Chapter%205%20Groups%20and%20organizations

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Chapter 5Groups and organizations

• Social Groups
• Group Characteristics and Dynamics
• Formal Organizations in Global
• Perspective
• Alternative Forms of Organization
• Organizations in the Future

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Social Groups

• A collection of two or more people who
• Interact frequently.
• Share a sense of belonging.
• Have a feeling of interdependence.

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Types of Groups

• Primary and Secondary
• Ingroups and Outgroups
• Reference Groups

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Cooleys Primary and Secondary Groups

• Primary group - small group whose members engage
  in face-to-face, emotion-based interactions.
• Secondary group - larger group in which members
  engage in impersonal relationships for a limited
  period of time.

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Sumners Ingroups and Outgroups

• Groups set boundaries between insiders and
  outsiders.
• Distinguishing between ingroups and outgroups
  helps us establish our identity.
• May encourage group cohesiveness, but may also
  promote classism, racism, sexism and ageism.

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Group Size

• Size is one of the most important features of a
  group.
• As size increases, communication patterns between
  group members change.
• Larger groups typically have more formalized
  leadership structures.

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Group Leadership Styles

• Authoritarian leaders - often criticized for
  fostering intergroup hostility.
• Democratic leaders - praised for supportive
  behavior and blamed for being indecisive in a
  crisis.
• Laissez-faire leaders - do not provide active
  leadership.

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Research on Group Conformity

• Asch - demonstrated that people will bow to
  social pressure in small group settings.
• Milgram - obedience to authority may be more
  common than most of us would like to believe.
• Pryor and McKinney - suggest a relationship
  between group conformity and harassment.

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Groupthink

• Members of groups limit their opinions to focus
  on consensus.
• Members of a group arrive at a decision that
  individual members believe is unwise.
• 1986 challenger tragedy has been cited as an
  example of this process.

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Etzionis Classification of Formal Organizations

• Normative organizations are joined voluntarily.
  (political parties, religious organizations and
  social clubs)
• Coercive organizations are associations people
  are forced to join. (prisons)
• Utilitarian organizations provide rewards.
  (colleges and universities, the workplace)

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Webers Ideal Characteristics of Bureaucracy

• Division of Labor
• Hierarchy of Authority
• Rules and Regulations
• Qualification-Based Employment
• Impersonality

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Shortcomings of Bureaucracy

• Inefficiency and Rigidity
• Resistance to Change
• Perpetuation of Race, Class, and Gender
  Inequalities

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Alternative Forms of Organization

• Humanizing the bureaucracy
• Greater sharing of power and responsibility.
• Encouragement of participants to share their
  ideas and try new approaches.
• Efforts to reduce the number of people in
  dead-end jobs and to help people meet family
  responsibilities.

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Organizational Structure in Japan

• Lifetime employment - workers were (until
  recently), guaranteed permanent employment after
  an initial probationary period.
• Quality circlessmall workgroups that meet
  regularly with managers to discuss the groups
  performance and working conditions.