Ch. 6-Societies, Organizations, and the Global Domain
I.
Formal Organizations
A formal organization is a large secondary group, organized to
accomplish specific goals or tasks and to accomplish these
goals in an efficient manner.
Bureaucracy: Weber’s “ideal type”:
Specialization/division of labor
Hierarchy of authority
Rules and regulations
Technical competence-merit/career structure
Impersonal relationships-rules over people
Formal written communication
Dysfunctions of Bureaucracy:
Peter Principle-people often promoted to their level of
incompetence. Promotions presumed to be based on merit and
continue until the person ends up in a position where they do
not have the skills to perform the job.
“Red Tape” refers to those rules and regulations that have no
value, but must be followed, that produce inefficient operations
within the system; the forms that must be filled out to ward off
complaints from customers being served. Bureaucracies often
demand far more information than they need.
“Catch-22”- Rules written in a way that makes it impossible to
do what another rule demands or requires is referred to as a
“catch 22.”
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Contemporary Changes in Bureaucracy:
Does not fit well with Weber’s ideal type
Downsizing-streamlining operations, focus on core
competencies rather than expansion.
Outsourcing-refers to the transfer of work to organizations in
other countries. Example: call centers
Increased flexibility-need increased ability to adjust to social
change
Prosumers- combining the acts of consumption and production,
a process of turning over work formerly performed within
corporations to the clients.
II.
McDonaldization of Society
McDonald’s service is organized to maximize efficiency by
minimizing opportunities for mistakes. Many organizations
have followed suit with the expansion of low-wage service
work. Refers to a “fast food” model for bureaucratic
functioning, e.g. Efficiency, predictability, calculability,
control, and those inevitable irrationalities of rationality are
embedded in the structure and functioning of bureaucracies.
Their criteria:
Efficiency
Predictability/Uniformity
Calculability
Control
Despite the spread of McDonaldization, some are speculating
that it (like bureaucratization) has passed its peak.
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III.
Computer Technology, Large Organizations & the Assault
on Privacy
Debate over national security vs privacy/freedom
U.S. Patriot Act: 90% of US households are profiled in a data
base: current laws cannot address privacy issues
Loss of privacy with more complex computer technology
Credit, drivers license, easy tags, cameras, store discounts
http://www.stopidentitytheft.org
IV.
Societies
A society is composed of people who interact in a defined
territory and share a culture.
Gemeinschaft societies are defined as traditional societies
relying heavily on face to face interaction. Relationships
between people are valued for intrinsic qualities such as
familiarity and closeness and not merely for utility. Rural
“community”, focus on ascribed status, sense of “we”, limited
social change.
Gesellschaft societies are characterized for their impersonal,
distant, and limited social relationships; relationships are means
to an end, are structured for gain rather than intrinsic qualities.
Urban “society”, focus on achieved status, privacy is valued,
lots of social change.
These are ideal types: aspects of both exist in all societies.