Describe the formal and informal elements of an organization

The Formal and Informal Organization

The open systems' view of organization may lead one to see the design of an organization as a clockwork with a neat, precise, interrelated functioning. The formal organization is the official, legitimate, and most visible part that enables people to think of organizations in logical and rational ways. The snake pit organizational metaphor mentioned earlier has its roots in the study and examination of the informal organization, which is unofficial and less visible. The informal elements were first fully appreciated as a result of the Hawthorne studies, conducted during the 1920s and 1930s. It was during the interview study, the third of the four Hawthorne studies, that the researchers began to develop a deeper understanding of the informal elements of the Hawthorne Works as an organization.³⁴ The formal and informal elements of the organization are depicted in Figure 1.2.

Potential conflict between the formal and informal organization makes an understanding of both important. Conflicts between these two elements erupted in many organizations during the early years of the twentieth century and were embodied in the union–management strife of that era. The conflicts escalated into violence in a number of cases. For example, during the 1920s, supervisors at the Homestead Works of U.S. Steel were issued pistols and boxes of ammunition “just in case” it became necessary to shoot unruly, dangerous steelworkers. Such potential formal–informal, management–labor conflict does not characterize all organizations. During the same era, Eastman Kodak was very progressive. The company helped with financial backing for employees' neighborhood communities, such as Meadowbrook in Rochester, New York. Kodak's concern for employees and attention to informal issues made unions unnecessary within the company.

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FIGURE 1.2 Formal and Informal Organization

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