<< Chapter < Page Chapter >> Page >
  • Understand the different types of formal organizations
  • Recognize the characteristics of bureaucracies
  • Identify the concepts of the McJob and the McDonaldization of society

A complaint of modern life is that society is dominated by large and impersonal secondary organizations. From schools to businesses to healthcare to government, these organizations, referred to as formal organizations    , are highly bureaucratized. Indeed, all formal organizations are, or likely will become, bureaucracies    . A bureaucracy is an ideal type of formal organization. Ideal doesn’t mean “best” in its sociological usage; it refers to a general model that describes a collection of characteristics, or a type that could describe most examples of the item under discussion. For example, if your professor were to tell the class to picture a car in their minds, most students will picture a car that shares a set of characteristics: four wheels, a windshield, and so on. Everyone’s car will be somewhat different, however. Some might picture a two-door sports car while others picture an SUV. The general idea of the car that everyone shares is the ideal type. We will discuss bureaucracies as an ideal type of organization.

Types of formal organizations

Figure a shows a float made by Girl Scouts. Figure b shows the hallway of a correctional facility.
Girl Scout troops and correctional facilities are both formal organizations. (Photo (a) courtesy of moonlightbulb/flickr; Photo (b) courtesy of CxOxS/flickr)

Sociologist Amitai Etzioni (1975) posited that formal organizations fall into three categories. Normative organizations , also called voluntary organizations , are based on shared interests. As the name suggests, joining them is voluntary and typically done because people find membership rewarding in an intangible way. The Audubon Society or a ski club are examples of normative organizations. Coercive organizations are groups that one must be coerced, or pushed, to join. These may include prison or a rehabilitation center. Goffman states that most coercive organizations are total institutions (1961). A total institution refers to one in which inmates live a controlled lifestyle and in which total resocialization takes place. The third type is utilitarian organizations    , which, as the name suggests, are joined because of the need for a specific material reward. High school or a workplace would fall into this category—one joined in pursuit of a diploma, the other in order to make money.

This table shows Etzioni’s three types of formal organizations. (Table courtesy of Etzioni 1975)
Table of formal organizations
Normative or Voluntary Coercive Utilitarian
Benefit of Membership Intangible benefit Corrective benefit Tangible benefit
Type of Membership Volunteer basis Required Contractual basis
Feeling of Connectedness Shared affinity No affinity Some affinity

Bureaucracies

Bureaucracies are an ideal type of formal organization. Pioneer sociologist Max Weber popularly characterized a bureaucracy as having a hierarchy of authority , a clear division of labor , explicit rules , and impersonality (1922). People often complain about bureaucracies––declaring them slow, rule-bound, difficult to navigate, and unfriendly. Let’s take a look at terms that define a bureaucracy to understand what they mean.

Questions & Answers

if three forces F1.f2 .f3 act at a point on a Cartesian plane in the daigram .....so if the question says write down the x and y components ..... I really don't understand
Syamthanda Reply
hey , can you please explain oxidation reaction & redox ?
Boitumelo Reply
hey , can you please explain oxidation reaction and redox ?
Boitumelo
for grade 12 or grade 11?
Sibulele
the value of V1 and V2
Tumelo Reply
advantages of electrons in a circuit
Rethabile Reply
we're do you find electromagnetism past papers
Ntombifuthi
what a normal force
Tholulwazi Reply
it is the force or component of the force that the surface exert on an object incontact with it and which acts perpendicular to the surface
Sihle
what is physics?
Petrus Reply
what is the half reaction of Potassium and chlorine
Anna Reply
how to calculate coefficient of static friction
Lisa Reply
how to calculate static friction
Lisa
How to calculate a current
Tumelo
how to calculate the magnitude of horizontal component of the applied force
Mogano
How to calculate force
Monambi
a structure of a thermocouple used to measure inner temperature
Anna Reply
a fixed gas of a mass is held at standard pressure temperature of 15 degrees Celsius .Calculate the temperature of the gas in Celsius if the pressure is changed to 2×10 to the power 4
Amahle Reply
How is energy being used in bonding?
Raymond Reply
what is acceleration
Syamthanda Reply
a rate of change in velocity of an object whith respect to time
Khuthadzo
how can we find the moment of torque of a circular object
Kidist
Acceleration is a rate of change in velocity.
Justice
t =r×f
Khuthadzo
how to calculate tension by substitution
Precious Reply
hi
Shongi
hi
Leago
use fnet method. how many obects are being calculated ?
Khuthadzo
khuthadzo hii
Hulisani
how to calculate acceleration and tension force
Lungile Reply
you use Fnet equals ma , newtoms second law formula
Masego
please help me with vectors in two dimensions
Mulaudzi Reply
how to calculate normal force
Mulaudzi
Got questions? Join the online conversation and get instant answers!
Jobilize.com Reply

Get Jobilize Job Search Mobile App in your pocket Now!

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Now




Source:  OpenStax, Introduction to sociology. OpenStax CNX. Jun 12, 2012 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11407/1.7
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Notification Switch

Would you like to follow the 'Introduction to sociology' conversation and receive update notifications?

Ask