101 SOC - Principles of Sociology Lecture Notes #8 - Part II Social Structures: Social Interaction, Groups and Organizations
9) The Nature of Groups and Group Interaction.
A group is a collection of people that have common or shared expectations and who interact together in a meaningful or purposeful way. A group is characterized by the following: a. a distinctive , unique set of relationships, b. mutual interdependence, c. a feeling that the behavior/actions of others in the group matter or are relevant or have consequences, d. a sense of group solidarity, group cohesion, that is, the "we" versus "them" attitude or in-group versus out-group. For example, social psychologists explain discrimination using the "in-group" and "out-group" dichotomy; sociologists view discrimination in terms of access or control of resources or power; hence denying access or domination by the group that controls resources.
Groups help to shape both the personality and the behavior of individual members.
As a result, group life is important for the well-being of the individual and the stability of the society as a whole.
10) The Nature of Groups.
Groups are classified into: a. In-groups and out-groups,
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b. Social networks, and c. Reference groups.
In-groups and out-groups. All groups develop characteristics that separate or distinguish the "us" from "them" or the "we" from "them". In such situations, members or participants view themselves as an "in-group" and other members or participants as the "out-group".
In-groups are groups toward which members feel loyalty or commitment. And out-groups are groups toward which individuals feel a dislike, hatred, antagonism or hostility.
In-groups encourage or promise a feeling or sense of togetherness and solidarity among members as well as maintain a social boundary--separating them from non-members.
The social boundary reinforces or generates a sense of belonging or the ingroup cohesion. Group cohesion may be created and sustained through ritual practices, e.g. induction or initiation rites in sororities and fraternities or ritual pollution in the case of castes in India, the so-called untouchables.
The social boundary sometimes gives way to loyalty and feelings of superiority of in-group versus the out-group. The in-group tends to stress or emphasize its own similarity and to exaggerate its differences with the outgroup. According to social psychologists, this provides the basis for rivalries (e.g. in sports, rivalries between competing teams) or prejudices, discrimination or hatred.
Hence, in-group membership leads to discrimination as strong identification and loyalties with in-groups inevitably lead to favoring members of the ingroup against the out-group.
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Dividing groups into in-group versus out-group or "we" versus "them", undermines social diversity or pluralism in multicultural societies such as the U.S.
Social Networks or Networking. Social networks are webs of relationships that link the individual directly to other people--be they friends, peers, family, co-workers, team mates, school mates or class mates. Hence, they are ties that radiate or extend outward from self to include others.
Through the network, an individual may also be indirectly connected to a vast number of other people. In organizational theory, networking links one organization to others.
Networks are a vital part of social life as they link individuals to society and contribute to a sense of community or belonging to a larger society. They also enable individuals to secure advice, job leads, and other tangible benefits. They focus on the idea of "whom you know, not what you know".
For example, the old boy and now the old girl network puts emphasis on whom you know, not what you know and enables individuals to secure and sustain employment. (For example, look at the cabinet members of former President Clinton and the current President Bush.)
Hence, a well-developed network is important to many careers and occupations (especially at the highest level of government, business, etc.)-that depend on contacts or whom you know, not what you know, i.e. your skills and qualifications. Hence, trust and loyalty, not merit or hard work are the basis of social networks.
Social networks sustain inequality--a problem women and minorities face in careers or employment in corporate America. (Explain.)
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Reference Groups are similar to Role Models. People compare their behavior, ideas, dress, manners, preferences, speech, and many other lifestyle elements to the standards of others or other groups. Hence, reference groups are the groups individuals use as standards to judge or evaluate themselves.
The reference groups may be ones to which the individual already belongs or aspires to belong to. (Membership in professional organizations is an example.)
Reference groups may exert great influence or pressure on an individual's life; for example, if you want to become a corporate executive, you try to behave, act or perform like one. To join the American Medical Association (AMA) or the American Bar Association (ABA), one must pass rigorous professional exams.
11) Leadership in Groups.
Leadership is very important in large groups. It is critical in promoting interaction through coordination of activities of various members of the groups.
Large groups such as bureaucracies or corporations need more formal means of communication and coordination which require rules and leadership.
A leader is a person who can consistently influence the behavior or actions of others.
Group leadership may be oriented towards: 1) achieving the goals of the group; or, 2) improving the quality of interaction in the group.
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Instrumental Leadership is oriented toward achieving group goals. It puts emphasis on efficiency and profit maximization.
Expressive Leadership is oriented toward improving the quality of interaction in the group. It stresses good working relations and effective communication between workers and management. A good or effective leader combines both components.
There are four major leadership styles: a. Authoritarian - decisions made by one person or a few individuals and are
to be implemented by everyone else, (e.g. corporate America). b. Democratic - decisions based on the will or the view of the majority of members or participants, (e.g. U.S. federal and state governments). c. Laissez-faire - "free-for-all" decision making in which individual participants or members make their own decisions (similar to anarchy or chaos). d. Consensual - decisions are made by developing a consensus within management, (e.g. Japanese management).
No single style of leadership is effective for all situations. For example, authoritarian style may be effective in emergencies. Also, preferences for one or more leadership styles are influenced by a society's culture and history. For example, in the U.S., democratic style is used in political situations, while authoritarian style is preferred in industry or corporate America.
12) Group Decision-Making.
Group decision-making requires a great deal of time and effort. This is because group decisions are usually reached by consensus, with discussion
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bringing about greater agreement. An example is a jury decision making which aims at consensus, but sometimes fails; ending up in a hung jury or split decision. Pressure to reach a consensus is enormous in jury situations.
In the Michael Jackson child molestation case (see the article on WebCT), all the jurors had an agreement to be united in their verdict or decision (regardless of the facts and the law). In the end, the jury voted unanimously to acquit Jackson on all charges. Later, two jurors regretted their decision. Compare this with the O.J. Simpson case in which the dream team of defense lawyers and the jury demographics were critical. (Explain.)
The greatest disadvantage of group is decision-making pressure to conform. Due to intense pressure, individuals may modify, amend or change their opinions to stay in line with views of other members.
Also, the pressure toward group conformity may lead an individual to give a response that is knowingly incorrect. This may lead to the so-called "groupthink syndrome" that negatively affects group decision-making. (Consider the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.)
To prevent "group think", leaders have to stop surrounding themselves with an inner circle of advisers that closely reflects their own political or policy views or "yes people". It is important to have diverse opinions within the inner circles of leadership.
13) Formal Organizations and Bureaucracies
Formal or complex organizations are large secondary groups intentionally created to achieve specific goals or objectives.
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According to Peter Blau, formal organizations are classified on the basis of their purpose or goals as follows: a. Voluntary organizations such as professional associations (AMA, ABA, charities, etc.) b. Coercive organizations such as law enforcement agencies, police, military, etc. c. Utilitarian organizations such as corporations, trade unions, government bureaucracies, welfare agencies, etc.
Since some organizations may pursue more than one goal, they may belong to more than one category.
To achieve goals or objectives, all formal organizations have structures, rules, and procedures that assign specific positions, rights, and tasks or responsibilities to their members or employees. Large and more complex (or formal) organizations such as corporations or government bureaucracies require a chain-of-command (i.e. top-down decision making authority) to coordinate the activities of their members, employees or participants. Max Weber's Ideal Bureaucracy is a good example of top-down decision-making.
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14) Max Weber's Ideal Bureaucracy.
Weber studied various bureaucracies such as political parties, trade unions and government bureaucracies.
According to Weber, bureaucracies tend to develop "rules and procedures to efficiently achieve or meet the goals/objectives of the organization". Weber called this process rationalization.
Rationalization is the systematic development of rules and standardized procedures used to achieve objectives of the bureaucracy more efficiently. (Efficiency means achieving an objective or goal quickly and in the most cost-effective way.) (Distinguish between efficiency and effectiveness.)
Weber analyzed the workings and characteristics of real bureaucracies in order to construct the ideal bureaucracy. Hence, the ideal bureaucracy is an abstract description based on the positive attributes shared by real cases. In this way, Weber was able to describe the essential or important features of a bureaucracy. (Thus, not all bureaucracies conform to Weber's ideal typology.)
15) Characteristics of the Ideal Bureaucracy (see pp. 181-183, main text).
Division of labor based on specialized tasks or skills and knowledge (e.g. decision makers and implementers).
Hierarchy of authority based on top-down decision-making (with intermediate position of supervisors, etc.).
Rules and regulations designed to guide, regulate or control action, behavior, conduct or performance.
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Impersonality emphasis on achieved status not ascribed status (use of such criteria as qualifications, experience, etc.).
Written record-keeping involves accounting, memoranda, correspondence, minutes, etc.
Administrative staff are those who are responsible for implementing decisions made at the top.
Career structure which is the selection, recruitment, and promotion of staff/employees based on known criteria not on personal or political ties (or ascribed status).
Weber's Ideal type analysis has been used to study and analyze other types of formal organizations such as corporations, trade unions, etc. (Consider Ritz's "The McDonalization of Society", p. 184, main text.)
Ritz claims that every day lives of people are being "McDonaldized". How? a. Standardization of every day life including the robot like assembly line of food processing and cooking in the restaurant. b. Also, shopping malls offer a one-stop shopping center in controlled (physical) environment. c. In both 'a' and 'b' above, service is delivered efficiently. Standardization and efficiency lower prices and increase predictability about the taste and quality of the burger whether you buy the same in Beijing or Tokyo.
16) Selected Disadvantages of Bureaucracies
Inability to handle emergency situations (example of FEMA's failure to deal with Hurricane Katrina's consequences in New Orleans).
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Trained incapacity of bureaucrats who may be unable to respond in new and imaginative ways due to previous specialized bureaucratic training and experience. It may also lead to Bureaupathic Behavior. (See J. D. Thompson's Organizations in Action.)
Goal displacement or replacement occurs when the organization's original goals are displaced or replaced. Original goals may become secondary to the administration of the organization itself. Or once the original goals are achieved, bureaucrats seek new goals or objectives instead of "winding down" the organization. (Examples: The March of Dimes Organization and NATO--both discussed below, and see pp. 187-188, main text.)
The March of Dimes organization was created in the 1930s to fight polio. But when a vaccine for polio was discovered in the 1950s, the organization did not declare victory and disband. Instead, bureaucrats kept the organization intact by creating new goals such as fighting birth defects in babies.
In 2001 researchers at the GENOME Project completed mapping the Human Genome. When the March of Dimes officials learned about this breakthrough, they realized that in the future this information could help eliminate birth defects and their jobs as well. As a result, the March of Dimes came up with yet another goal--this time a vague goal that was unlikely to be achieved called "Breakthroughs for Babies". This new goal displacement may guarantee that the March of Dimes continues indefinitely, because the goal is so vague and elusive, it may never be achieved.
NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was created after WWII and during the East-West Cold War to prevent the former Soviet Union and the
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Warsaw pact countries from invading Western Europe. With the collapse of the former Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies in 1992, there was no reason for NATO's continued existence. However, the U.S. and its European allies came up with a new goal--to create rapid response forces to fight terrorism and rogue nations.
17) The Problems of Oligarchy. (See Robert Michels' "Iron Law Oligarchy, pp. 190-191, main text.)
According to Robert Michels, oligarchy is the tendency of formal organizations to be dominated by a small, self-perpetuating elite. An oligarchy is present even in organizations with democratic or socialist ideals such as trade unions or cooperatives (which are member-based).
In Germany, at the time of Michels, socialist-based political parties--instead of seeking to protect the interests of members--served to protect the power and privilege of the elite leadership thereby undermining the goals and values of the socialist parties.
It is reported that the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) decides on its new leaders behind the scenes so that elections held tend to be a sham or a faade. The majority of members of the VFW are passive; and an elite inner group (that refers to members as a bunch of ignorant "boozers") keeps itself in power by passing the leadership positions from one clique of members to another (i.e. a mall, self-perpetuating elite).
Overall, even organizations committed to democracy and social justice exclude from leadership people considered not to be representing values, interests, background or images of the inner group elite.
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