6.2 Theories Of Networks, Groups, And Organizations

Question 1

In-groups

Answer 1

Groups toward which one feels particular loyalty and respect — the group to which «we» belong

Question 2

Out-groups

Answer 2

Groups toward which one feels antagonism and contempt — «those people»

Question 3

Reference Group

Answer 3

À group that provides a standard for judging one’s attitudes or behaviours

You do not have to belong to a group for it to be a reference group

Reference groups are used heavily in advertising

Question 4

Dyad

Answer 4

À group consisting of two persons

George Simmel reasoned that dyads, which involve both intimacy and conflict, are likely to to be simultaneously intense and unstable

Question 5

Triad

Answer 5

A group consisting of three persons

Triads tend to be more stable, but can also fall prey to alliances between 2 members to overpower the third

Question 6

Large Groups

Answer 6

As groups grow in size, their intensity decreases while their stability and exclusivity increase

Larger groups can survive the withdrawal of a few members

Beyond a certain size (about 12), groups tend to develop (formal structure)

Question 7

Max Weber opinion on organization

Answer 7

Max Weber argued that organizations are ways of coordinating the activities of human beings or the goods they produce in a stable way across space and time

He stressed that central importance of writing in this process

Weber also saw organizations as strongly hierarchical

Question 8

Bureaucracy

Answer 8

À type of organization marked by a clear hierarchy of authority and the existence of written rules of procedure and staffed by a full-time, salaried officials

Question 9

Idéal type

Answer 9

À «pure type», constructed by emphasizing certain traits of a social item that do not necessarily exist in reality.

Ex. Max Weber’s ideal type of bureaucratic organization

Question 10

Weber’s Ideal Type Bureaucracy

Answer 10

1. There is a clear-cut hierarchy of authority
2. Written rules govern the conduct of officials at all levels of the organization
3. Officials work full time and are salaried
4. There is a separation between the tasks of an official within the organization and his or her life outside (public vs private sphere)
5. No members of the organization own the materials with which they operate

Question 11

Formal Relations

Answer 11

Relations that exist in groups and organizations, as laid down by the norms, or rules, of the official system of authority

Question 12

Informal Relations

Answer 12

Relations that exist in groups and organizations developed in the basis of personal connections; ways of doing things that depart from formally recognized modes of proceudre

Question 13

Surveillance

Answer 13

The supervising of the activities of some individual or groups by others in order to to ensure compliant behaviour

Question 14

Surveillance

Answer 14

The supervising of the activities of some individuals or groups by others in order to ensure compliant behaviour

Question 15

Timetables

Answer 15

The means by which organizations regularized activities across time and space