McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter Outline
• Understanding Groups
• Understanding Organizations
• Organizational Change
• Technology’s Impact on the Workplace
• Social Policy and Organizations: The Sta
te of the Unions

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Understanding Groups
Types of Groups

•Group
--A number of people with similar norms,
values, and expectations who interact with one
another on a regular basis.
--Examples of groups are:
fraternities dance companies
clubs tenants’ associations

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Understanding Groups
Types of Groups

•Primary Group
--This term refers to a small group characterized
by intimate, face-to-face association and
cooperation.
•Secondary Group
--This term refers to formal, impersonal groups
in which there is little social intimacy or mutual
understanding.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Understanding Groups

Types of Groups
•In-Groups
--In-groups are any groups or categories
to which people feel they belong.
•Out-Group
--Out-groups are any groups or categories
to which people feel they do not belong.
•Reference Groups
--Reference Groups are any groups that
individuals use as a standard for
evaluating themselves and their own
behavior.
McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Understanding Groups
Studying Small Groups
•Small Groups
--Small groups are groups small enough for all
members to interact simultaneously (to talk with
one another or at least be well acquainted).

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Understanding Groups
Studying Small Groups

•Size of Group
--Smaller groups have greater interaction
opportunities.
Dyad: A two member group.

Triad: A three member group.

Coalition: A temporary or permanent
alliance geared toward a
common goal.

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 UnderstandingOrganizations
Formal Organizations and Bureaucracies
•Formal Organization
--A formal organization is a special-purpose
group designed and structured for maximum
efficiency.
•Examples of formal organizations:
--the U.S. Post Office
--McDonald’s restaurants
--the Boston Pops
--this college
McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Understanding Organizations
Characteristics of a Bureaucracy
•Bureaucracy
--A bureaucracy is a component of formal
organization in which rules and hierarchical
ranking are used to achieve efficiency.
•Ideal Type Bureaucracy
--This term indicates a construct or model
serving as a measuring rod against which
specific cases can be evaluated.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Understanding Organizations
Characteristics of a Bureaucracy
•Bureaucratization
--Bureaucratization is the process by which a
group, organization, or social movement
becomes increasingly bureaucratic.
•Oligarchy
--An oligarchy is a bureaucracy ruled by a few.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Understanding Organizations
Bureaucracy and Organizational Culture
•Scientific Management Approach
--Workers are motivated by economic rewards.
--Productivity is limited by physical restraints of
the workers.
•Human Relations Approach
--The roles of people, communication and
participation within a bureaucracy are
emphasized.
--Workers’ feelings, frustrations and emotional
needs are the focus of this approach.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Understanding Organizations
Voluntary Associations
•Voluntary Associations
--Organizations established on the basis of
common interest, whose members volunteer or
even pay to participate.
--“Formal organizations” and “voluntary
organizations” are not mutually exclusive.

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 Technology’s Impact on the
Workplace
Telecommuting
•Telecommuting
--Telecommuters are employees who work full-
time or part-time at home rather than in an
outside office.
--Telecommuters are linked to their supervisors
and colleagues through computers, phones, and
fax machines.
--Telecommuting may move society further
along the continuum from Gemeinschaft to
Gesellschaft.
McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Technology’s Impact on the
Workplace
Electronic Communication
•E-mail Benefits
--E-mail is efficient, rapidly communicated, and
democratic.
--E-mail gives an organization the benefit of
experiences and views of more of its workforce.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Technology’s Impact on the
Workplace
Electronic Communication
•E-mail Disadvantages
--E-mail is so easy to do that it can inundate a
worker with too many messages.
--E-mail doesn’t convey body language which in
face-to-face communication can soften
insensitive phrasing and make unpleasant
messages (such as a reprimand) easier to take.
--E-mail leaves a permanent record which can
be a problem when messages are written in a
reckless and thoughtless manner.
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 Social Policy and Organizations
The State of the Unions
•The Issue
--What has happened to diminish the importance
of organized labor unions?
--Have unions perhaps outlived their usefulness
in a rapidly changing global economy
dominated by the service industry?

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 Social Policy and Organizations
The State of the Unions
•The Setting
--Labor unions consist of organized workers
sharing either the same skill or the same
employer.
--The experience of unions varies widely in
different countries.

Continued...

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 Social Policy and Organizations
The State of the Unions
•The Setting
--Reasons given for the decline of labor unions:
*Changes in the type of industry
*Growth in part-time jobs
*The legal system
*Globalization
*Employer offensive
*Union rigidity and bureaucratization

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Social Policy and Organizations
The State of the Unions
•Sociological Insights
--Both Marxists and functionalists would view
unions as a logical response to the emergence of
impersonal, large-scale, formal, and often
alienating organizations.
--Conflict theorists would point out that the
longer union leaders are in office the less
responsive they are to the needs and demands of
the rank and file and the more concerned they
are with maintaining their own positions.
--Many union employees encounter role
conflict.
McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Social Policy and Organizations
The State of the Unions
•Policy Initiatives
--A major barrier to union growth exists in the
20 states that have so-called right to work laws.
--Debate over campaign finance reform in
Congress in 2001 raised the question of whether
labor unions should be able to use dues to
support a particular candidate or promote a
position.

McGraw-Hill © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.