Evolution of Formal Organizations

Evolution of Formal Organizations
Sociology 120
Rachelle Knapp
May 8, 2011

    Formal organizations in the past were based mostly upon hard work and dedication. You
worked at your job and you would advance. People could go right from high school into a job
that they could stay at for 30-40 years and be able to retire from. They made a steady income and
were usually guaranteed a job. There were generally not any shortages or layoffs. Organizations
were based upon a solid work ethic. But like everything else in this world, corruption played a
role in organizations. People would do the wrong thing to get ahead. This seems to be a common
thread throughout the ages.
      Older companies that did not advance technologically would have trouble keeping up with
the demands of consumers while companies that embraced advances in technology were able to
move ahead more quickly and evolve with the changing times. A good example of this would be
when Henry Ford created mass production with his Model T Ford cars. He revolutionized the
way things were made. Those companies that embraced this new technology were able to survive
while the ones that did not and were subsequently closed. But many believe this new technology
also hurt the old fashioned quality that people had come to expect with the old way of doing
things. Handmade items became a thing of the past as mass production found its way into all
facets of creating consumer goods. Organizations had to quickly adapt to the changing times if
they wanted to stay in business.
      The benefits of this change were that companies became more efficient and were able to
produce greater quantities of goods. It also made work less strenuous since there machines doing
a lot of the work that was once done by hand.
      There still was no efficient way to store information. If a company needed to meet with a
client it was done face to face. There no such things as conference or video...