- Although we might not realize it
organizations and bureaucracies
play an increasingly large role in our lives.
When social scientists talk about organizations,
they are talking about institutions
that are designed for a specific purpose.
They have a collective goal
and they are often set up to achieve
or to try to achieve
maximum efficiency.
The U.S. Postar Service delivers our mail,
McDonald's gives us fast food,
the same fast food wherever we might travel,
and Time Warner Cable delivers TV and internet access.
There are three main types of organizations:
utilitarian organizations,
normative organizations
and coercive organizations.
In utilitarian organizations
members are paid for their efforts.
This includes things like businesses and government jobs,
but it also includes universities.
You might not get paid to attend,
but you do receive a diploma in exchange for your time.
In normative organizations
members come together through shared goals.
This will include things like religious groups
or groups like MADD,
Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Because shared goals
are really the focus of these organizations,
they're typically characterized
by a positive sense of unity and purpose.
Coercive organizations are organizations where the members
really don't have that much a choice about membership.
This can include individuals in a prison
who don't really have the opportunity to simply leave,
but it could also include organizations like the military.
You might enter voluntarily or you could be drafted,
but you need to be discharged in order to leave.
Coercive organizations are often highly structured
and they have very strict rules.
One of the main goals of organizations
is they try to achieve maximum efficiency
and they do this through bureaucracy.
This is the term that sociologists use
to describe the rule, structure and the ranking
that guides organizations.
This is somewhat different
from the way that we talk about bureaucracy in everyday life
where it often has a really negative connotation.
For example,
when i think about the word bureaucracy
I usually think about long lines and piles of paperwork
with complicated language and lots of red tape.
When social scientists talk about bureaucracy,
they're talking about the structure of the organizations
that keeps them running day to day.
That said,
we also use the term bureaucratization
to describe the process by which an organization
becomes increasingly governed by law and policy.
I think the best example of this
is how customer service has changed.
I'm old enough to remember
just being transferred to a single person
when I called customer service,
but now I have the experience
and maybe you have it too,
of being moved through 12 different menu options
before I find what I need
or being passed around from person to person
as they try to figure out
who can help you with your problem.
This also relates to what is referred to
as the Iron Rule of Oligarchy,
which describes how even the most
democratic of organizations
tend to become more bureaucratic overtime
until eventually they are governed by just a select few.
Why would this happen?
Well, conflict theorists would point out
that once a person gains a leadership role
in an organization,
they might often be hesitant to give it up,
so they would have a vested interest in clinging to power.
It's also possible that people who achieve power
often have certain skills or knowledge
that might make them really valuable leaders.
Another process that influences organizations
is McDonaldization,
which describes how the policies of fast food organizations
have come to dominate other organizations
within American society.
Specifically, we're talking about
the principles of efficiency,
calculability,
predictability
and control.
These principles have come to dominate really everything.
>From medicine to education,
even sporting events and entertainment.
Think about movie theaters.
Movie theaters have become
increasingly similar to one another,
especially in terms of seating
and number of theaters
and how their concession stands are set up.
You used to have to show up at a theater
in order to buy tickets,
but now you can do so over the phone and even online
using the exact same ticket systems
for basically all theaters.
Concession stands don't just look the same
from theater to theater,
they also carry the exact same brands.
They all generally show the same popular movies
and have the same pre-show entertainment
in the form of quizzes or movie facts
or commercials for other films.
I don't necessarily mean to imply
that any of these is a bad thing
because I don't necessarily believe that that's the case.
I think that just like everything else,
this has both positive and negative aspects to it.
However you decide to view McDonaldization,
the important thing is to know that it exists
and to be able to recognize it in the society.