Groups, Formal Organizations and Bureacracy

Social Influences in Groups

• Groups we are apart of tend too have an influence on us
• ex. choice of outfit to wear daily, hair style
• Ones Family has a influence in adult life
• ex. choice of political party
• Phillip Zimbardo- when confronted with con, forming in the group, people jump to the "but no me" (not me syndrome) but actually do.

Zimbardo

• - 9 guards, 9 prisoners; Guards had no instructions on what they their job was
• - Prisoners were awaken by guards to do "counts"; this is where the guards exercise their authority
• - pushsups were used as a form of punishment
• -prisoners began cursing at guards
• - one prisoner began suffering from acute emotional disturbance, disorganized thinking, uncontrollably crying, and rage.
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Solomon Asch's Confromity Experiment

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• Bildunterschrift: Asch's experiment shows that when asked which line was the same length as the reference line, 1/3 of the students went with the wrong answer because that was what the majority said was corrent
• Even with the smallest social pressure, people will conform with the majority.

The Milgram Obedience Studies

• Milgram studied how an authoritative figure can stimulate conformity.
• In the first experiment, 65 percent of the teachers went up to 450 volts to shock the "students" when the researcher told them to continue.

The Iraqi Prisoners at Abu Ghraib

• In 2004, US soldiers tortured Iraqi prisoners due to orders they felt were given both directly and indirectly.

Groupthink

• e.g. major government policies are a result of group think
• Deindividualization:

Formal Organizations

• Formal organizations are formed to accomplish particular tasks and are characterized by their relatively large size.
• e.g. The Federal Government--> each organization designed to accomplish certain tasks.
• - develop cultures and routine practices
• -people can form to expect patterns of behavior
• -can be used as a tool for innovation
• Normative organizations (voluntary organization) obtain personal satisfaction, but no monetary reward.
• -Gender, class, race, and ethnicity play a role

Bureaucracies

• - large in size, complex and impersonal. The best way to administer a complex society.
• e.g, Microsoft, Disney
• Max Weber's ideal type of Bureaucracy is characterized by:
• 1.High degree of division of labor and specialization 4. Impersonal relationships
• 2. Hierarchy of authority 5. Career Ladder
• 3. Rules and regulations 6. Efficiency

Bureaucracy's Other face

• The informal culture whereby the administrators and secretaries bend the rules where it appears that they show more authority than their salaries suggest.

Issues with Bureaucracy

• Organizational ritualism--> rigid adherence to rules can result in a slavish following of them
• Alienation--> the stresses on rules and procedure can end up psychologically separating a person from the organization and goals.

The Mcdonalization of Society

• George Ritzer developed the term Mcdonalization in order to refer to how the fast-food business has been adopted all over the world.