Chapter 5: Groups and Organizations

Question 1

Status

Answer 1

A social position that a person holds

Question 2

Role

Answer 2

Behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status

Question 3

Social Group

Answer 3

Two or more people who identify with and interact with one another

Question 4

Category

Answer 4

A specifically defined division in a system of classification; a class.

Question 5

Crowd

Answer 5

A loosely formed collection of people in one place rather than a group

Question 6

Primary Group

Answer 6

A small social group whose members share personal and lasting relationships

Question 7

Secondary Group

Answer 7

A large and impersonal social group whose members pursue a specific goal or activity

Question 8

Instrumental Leadership

Answer 8

Group leadership that focuses on the completion of tasks

Question 9

Expressive Leadership

Answer 9

Group leadership that focuses on the group’s well-being

Question 10

Authoritarian Leadership

Answer 10

Focuses on instrumental concerns, takes personal charge of decision making, and demands that group members obey orders

Question 11

Democratic Leadership

Answer 11

Makes a point of including everyone in the decision making process

Question 12

Laissez-Faire Leadership

Answer 12

Allows the group to function more or less on its own.

Question 14

Groupthink

Answer 14

The tendency of group members to conform, resulting in a narrow view of some issue

Question 17

Reference Group

Answer 17

A social group that serves as a point of reference in making evaluations and decisions

Question 18

In-group

Answer 18

A social group toward which a member feels respect and loyalty

Question 18

Out-group

Answer 18

A social group towards a person feels a sense of competition or opposition

Question 18

Dyad

Answer 18

A social group with two members

Question 18

Triad

Answer 18

A social group with three members

Question 19

Network

Answer 19

A web of weak social titles

Question 20

Formal Organizations

Answer 20

A large secondary group organized to achieve its goals efficiently

Question 21

Rationality

Answer 21

A way of thinking that emphasizes deliberate, matter-of-fact calculation of the most efficient way to complete a task

Question 22

Rationalization of Society

Answer 22

The historical change from tradition to rationality as the main type of human thought

Question 23

Bureaucracy

Answer 23

An organizational model rationally designed to perform tasks efficiently

Question 24

Organizational Enviroment

Answer 24

Factors outside an organization that affects its operation

Question 25

What is the name of the sociologist who described primary and secondary groups? Why did he refer to some groups as “primary groups”? What type of relationships, orientation, and purpose does each have? Be able to give examples

Answer 25

Charles Horton Cooley; He refers to some groups as “primary groups because they are the first groups we experience in life
Primary Groups
(Quality of Relationships): Personal Orientation
(Duration of Relationships): Usually long-term
(Breadth of Relationships): Broad;usually involving many activities
(Perception of Relationships)
Ends in themselves
Examples: Families, circles of friends
Secondary Group:
(Quality of Groups): Goal Orientation
(Duration of Relationships): Variable; often short term
(Breadth of Relationships): Narrow: usually involving few activities
(Perception of Relationships): Means to end
Examples: Co-workers, political organizations

Question 26

What were Asch’s findings and what did they show about groups and conformity? What were Milgram’s findings and what did they show about the influence of authority figures and ordinary individuals on following orders?

Answer 26

Asch’s findings were that one-third of all subjects chose to conform by answering incorrectly; Many of us are willing to compromise our own judgement to avoid the discomfort of being see as different even by people we don’t know.

Milgram’s findings were that people are likely to follow the lead of not legitimate authority figures but also groups of ordinary individuals even when it means harming another person; The subjects in these groups applied voltages three to four times higher than the levels applied by subjects acting alone

Question 27

How are in-groups and out-groups related to each other? How do in-group members tend to view themselves and how do they tend to view members of out-groups?

Answer 27

In-groups and Out-groups are related to each other by they are based on the idea that “we” have valued traits that they “lack”. In-groups hold overly positive views of themselves and unfairly negative views of various out-groups.

Question 28

What are three ways in which social diversity influences intergroup contact?

Answer 28

1. Large groups turn inward.
2. Heterogenous groups turn outward
3. Physical boundaries create social boundaries.

Question 29

What is the reason people join the following formal organizations: utilitarian organizations, normative organizations, coercive organizations?

Answer 29

Utilitarian Organizations: Pays people for their efforts.
Normative Organizations: Pursue some goal they think is morally worthwhile (PTA, Red Cross)
Coercive Organizations: People are forced to join these organizations as a form as a form of punishment. (Psychiatric Hospitals)

Question 30

According to Weber, how was tradition a limitation of early formal organizations? What is modern worldview based on? What is the consequence of the rationalization of society? Do bureaucratic organizations operate according to tradition?

Answer 30

Tradition was a limitation of early formal organizations because
1. They lacked the technology to let people travel over large distances to communicate quickly and to gather and store information.

2. The preindustrial societies they were trying to rule had traditional cultures.

Modern worldview is based on rationality.
The consequences of the rationalization of society was it becomes “disenchanted” as sentimental ties give away to a rational focus on science, complex technology, and the organizational structure called “bureaucracy”

Question 31

What are the six key elements of the ideal bureaucratic organization? Be sure to know what each means. What are the problems of bureaucracy? In answering this question, be sure to know what dehumanize, alienation bureaucratic ritualism, and bureaucratic inertia are, and to be able to identify examples of each of them.

Answer 31

The six key elements of the ideal bureaucratic organization are:
1. Specialization: Our ancestors spend most of their time performing the general task of looking for food and shelter. Bureaucracy by contrast, assigns people highly specialized jobs.

2. Hierarchy of positions: Bureaucracies arrange workers in a vertical ranking; Each person is supervised by someone “higher up” in the organization.
3. Rules and Regulations: Cultural tradition counts for little in a bureaucracy. Enacted rules and regulations guide a bureaucracy’s operation.
4. Technical Competence: Bureaucratic officials have the technical competence to carry out their duties.
5. Impersonality: Bureaucracy puts rules ahead of personal whim so that clients and workers are treated in the same way.
6. Formal, written communications: The heart of bureaucracy is not people but paperwork.

The problems of bureaucracy are it can dehumanize and manipulate us and some say it poses a threat to political democracy.

Dehumanize: fosters efficiency also keeps officials and clients from responding to one another’s unique personal traits Ex: Officials at large government and corporations must treat each client impersonally as a standard “case”

Alienation: Reducing the human being to a “small cog in a ceaselessly moving mechanism” Ex: People might well end up serving formal organizations

Bureaucratic Ritualism: A focus on rules and regulations to the point of undermining and organization’s goals.
Ex: Terrorist Attacks of September 11

Bureaucratic Inertia: The tendency of bureaucratic organizations to perpetuate themselves.
Ex: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has offices in all 50 states.

Question 32

What is an oligarchy and how did R. Michels use this concept as a criticism of the pyramid shape of bureaucracy?

Answer 32

Oligarchy: The rule of the many by the few; Michels used this concept as a criticism of the pyramid shape of bureaucracy places a few leaders in charge of the resources of the entire organization.

Question 33

What is the organizational model called scientific management? What is the critique of this as it relates to patterns of privilege and exclusion? What is the “female advantage” critique? What was the big difference between Japanese formal organizations and those in the U.S.? How is the nature of work changing in the postindustrial society?

Answer 33

Scientific Management: The application of scientific principles to the operation of a business or other large organization.; The critique of this as it relates to the patterns of privilege and exclusion is an open Organization encourages leaders to seek out the input of all employees, which usually improves decision-making. “Female Advantage” critique is women bring special management skills that strength in an organization; The big difference between Japanese formal organizations and those in the U.S was the Japanese value cooperation;The nature of working is changing in the postindustrial society is characterized by information- based organizations

Question 34

Who wrote about “McDonaldization” of Society? What does it mean to say that society is becoming “McDonaldized” and what evidence that his is occurring? What are the four organizational principles that the McDonaldization of society rests upon?

Answer 34

George Ritzer; Society is becoming “McDonaldized” is we model many aspects of life on this restaurant chain the evidence is parents are buying toys at worldwide chain stores; The four organizational principles that the McDonaldization of society rests upon is:

1. Efficiency: Ray Kroc (marketing genius) of McDonald’s in the 1950s wanted to serve a hamburger, fries and shake quick.
2. Predictability: An efficient organization wants to make everything it does as predictable as possible
3. Uniformity: Almost anywhere in the world someone can order the same sandwich or drink.
4. Control: The most unreliable element in the McDonald system is the human beings who work there; The problem with McDonaldization of society is people could lose control over the system