The Structure of Formal Organizations Answers

Loss of original goals and purpose; encouragement of a “bureaucratic” personality; “red tape”; iron law of oligarchy; dominance by small groups; “few rule the many”

In a pastoral society, because the people in this society live a nomadic life, their food supply is far more reliable and they can support larger populations. Since there are food surpluses, fewer people are needed to produce food. As a result, the division of labor becomes more complex. Division of labor is the specialization by individuals or groups in the performance of specific economic activities. For example, some people become craftworkers, producing tools, weapons, and jewelry.

Professor Laurence J. Peter, in his book The Peter Principle, suggested that employees in a bureaucracy often are promoted to positions for which they may have little ability. Bureaucracies are able to function, he added, only because not all officials have been promoted to their “level of incompetence” or promoted beyond their capabilities.

division of labor, ranking of authority, employment based on formal qualifications, rules and regulations, and specific lines of promotion and advancement

Emphasis is on formal structures with strict dress codes and business manners. One must follow the rules without questioning them.

In bureaucracies, power tends to concentrate in the hands of a few people at the top. These people then use their position to promote their own interests over the interests of the organization. Sociologist Robert Michels called this tendency of organizations to become increasingly dominated by small groups of people the iron law of oligarchy.