: consciously using and cultivating networks for some gain; e.g. employment
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G. ________________________: a cluster of people within a larger group who choose to interact with
one another; an internal faction
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1. Examples of cliques in high school or at WMU?
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H. _______________________ community: individuals who more or less regularly interact with one
another on the Internet; e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
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I. Electronic _____________________________: individuals who regularly interact with one another on
the Internet, who see themselves as a group, and who develop close ties
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1. Any members of this type of group?
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III. GROUP DYNAMICS
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A. What are Group Dynamics?
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1. the ways in which individuals affect groups and the ways in which groups ___________________
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B. Group Size
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1. Size and ____________________________:
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a. ___________: a group consisting of two persons; most intense and intimate, but also most unstable
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b. as a group grows __________________, intensity and intimacy decrease and stability increases
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c. _____________: a group consisting of three persons; more stable, but more potential for alliances and
conflict
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B.2. Group Size and ______________________________
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a. a small group can operate by _____________ because discussion and debate can reach an agreement
quickly
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b. in a larger group, discussion and debate can be endless, e.g. _____________________________
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c. leaders emerge in larger groups to allow the group to ______________________________
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B.3. Group Size & __________________________________________
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a. ______________________________________: in larger groups, people feel a diffusion of
responsibility; other people in the group can help, so why should I?
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4. Size and Degree of _____________________________: a small group of friends does not have a formal
structure, but large secondary groups do
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C. Conforming to _________________________________
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1. The ___________________ Experiment: the length of lines on a card and the effects of peer pressure,
even from people you do not know
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2. The ___________________________ Experiment: obeying orders to administer electric shocks to
someone in order to teach them
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IV. RATIONALIZATION OF SOCIETY
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A. What Are Organizations, Formal Organizations and Bureaucracies?
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1. __________________: a large group of individuals with a definite set of authority relations
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2. ____________________ Organization: a group that is rationally designed to achieve its objectives,
often by means of explicit rules, regulations, and procedures
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a. What do you think of when you hear the word “bureaucracy”?
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b. Then why do we have so many bureaucracies?
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A.3. _____________________________: a formal organization with:
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a. a hierarchy of _______________________: assignments flow downwards, accountability upwards
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b. a clear division of ____________________
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c. written ________________
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d. written communication and ________________________
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e. impersonality of ___________________________
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B. Why Study Bureaucracies?
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1. because we _________________________________ as members of bureaucracies: schools,
corporations, government agencies, churches, etc.
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C. What Is Rationality?
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1. ________________________________: the acceptance of rules, efficiency, and practical results as the
right way to approach human affairs
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D. Max Weber
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1. __________________________ societies believed that the past was the best guide for decisions people
had to make in the present
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a. “because that’s the way we’ve _____________________________________”
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b. e.g. passing down traditional ways of planting crops in ________________________________
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D.2. This reliance on traditional ways of doing things stood in the way of _______________________,
since the Industrial Revolution was dependent on people finding new ways of doing things, e.g. inventing
the steam engine and machines to use in factories
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3. How did rationality replace tradition as the guide for human behavior?
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D.4. Max Weber’s Answer: The ______________________________ and the Spirit of Capitalism:
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a. success in life meant that you were ______________________ in the new Protestant religions
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b. spending money on yourself was _________________
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c. only acceptable thing was to _________________________________ to make more money
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d. _______________________________ make it possible for businesses to grow
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E. Karl Marx
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1. _____________________________ did not lead to rationalization and bureaucracies
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2. Instead, capitalism changed the way people __________________________________
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3. In order to make money, people had to create and put into practice new ____________________
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E.4. Capitalist industrial production destroyed traditional ways of life and the utility of believing in
______________________
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5. Because capitalism was so efficient and productive, people ______________________________
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6. Rationality resulted from economic and technological changes in society, not from ________________
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F. Rationalization and Bureaucracy
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1. Both Weber and Marx identified the key change in the transition from agrarian to industrial societies:
_____________________________
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2. The most important element of rationalization was the growth of bureaucracies that made it possible
to organize _________________________________________: this is why we have so many bureaucracies
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V. CHARACTERISTICS OF BUREAUCRACY
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A. Hierarchy of _________________: assignments flow downward and accountability flows upward
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1. e.g. my role as a __________________________ within WMU
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B. Division of ___________________: work is broken down into specific tasks and people are trained to
specialize in each task
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1. e.g. professors vs. __________________________________
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C. Written _________________: tell each member what their role and duties are
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1. e.g. faculty and student _______________________
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D. Written Communications and _____________________: members are required to keep track of what
they do in writing
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1. e.g. _____________________________________
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E. ___________________________________: members owe loyalty to the role in the organization, not to
particular individuals, and rewards are based on merit
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1. What would I do if they ___________________ my department head today?
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VI. BUREAUCRATIC DYSFUNCTIONS
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A. Assigning People to Roles Not Suited to Their ______________________
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1. e.g. the ___________________________
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B. _________________ Principle: people are promoted to their level of incompetence
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1. What happens if you do a good job in your current position?
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C. Lack of C____________________ To Written Rules and Impersonality: informal norms of behavior
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1. e.g. “here’s how we really do things” during workplace socialization
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D. Lack of Communication between _________________
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1. e.g. What would you do if you found out you were actually enrolled in a different section of Soc 2000?
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E. _______________________: devotion to official procedures becomes a ritual, losing sight of the reason
the rules were created, “red tape”
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1. e.g. getting an _____________________________________
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F. ____________________________ Law: work expands to fill the time available for its completion
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1. the importance of “___________________________________”
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G. Goal ______________________________: the adoption of new goals by an organization, often
because the first goal was fulfilled
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1. e.g. the _______________________________________
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H. Bureaucratic ___________________: feeling powerless, normless, and cut off from the product of your
own labor
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1. What examples of alienation are there in “Feel Like a Number”?
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2. How does the narrator react to this feeling of alienation?
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FEEL LIKE A NUMBER
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
I take my card and I stand in line
To make a buck I work overtime
“Resident” letters keep coming in the mail
I work my back till it’s wracked with pain
The boss can’t even recall my name
I show up late and I’m docked;
It never fails
I feel like just a number
A spoke in a great big wheel
Like a tiny blade of grass in a great big field
To workers I’m just another drone
To Ma Bell I’m just another phone
I’m just another statistic on a sheet
To teachers I’m just another child
To IRS I’m another file
I’m just another consensus on the street
Gonna cruise out of this city
Head down to the sea
Gonna shout out at the ocean
“Hey, it’s me!”
I feel like a number
I feel like a number
Feel like a stranger
A stranger in this land
I feel like a number
I’m not a number
Dammit, I’m a man
I said I’m a man
Group Exercise:
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1. What examples of alienation are there in “Feel Like a Number”?
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2. How does the narrator react to this feeling of alienation?
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VII. Conclusions
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A. The groups to which we belong affect many aspects of ________________________
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B. The ___________________ of a group is one major determinant of how groups operate and how they
affect their members
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C. Bureaucracies are part of _______________________________ of our everyday lives
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D. Bureaucracies developed to allow ____________________________________ to grow and connect the
world into one world economy
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E. Bureaucracies have many _______________________________________