SOC 120 Week 4 Assignment Evolution of Formal Organizations

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Resources: Ch. 5
of Society

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Review the
following scenario: You work for a formal organization in the United States that has an open,
flexible organizational structure as described in Figure 5-5 on p. 126 of Society. You have a relative, Micah, who
works for a formal organization with a conventional, bureaucratic
organizational structure. Micah is interested in working for your organization,
but he does not have the education or skill set to work there. He says he
wishes that his company would adopt a flexible organizational structure, but
doubts it is possible. You explain to Micah that you have been studying the
evolution of formal organizations in your sociology class and that you would
like to conduct some research to determine how formal organizations, such as
the one Micah works for, are likely to evolve in the future.

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Write a 1,050-
to 1,750-word paper summarizing your research results and cite 3 to 5 sources
from the Online Library.

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Address the
following areas in your paper:

o
Explain how
formal organizations have evolved over the past century. What differences were
there in organizations a century ago, compared to today’s organizations? What
are the current trends in formal organizations?

o
Review the
characteristics in the Summing Up table on p. 121 in the text, and describe
how each of the characteristics for formal organizations must evolve or change
in Micah’s organization to become more open and flexible. For example, how will
activities or relationships need to change?

o
Locate 3 to 5
articles or case studies in the Online Library that discuss future trends in
formal organizations and predict whether these trends are likely to take place
in the future. Explain your reasoning for each of the predictions.

o
Make an overall
prediction based on your research results: how are formal organizations, such
as Micah’s, likely to evolve in the future?

·
Format your paper
according to APA standards.