Sociology

Chapter #7 Groups and formal organizations

Specialization, formal, written communications and impersonality are three of six elements in the formal organization of bureaucracy. Specialization is when the organization assigns people highly specialized jobs. Unlike our ancestors who were otherwise busy looking for food and shelter, specialization is beneficial to people of the organization because people don’t have time to hunt for food or build shelters to live in and survive. Instead the system is organized and built so we can get food and shelter with ease unless one prefers to grow their own food and craft their own home. For example your car breaks down, you know exactly who to go to because there is a person who is specialized in the field of cars.

Assigning people jobs benefits the organization by providing efficiency, structure, and profits. Stock marketing would be a good example of how specialization helps an organization. However, there are dysfunctional sides to specialization as well. When somebody does not like the structure or their job, people can become tired, ill, refuse to work or even go on strikes since the system is unfair in their eyes. Then people start to slack at their jobs and make businesses look bad hence leaving them with bad reviews of “customer service” then they lose profits.

It’s also not beneficial to an organization because people can have many skills but most of their time is consumed by their one “job.” So that person can contribute to a lot of things in the world but is stuck because their job holds them back from reaching that potential. Any organization could use more people incorporating their variety of skills to help foster its efficiency with a little creativity and imagination.

In an organization with specialization as one of its characteristics, it kind of leaves less room for career options in an aspect. There will be times when people don’t want a particular job but need to have a job just for their mere survival. That is dysfunctional to the people of the organization because we live in a time of mental illness that affects more people than it used to. For example, some people with mental illness cannot work due to the structural organization of bureaucracy. It’s hard for those dealing with mental illness because time is not on their side and the pressure of work becomes increasingly overwhelming and especially hard to adjust to.

Formal, written communications is based around material travels of communication rather than by…