Interdependencies, Inertia, and the Collapse of Formal and Informal Structure

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
pp. 13533
Author(s):  
Deborah Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Informal Structure

Formal and Informal Structure of Organization

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phanish Puranam
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Structural Approach ◽  
Informal Organization ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Multiplex Network ◽  
Informal Structure ◽  
Formal Design

In this chapter, my aim is describe the links between the formal and informal structure of organizations, and propose a systematic approach to analyzing these links. I first discuss how the two are related and influence each other. Next, revisiting the theme of organizations as “marvels but not miracles” I argue that formal design can be useful even when it not predicated on high levels of comprehension or intelligence. This is because it can compensate for aspects of the informal organization, as well as shape the emergence of the informal organization. I discuss an instance of a micro-structural approach to such issues in some detail, and conclude by offering a multiplex network formulation that can help us make progress in studying the complex interactions between formal and informal organizational structures.

Informal Structure in Elementary Schools

1968 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Heller ◽  
Donald J. Willower
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Informal Structure

Informal Regional Institutions and National Resilience

2021 ◽  
pp. 28-52
Author(s):  
Larry Crump
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
National Development ◽  
Adaptation Strategy ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Regional Institution ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Informal Structure ◽  
Regional Solutions ◽  
The Relationship

With the apparent demise of globalization, many states are turning to regional solutions to achieve trade and development goals while institutional structure is fundamental to the strategic and managerial operations of such associations. This study seeks to understand the strategic costs and benefits, as well as the management opportunities and challenges, of a regional institution that maintains an informal structure while specifically examining the relationship between informal regional structure and member (national) resilience. This investigation develops a resilience framework and tests it against a unique structural form, the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru), which operates without incorporation as a legal entity, without a centralized budget, and without a secretariat. This study reasons that an informal regional institution supports national resilience through an adaptation strategy but not an adaptability strategy and concludes that an informal regional model appears to support continual national development through the adoption of member ‘best practice'.

Evolution of the social structure of hospitality management literature: 1960-2016

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 489-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehmet Ali Koseoglu
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Small World ◽  
Hospitality Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Management Literature ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hospitality Managers ◽  
Informal Structure

Purpose This study aims to address how the social structure of the hospitality management field has evolved from 1960 to 2016. Design/methodology/approach The informal social structure of the hospitality management literature was analyzed by collecting authorship data from seven hospitality management journals. Co-authorship analyses via network analysis were conducted. Findings According to the findings, throughout the history of hospitality management, international collaboration levels are relatively low. Based on social network analysis, the research community is only loosely connected, and the network of the community does not fit with the small-world network theory. Additional findings indicate that researchers in the hospitality management literature are ranked via degree centrality, closeness centrality and betweenness centrality. Cliques, which contain at least five researchers, and core researchers are identified. Practical implications This study helps both scholars and practitioners improve the informal structure of the field. Scholars must generate strong ties to strengthen cross-fertilization in the field; hence, they collaborate with authors who have strong positions in the field. Specifically, this provides a useful performance analysis. To the extent that institutions and individuals are rewarded for publications, this study demonstrates the performance and connectivity of several key researchers in the field. This finding could be interesting to (post)graduate students. Hospitality managers looking for advisors and consultants could benefit from the findings. Additionally, these are beneficial for journal editors, junior researchers and agencies/institutions. Originality/value As one of the first study in the field, this research examines the informal social structure of hospitality management literature in seven journals.

scholarly journals Combining Theoretical Perspectives on the Organizational Structure-Performance Relationship

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Starling David Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Organization Structure ◽  
Organization Design ◽  
Formal Structure ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Organizational Relationships ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Research Stream ◽  
Informal Structure ◽  
The Impact

Much of the literature linking organization structure to performance falls into two broad research streams. One stream concerns formal structure – the hierarchy of authority or reporting relationships as well as the degree of standardization, formalization, specialization, etc. The impact of formal structure and other elements of organization design on performance is typically contingent on factors such as strategic orientation, task characteristics, and environmental conditions. The other research stream focuses on informal structure – a network of interpersonal and intra-organizational relationships. Properties of informal structure are typically shown to have a more direct (less contingent) impact on organizational performance. Despite these pronounced differences in the conceptualization of organization structure, considerable overlap and complementarity exist between the two research streams. In this article, I compare and contrast a pair of exemplars from each stream – the information processing perspective and the social network perspective – with respect to their conceptualizations of organization structure and its relationship to performance. Several recommendations for future research that combines the two approaches are offered.

scholarly journals Subculture of convicted as from criminal subculture: cultural and historical aspect

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 98-111
Author(s):  
Nastoiashcha U. V. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Regulatory Function ◽  
Structural Element ◽  
Historical Aspect ◽  
The Public ◽  
Psychological Reaction ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
General Continuum ◽  
Informal Structure

The purpose of the article is to distinguish the subculture of convicts and criminal subcultures as a known concept Methodology. The basis of this study is a theoretical analysis, synthesis, generalization, systematization of available scientific literature on the subject. Results. The theoretical analysis of scientific works on the basis of an interdisciplinary approach helped to distinguish the subculture of convicts and the criminal subculture in the context of their manifestations in the public consciousness. It is determined that the subculture of convicts develops on the basis of the criminal subculture, which performs a regulatory function in relation to convicts. The criteria of delimitation of subcultures are singled out, which gives each of them a separate place in the general continuum and concerns: attitude to social and legislative norms, places of formation and forms of manifestation, peculiarities of communication and self-presentations. It is proved that a clear distinction between the convicted subculture and the criminal subculture will provide a basis for the rehabilitation of convicts and the effectiveness of the penitentiary service in prison conditions. It was established that the subculture of convicts is a structural element of the criminal subculture with its own system of norms, values, traditions, customs that regulate the behavior of convicts in the informal structure of penitentiaries. Its emergence and existence in places of imprisonment causes a compensatory psychological reaction with a forced desire to adapt, ensure their safety, assert themselves in a community of their own kind, where inevitably formed a system of values, concepts, customs, regulating relations between individuals isolated from society. Practical implications. The subculture of convicts is created and manifested in places of imprisonment, is characterized by the preservation of norms, values, traditions, customs of the criminal subculture, provides for the formation of adaptive mechanisms for places of imprisonment with subsequent inclusion in the rehabilitation process. Value (originality). The clarity of the distinction between the subculture of convicts and the criminal subculture will create the basis for the deployment of prison rehabilitation processes and increase the efficiency of the penitentiary service. Key words: subculture (criminal, prison, convicts), penitentiary institutions, norms of behavior regulation.

Desacralized law, disenchanted society: A major transition in Ch’u T’ung-tsu’s historical studies

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-358
Author(s):  
Yue Du
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Formal Structure ◽  
Law And Society ◽  
Deviant Behaviors ◽  
Feudal Society ◽  
Major Transition ◽  
Informal Structure

In this study, I examine four major books written by a renowned Chinese historian, Ch’u T’ung-tsu, and describe a profound transition over the course of his studies. I argue that the isomorphism between Confucian doctrines and Chinese social structure in two earlier books, Feudal Society in China, and Law and Society in Traditional China, disappears completely in his last book, Local Government in China under the Ch’ing, which exclusively focuses on informal relationships and deviant behaviors in China’s bureaucratic system. The current study traces this transition by carefully examining Ch’u’s Western influences, represented by Maine’s work in Ancient Laws, and Ch’u’s subsequent ‘failed effort’ in his third book, Han Society Structure. I maintain that Ch’u’s Western academic influences could best be characterized as the desacralization of law, with an exclusive focus on social structure. When the formal structure of kinship groups and social classes failed to explain the maintenance of social order in the Han dynasty, Ch’u turned away from formal structure and pursued studies on informal structure and deviance.

Structure and Delivery for Mobile Learning Experiences

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh Kellam
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Effective Feedback ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Hands On Learning ◽  
Informal Structure ◽  
And Control

The purpose of this article was to identify, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of best practices from the mobile learning literature for the structure and delivery of mobile learning. Mobile learning activities were deployed in a videoconference equipment training course which was accessed by physicians, nurses, and healthcare professionals at medical organizations across Ontario. With regards to mobile learning delivery, user flexibility and control were identified as critical when utilizing a mobile learning experience to apply knowledge in a specific learning context. Avatar hosts were also identified as effective feedback and guidance mechanisms. The informal structure of mobile learning proved to be ideal for contextual, hands-on learning of specific workplace skills, supported by the baseline and summative knowledge provided by the online learning course. This study found that the structure and delivery of mobile learning must be considered during the instructional design stage in order to provide practical learning experiences and reliable learning outcomes.

Company Organisation under Current Globalisation

2014 ◽  
pp. 91-117
Author(s):  
Ioan Constantin Dima
Keyword(s):  
Formal Structure ◽  
Organisational Structure ◽  
Structural Organisation ◽  
Industrial Companies ◽  
Exogenous Factors ◽  
Informal Structure ◽  
Industrial Company

Under the current globalisation conditions, the existence and development of any industrial company depends on the type of formal and informal organisation that it adopts. This chapter analyses how the industrial companies are organised under the current global conditions. The structural organisation of any industrial company depends on a number of endogenous and exogenous factors, which leads to the existence of several forms of organisational structure also characterised by certain forms of communication. Under the conditions of current globalisation (industrial company's internal), the informal organisation is closely related to the formal organisation. The chapter concludes with the discussion of the advantages of the harmonisation of the formal structure with the informal structure within the industrial companies.

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