The vast majority of people are united in certain groups and collectives. Why? As with other living things, the condition for the survival of humans is their interaction. One person is unlikely to be able to achieve serious results, acting alone.
All types of social groups according to their ordering can be divided into several main ones: crowd, public and social organization.
A crowd is a spontaneous gathering of people that occurs suddenly. These people are usually united by common interests and desires - for example, it concerns excited football fans or participants in a political rally. As soon as the reason that caused them to get together disappears, this temporary group disappears. A crowd is a completely unorganized gathering of people driven by emotions. Therefore, it is often a destructive force and much less often a creative one.
The audience differs from the crowd in that it is in this conditional association of people that they are not connected by emotions and instincts, but by a common opinion, and members of the public can be geographically disunited.
A social organization is a special group that is characterized by secrecy and hierarchy, whose members are united by the same goals. It differs from the crowd or the public in its internal coherence, the presence of a set of certain rules, the coordination of its members, a common goal and a common activity.
The structure of the organization, the purpose of its activity and existence are two main points on which the type of organization, its viability, effectiveness, etc.
It has long been noticed that the work performed by the combined forces of several people is much more effective than simply adding up the efforts of these people doing the same thing individually. In the first case, the results of the actions of each of the team members can be enhanced by the support of others, the coordination of work. The effectiveness of the organization’s actions increases many times if the principle of the division of labor operates in it. Take, for example, a football team. In it, in addition to the attackers, there are goalkeepers, defenders, attackers and midfielders; if each player performed the functions of a goalkeeper, and a defender, and an attacker, then the effectiveness of the actions of the whole team would fall sharply.
Social organizations relate mainly to secondary groups, i.e. to formalized. The primary ones are associations of people who are primarily connected with interpersonal relationships. As for the goals of activities in such associations, they are of three types. The first concerns action programs issued by organizations of a higher rank. The goals of the system are the aggregate goals of all team members. And the third type, affecting the system of activities, combines the desire to preserve and develop this organization. These three types of goals are fundamental.
With the development of civilization, new types of organizations appeared. This was facilitated by the emergence of industrialization, social instability, new forms of government and globalization. The types of organizations that arose relatively recently - these are corporations, syndicates, trade unions, etc. But such as: state institutions, clubs, forestries, etc. - were known long before them.
Types of organizations differ due to their origin, goals, structure. There are many, but several basic varieties are distinguished.
The main types of social organizations: charismatic, total, voluntary, bureaucratic.
The former include groups led by a strong leader who stands out as a person. Attitudes toward members of a given association depend on how close they are to it. Leaders, as a rule, if not idolized, then at least highly valued. The clearest example of such a union is Jesus Christ and his followers, i.e. first Christian community.
Voluntary organizations are in no way connected with state bodies, membership is absolutely voluntary, they are formed to satisfy certain interests of the organization’s members. The most striking example is trade unions.
Total can be attributed to state, religious, national, etc.
Administrative (bureaucratic) operate strictly according to the established rules that govern the distribution of responsibilities between their members. There is a vertical control. In such organizations it is very important to establish business relations between their participants in order to successfully achieve the goals of their common activities. An example of this type of social institution is government.
According to rationality, in the process of achieving common goals, there are such types of organizations: rational and traditional. The latter include, for example, religious ones.