Organizations in Anthropology: FORMAL AND INFORMAL
Organizations in Anthropology we know about social groups, communities and associations. We learnt in association that they are organised groups with a specific purpose. While organisations are those associations of individuals through which certain value oriented interests are satisfied. They are systematically arranged units of individuals in which each person has a formal status and role, (Anderson and Parker, 1966).
Organisations are principally formed in order to attain certain goals. They emerge ‘when explicit procedures are established to coordinate the activities of a group in the interest of achieving specific objectives. The collective effort of the members of the group may become formally organised either because all of them have some common interests or because a sub-group has furnished inducements to the rest to work on behalf of its interests. Trade unions, government bureaus and army are few examples of organisations.
In modern society, needs of human being are diversified and so a number of organisations exist. Organizations in Anthropology provide a medium for expressing the interests like education, architecture, music, sports, cultural activities, etc. Parsons (1960: 9) says that “organisations are social units that are deliberately constructed andreconstructed to pursue specific goals.” The government, trade unions, sports authorities and clubs are social structures formed to achieve certain objectives with special purposes. These all are counted as organisations.
Generally, organisations can be divided into formal and informal Organizations in Anthropology. An organisation is developed when there is collectivity of people associated with one another. But, mere collection of individuals does not form a formal organisation. The defining criteria of a formal organisation is the existence of procedures for mobilising and coordinating the efforts of various, usually specialised, sub-groups in the pursuit of joint objectives.
Formal organisations are further divided into four types on the basis who benefits from the organisation. One type is mutual benefit organisations where the members are beneficiaries, for example a labour union. Another type is represented by business concerns where the main beneficiaries are owners. Third type is clientcentered as in case of service organisations. The fourth type is the common-wealth
organisations which are meant for the benefit of the public. Formal organisation has fixed set of rules of intra-organisation procedures and structures. These rules are set out in writing leaving a little scope for interpretations. In some societies or in some organisations, such rules may be strictly followed; in others, they remain at the level of formalisation only. The informal organisations are informally organised
by the participants themselves, and they compliment those formally organised for them by the management. It is the interlocking social structure that governs how people work together in practice. It is the aggregate of behaviours, interactions, norms, personal and professional connections through which work gets done and relationships are built among people who share a common organisational affiliation. It consists of a dynamic set of personal relationships, social networks, communities of common interest and emotional sources of motivation. Informal Organizations in Anthropology originates or evolves spontaneously in response to changes in the work environment.
Characteristics of formal Organizations
Enduring unless deliberately altered
- Static
- Very specified written rules
- Equates person with roles
- Hierarchical
- People are bounded together with formal rules and procedures
- While informal organisations have following characteristics:
- Evolve or emerge spontaneously
- Dynamic and responsive
Rules are not specified if written
- Treat people as individuals
- No hierarchical relations
Membership of an organisation along with its privileges entails duties and responsibilities. It is just like availing a new status in order to make the individual aware of his new responsibilities and status; many organisations go through the initiation ceremony along with oath taking process. Some Organizations in Anthropology maintain secrecy which builds a kind of social distance between members and outsiders for example Mau Mau, a secret organisation of West Africa (Verghese, 1992).
In a large organisation, many smaller organisations exist. These smaller organisations, which are themselves formal organisations, work as sub units of larger network. This whole network of organisations and its sub units is known as ‘complex organisations’. Etzioni (1961: 464) opines, “Complex organisation constitutes one of the most important elements which make up social web of modern societies. Most citizens of modern societies are born in a hospital, educated in school, work in one organisation or another; and to the degree to that they participate in religious and political activities, these two, frequently take place in complex organisation. In short member of modern societies obtain a large part of their material, social and cultural satisfaction from large scale organisations”.
Modern organisations differ in three ways with social groups (i) division of labour; (ii) power centers; and (iii) substitution of personnel. Contemporary Organizations in Anthropology are specialised and are likely to be formed when there is a complimentary or common interest which may bring the members together for activities of mutual interest.