Formal organization

(noun)

It is a fixed set of rules of intra-organization procedures and structures.

Related Terms

Examples of Formal organization in the following topics:

  • Formal Structure

    • Formal structure of an organization or group includes a fixed set of rules for intra-organization procedures and structures.
    • A formal organization has its own set of distinct characteristics.
    • Practical experience shows no organization is ever completely rule-bound: all real organizations represent some mix of formal and informal characteristics.
    • Tended effectively, the informal organization complements the more explicit structures, plans, and processes of the formal organization.
    • A formal organization is a fixed set of rules of intra-organization procedures and structures.

  • Introduction

    • Social movements do not have to be formally organized.
    • A distinction is drawn between social movements and social movement organizations (SMOs).
    • A social movement organization is a formally organized component of a social movement.

  • Social Movements

    • Social movements can advocate for a particular social change, but they can also organize to oppose a social change that is being advocated by another entity.
    • These movements do not have to be formally organized to be considered social movements.
    • Sociologists draw distinctions between social movements and social movement organizations (SMOs).
    • A social movement organization is a formally organized component of a social movement.
    • Discover the difference between social movements and social movement organizations, as well as the four areas social movements operate within

  • Informal Structure

    • For example, a college management class of 50 students may contain several informal groups that constitute the informal organization within the formal structure of the class.
    • For example, a college management class of 50 students may contain several informal groups that constitute the informal organization within the formal structure of the class.
    • The nature of the informal organization becomes more distinct when its key characteristics are juxtaposed with those of the formal organization.
    • For example, a college management class of 50 students may contain several informal groups that constitute the informal organization within the formal structure of the class.
    • Second, they provide social status and satisfaction that may not be obtained from the formal organization.

  • Sanctions

    • Sanctions can either be positive (rewards) or negative (punishment), and can arise from either formal or informal control .
    • As with formal controls, informal controls reward or punish acceptable or unacceptable behavior, otherwise known as deviance.
    • To maintain control and regulate their subjects, groups, organizations, and societies of various kinds can promulgate rules that act as formal sanctions to reward or punish behavior.
    • For example, in order to regulate behavior, government and organizations use law enforcement mechanisms and other formal sanctions such as fines and imprisonment .
    • Authoritarian organizations and governments may rely on more directly aggressive sanctions.

  • Bureaucracies and Formal Groups

    • A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials who implements the rules, laws, and functions of their institution.
    • A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a government or organization who implements the rules, laws, and functions of their institution.
    • A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can comprise the administration of any organization of any size, though the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government.
    • Red tape is excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making.
    • It is usually applied to governments, corporations and other large organizations.

  • Formal Means of Control

    • Formal means of social control are generally state-determined, through the creation of laws and their enforcement.
    • Formal means of social control are the means of social control exercised by the government and other organizations who use law enforcement mechanisms and sanctions such as fines and imprisonment to enact social control.
    • The mechanisms utilized by the state as means of formal social control span the gamut from the death penalty to curfew laws.
    • Our understanding of formal control is enhanced by social theorist Max Weber's work on the state's use of violence.
    • Explain the relationship between formal means of social control and state authority

  • Social Control

    • Social control may also be enforced using formal sanctions.
    • Formal sanctions may be used in a large group in which an individual can choose to ignore the sanctions of other individuals.
    • Government and organizations use law enforcement mechanisms and other formal sanctions, such as fines and imprisonment.
    • In schools, formal sanctions may include detention, suspension, or other formal punishments.

  • Social Institutions

    • Institutions can be either formal or informal.
    • Formal institutions are those that are created with the intention of governing human behavior.
    • However, formal institutions do not have to have the force of the law at their disposal.
    • Institutionalization refers to the process of embedding something, such as a concept, a social role, a value, or a logic within an organization, social system, or society as a whole.
    • The United States Congress, housed in the Capitol Building, is one example of a formal institution.

  • Durkheim's Mechanical and Organic Solidarity

    • Mechanical solidarity is found in less structurally complex societies while organic solidarity emerges in industrialized societies.
    • As part of his theory of the development of societies in, The Division of Labour in Society (1893), sociologist Emile Durkheim characterized two categories of societal solidarity: organic and mechanical.
    • The two types of solidarity can be distinguished by formal and demographic features, type of norms in existence, and the intensity and content of the conscience collective.
    • Durkheim formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.
    • Give examples for societies held together by mechanical or organic solidarity