Download Chapter 6, Groups And Organizations

Chapter 6
Groups And Organizations
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Types of Groups
Social Influence
Formal Organizations and Bureaucracies
Diversity: Race, Gender, and Class in
Organizations
Functional, Conflict and Symbolic Interactions:
Theoretical Perspectives
Types of Groups
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Primary groups form the basic building blocks
of social interaction in society.
Reference groups play a major role in forming
our attitudes and life goals.
Types of Groups
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In-groups and out-groups - the “we”-ness of
groups is complemented by a sense of other
groups as “them.”
Social networks determine whom we know
and the kinds of jobs we get.
Bystander Intervention Problem
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Examines the dynamics of when and how
people come to the aid of someone in trouble.
The more bystanders observe a person in
danger, the less likely any of them will call for
help.
Demonstrates the group size effect and
pressure to conform.
Asch Conformity Experiment
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Even simple objective facts cannot withstand
the distorting pressure of group influence.
1/3 to 1/2 of the subjects make a judgment
contrary to objective fact, yet in conformity with
the group.
Milgram Obedience Studies
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65% of the volunteer subjects administered
what they thought was lethal voltage on the
shock machine.
Milgram described the dilemma revealed by his
experiments as a conflict between conscience
and authority.
Groupthink
Four aspects of groupthink:
1. An illusion of invulnerability.
2. A falsely negative impression of those who
are antagonists to the group’s plans.
3. Discouragement of dissenting opinion.
4. Illusion of unanimity.
Risky Shift
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Groups weigh risk differently than individuals.
Most but not all group discussion leads to
greater risk-taking.
As groups get larger, trends in risk-taking are
amplified.
Formal Organizations
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A secondary group organized to accomplish a
task and achieve goals efficiently.
Develop cultures and routine practices.
People conform to expected patterns of
behavior.
Can be tools for innovation, depending on the
organization’s values and purpose.
Types of Organizations.
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Normative (service, charitable organizations)
Coercive (prisons)
Utilitarian (corporations)
Weber's Characteristics of
Bureaucracy
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Division of labor and specialization
Hierarchy of authority
Rules and regulations
Impersonal relationships
Career ladders
Efficiency
Bureaucracy’s Other Face
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Informal structures ignore, change, or bypass
the formal structure and rules.
Subcultures develop when people attempt to
humanize an impersonal organization.
The informal culture can become exclusionary,
increasing the isolation some feel at work.
Problems of Bureaucracies
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Risky shift
Groupthink
Ritualism - rules become ends in themselves
rather than a means to an end.
Alienation - individuals become psychologically
separated from the organization.
The McDonaldization of Society
Four Dimensions:
1. Efficiency - things move from start to finish in
a streamlined path.
2. Calculability - emphasis on quantitative
aspects of products sold.
The McDonaldization of Society
Four Dimensions:
3. Predictability - products will be the same no
matter when or where they are purchased.
4. Control - behavior is reduced to a series of
machinelike actions.
Diversity: Race, Gender, and Class
in Organizations
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Organizations perpetuate inequality of raceethnicity, gender and social class.
Minorities are less likely to get promoted and
more likely to get fired.
Women experience negative effects of
tokenism such as stress and lowered selfesteem.
Theoretical Perspectives on
Organizations
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Functionalist - specifies organizational
functions and dysfunctions.
Conflict Theory - analyzes the consequences
of hierarchical, gender, race, and social class
conflicts.
Symbolic Interaction - focuses on how the
self develops as a product of social interaction.