Components of social systems

Chapter 8 examines the three main components of social systems: roles, norms, and organizational culture. The text defines roles as “the expectations of
others about appropriate behavior in a specific position,” whereas norms are defined as “shared group expectations about appropriate behavior.” Lastly,
culture consists of “languages, values, attitudes, beliefs, and customs of an organization.” As you can see these terms are quite similar. Roles focus on the
individual’s position (e.g., the role of an employee). Norms pertain to group expectations (e.g., employees in a particular department or work area), whereas
culture focuses on the organization as a whole. By applying this knowledge to the following scenario, you will gain a better appreciation of the
distinctiveness, interdependence, and richness of these concepts.
The Social System of Your Organization
Think of a company you work for or have worked for when answering these questions.
A) ROLES: as an employee
1) What role expectations does your organization have of you in terms of:
a) acceptable job performance?
b) proper attire to wear to work?
c) arrival and departure time each day?
d) communicating with supervisors?
2) Describe a role episode that helped you learn an aspect of your primary role as an employee.
3) Briefly describe all of the roles you assume in your job (e.g., worker, team leader, liaison to other department).
B) NORMS: as it relates to your department
a) What are the norms in your department in relation to:
taking a sick day?
socializing with the boss?
taking lunch, coffee, or bathroom breaks?
speed at which employees work?
any other norms?
b) Go through your responses to the previous question by predicting what would happen if an employee violated these norms.
a) How do you think the employee’s boss would react?
b) How do you think the rest of the group would react?
c) Do you think these reactions would prevent others from violating these norms? Explain.
c) Lastly, go through these norms one more time and determine if they coincide or contradict the organization’s goals. For those norms that go against the
objectives of the organizations, can you think of any ways to change these norms to comply with organizational goals?
C) CULTURE: of your organization
1) As the text points out “an organization’s culture can often be traced to its founders.” What values/beliefs did your organization’s founder(s) try to instill?
Are these still the values, beliefs, and attitudes today?
2) What slogans, ceremonies, rituals, legends, stories, or symbols are present at your organization to communicate “the way we do things around here?”
3) How has senior management tried to shape your organization’s culture (e.g., hiring/firing, training, policies/procedures, communications) to adapt to its
environment?