Samenvatting the sociology of organizations

Introduction
Common definition of organizations are:
a. Deliberately pl outlive the participation of the particular individual who
participated groups
b. With some specific apparent goal or goals
c. Generally designed to oulive the participation of the particular individuals
who participate at any one time
d. Having a more or less well-developed set of formal rules
e. Fixed structure of authority, roles and responsibilities (independent
personal characters)

Goal displacement : Organizations who displace their original goals.

Natural theories of organization: Organisations are arenas in which people try to

satisfy their needs for happiness, social recognition, prestige, money, self interest
and power. Also embrace the symbolic or cultural dimension such as ideology and
atmosphere.
Rational theories: Organisations as instruments designed to attain specific goals
using logical plans, impersonal rules and a rational division of responsibilities
among personal.
Open system theories: can either be natural or rational. Mainly aim at
realationsships between organisations and their settings. (labour market,
competitiors)

Part 1: Organizations as rational systems I

Weber 1820-1920 :
Believed that bureaucracy was the most efficient form of organization.
Compared 3 types of authority:
-

Charismatic : based on pers qualities.

Traditional: monoarcies, based on long-standing principels.
Rational-legal authority: bureaucrasies covered by a set of impersonal rules
and procedures that are applied universally

Henri Fayol:
As weber he is a rational system theorist. Decribed the bureaucratic
organiszation
-

Specilalization helps
Chain of authority ensures coordintaiton and dicipline
He emphasized the latter is required
Plan and organize, command and coordinate, watch results is to control.

Robert Merton (1957):

-

First to criticize ideas of the bureaucratic organisation

B. Scientific management and the position of labour

F. W. Taylor (1856-1915)
Founder of scientific management (calculation and observation for most efficient
outcome)
-

Around 1920 higher precision in procedures (Weber: rationalization)

Early version of principal-agent problem
Stronger focus on the division of labour

Harry Braverman
Critique on Taylor
Eliminates the craftsmanship by specialization of labour
-

Replace skilled workers with less skilled workers

Max Weber

1. Bureaucracy and legitimate authority

Three types of legitimate domination:
1. Rational grounds legality of enacted rules and those assigned to
delegate these (legal authority)
2. Traditional grounds sanctity of immemorial traditions and legitimacy
of those who delegate (traditional authority)
3. Charismatic grounds exceptional sanctity, character, individual person

II. Legal authority with a bureaucratic administrative staf

3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

The following may thus be said to be the fundamental categories of

rational legal authority:
Continuous rule-bound conduct of business
A specified sphere of competence
Organisation follows principle of hierarchy
The rules regulate the conduct may be technical norms and rules.
Staf should be separated from ownership
Complete absence of appropriation of position by incumbent
Administrative acts, decision and rules are formulated in writing
Legal authority can be exercised in a wide variety

In the purest type the whole staf consists of individual officials who are
appointed and function according to the following criteria.
1. Only subject to authority with respect to impersonal official obligations
2. They are organized in a hierarchy of offices
3. Each office has a sphere of competence
4. The office is filled with a free contractual relationship.
5. Candidates are selected on technical qualifications
6. Fixed salaries with right to pensions
7. The office is sole occupation of incumbent
8. System of promotion according to seniority or achievement
9. Work separated from ownership
10.Subject to stric and systematic diciolin and control in the conduct of the
office
Examples of the pure type

Monocratic Bureaucracy
The primary source of superiority of bureaucratic administration lies in the
role of technical knowledge. Fundamental domination through knowledge.
Bureaucratic domination has the following social consequences:
1. Levelling in the interest of recruitment in terms of technical
competence
2. Tendency of plutocracy (geldheerschappij) growing out of interest fo
training
3. Sine ira et studio without hatred or passion, afection or enthusiasm
(formal equality)

Bureaucracy
1. Technical superiority as advance of bureaucratic organization over any
other form.
2. Capitalism which drives the organisation to a bureaucratic organization.
3. Bureaucratization ofers optimum for specialization of functions on
objective observation

The levelling of social diferences: administrative democratization

1. Bureaucracy inevitably accompanies modern mass democracy.

2. Mass democracy replaces plutocratic privileges for paid labour
3. Democracy from the perspective of equal rights, includes:
1. Prevention of development of closed groups
2. Minimization of authority of officialdom

2 Fredrick Winslow Taylor : Principles of scientific management.

People interested in Scientific management ask 3 types of questions:
1. Do the principles of SM difer from ordinary management
2. Why SM gives better results
3. Is not the most important problem getting the right man at the hea of the
company?
The finest type of ordinary management:
The ingenuity of each generation of workers handed over better method to the
next. This is called traditional knowledge. The knowledge of the manager falls
short in large companies. The question is how to trigger the best initiative from
each worker. He need to give special incentive to his men. In SM payment is
subordinate.
-

Management of initiative and incentive vs. SM

I a I best under ordinary management
In SM initiative is obtained with absolute uniformity
Traditional knowledge transferred to management which and classifying it
This development of sciences has 3 other types of duties which involve
new burdens for managers:
1. Develop science for each element of a mans work, which replaces rule
of thumb method
2. They scientifically select and train vs. men chose work and train
themselves
3. Cooperate with men to insure work is done in accordance to developed
science
4. There is an almost equal decision of the work and responsibility
between management and workman. Manament takes tasks for which
they are more suited.
( under I a I the whole problem is up to the workman while under SM
the half shifts to management)

Taylor illustrates by the pig iron example that it is impossible for the worker to
oversee its own task due to its scientific complexity. Such as speed and workload
over time.

3 Harry Braverman : The degradation of work in the 20 th century

Scientific management
1. SM is an attempt to apply methods of science to the increasingly complex
problems of the control of labor in rapidly growing capitalist enterprises.
Not true science because its assumptiosn reflect nothing more than the
outlook of the capitalist with regard to the conditions of production.
- It doesnt investigates labor in genrel but the adaption of labor to the
needs of capital
2. Taylor dealt with the fundamentas of the organization of the labor process
and of control over it.

3. His system was sa mean for management to achieve control.

4. Taylors fair day of work is only limited to physical contraints
5. natural soldiering: People are lazy from origin
- systematic soldiering: second thought and reasoning caused by the
relationship with other man.

First principle
1. Dissociation of the labor process from the skills of the worker
Second principle
2. Separation of conception from execution (separation physical and mental
planning)
Third principal
The first principle is gathering and development of knowledge of the labour
process, and the second the concentration of this knowledge exclusively for
management, the third grasps both and continues:
3. Use of this monopoly over knowledge to control each step of the labour
process and its mode of execution.