Groups and Organizations

1
Chapter 6

• Groups and Organizations

2
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

3
 Types of Groups

• Dyad
• Triad
• Primary group
• Secondary group

• Reference group
• In-group
• Out-group

4
Dyads and Triads

• DyadGroup consisting of two people
• TriadGroup consisting of three people.
• Triadic segregation The tendency for triads to
  segregate into a coalition of the dyad against
  the isolate.

5
Primary and Secondary Groups

• Primary groupsGroups consisting of intimate
  face-to-face interaction and relatively
  long-lasting relationships. 
• Secondary groupsGroups with large membership
  less intimate and less long lasting.

6
Polling Questions

• Which type of group is the most important to you
• A. Primary group
• B. Secondary group

7
Attribution errors

• We perceive people in our out-groups negatively
  regardless of their actual characteristics.
• Include misperceptions between racial groups and
  between men and women.

8
Polling Question

• The Boys Scouts of American discriminates against
  homosexuals in general.
• A.) Strongly agree
• B.) Agree somewhat
• C.) Unsure
• D.) Disagree somewhat
• E.) Strongly disagree

9
Social Networks

• A set of links between individuals or other
  social units such as bureaucratic organizations
  or even entire nations.
• Numerous research studies indicate that people
  get jobs via their personal networks more often
  than through formal job listings want ads or
  placement agencies.

10
Small World Research Project

• 300 senders were tasked with getting a document
  to a complete stranger.
• 1/3 of the documents arrived with an average of
  6.2 contacts.

11
Asch Conformity Experiment

• 1/3 to 1/2 of the subjects make a judgment
  contrary to objective fact and in conformity with
  the group. 

12
Milgram Obedience Studies

• 65 of subjects administered what they thought
  was lethal voltage on the shock machine.
• Milgram described the dilemma as a conflict
  between conscience and authority.

13
The Iraqi Prisoners at Abu Graib Research
Predicts Reality

• In the spring of 2004 it was revealed that
  American soldiers who were military police guards
  at Abu Graib prison in Iraq engaged in severe
  torture of Iraqi prisoners of war.
• The guards claimed they were following orders
  directly given or indirectly assumed.
• Milgram studies suggest that many ordinary
  soldiers would engage torture if they believed
  they were under orders to do so or that they
  would not be punished.

14
Groupthink4 Aspects

• Illusion of invulnerability.
• Falsely negative impression of those who are
  antagonists to the groups plans.
• Discouragement of dissenting opinion.
• Illusion of unanimity.

15
Historic Group Think Decisions

• The Naval High Command decided in 1941 not to
  prepare for the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan.
• President Kennedys attempt to overthrow Cuba by
  launching the invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1962.

16
Historic Group Think Decisions

• President Johnsons decision in 1967 to increase
  the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam.
• Decision by President Nixons advisers in 1972 to
  break into Democratic Party headquarters at the
  Watergate apartment complex.

17
Risky Shift

• Groups weigh risk differently than individuals.
• Most but not all group discussion leads to
  greater risk-taking.
• As groups get larger trends in risk-taking are
  amplified.

18
Formal Organizations

• Develop cultures and routine practices.
• People conform to expected patterns of behavior.
• Can be tools for innovation depending on the
  organizations values and purpose.

19
Types of Organizations.

• Normative (service charitable organizations)
• Coercive (prisons)
• Utilitarian (corporations)

20
Weber Characteristics of Bureaucracy

• Division of labor and specialization
• Hierarchy of authority
• Rules and regulations
• Impersonal relationships
• Career ladders
• Efficiency

21
Bureaucracys Other Face

• Informal structures ignore change or bypass
  formal structure and rules.
• Subcultures develop when people try to humanize
  an impersonal organization.
• The informal culture can become exclusionary.

22
Problems of Bureaucracies

• Risky shift
• Groupthink
• Ritualism
• Alienation

23
McDonaldization of Society

• Efficiency - things move from start to finish in
  a streamlined path.
• Calculability - emphasis on quantitative aspects
  of products sold.

24
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.

25
The McDonaldization of Society
26
Diversity in Organizations

• Organizations perpetuate inequality of
  race-ethnicity gender and social class.
• Minorities are less likely to get promoted and
  more likely to get fired.

27
Theoretical Perspectives on Organizations
28
Theoretical Perspectives on Organizations
29
Theoretical Perspectives on Organizations
30
Quick Quiz
31

• 1. What did Simmel called the tendency for triads
  to segregate into a pair and an isolate
• a. tertius gaudens
• b. dyadic segregation
• c. triadic segregation
• d. coalition of the isolate

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Answer c

• Simmel called the tendency for triads to
  segregate into a pair and an isolate a triadic
  segregation.

33

• 2. A set of links between individuals or between
  other social units is defined as a
• a. secondary groups
• b. social network
• c. primary group
• d. social category

34
Answer b

• A set of links between individuals or between
  other social units is defined as a social
  network.

35

• 3. In a classic study known as the Asch
  Conformity Experiment Solomon Asch showed that
• a. most people conform when an authority
  figure demands obedience
• b. most people would proclaim their
  willingness to aid a stranger in need
• c. significant gender difference is evident
  in patterns of conformity
• d. simple facts cannot withstand the distorting
  pressure of group influence

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Answer d

• In a classic study known as the Asch Conformity
  Experiment Solomon Asch showed that simple facts
  cannot withstand the distorting pressure of group
  influence.

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• 4. Which of the following statements is true
  regarding the Milgram obedience studies
• a. When the learner complained of a
  heartcondition less than 10 percent of the
  subjects delivered the maximum shock level
• b. Class background and racial/ethnicdifferences
  had no effect on compliancerate.
• c. In the first experiment only 20 percent
  ofthe subjects went all the way to 450 volts
• d. Women were found to be more humanethan men.

38
Answer b

• The statement class background and racial/ethnic
  differences had no effect on compliance rates
  is true regarding the Milgram obedience studies.

39

• 5. A married couple is an example of a dyad.
• a. True
• b. False

40
Answer True

• A married couple is an example of a dyad.