Chapter 6

Groups and Organizations

Chapter Outline
 Types of Groups
 Social Influence in Groups
 Formal Organizations and Bureaucracies
 Diversity: Race, Gender, and Class in
Organizations
 Functional, Conflict, and Symbolic
Interaction: Theoretical Perspectives
Types/ Categories of Groups
 Dyad  Reference group
 Triad  In-group
 Primary group  Out-group
 Secondary group
Dyads and Triads
 Dyad
Group consisting of two people
 Triad
Group consisting of three people.
 Triadic segregation
The tendency for triads to segregate into
a coalition of the dyad against the isolate.
Primary and Reference Group
 Primary groups form the basic building blocks of social
interaction in society.
 Secondary group They can be small or large and are
mostly impersonal and usually short term. These groups
are typically found at work and school.
 Reference groups Reference groups are groups that
people refer to when evaluating their [own] qualities,
circumstances, attitudes, values and behaviors.
 Difference between Primary group and secondary
Group (Size, Kind of Co-operation, Types of
Structure, Relationship etc)
Polling Questions
 Which type of group is the most
important to you?
A. Primary group
B. Secondary group
Formal Organizations
 Develop cultures and routine practices.
 People conform (cordinate) to expected
patterns of behavior.
 Can be tools for innovation, depending on
the organization’s values and purpose.
Types of Organizations.
 Normative (service, charitable
organizations)
 Coercive (prisons)
 Utilitarian (corporations)
McDonaldization of Society
 McDonaldization is a McWord developed
by sociologist George Ritzer in his 1993
book The McDonaldization of Society.
For Ritzer, "McDonaldization" is when
a societyadopts the characteristics of a
fast-food restaurant.McDonaldization is
a reconceptualization of rationalization
and scientific management.
McDonaldization of Society
 Efficiency - things move from start to
finish in a streamlined path.
 Calculability - emphasis on
quantitative aspects of products sold.
The McDonaldization of
Society
 Predictability - products are the same
no matter when or where they are
purchased.
 Control - behavior is reduced to a
series of machinelike actions.
Functionalist Theory
 The functionalist perspective is based
largely on the works of Herbert Spencer,
Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and
Robert Merton. According
to functionalism, society is a system of
interconnected parts that work together in
harmony to maintain a state of balance
and social equilibrium for the whole.
Conflict Theory
 The conflict theory, suggested by Karl
Marx, claims society is in a state of
perpetual conflict because of competition
for limited resources. It holds that social
order is maintained by domination and
power, rather than consensus and
conformity.
Theoretical Perspectives on
Organizations

Functionalist Theory
Positive functions
Central Focus contribute to unity and
stability
Relationship of
Individuals are like parts
individual to
of a machine.
organization
Theoretical Perspectives on
Organizations

Conflict Theory
Hierarchical nature of
Central Focus bureaucracy encourages
conflict
Relationship of Individuals are
individual to subordinate to systems of
organization power