Page 220 - Sociology and You

190
Unit 2 Culture and Social Structures
Section 4
Formal Organizations
Key Terms
• formal organization
• bureaucracy
• power
• authority
• rationalization
• informal organization
• iron law of oligarchy
Section
The Nature of Formal Organizations
Until the 1920s, the majority of Americans lived on farms or in small towns
and villages. Nearly all of their daily lives were spent in pri- mary groups such as families, neighborhoods, and churches. As industrialization and urban- ization have advanced, how- ever, Americans have become more involved in secondary groups. Born in hospitals, edu- cated in large schools, em- ployed by huge corporations, regulated by government agen- cies, cared for in nursing homes, and buried by funeral establishments, Americans, like members of other industrialized societies, now often find them- selves within formal organiza- tions (Pfeffer, 1997).
How are formal organ- izations and bureaucracies
Section
Preview
Preview
Aformal organization is created to achieve some goal. Most are bureaucratic. The existence of primary groups and primary relation- ships within formal organiza- tions can either help or hinder the achievement
of goals.
formal organization
a group deliberately created to achieve one or more long- term goals
Both these Japanese workers and these bank customers in
the U.S. feel the effects of the formal organization related? Aformalorgani- structure.Doyouthinkmostorganizationsare
zation is deliberately created bureaucratic in nature?
to achieve one or more long-term goals. Examples of formal organizations are high schools, colleges, corporations, government agencies, and hospitals.
Most formal organizations today are also bureaucracies—formal organi- zations based on rationality and efficiency. Although bureaucracies are pop- ularly thought of as “monuments to inefficiency,” they have proven to be effective in industrial societies.
bureaucracy
a formal organization based on rationality and efficiency