The Structure of Society: Organizations, Social Institutions and Globalization

1. The Structure of Society: Organizations, Social Institutions and Globalization Chapter 9 NOTE: This is a sample - not the complete set of PowerPoint® Slides for Chapter 9 ©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004

2. 2000 Presidential Election • Why didn’t country collapse during 36 days when presidential election was “up in the air?” • Answer: Social structure • Legal and political institutions functioned as designed and structure rose above actions of individuals ©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004

3. Social Structure • Social structure  - Social institutions, organizations, groups, statuses and roles, values, and norms that add order and predictability to our private lives. • Can create tension between needs of individual and needs of system • Examples from education system? ©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004

4. Tragedy of the Commons • When cost is shared and benefit is to individual, what happens? • Social dilemma  - Potential for a society’s long-term ruin because of individuals’ tendency to pursue their own short-term interests ©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004

5. Social dilemma also occurs when people refrain from contributing to a common resource because the resource is available regardless of their contribution • Examples? • Free-Rider problem - Tendency for people to refrain from contributing to the common good when a resource is available without requiring any personal cost or contribution ©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004

6. Possible Solutions • Establishing communication • Restrictive rules or laws • Examples? ©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004

7. Bureaucracies: Max Weber • A bureaucracy is a large hierarchical organization that is governed by formal rules and regulations and that has a clear specification of work tasks. • Needed to accomplish feats such as building cities, governing large populations etc. ©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004

8. Characteristics of Bureaucracies • Division of labor: Specialization of different people or groups in different tasks, characteristic of most bureaucracies • hierarchy of authority: Ranking of people or tasks in a bureaucracy from those at the top, where there is a great deal of power and authority, to those at the bottom, where there is very little power and authority • Impersonality • How does a university provide an example of these 3 characteristics? ©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004

9. McDonaldization of Society • McDonaldization: The process by which the characteristics and principles of the fast food restaurant come to dominate other areas of social life. • Streamlined processes • Uniform goods or services • Speeded up transactions • George Ritzer used idea as metaphor for harmful effects of bureaucratization on society. • Likely to continue because: • Impelled by economic interests • Efficiency has become culturally desirable • Parallels other changes in society ©Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2004