Sociology 1301
Professor: Linda Cook
Lecture Notes
GROUPS, ORGANIZATIONS AND BUREAUCRACIES
I)
Groups
A) Types of Groups
1) Primary Groups/Secondary Groups
Primary Groups are long-term, have a personal orientation, and the members are not
interchangeable. Ex: family, close friends.
Secondary Groups are short-term, have a goal orientation, and the members are
interchangeable. Ex: your Sociology class, business associates working on a project.
*Secondary Groups are short-term because once their goal is achieved, the group ceases to
exist.
2) Reference Groups are groups we refer to when evaluating ourselves. The keys to understanding
reference group behavior are that we do not evaluate ourselves on the basis of absolute
standards and often choose inappropriate reference groups. Ex: the college’s grading policy
(absolute standard) is as follows: 90-100=A, 80-89=B, 70-79=C, 60-69=D, Below 60=F. Assume
you take an exam and you earn a grade of 64. According to the absolute standard, you made a D
and do not feel particularly positive about your grade. However, if the professor then informs
the class that only 2 students out of 30 passed the exam, you suddenly feel good about your 64,
knowing it was one of only two passing grades. Conversely, if the professor notes that all
students in the class except 2 made an A on the exam, you feel even worse about your 64 than
when you first received it. In both cases you are using your classmates, not the absolute
standard, as your reference group.
Depending on which groups we choose as reference groups, we feel relative gratification or
relative deprivation. Ex: If you evaluate your financial wellbeing by comparing yourself to a
group of homeless people, you feel relative gratification. If instead you compare yourself to a
group of billionaires, you feel relative deprivation.
3) Dyads/Triads
These are the two smallest groups. Dyads have 2 members, triads have 3. Dyads are the least
stable of all groups because if one person leaves, the group ceases to exist. Triads, while not as
unstable as dyads, are unstable due to the possibility of a coalition, where two members interact
and the third is excluded from the interaction. However, triads have a possible source of
stability unavailable to dyads, mediation. Mediation means one member acts as a go-between if
two members are in disagreement, thereby keeping the group together.
B) Group Leadership
1) Styles of leading/achieving goals
a) Expressive Leader – this leader wants to achieve the goal but his/her main focus is on the
wellbeing of the group members.
b) Instrumental Leader – this leader is a taskmaster, focused strictly on achieving the goal as
quickly and efficiently as possible.
*The most effective leaders combine elements of both leadership styles.
2) Decision-making Styles
a) Authoritarian Leader – the leader unilaterally makes decisions and demands
compliance.
b) Democratic Leader – the leader makes the decision but, before doing so, listens to
and takes into account the group members’ thoughts and opinions.
c) Laissez-faire Leader – the leader is there for consultation but essentially turns over the
decision-making to the group members.
*No decision-making style is always best; it depends on the group and the task at hand. As
examples, an authoritarian leader is thought to be best in combat but a laissez-faire leader is
best when group members with differing areas of expertise are brought together to solve a
complex problem.
C) Group Processes
1) Exchange – a voluntary interaction where the members trade tangible or intangible benefits. It
is governed by the norm of reciprocity – the expectation that people return favors. Ex: friends
may exchange advice for emotional support. Business people may exchange discounted
materials on a project for promises of future contracts. Politicians may exchange votes on bills
important to each one.
2) Cooperation – working together to achieve common goals. Whereas exchange is a trade,
cooperation is teamwork. We enter many voluntary relationships as exchange but over time,
they often develop aspects of cooperation. Ex: when we begin dating our future spouses, dating
is an exchange. Once married, we also cooperate in paying bills and rearing children.
3) Competition and 4) Conflict – they occur under the same conditions:
a) Scarce Resources
b) Mutually Exclusive Goals – if one member achieves their goals, it precludes the other
member(s) from achieving theirs. Ex: you want to study; your roommate wants to bang
their drums. If one of you does what you want, the other one cannot.
*The difference is that competition is governed by shared rules and norms which specify how
winning is fair and losing is tolerable whereas conflict means there are no rules and members do
whatever they believe is necessary to achieve their goals. Ex: three people apply for one job.
They submit applications, letters of reference, and all are interviewed. If everything is fair and
open, this is competition and the two who do not get the job tolerate the decision. If the person
who got the job spread untrue rumors about the other two, this is conflict.
5) Coercion – the threat of force to achieve one’s goals. Coercion is the only group process that
Requires that group members have differential power, that some be superordinate (have more
power) and some be subordinate (have less power). This is because the threat of force carries
no weight unless the person making the threat has the power to carry through on the threat. A
child threatening to discipline a parent is laughable; a parent threatening a child is meaningful.
II) Formal Organizations – large scale organizations with a formalized (written) structure
A) Voluntary Organizations – we join these organizations because we believe they pursue worthwhile
goals. Ex: We might join the Red Cross because we believe disaster relief is important or the PTA
(Parent Teacher Association) because we believe parental involvement in schools is important.
B) Utilitarian Organizations – we join these because they are useful to us. Ex: We might join a
professional organization or a union because they are useful to us in our job.
C) Coercive Organizations – we are forced to join these organizations. Ex: We are involuntarily
committed to a mental institution or a drug rehabilitation center.
*An organization is not by definition necessarily voluntary, utilitarian or coercive. One might join the
military to defend the country (voluntary), to save money for education or pursue vocational training
(utilitarian) or be drafted (coercive).
III) Bureaucracies – large scale, formal organizations rationally designed to maximize efficiency. This
definition may not be what comes to mind when one thinks of a large corporation or a governmental
agency. However, they are somewhat more efficient than what preceded them. As societies
industrialized, organizations became larger, with increasing numbers of employees and governments
became more democratic, with separate spheres of authority. Making sure all tasks were completed
and duties didn’t overlap was difficulty using a “Mom & Pop” or “Monarch & friends” model.
A) Weber’s Ideal Type Bureaucracy
1) Specialization and the division of labor – all tasks are divided up and each individual is
responsible for specific duties. This is efficient because it ensures all jobs are done and
people should become good at a job if they do it repeatedly. However, jobs can also become
boring and routine and stifle creativity.
2) Hierarchical structure – the most common is the pyramid as follows:
CEO and Board of Directors
upper management
middle management
lower management
retail sales floor or assembly line in
manufacturing
All employees know exactly who they report to and who they must go to with
questions/problems. Those at the higher levels of the organization are free to perform their
leadership roles and not get bogged down in dealing with minute problems. The downside is
that lower level employees often feel they have no input into organizational goals and those
at the higher levels may lose touch with the day to day functioning of the organization.
3) Formal rules, regulations and procedures – the organization’s policies are written so that all
employees will have equal access to them and will know what is expected of them. This is
also designed to prevent favoritism in that everyone is subject to the same rules. The main
problem is that there is no room for flexibility when dealing with individual cases where the
rules do not clearly fit.
4) Impersonal relations – Employees are to maintain formal relationships with one another and
clients of the organization. Once again, this should guard against real or perceived
favoritism and keep employees from wasting the organization’s time by fraternizing instead
of working. Interestingly, in spite of these problems, many organizations now actually
encourage friendships between coworkers because they find that the employees become
happier, more committed employees. For example, they will pitch in and cover the duties of
other employees when they are absent.
5) Merit and Careers – This is the idea that all employees are hired and promoted on the basis
of expertise and/or seniority and that they will remain with the organization throughout
their entire working career. For the organization, this should mean they have the most
qualified employees and, if they provide training, the rewards will accrue to the
organization. The employees should feel secure in the organization and know that their hard
work and experience will move them up through the organizational ranks. Currently, this
idea of merit and careers does not often occur. Employees who gain additional training may
move to a better paying position at another organization and organizations oftentimes
‘downsize’ long-term employees before they are ready for retirement. In addition, expertise
and experience may not be the only necessary elements for a promotion. Ex: Someone who
is the best engineer in the engineering department and has worked there longer than
anyone else will not necessarily be the best choice for manager of the engineering
department. They must also have managerial or ‘people skills’.
B) Bureaucratic Dysfunctions
1) Peter Principle – employees may be promoted to their level of incompetence and remain
there because they are always promoted on the basis of current performance. Ex: You
graduate with a BBA in management and are hired into an organization as a lower level
manager. The job entails supervision of people which is what you are very good at. You stay
in this job for 3 years and a job in middle management opens up. You will probably be
promoted because you are performing well in your current lower management position.
Your new job as middle manager involves mainly paperwork, designing organizational flow
charts, etc. This is not where your skill lies so you are not particularly effective. In five years,
a position becomes available in upper management and you apply for it. Since your current
performance is mediocre at best, you will probably not be promoted. You will remain as an
ineffective middle manager.
2) Bureaucratic Ritualism – Employees become so focused on following the organization’s
formal rules that they lose sight of the organization’s goals. Ex: The goal of a retail sales
organization is repeat sales so their customers’ satisfaction is important. An employee is
trained with a policy and procedures manual that states merchandise may be returned for a
refund only up to 30 days from the date of purchase. A customer brings back a purchase
after 32 days and requests a refund. If the employee follows the rules, he/she denies the
refund, angering the customer who may decide not to shop at the store again.
3) Parkinson’s Law – Work expands to fill the time allowed. Ex: An employee normally makes
12 widgets a day. The warehouse is backed up and the employee is told to produce only 7
widgets a day until the backlog is sold and there is storage room in the warehouse. Instead
of making 7 widgets by 1:30pm, the employee will now take the full 8 hour day to make 7
widgets. The dysfunction occurs when the employee is told to return to his/her original 12
widgets per day production level. Many times, employees find it difficult to return to their
own prior production levels. Therefore, bureaucracies often either lay off employees during
slowdowns or give them ‘busy work’ In order to keep their productivity levels constant.
C) Iron Law of Oligarchy (Robert Michels) – No matter how equal or democratic an organization begins,
over time it will always turn into an oligarchy. Oligarchy means the rule of the many by the few.
(Refer back to the pyramid diagram in these notes. It is the classic example of an oligarchy). Ex: Ten
people decide to start a company of equals. They each contribute $10,000 in start-up costs and plan
to be equal in power and decision making. One of the members has previous experience in
advertising and volunteers to design an advertising campaign for the new company. A second person
has an accounting background and institutes an accounting program to keep track of the company’s
receivables, payables, stocks, etc. A third person has a strong personality and takes charge of the
agenda every time the members get together to discuss the company’s goals, dominating the
conversation and thereby channeling the direction the company takes. Michels argues that, within a
few years, only a few members will be running the organization and it will no longer be a company of
equals because once people gain power, by whatever means, they work to keep it.