Formal Organization: Structure and Change

2022 SOCIOLOGY-COMPLETE SOLUTIONS

All modern organizations are bureaucratic in nature to some degree. Bureaucracy is characterized by a clearly defined hierarchy of authority, written rules governing the conduct of officials (who work full-time for pay), and a separation between the official’s functions within the organization and life outside it. The members of the organization do not own the physical resources with which they work. Max Weber argued that modern bureaucracy is a highly effective means of organizing large numbers of people, ensuring that decisions are made according to common norms.

 

The physical settings of organizations strongly influence their social characteristics. The architecture of modern organizations is closely linked to surveillance, which refers to the supervision of people’s activities as well as the keeping of files and records about them. Self-monitoring refers to the way in which people limit their behavior due to the perception that they are under surveillance.

The work of Weber and Michels identifies the tension between bureaucracy and democracy. On the one hand, there are long-term processes of centralization of decision-making associated with the development of modern societies. One of the main features of the successive, last two centuries has been the increasing pressure towards democracy. Trend

Conflict in which no one is in a position of dominance.

 

Organization is a group of people who work together under ‘authority’ cooperatively to achieve goals and objectives that mutually benefit the participants and the organization. Cosen has said that organization is ‘a group of coordinated individuals at different levels of authority and areas of expertise for the purpose of achieving the goals and objectives of the organisation’. “Ellen, on the other hand, defines an organization as ‘the process of identifying and grouping the work to be done in order to assign and define responsibility and authority and to establish objectives’.”

 

The gist of this definition is that people who work together need a defined system or structure through which they are related to each other and through which their efforts can be coordinated. Every organization has goals or objectives for its existence. Formal organization structure attempts to give order and unity to the actions and efforts of the people who work together.

 

organization process

 

Organizational process is the cultivation of structural interpersonal relationships. There are eight steps involved in this process; ie (1) Determination of organizational goals or objectives to be attempted, (2) Determination of job requirements (i.e. amount of skill, effort and knowledge) required to achieve the goals. (3) Division of work into various jobs to find out how many persons would be required for complete tasks (4) Integration of jobs into departments or other work groups to take advantage of specialization and efficiency. (5) Selection of personnel to fill jobs (6) Assignment of job positions to individuals (7) Authority to carry people and duties of their jobs (8) Determination of superior-subordinate relationship to facilitate performance appraisal.

 

An ‘organisation’ is a system with which a management directs, coordinates and controls the activities of human beings. This is different from an ‘administration’. As Sheldon has said, ‘An organization is the building of an effective machine, the management of an effective executive and the administration of an effective direction. An organization is a machine of management in the attainment of the goals set by its administration.”

 

This means that organization is a system that manages, administers and directs people and resources so that they can achieve their goals.

 

 

 

formal organization

 

1. I. Barnard has defined formal organization as a system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more ‘individuals’. Thus for them, formal organization is (a) personal impersonal in nature (b) made up of members who are in relationship with each other, (c) usually a part of larger cooperative systems.

 

For Giddens, an organization is a large association of people which is run on an impersonal basis to achieve specific objectives. These are mostly designed and installed with a definite purpose in mind and are placed in a specially constructed building or physical setting to help realize these goals.

 

 

For Schaefer a formal organization is a specific purpose, group designed and structured to maximize efficiency. He has also pointed out that organizations differ in size, specificity of goals and degree of efficiency but are structured in such a way as to facilitate the management of large scale operations.

 

Relationship in formal organization is secondary, impersonal, indirect, contractual and temporary. All contacts an officer and goal oriented. People wear different idols and behave accordingly. The rules are written and the officers and employees are controlled by a reward and punishment system.

 

Max Weber developed the first systematic explanation of the rise of modern organizations. He argued that organization is the way humans coordinate their activities, or the goods they produce, in a stable way across space and time. Weber emphasized that the development of organizations depended on the control of information, and he emphasized the central importance of writing. Insisted. In this process; An organization needs written rules and files for its functioning in which its ‘memory’ is stored. Weber saw organization as strongly hierarchical, with power tending to be concentrated at the top. detected a conflict for Weber as we

II The relationship between modern organizations and democracy, he believed, would have far-reaching consequences for social life.

 

According to Weber all large scale organizations are bureaucratic in nature. The word bureaucracy was linked to ward bureau, meaning an office and a writing table, to curacy, a word derived from a Greek verb meaning ‘to rule’. Bureaucracy is thus the rule of officials. The term was at first applied only to government officials, but was gradually expanded to refer to large organizations in general. Other writers have considered bureaucracy as a model of careful, precise and effective administration. Bureaucracy, they argue, is in fact the most efficient form of organization humans have devised, becoming in bureaucracy, all actions are governed by strict rules of procedure, nine

Weber’s account of karshahi treads a path between these two extremes. A limited number of bureaucratic organizations existed in traditional civilizations. For example in imperial China a bureaucratic office was responsible for the overall affairs of the government but it is only in modern times that bureaucracy is fully developed.

 

Weber created an ideal type of bureaucracy by acknowledging six characteristics, some of the characteristics of any formal organization along with the bureaucratic system. He should have:-

 

• Written code
• Hierarchy of Authority
• A line of communication

 

• ‘Office’ is different from ‘Home’
• Efficiency and effectiveness as criteria for selection and promotion.
• Responsibility towards a specific task.

 

When we talk of formal organization in industry, it has many functions. Industrial bureaucracy is primarily concerned with the authority structure of an industrial organization. The complex organization in which work is to be done is divided into highly specialized functions. A differentiated hierarchically ordered authority structure is needed to coordinate these tasks and ensure that they are being performed properly.

 

 

 

 

 

  organization functions

 

 

An organization tries to establish an effective behavioral relationship among the selected employees and in the selected workplace so that a group can work together effectively. Whenever an organization comes into existence three types of things should be done

 

 

• Specialty
• Requires special knowledge
• Indirect lines of communication.
• Division of Labor
• Combination of labor
• harmony

 

  Keys are functional requirements that must be met for the system to survive.

 

 

1) Division of Labor – Since an organization is a structure of human association for the attainment of common goals, it consists of individuals and groups of individuals. Work divided among those participating in a productive organization. The total labor required is divided into a number of stages and one or more groups of persons are assigned specific tasks relating to each stage. With effective planning and organization, the division of labor sets the responsibility for delegation of authority, expertise, and other conceptual plans, which are often called principles of an organization.

 

2) Co-ordination of labor – with functions divided and assigned to the members of an organization, their activities are grouped together, arrangements are made to establish systems and procedures to streamline operations, structural From a perspective, this grouping of activities results in units, departments and divisions of an organization. The groups may be formed on the basis of the skill of the workers, the tools and machinery used, the nature of the product, the material employed or any other element.

 

3) Co-ordination – It is the process of integrating almost innumerable activities towards the achievement and pursuit of a major goal

Cooperation with individuals and groups showing taste. Coordination is achieved through leadership in the structural sense; It involves fixing of responsibility and delegation of authority. It establishes controls that provide for an efficient scheduling and performance of activities.

 

Industrial executives, technical specialists, junior managers, line supervisors and to a lesser extent productive labor have special competencies and they are all brought together to work. Various technological processes are brought in sequence to achieve efficiency and speed in production.

 

4) Specialization – Each individual or group responsible for a certain or limited area serialization is necessary not only to achieve coordination but also to allow personnel to specialize in their work. Individuals are selected and assigned duties according to specific abilities and capabilities. From the organizations point of view it allows proper utilization of capabilities if individual worker and facilitates coordination of activities, facilitates development and implementation of necessary controls, encourages efficient product

Activation of workers accelerates the training process.

 

Each role bureaucratic structure is specific and defined. People are selected according to their level of skill and experience, degree of loyalty and ability to perform. But too much specialization also leads to monotony, workers feel little pride of achievement and this can also affect the opportunity for growth.

 

Need for specialized knowledge:- According to E.V. Schneider, need for specialized knowledge is also one of the functional need. The growing complexity of industrial systems and technology, the need to discover new products and engage in long-range research require specialized and authorized know-how in relevant fields.

 

Indirect Lines of Communication:- The essence of social interaction and a primary condition for the existence of any social group is found in communication through abstract and symbolic communication, it is possible to communicate even with those who do not actually exist. A large organization that is formally organized and functionally specialized will rely on indirect communication to a high degree.

 

Communication between subordinates and bosses must pass through each rung of the ladder without lapse, as a message travels down or up. any manager in the vertical chain has his own way of queuing communication

Don’t miss out on moving forward. In order to achieve proper and efficient coordination, it is of utmost importance that all the concerned departments are well informed. Workers should receive clear cut and specific instructions, the foreman should be informed and convinced of the broad objectives of production, all intermediaries

 

The level of management including technical experts and junior managers should know the work and routine job details, they should also relate to the chief executive officers so that various important specific information and instructions are passed ‘down’ through the employees through regular patterns Better reports and records should go ‘up’ vertically and horizontally to reach the officers so as to enable them to take appropriate decisions effectively and promptly.

 

Long Range Planning: In order to achieve the goals of the industrial organization, rational calculations are made regarding future market prospects, availability of raw materials and personnel. Future financial aspects have to be considered, changes in technology and savings in cost of construction should be taken into account if not immediately then in the near future. The main objective is to maintain profits. Proper systematic and scientific planning is needed for future survival.

 

8) Personnel Training and Development:- The employees should be trained for their job and should be motivated to perform the assigned job satisfactorily. Human capabilities must be made to suit the needs of production and profit making whether by command, force or persuasion.

 

9) Maintenance of External Relations:- External relations can be analyzed in terms of ‘inputs’ and ‘outputs’. Inputs include raw materials, labor supplies, capital, controls and a variety of regulations emanating from different levels of government, plus pressure from the public opinion of the labor movement. Outputs include the sale of finished products to another firm, to an institution or to the public at large, payment of wages and salaries to employees, material impact on surrounding communities, donations to education or research laboratories. Inputs such as government demands for certain working conditions or labor welfare, prohibitions, mergers, control over the quality of products indirectly affect the internal organization. The results may lead to the creation of departments designed to conduct surveys to control the market, legal staff to deal with the government, welfare officers to look into the needs of workers, etc.

 

 

 

 

Structural features of industrial formal organization

 

 

The demands presented by a successful industrial organization must meet

1) Objectives of the organization for efficient production and profit making.

2) The need for production, coordination, specialization specialization planning.

3) the need to organize and control human abilities.

4) External pressure.

 

 

To make there ends, the organization has the following features:

 

1) Pattern of Authority and Power: Perhaps the most fundamental structural feature of industrial organization is a hierarchical or hierarchical arrangement of power and authority. Those who run organizations must have the ability or power to organize the workforce, control its behavior, and create and maintain a system of coordinated production to meet external pressures.

 

The number of persons directly supervised by a single administration should not be large. Hence the need for a relatively elaborate hierarchy. This means that goals or policies are passed from one rank to the next, until they become more clear and definite at each stage.

Clear instructions are made for the performance of desired activities.

 

By power we mean the ability to get work done. This may be possible either by coercing or pressuring the people or by persuading or educating the people so that they align their goals with the objectives of the organization. The authority must have some sort of legitimate claim to the right to rule and demand obedience. By authority we mean the acceptance given to certain persons holding important positions. Authority has to define and use assets to achieve the goals of the organization.

 

Delegation and sublimation of authority is needed to control every single action or decision. Delegation of authority is the authority given by one person to another to perform tasks, make decisions, demand resources, direct others to perform tasks, and order the fulfillment of job responsibilities. Every individual is made to understand his/her obligation towards the organization. Thus a line of hierarchy is maintained

That is, everyone in this line of power holds a position of power under someone else and gives authority to many others under him.

 

Everyone except the workers is empowered to take and implement decisions at their own level. With no one above the head, the President has to obey his decisions. His power is shared by the Vice President who ‘gives directions to the General Managers under him’. Thus authority is being delegated and sub-delegated to the people from top to bottom. Workers not subject to any:: all

Stance has to be obeyed; Action assigned to them by supervisors.

2022 SOCIOLOGY-COMPLETE SOLUTIONS

The line of hierarchy is designed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. Although the importance of the ‘final authority’ has diminished, it is argued that this hierarchy is necessary to coordinate experts. It is also necessary to make necessary changes in the goals of the organization according to the changed situation. The authority system ensures that its members will act according to the objectives of the organization by following the instructions, rules and regulations.

 

Hierarchy of Formal Organisation:

 

Not only in industrial organization but in any other formal organization, that is called hierarchy. Hierarchy refers to the different levels of authority in an organization ranging from the board of directors at the top to the operating staff at the bottom.

 

The formal organization structure is usually depicted as a pyramid. At the base of the pyramid are the operating staff (workers). Moving up the pyramid, the first line supervisors (foremen) are found. Such persons need both technical knowledge of their job and skill in human relations as they have direct authority over the employees employed.

 

Among these people are found middle management personnel which include superintendents, plant managers and heads of departments. Such personnel are responsible for the implementation of policies. He has leadership abilities and communication skills. At the top of the pyramid is top management (Seminar Executive, Vice President and President). They constitute the administrative level, which sets the objectives and policies of the organization. Conceptual skills are extremely important for them. Above them may be a board of directors elected by the shareholders of a body corporate. They influence the overall policy as they select the top management.

 

2) Departmental Organisation:- To perform the necessary functions the organization is divided into two District Departments 1) Line and 2) Staff. A line department is the department which is directly concerned with the process of production. Line departments are often called central departments. In line organization authority emanates from definite and generally well recognized sources whose legitimacy is unquestionable. The commands are simple, clear and consistent. The focus of responsibility is clearly fixed and punishments and rewards can be distributed fairly and appropriately.

 

Personnel departments are those that are not directly related to the production process. Aids in production. These are engineering department, maintenance department and quality control department. They act as professionals and provide expert suggestions to make production more effective.

 

3) Role Structure of Industrial Organisation:- Manager and worker are the two main roles in the organisation. For all practical purposes management can control the use and disposal of equipment or machines. Workers have no property rights to the equipment or machines they work with. Managers have careers. Individuals get promotions, more responsibilities and more opportunities to work. While the workers are never given any promotion, the management pays us salary i.e. as a remuneration for the total time spent for the performance of the role i.e. for carrying out the responsibilities

 

 

When the target is achieved the worker is paid wages i.e. actually paid according to the time

The expenses are incurred on the nature of production and work on daily basis. Third, the role of management is a generalized one i.e. they require extremely wide knowledge to perform their role and as per certain codes. Whereas the role of workers is highly specialized in the sense that they have to concentrate on a limited area of work. Management has to expand its scope and focus on many areas at the same time.

 

Formal organizations are not limited to industry, hospitals, government departments, educational institutions, banks, communication systems.

 

Every country in the world has joined the great race of industrialization. The question is no longer whether the industry is good or bad. Once industrialization begins, it changes pre-industrial societies to a great extent. There are some fundamental directions in which they will change, and these directions in which they will change can be detected from the present character of societies that are already industrialized. What are these universes of industrialization?

 

We call them industrialism or the defining characteristic of an industrial society.

 

1) Greater differentiation of skill levels: Marx predicted that industrial technology would lead to a surplus of human skills. Skills would be built into simple machine minders who perform repetitive monotonous tasks endlessly. But advances in technology have led to greater differences in skill levels. Skilled manpower, especially at the technical, professional and managerial levels, is now an important prerequisite for industrialisation. Countries will not have this input, they will have to import skilled man like they import technology. The oil-rich countries of Africa and the Middle East are excellent examples of this industrial society, where new skills create demand even as old skills become obsolete. The labor force is organized along a hierarchy of skills

 

2)

Increase in social mobility:- The labor force should be mobile in terms of skill, occupation and location. As science and technology advances, there will always be a demand for a new set of skills workers need to adapt to the ever-changing need in modern technology. Roles, responsibilities and rewards in society will depend on objectively assessed qualities and suitability and not on considerations such as caste, religion, race or gender.

 

3) Changes in Education System:- As major importance is given to science and technology, and labor and jobs are to be matched on the basis of skill and education, the education system has also to be transformed to create desirable technologists, professional managers and other skilled workers.

 

The general level of education of the working class will automatically go up because education is the main means of upward mobility.

 

4) Urban Development:- Industry tends to concentrate in cities and metropolitan cities where basic facilities like transport, communication, housing, banking and educational institutions are available. The industrial society would be an urban society. Agriculture will have a place but only as another industry i.e. agriculture will be fully mechanized or a rationally organized production geared to pursuit or profit. Fewer and fewer people would be engaged in agriculture and more people would be living in urban areas.

 

5) Importance of Government:- The role of government is very important. The government has to create and maintain the necessary infrastructure for the development of science technology and industry. The government will also take the responsibility of providing facilities like transport, communication, educational institutions and the following. The economy requires a high level of government intervention. The strike of coal miners, steel workers or automobile workers is not the only concern of the employer. Since strikes are harmful to the economy, the intervention of presidents and prime ministers becomes inevitable. Planned economies would rather sell for greater state regulation than for the liberal democratic pledge to free enterprise. In a socialist society, the entire work of planning and implementing the plan for economic development is the responsibility of the state.

 

6) Large Organization:- Large formal organizations that produce goods and services are the dominant feature of industrial societies. The authority structure of the organization will give some the power to command and others the responsibility to obey. Managers will be relatively few, and the managed many. Written formal rules regulate both managers and the managed with regard to output, performance, hiring and firing, discipline, promotion, etc.

Thus the industrial society develops a unified and coherent body of values and norms which place a high value on mobility, hard work, scientific and technical knowledge and recognition of merit of individuals.

 

 

 

Pluralistic Industrialism:-

 

This means that not all industrial societies are alike. There

There are differences in many areas and some similarities in some other aspects as well. These differences and similarities of societies can be explained in the following ways.

 

The force that brings about diversity in societies:-

 

1) Nature of Leadership:- Although science and technology have a very important impact on the society but the leaders or upper class people lead the masses according to their ideas. Initially Traditional Norms

 

Predominance means preserving elite culture. This was done by keeping the public illiterate. But it was temporary. As technology spreads and society moves towards progress through technology, everyone will accept the importance of education and literacy on a large scale and the upper class or leaders will adopt the new technology, science as a way of life have to accept.

 

2) Tradition Family Lies:- Sometimes family ties are emphasized. These prevent individual mobility on the basis of merit. Therefore in traditional societies, the rate of social mobility is very low, individuals do not move out of their traditional patterns of family organization. Due to this, economic development does not take place as traditional families prefer to preserve their culture.

But as most societies modernize, capitalistic family units break away from the original large families and encourage the mobility of young eligible children. Meaning while improvements in transport and communication reduce the importance of distance.

 

3) Types of Technology:- In traditional societies, technology would be primitive, labor intensive which delays the production process. But it may be necessary because these societies are highly populated whereas Australia and Japan, where labor is scarce, use capital intensive technologies. Forces connecting the society: –

 

1) Time:- If we look further afield it becomes clear that the forces of uniformity are more powerful than those promoting diversity. As mentioned earlier, as the society progresses, the upper class or the leaders adopt modern trends and try to be one with the masses. They become more pragmatic and determined to keep up with the rate of change or progress. The capitalists or the government cannot afford any conflict with the workers as it could lead to a major downfall and irreparable damage to the economy. The task force also develops a sense of realism. Technology

Have to accept and work. Workers also understand the importance of time.

 

2) Technology:- After ‘progress’, technology is another factor that integrates societies. A certain technology may not make much of a difference in business structure. The occupational structure required for the production of a chemical or the process of assembly of an automobile will be largely similar from one society to another. If the level of technology in a society increases, the force will increase and workers will have to be mobile. Highly skilled workers cannot be controlled in the same way as a simple machine minder. The performance of such employees will be high. All these processes will happen irrespective of national cultural or ideological differences.

 

3) Education:- The education system must train people everywhere for new jobs with better education and training. wage level

There will be growth and the number of people in the middle ranges of the wage structure will increase leading to a middle class society.

 

4) State:- The state is to promote economic development, moderate conflict between interest groups, and ensure that no particular group monopolizes power.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic Features of Industrialism:

 

According to Wilbert Moore some basic features are very fundamental in all industrial societies.

 

1) Specialization:- Specialization takes the form of both individual role differentiation in the organization of collectivities around highly specialized tasks. A particular job determines the combination of sophisticated skills required for its accomplishment. (Chemists, biologists, engineers, business, economists or accountants and perhaps inspectors trained to ensure standards).

 

The extreme subdivision of tasks in industrial production has given rise to specialization as a productive component of technology. Yet in this regard social techniques such as selection communication and administrative, rather higher order coordination criteria are perhaps more important. In other respects the circumstances are mostly similar; There is always a pattern of specialization in a system for coordination of some form to be successful in its mission.

 

Size also encourages specialization and size, again involving important elements of communication specialization, may also encourage the development of organized units by making possible wide-ranging relationships through time and space.

 

Role Differentiation:

 

This is seen in bureaucracy as skill distribution, systems of authority, communication networks, systems of reward distribution, and the labor market.

 

a crude index of specialization, the number

Specialized occupations continued to develop in all industrial societies. New products and new processes do not necessarily displace the old and new services engage experts in new ways.

 

While some specialties may eventually disappear and some of the different forms regroup as a more complex occupation, the overwhelming trend towards greater differentiation continues.

 

Consumption Standards:

 

With increasing prosperity, standards of consumption are increasingly becoming common in all industrial societies. May vary by means of income but consumption patterns or status symbols may be few.

 

Special Interest Groups:

 

A large number of voluntary organizations have come up to cater to the special interests and needs of the people. These also serve as an outlet for the emotions of the individuals. There can be many members and such members are also recognized as full members and rewarded accordingly for working to fulfill their wants or needs.

 

2) Organization of Change:- Specifically the desirable change has to be planned. Economic development is planned in many countries and is generally centralized i.e. by the central government.

 

Social planning differs not only in the extent of significant change that can be sought to be predicted and controlled but also in terms of timing. Many changes are institutionalized as follows for the former. The “inheritance of wealth” in the family lineage, or the protection of the environment. It has been found that the increased use of chemical pesticides has had harmful effects or the environment or natural degradation has been caused by continuous mining. Thus the long term consequences have to be studied and evaluated. There has to be a warning sign.

 

2) Nature and distribution of power in industrial society:- In industrial society, power must be shared mutually, that is, both the governed and the governor must have a common policy, but at the same time the organization must have some power. Need someone who can take himself. Work out their coordinating functions.

 

After all industrial man would like to combine progress with freedom. People are governed on the basis of consent rather than imposition, the industrial enterprise has to discipline them. There is freedom in vacation periods with higher wages and more fire time, the worker will have more time for leisure.

 

3) Trade unionism is believed to serve a number of important functions, an industrial society, which provides and stability in industrial relations and the ability of industrial workers to strive for their rights in work and income together forms a viable unit in society. and make a concerted effort to achieve improvement in various aspects of their social life.

 

Review of Industrialism:

 

poverty from industrialization

And the problem of unemployment cannot be solved, secondly, the impact of technology is not the same everywhere. It is higher in areas closest to the production process and lower in areas that are further away from the end, recognizing that the power structure in an industrial society may not be uniform. Enterprise gets more power in capitalist societies while state gets more power in socialist societies.

Technology is a dynamic force. It is a prime mover of the new society. As technology changes, society will also change. Thus industrialization is a continuous process. Social structures and institutions will change accordingly.

 

It is claimed that industrialism will promote greater equality. This has not come true. There is really a huge gap between the rich and the poor. On the one hand, there is a top class of highly paid executives and professionals, on the other there is a lower class of unemployed and unemployed people who are not needed by the society; in highly industrialized countries.

 

While the income of the middle class has increased through manual labour, their values, attitudes, lifestyles and status in the class structure have not changed. Kerr clearly argues that equality will prevail in all industrialized societies whether they are capitalist, socialist or communist or lack any specific ideology.

 

Finally, the theory of industrialism states that industrialization leads to a convergence effect that will create a world society composed of industrialized nations that are essentially identical. This is also not true. This did not happen in such a short time. Basic cultural differences and historical facts must also be considered when discussing the characteristics of industrialization in different societies.

 

Political theorists of industrialization maintain that industrialization produces a convergence effect that will create a world society composed of industrialized nations that are essentially identical. This is also not true. This did not happen in such a short time. Basic cultural differences and historical facts must also be considered when discussing the characteristics of industrialization in different societies.

 

Political factors also contribute to the emergence

Origin of industrial society. Moore has pointed out, but in part the case and speed of industrialization, even the type and scale of development, will depend on the type of resources a society has and the nature of its political system.

 

After Industrialism:

After the 1960s, the dark side of industrialism and the environmental damage it caused to society and people attracted the attention of many thinkers. it

 

 

It was realized that industrialization was no longer considered a cure for the ills that plagued human society. The theory of industrialism assumed that workers would accept machine pacing, divided work, and the authority structure of the plant. Man had to find satisfaction outside, not in work.

 

Industrialism was no longer the model of a good society. The sociologist began to construct a new vision of food society to replace the old one. Many names of this new vision were post reduction society, knowledge society, information society. The postindustrial thesis is strongly associated with the name of Daniel Bell, who coincidentally offered some theories on industrial societies even earlier.

 

Many observers have suggested that what is happening today is a new type of change that we are entering, claiming that a stage of development beyond the industrial age is fully characterized by the knowledge economy characterizing modern society. The most appropriate word for

 

A precise definition of knowledge economy is difficult to formulate but in general terms, it refers to an economy in which ideas, information and forms of knowledge underpin innovation and economic growth. A knowledge economy is one in which the majority of the labor force is not involved in the physical production or distribution of physical goods, not in their design development technology, marketing sales and servicing. These employees can be called knowledge workers. The knowledge information society or economy is dominated by the continuous flow of information and opinion and the powerful potential of science and technology.

 

With the change in basic resources, there has also been a change in technology. Intelligent technology problem solving systems using electronic gadgetry that allow national macro planning, forecasting, and monitoring with respect to every aspect of society—becomes more important than machine technology. With the change in technology comes the change in the nature of the product. The post-industrial society mainly produces service and not goods when the basic principle and structure changes, the basic resource technology and products, the business structure of the society also changes.

 

 

 

 

Characteristics of post-industrial society:

 

1) The basic principle of post-industrial society is theoretical knowledge. As seen by Charles Lead Beater. “Most of us make our money out of thin air, we do not produce anything that can be weighed, touched, or easily measured. Our production is not stored in shipyards or warehouses. Most of us live in different places. We earn by providing services, making decisions and analyzing information. We are all in the business of thin air.

 

 

How widespread is the knowledge economy at the beginning of the 21st century? table totals for each country

It shows the extent of the knowledge economy among developed nations by measuring the percentage of business output that can be attributed to knowledge-based industries. Such industries widely include high technology education and training, research and development, and the financial and investment sector. Knowledge-based industries account for more than half of all business output in the Middle East.

 

Investments in the information society in the form of public education, software development and spending on research and development are now a significant part of the budgets of many countries. Sweden invests 10.6% of its total gross income while France invests 11% on public education.

 

2) It is understood by the surveys that there is a rapid transition from manufacturing to service economy. For example in the United States in the 1950s most workers were involved in services including business finance, transportation, health entertainment education and government, whereas in the 1970s, employment services accounted for about 60%. Britain and other industrial societies followed suit.

 

3) Financial allocation for higher education and research has been steadily increasing in most industrialized countries. All this suggests that theoretical knowledge has become the central organizing principle of such societies.

 

4) Bell argues that a person can now talk to other people instead of talking to a machine. Bell envisions new workers, knowledge workers, working in pleasant environments and doing an interesting and varied job. It is engaged in the provision of services and not in the production of any goods. He interacts with living people. He provides personal service. there is no monotony or

Fatigue in such jobs. Workers get self satisfaction as he is fully involved in the whole job. Finally, the new workplace is a capital pleasant office cubicle and not a noisy and impersonal shop floor.

 

Thus post-industrialism is different from industrialism. But it is argued that although scientists or engineers perform experiments, collect data, and produce services, they do their job as someone else, thus they only provide information. The production of scientific knowledge itself has become an industry.

 

5) Information technology has developed very rapidly in the recent past, which has facilitated people-to-people contact on a global scale. Individuals are now more aware of their interconnectedness with others and are more likely to identify with global issues and processes than was the case in the past.

2022 SOCIOLOGY-COMPLETE SOLUTIONS

 

6) Blauner argued that information technology would revolutionize the world of work by allowing new and flexible ways of working to emerge. These can give the worker more control and input into the work process.

 

7) The spread of information technology will certainly create exciting and enhanced opportunities for certain sections of the labor force. In the field of media advertising and design, for example. IT boosts creativity in both professionals, qualified valuable employees in responsible positions for whom the vision of ‘wired workers’ and tele-commuting is closest to realisation.

 

8) Today in the 90s, the society is called ‘information society through data processing’. Processing work involves a large number of people, they work with computers and act as programmers, analyze and create images or records. With the progress of science and subsequent development of technology, human needs and quality of life, manual jobs have become minimal and are assuming a significant dimension. New skills are now needed for education and knowledge.

 

Information is first and foremost on the description of facts and the classification of opinions. When it is systematically prepared and linked together it is called useful knowledge. To use this knowledge in effective application, we need to design and develop special gadgets, create a discipline of methodology, everything is easy to understand, not difficult to operate and maintain.

 

This is called information revolution today computer is a wonderful invention to process information and knowledge under strict order and control whereas satellite, newspaper, telephone, telefax, radio, television are the media to carry knowledge forward. The design and development of new gadgets to process information, the methodology for filtering and sifting information into practical knowledge as well as the command and control mechanism of such gadgets and methodology is known as Information Technology.

 

However, never before has there been such a rapid and revolutionary change, as is being seen in information technology. Information itself is a good and responsible market product and is oriented towards delivering both goods and services.

 

Where the emphasis is on providing information through computers, a large number of computer programmers or operators deal with the available information on a wide variety of subjects and issues, converting it into useful knowledge and then using the knowledge for human needs. There is a different fad to do. desires and imagination in a whole range of daily routines in entertainment, in sports and games, social education and economic endeavors.

 

9) From Fiber Optics to Micro Electro in the Last Decade

Nix has seen the most formidable technological advances in information and communication technology. Computers and of course the Internet are by far the fastest growing consumer services in the world.

 

10) Global information super highways have been developed and because of them decisions are now being taken faster than ever before. As we enter the new millennium. The prospect of a global village supported by pervasive information infrastructure will offer new changes but also risks.

 

11) Since its origins, information technology has continually expanded into new territory, making its way from mathematical computation and data processing, through office automation to electronic commerce, making its way from mathematical computation and data processing. During its expansion and transformation, existing technologies such as telecommunication and manufacturing were reshaped and new technologies such as virtual reality were created. In today’s society, information has become one of the essential commodities becoming an integral part of modern society and everyday life.

 

12) As computers become involved in an increasing amount of application domains, the need for sophisticated human computer interfaces arises (demand driven). Ease of use is needed to reduce education time and increase acceptance within a group of potential users.

 

13) Enables the implementation of broadband networking applications

is independent of location. Tele working, tele education, tele medicine and tele shopping are some examples. More powerful processors, advances in software and virtual reality improve the business process as well as everyday life.

 

14) The information technology of the future will affect not only the larger business domain but also the everyday life at home. Primarily advances in communication technology will characterize the modern home of the future, while traditional television and telephony are the main parts of communication equipment today, the increased use of computers and networks will shape the home of the future.

 

15) Advances in technology contribute to the demand for new media and the use of media nexus (multimedia) in every home. Additionally, interactivity will play a major role in using information resources such as TV. The spectator will not be passive but an active controlling and lean individual.

 

Networking will not end at the front door of the house but will also connect every electronic device in the house (home bus).

 

The computerization and networking of the whole house is called Intelligent Home. Additionally the miniaturization of electronic components will affect the integration of various functions within a single device.

 

16) E-commerce:- E-commerce describes all forms of electronic connection. It includes not only electronic market but also enterprise network and enterprise cooperation. Intelligent information systems that enable data transfer between companies, streamline administration and enable acquisition reduction.

 

17) Mechanical Engineering:- Not only in the field of software products, but in the context of mechanical engineering, customer orientation and small scale development are the decisive conditions for the market success of the products. The demands thus have a significant impact on the processes of design, manufacture and production as well as the role dominated by means and resources.

 

18) Production- PPC (Production Planning and Control) is used to control and monitor the production flow while highly automated production plants have flexible production cells from basic units.

 

These advances in information technology can also create unemployment in many established businesses such as banks, insurance companies or retail stores, which are forced to adapt to this changing environment, with a growing need for efficiency and flexibility to service a large number of underqualified. Jobs are likely to be lost. positions.

 

19) Why do we call it Information Technology Revolution? Information is a central, constitutive feature of human life. It is rooted in our interpersonal relationships, our economic output, our culture and society. Information technologies allow humans to do more things with information than they otherwise could, including storing it, disseminating it, reproducing it, and transforming it. IT is generally reserved for artifacts that have been explicitly designed to operate on each other’s information in one way or another.

 

Data is being stored and/or transmitted in the form of signals characterized in the material. Artifacts are tools for people to generate symbols and make them useful. These people translate their speech or ideas into new forms in which they incarnate. This purpose, sometimes requiring extensive and specialized skills, is well known, mass literacy being a recent phenomenon even in the industrialized world.

 

Computers are mostly used in the banking sector, the risk of economic system has developed the computer system. The driving force of the Industrial Revolution came from two major technological developments

 

 

 

 

 

Engine and Printing Press. As a result of the widespread availability of computers and information networks:

1. a) Quicker, more standardized of business practices
2. b) complex international trade alliances.
3. c) borderless

capital flow.

1. d) To increase international trade in merchandise.

 

1) It results in reduction in cost of production, higher productivity and consistency in quality of goods. This has allowed a diverse selection of society to access goods that were previously not accessible to them.

 

2) Indian companies now form strong strategic relationships with company across the world.

 

3) New countries like India attracted foreign investment from companies around the world.

 

4) One of the most spectacular aspects of this revolution in business practice is that services which were earlier considered non-tradable are now becoming tradable.

 

Currently there are thousands of telephone operators in India for US companies offering call center services. Swiss Air has completed revenue accounting at Mumbai with a crew of 100 instead of the 200 previously employed for the purpose near Zurich at a much higher cost.

 

This new phenomenon of international long distance provision also applies to more sophisticated services. India has captured a piece worth half a billion dollars

The World Software Programming, market with Motorola programming team in Bangalore has recently been named as one of the best in the world.

 

21st Century operates in all sectors and disciplines such as engineering, scientific research and development, business, commerce and industry, enterprise and entrepreneurship, manufacturing and distribution, banking and finance, law and judiciary, agriculture and environment, media entertainment, services and convenience. Medicine and health, planning and management administrative, education and training art and culture will require increasing levels of IT competence for its survival and growth.

 

India’s IT industry is planning to cross an ambitious target of US$100 billion (Rs 5 lakh crore) every year after 2005. So India needs more than 1 million software professionals by the year 2008.

 

 

  bureaucratic dysfunction

 

 

Robert Merton, a functionalist scholar, examined Weber’s bureaucratic ideal type and concluded that many of the elements inherent in bureaucracy itself could lead to detrimental consequences for the smooth functioning of the bureaucracy. He referred to these as ‘bureaucratic dysfunction’.

 

First, Merton said that bureaucrats are trained to rely strictly on written rules and procedures. They are not encouraged to be flexible, to make decisions, or to use their own judgment to find creative solutions; Bureaucracy is about managing affairs according to a set of objective criteria. Merton feared that this rigidity could lead to bureaucratic literalism, or a situation in which rules are upheld at all costs, even in cases where another solution might be better for the organization as a whole. Is.

 

Merton’s second concern is that adherence to bureaucratic rules may eventually take precedence over underlying organizational goals. Because there is so much emphasis on getting the process right, it is possible to lose sight of the bigger picture. A bureaucrat responsible for processing insurance claims, for example, may refuse to reimburse a police holder for legitimate damages, citing the absence of incorrect completion of a form. In other words, processing the claim correctly may come to take precedence over the needs of the customer who has suffered the loss.

 

Merton foresaw the potential for tension between the public and the bureaucracy in such cases. This concern was not entirely misplaced. Most of us interact regularly with large bureaucracies – from insurance companies to local government to the Inland Revenue. More often than not, we come across situations in which public servants and bureaucrats seem indifferent to our needs. One of the major weaknesses of bureaucracy is that it has difficulty in addressing matters that require special treatment and consideration.

 

Some scholars suggested that bureaucracy makes logical sense for performing routine tasks but that it can be problematic in contexts where work demands change unpredictably. Burns and Stalker distinguished between two types of organizations. mechanical and biological.

 

Mechanistic organizations are bureaucratic systems with a hierarchical chain of command, with communication flowing vertically through clear channels. Each employee is responsible for a particular task; Once the task is completed, the responsibility shifts to the next employee. Work within such a system is anonymous, with people at the top and those at the bottom rarely communicating with each other.

2022 SOCIOLOGY-COMPLETE SOLUTIONS

 

In contrast, organic organizations are characterized by a looser structure in which the organization’s overall goals take priority over narrowly defined responsibilities. Communication flows and instructions are more diffused, moving along multiple trajectories, not just vertical ones. Everyone involved in the organization is viewed as having valid knowledge and input that can be taken into account in solving problems, decisions are not the exclusive domain of those at the top.

 

According to Burns & Stalker, organic organizations are better equipped to handle the changing demands of an innovative market such as telecommunications—drugs, computer software or biotechnology. more

A fluid internal structure means they can react more quickly and appropriately to changes in the market and come up with solutions more creatively and quickly. Mechanized organizations are better suited to more traditional, stable forms of production that are less sensitive to market fluctuations. Burns and Stalker foreshadowed many of the issues that have taken center stage in recent debates on globalization, flexible specialization, and debureaucratization.

 

5.7 BUREAUCRACY VERSUS DEMOCRACY

 

Even in a democracy like the UK, government organizations have access to records of Indian birth dates, schools and universities and jobs held, income figures used for tax collection, and information used to issue driver’s licenses. There is a huge amount of information about.

Allotment of National Insurance Number. Since we don’t always know what information we have; And which agencies are catching it, people fear that such surveillance activities may violate the principle of democracy.

 

The decline of democracy with the rise of modern form of organization was something that worried Weber. What particularly troubled him was the prospect of rule by faceless bureaucrats. How can democracy be anything other than a meaningless slogan that is the face of the growing power that bureaucratic organizations are exerting on us? Weber argued, bureaucracies are necessarily specialized and hierarchical. As those at the bottom of the organization inevitably find themselves reduced to mundane tasks and have no power over what they do, the power goes to those at the top. Robert Michels invented a phrase, which has since become famous, to refer to this loss of power, in large-scale organization, and more generally in a society dominated by organizations, he argued, oligarchy. There is an iron law of (oligarchy means rule by the less). According to Michels, the flow of power towards the top is an essential part of an increasingly bureaucratic desire – hence the term ‘iron-law’.

 

We must first recognize that inequality in power is not simply a function of size, as Michels assumed. can occur in groups of modest size

 

 

There can also be very clear differences of power. In a small business, for example, where the activities of employees are directly visible to directors, much tighter controls may be enforced than in the offices of a larger organization: as an organization expands in size, power relationships often loosen. become People at the middle and lower levels may have little influence on the general policies made at the top. On the other hand, due to the specialization and specialization involved in bureaucracy, the people at the top also lose control over many administrative decisions, which are controlled by the people at the bottom.

 

Power is also often openly delegated from superiors to subordinates in many modern organizations. In many large companies, corporate heads are so busy coordinating various departments, dealing with crises, and analyzing budget and forecasting data that they have little time for original thinking. They delegate ideas on policy issues to others below them, whose job it is to develop proposals about them. Many corporate leaders candidly admit that for the most part they simply accept the conclusions given to them.

 

Most modern organizations operate in specially designed physical settings. A building that houses a particular organization has distinctive features relevant to the organization’s activities, but also shares important architectural features with buildings of other organizations. For example the architecture of a hospital differs from that of a commercial firm or a school in some respects.

 

 

 

 

Michel Foucault’s Theory of Organizations for the Control of Time and Space:

 

Michel Foucault showed that the architecture of an organization is directly related to its social structure and system of authority. But by studying the physical characterization of organisations, we can analyze new problems. The offices that Weber briefly discusses are also architectural settings—rooms, separated by thought. The buildings of large firms are sometimes actually constructed physically as a hierarchy, in which the higher one’s position in the hierarchy of authority, the closer to the top of the building the office is, sometimes the phrase ‘Top floor’ is used to mean those who hold ultimate power in the organization.

 

In many other ways, the geography of an organization will affect its functioning, especially in cases where the system relies heavily on informal relationships. Physical proximity makes farming groups easier, while physical distance can polarize groups, resulting in a ‘them’ and ‘us’ attitude between departments.

 

monitoring in organizations

The arrangement of rooms, corridors, and open spaces in organization buildings can provide basic clues about how the system of authority operates. In some organizations, groups of people work collectively in an open system. the monotonous, repetitive nature of certain types of industrial work, such as assembly line production

Due to the nature, regular supervision is required to ensure that workers keep up with the pace of labor. The same is often true of other types of routine work, such as those performed by customer service operators in call centers, who often have their calls and activities monitored by their supervisors. Foucault placed great emphasis on how visibility, or rather its leakage, affects and expresses patterns of authority in the architectural settings of modern organisations. Their level of visibility determines how easily subordinates can be subject to what Foucault calls surveillance, the supervision of activities in organizations. Everyone in a modern organization, even those in relatively high positions

Authority is subject to surveillance but the more lowly a person is, the more closely their behavior is scrutinised.

 

Surveillance takes many forms. One is the direct supervision of the work of the subordinates by the superiors. Consider the example of a school classroom. Students sit at tables or desks, often arranged in rows, all in view of the teacher, children must appear alert or otherwise absorbed in their work. Of course, how much of this actually happens in practice depends on the abilities of the teacher and the inclination of the children to do what is expected of them.

 

The second type of monitoring is more subtle but equally important. This includes keeping files, records and case histories about people’s work lives. Weber saw the importance of written records (now often computerized) in modern organizations but did not fully explore how they could be used to influence behavior.

 

Employee resumes typically provide complete work histories, record personal details and often give character evaluations, such records are used to monitor employee behavior and assess recommendations for promotion. In many business firms, individuals at each level in the organization prepare annual reports on the performance of those below them. School records and college transcripts are also used to monitor the performance of individuals as they move through the organization. Records are also kept on file for academic staff.

 

Finally there is self-monitoring, where perceptions about being monitored by others alter behavior and limit what one does. Operators often have no way of knowing whether calls are being monitored or how often observers listen in on phone conversations. Still, operators are likely to believe they are under surveillance.

 

 

Keep calls short, efficient and formal, in line with management and therefore company guidelines.

 

Organizations cannot function effectively if the work of employees is disorganized. In business firms, as Weber pointed out, people are expected to work regular hours, activities must be coordinated continuously in time and space, both by the physical settings of the organizations and by the precise scheduling of detailed timetables. should be promoted. The timetable regulates activities in time and space – in the words of Foucault; They ‘skillfully distribute bodies’ around the organization. Time schedules are a prerequisite of organizational discipline, as they determine the activities of a large number of people at once. If a university does not strictly follow the lecture timetable, for example it will soon fall into duet chaos. A timetable makes possible the intensive use of time and space; Each can be filled with many people and many activities.

 

Monitoring Limitations:

 

The surveillance society we live in is a society in which information about our lives is collected by all kinds of institutions. But Weber and Foucault argue that the clear and consistent division of authority to maximum surveillance is a mistake, at least if we apply it to business, firms, which do not (complete control) people’s lives in closed environments In the examples of prisons – prisons don’t really make a good model for organizations as a whole – direct supervision can work well when people are involved, as in prisons are basically hostile to those who have authority over them and do not want to stay where they are. But in organizations where managers desire to cooperate with others in reaching common goals, the situation is different. Too much direct supervision alienates employees, who feel deprived of any opportunity to be involved in the work they do. ,

 

This is one of the main reasons why organizations founded on the types of principles formulated by Weber and Foucault, such as large factories with assembly-line production and rigid authority hierarchies, eventually ran into great difficulties. Workers in such systems were unwilling to devote themselves to their work, in fact they needed constant supervision to work reasonably hard, but this encouraged resentment and protest.

 

In the second sense described by Foucault, people are of a high level of nigra.

are also proving to oppose Ni; Collecting written information about them. This was one of the main reasons for the break-up of Soviet-style communist societies. In the societies there, people were routinely spied on by the secret police or by others in the pay of the secret police, including even relatives and neighbors.

The government also withheld detailed information on his citizenship to crack down on potential opposition to his rule. The result was a form of society that was politically authoritarian and ultimately economically inefficient. The whole society had in fact almost looked like a giant prison, in which all the

The materials, the methods of struggle and protest generate prisons and from which, in the end, the population is freed.

2022 SOCIOLOGY-COMPLETE SOLUTIONS