Sociology
Name _____________________________
Period _______
Chapter 4 Section 5: The Structure of Formal Organizations
Directions: Read pp. 83-89 and complete the “interview” questions by supplying information from the
text that would be used to answer the questions.
As the CEO of a FORMAL ORGANIZATION (large, complex
secondary group with a specific goal) our goal is to turn a profit.
Sir/Madam CEO, could you
In order to ensure that all our employees are working at maximum
please explain for us the concept
capacity, RATIONALITY is very important because calculating,
of rationality and how it benefits
measuring & controlling all the features of our employees behavior
your organization?
(to the extent that we can) should guarantee employee efficiency &
in turn help us to turn a profit.
By most people, your company
would be called a bureaucracy.
What characteristics does your
company have which would allow
them to think that?
How would your company
compare to, let’s say, a voluntary
association?
A BUREAUCRACY is a ranked authority structure that operates
according to specific rules & procedures. So based upon that
definition I would say that my company meets those requirements.
Beginning with the Board of Directors at the top of the hierarchy
and myself immediately following them, I would place my other
Chief Officers high on the ladder of authority followed by division
managers and moving on down the line. Everyone in the company
fits in somewhere in the hierarchy & in addition to our overall
corporate guiding principles every position in our company has its
own rules/procedures. (See bullets p. 83)
VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS typically adhere much less
rigidly to Max Weber’s ideal type of bureaucracy. Because they
are typically nonprofit organizations formed to pursue a common
interest they often employ a number of unpaid workers. Therefore
those types of associations tend to follow the bureaucracy model
much more loosely than my company does.
Understanding the relationships between individuals in my
company is key to ensuring that we are operating in the most
Why do companies like yours pay
efficient and productive way possible. Although I rely heavily on
attention to the informal, primary
my Chief officers, it is also important for me to encourage & be
relationships of your workers?
aware of the INFORMAL (w/out established rules of conduct)
Why would that be important?
PRIMARY (small group who interact over a long period of time on
a direct & personal basis) relationships within the organization
because they form the basis of the day to day operation of my
company. These informal relationships are often more significant
to my employees than the formal ones. (see p. 86)
Although bureaucracies are theoretically the best method to
coordinate large numbers of people & to achieve large-scale goals,
When you became CEO of your
they do have WEAKNESSES. Often they lose sight of their
company, your mission was to
correct the common weaknesses of original goals & sometimes self-continuation becomes more
important than the original goal. That’s why many government
bureaucracies. What are the
common weaknesses?
agencies continue to exist long past their usefulness. A successful
bureaucracy must always operate with the major goal in mind &
must use its rules of operation to achieve that, however, adhering
too strictly to the rules is a trap that has to be avoided. (eliminate
the “red tape”).
The CEO you replaced was
accused of running an oligarchy.
Could you explain what that is?
An OLIGARCHY is a situation in which few people rule the many.
Here, power tends to be concentrated in the hands of a few people
at the top. The pursuit of their own interests erodes the overall
effectiveness of the organization (Michels p. 87). I had to end that
situation quickly and create a more effective and productive power
structure so that my company would be able to continue on in a
way that allowed all of my employees to feel that they have a part
in our success.
Now read about “The Peter Principal” on page 88 in your text and answer the 2 “Think About”
questions that follow the reading (please do this on the back of this paper).
The idea here is that in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. This
theory is the opinion of Professor Laurence J. Peter who believed that people within large
bureaucracies are often promoted into jobs that they are not truly qualified to perform. There is not
universal agreement with the “Peter Principle” which states that companies are able to survive
despite this theory because “work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their
level of incompetence.”