5 Groups and Organizations

Social Groups

Groups,Aggregates,and Categories Types of Groups

Group Characteristics and Dynamics

Group SizeGroup Leadership Group ConformityGroupthink

Formal Organizations in GlobalPerspective

Types of FormalOrganizations BureaucraciesProblems of Bureaucracies Bureaucracy and Oligarchy

Alternative Forms of Organization

OrganizationalStructurein Japan

Organizations in the Future

O

kay,

I think I'll share why FaceBookworks for me and keeps me coming back. Iwashesitant to sign up in thefirst place,Iwas afraid it would be a lame fad....Since college is fairly dynamic (new classes every quarter),

a

directory of friends and students remains very dynamic and gives me a reason to comeback (to see how friends are doing and what classes theyare taking). Also it is cool to look up people you have in class and see what they are interestedin. Who knows, it might help you start aconversation sometime (although, it might freak them outif you already know their interests) ....

-A

male college student inWashingtonstate (in a commentposted atLinden,

2005)

explainingwhyhe likesFacebook,a highlypopularwebsite that tallies

250

million hits every day and ranksninthon overalltraf f ic on the Internet

Do you think that even 5 percent of people[on Facebook and other networking sites] reallyconnect with people in their networkwho want them to do the samekewl stuff as them? I doubt it, unless they already knew that person andjust didn't know about their hobbies.The truth is none of these sites really connects people.Thatrequires ongoing new information (like web bulletin boards,

Thomson')

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Supplement your review of this chapter by goingto the companion website to take one of the tutorial quizzes, use the flash cards to master key terms, andcheck our the many other study aids you'llfind there. You'llalsofind specialfeatures such as GSS Data and Census 2000 informationthat willput data and resources at your fingertips to help you with that specialproject or help you do some research on your own.

attending meetings). Orheaven forbid, actual humancontact.

-Another malecollegestudent(ina comment posted atLinden,2005)claiming that in- dividualsdonot really connectwitheach other online despitetheamount of time thatthey may spendonwebsitesclaiming toconnectstudents through their common interests, lifestyles,andattitudes

The problem with facebook.com is people are putting their pictures, cell phone numbers and addresses on theInternet.TheInternet is open to anyone. That's justaskingf or someone to knock on your door..Itmayseemcool that you know a bunchof people, butit won't be cool if a strangeperson knows too muchaboutyou.

-A junior inaTexas college describingher concerns about f acebook.com (Sheppard,2005)

ID

~

A

ccording to sociologists, we need~ groups and organizations-just as we

@

need culture and socialization-to live

HaveFacebookand other networkingwebsites influenced our socialinteractions and group participation?Why are f ace-to-

and participate in a society. Historically, the ba-

face encounters in groupsand organizations stillimportant in

sic premise of groups and organizations was that

everydaylife?

individuals engage in face-to-face interactions inorder to be part of such a group; however, mil-lions of people today communicate with othersthroughthe Internet, cell phones, and other forms of information technology that make itpossible for them to"talk" with individuals theyhave never met and who may live thousands of miles away.A variety of networking websites, in- cluding Facebook,MySpace, Friendster,and xuqa, now compete with, orin some casesreplace,live, person-to-person communications. Formanycol- lege students, Facebookhas become a fun wayto get to know other people, to join online groups with similar interests or activities,andto plan "real-life" encounters. Despite the wealth of in-formation and opportunities for new social con- nections that such websites offer, many of our daily activities require that we participate in social groups and formal organizations where

face