Organizational Sociology & Development Flashcards

Which concept describes a situation where an organization's stated goals diverge significantly from the goals it actually pursues?

Answer: Goal displacement

Goal displacement occurs when an organization shifts its focus to means or survival rather than its original ends, often as a result of bureaucratic or self-preservation pressures.

In Parsons' AGIL framework, the 'I' function (integration) refers to which organizational task?

Answer: Coordinating and maintaining solidarity among the organization's parts

Integration in Parsons' scheme involves ensuring that the various subsystems of a social system work cohesively together rather than pulling in conflicting directions.

A sociological practitioner using a 'sociotechnical systems' lens would primarily focus on which relationship?

Answer: The interaction between the social/human aspects of work and the technical systems used to perform it

Sociotechnical systems theory, developed at the Tavistock Institute, holds that effective organizations jointly optimize the social and technical subsystems of work.

Which explanation best captures why 'span of control' is a critical variable in organizational design?

Answer: It determines how many subordinates a manager can effectively supervise, affecting hierarchy depth and communication flow

Span of control shapes whether structures are tall (narrow spans, many layers) or flat (wide spans, few layers), with significant consequences for coordination, autonomy, and information flow.

The 'iron law of oligarchy,' as formulated by Robert Michels, argues that which outcome is inevitable in large organizations?

Answer: Power becomes concentrated in a small elite regardless of the organization's democratic founding principles

Michels concluded from his study of socialist parties that even democratically oriented organizations inevitably develop oligarchic tendencies as leaders gain expertise, networks, and interest in perpetuating their own power.

Which approach best describes 'organizational ecology' as a theoretical perspective?

Answer: Applying population-level analysis to study how environmental selection determines which organizational forms survive

Organizational ecology, associated with Hannan and Freeman, applies Darwinian principles to organizations, examining why certain organizational forms proliferate or decline in given environments.

When evaluating an organizational intervention, a sociological practitioner should use which type of evaluation to assess whether the program's activities were delivered as planned?

Answer: Process evaluation

Process evaluation (also called implementation evaluation) examines fidelity—whether the intervention was carried out as designed—before examining whether it achieved its intended effects.