Chapter 2

Understanding society Sociology

 Meaning of society
• A society is a group of people participating in continuous social
connection or a broad social group occupying the same social or
spatial territory, normally exposed to the same political power
and cultural standards that are dominant.
• It is called society because its members share some mutual
concern or interest, a common objective or common
characteristics.
• Acc to. R.T. Lapiere, “Society refers not to group of people but to
the complex pattern of norms of interaction that arise among
and between them.”
• For eg: a fair justice system is a fundamental part of a civilized
society, family unit
 Nature of Society
• Grouping of people
• Common culture shared by all members
• Mutual interaction and mutual awareness
among people
• Both similarities and differences among the
members
• Society is dynamic
• Interdependence among the members
 Importance of society in a business
organization
• Businesses are producing goods and services but it
impossible to do it without the help of society.
• To operate successfully, business needs various
resources that are available in society.
• Human resource is the main resource on which the
business is largely dependent.
• Perhaps no organization can survive without performing
the function of management ie; planning, organizing,
staffing, coordinating and controlling all these function
are to be performed by keeping in mind the society
 Types of societies
1. On the Basis of Level of Economic and
Technological Development:

- First world(highly industrially advanced and

economically rich)
- Second world(industrially advanced but not as
much first category)
- Third world(least developed, or in the process
of developing)
 2. On the Basis of Major Source of
Economic Organization
a. Pre-industrial society
-Hunting and gathering society: Around 12000 years ago people
survived by hunting wild animals and gathering edible plants. so this
is the oldest and simplest type of society.
-Pastoral society: It emerge after hunting and gathering societies,
where people livelihood is based on pasturing breeding of animals
such as cattle, camels, sheep and goats for food.
-Horticultural society: Their economy is based on cultivating
plants by the use of simple tools, such as digging sticks, hoes, axes
etc which helps in growing crops
-Agricultural society: It is still dominant in most parts of the
world, is based on large scale agriculture which largely depends on
ploughs using animal labor.
b. Industrial society(Modern or technological society): ‘The
Industrial Revolution’ which began in great Britain during 18 th
century, gave rise to emergence of Industrial Society. In this
society goods are produced by machines powered by fuels
instead of, by animal or human energy.
c.post-industrial society: the machines for producing and
transporting goods reduced the need of human labour so
much that the economy transformed again from an industrial
to post-industrial economy. This is the society based on
information, services, and high technology rather than on raw
materials and manufacturing. USA, Canada, Japan and
western European societies are highly industrialized societies.
 The building blocks of society
• People
• Status
• Role
• Social Norms
• Values
• Group
• Social institution
• Socialization
• Social control
• Social interaction
 Meaning of Community
• The Anthropologists argue that the community existed
among our sub-human ancestors too. ‘Community’ is a
group where the members live together in such a way
that they share particular group interest, possess we-
feeling, sense of belongingness and common life
condition.
• Horton and Hunt defines community as, “a local
grouping within which people carry out a full round of
life activities.”
• For eg: Racial or ethnic community, religious community,
 Characteristics of Community
• A group of people
• A definite territory
• Community sentiment
• Spontaneous
• Similarity
• Total organized social life
• A component of society
 Meaning of culture
• “Culture” refers to the group’s shared beliefs,
practices and values for a living. It includes
everything produced by a society such as peoples
way of talking, dressing, cooking, eating,
marrying etc .
• Taylor defined, “culture is that complex whole
which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals,
law, custom and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by a human as a member of society”.
 Elements of Culture
• Beliefs: are the convictions that people hold to be true.
• Norms: norms are rules or standards and expectations for behaving in the
society.
• Values: it involves judgments of what is good or bad and desirable or
undesirable.
• Rituals: rituals both reflect and transmit a culture’s norms and other
elements from one generation to the next.
• Symbols: a symbol is anything that is used to stand for something else.
• Language: language is a system of words and symbols used to
communicate with other people.
• Artifacts: the artifacts or material objects, constitute a society’s material
culture.
• Idea and technology: application of ideas or knowledge into practical
purposes.
 Characteristics of Culture
• Culture is Inherent in Society
• Culture satisfies human needs
• Culture is not Inborn; it is learnt
• Culture is shared
• Culture is dynamic and adaptive
• Culture is transmissive
• Culture varies from society to society
• Culture is symbolic
 Types of Culture
• Material Culture: material culture is physical
things that are created by a man. For e.g.
manufactured objects such as tools,
technology, furniture, automobiles, arts , road
etc .
• Non-material culture: it is intangible things
produced by man. For e.g. social roles, ethics,
language
 Functions of culture
• Culture is a treasury of knowledge with
instincts to adapt to environment.
• Culture defines situation
• Culture defines attitudes, values and goals
• Culture decides our careers
• Culture provides behavior pattern
• Culture molds personality of individuals
• Cultural Trait and culture complex: The smallest unit of culture is
called a “trait” which means that trait cannot be reduced to
further smallest part. A “cultural complex” is a cluster of related
traits.
• Cultural Lag: W.F. Ogburn introduced the concept of ‘Cultural Lag’
which refers to a gap that develops between fast-changing
technology and other slower-paced socio-cultural traits such as
belief, attitudes and norms.
• Sub-culture: Every society is composed of smaller sub-units all of
which when put together make a complex society. Such sub-units
or group whose ways of thinking, feeling and acting differ
somewhat from those of the larger society or the dominant
culture are known as “sub-cultures”.
• Counter-culture: Sub-culture which
deliberately opposes and consciously rejects
some of the basic beliefs, values and norms of
the dominant culture are called “counter-
culture”.
• Popular culture: The beliefs, practices,
activities and products that are widely shared
among a population in everyday life is called
“popular culture”.
 Group
• Meaning: A “group” refers to a collection of two or
more persons in regular interactions with a
common goal or interest and share a common
identity. For e.g. family, lecturers, sports team etc.
• Acc. To Harry M. Jonson defines group as.”A system
of social interactions”.
• Group plays an important role in the development
of social organization, socialization, and formation
of personality.
 Elements of Group
• Two or more individuals as members
• Contact and interaction among members
• Has common goals
• Possesses we-feeling
• Reciprocity
• Consensus
• Common ideals and values
• Established patterns
 Features of Group
• Collection of individuals
• Interaction among members
• We-feeling and group unity
• Common goals
• Group norms
• Variation in group size
• Groups are dynamic
• Groups influence on personality of members
Factors Enforcing Group Formation
• Psychological factor
• Biological factor
• Kinship bond
• Geographic factor
• Cultural factor
• Economic factor
• Religious factor
• Political factor
 Stages(processes )of Group Formation
• Stage I Forming: In this members get to know each other
and define the mission of the group
• Stage II Storming: Members come to resist the control by
group leaders and show hostility
• Stage III Norming: In this members work together as a
team to accomplish purpose.
• Stage IV Performing: The group is most productive and
begins to experience results.
• Stage V Adjourning: The group break apart to return to
normal activities and also they review the successes and
failures of the group.
 Importance of social groups
• Group is basis for survival
• Man becomes man only among men
• Groups shape personality
 Types of Groups
1. On the basis of nature and quality of social interaction:
a. primary groups
b. secondary groups
a. Primary groups: American Sociologists C.H.Cooley propounded the
idea of primary group. It is called primary because they are the primary
source of relationships and socialization and play crucial roles in our
lives. for e.g. family, friend circle, neighbourhood.
characteristics:
- face to face interaction and close relationship
- personal/emotional relationship
- small sized
- regular communication
- direct cooperation
b. Secondary Group: The group which are found at
workplace and are impersonal and formal . These
groups are just opposite of primary groups which role
is more goal or task oriented. For e.g. members of
club, workplace, professionals etc.
Characteristics:
-Impersonal relation
-large sized
-membership
-Formal group structure
2. On the Basis of Degree of Association:
a. In-group or ‘we group’: These are the
groups where individual feels he or she
belongs to, and believes it to be an integral
part of who he or she is.
b. Out-group or ‘They group’: It is a group
someone doesn’t belong to; or there may be a
feeling of competition in relation to a out-
group.
3. On the basis of stratification and
differentiation:
a. Horizontal group: They are large inclusive
groups such as nations, religious organizations
and political parties.
b. Vertical group: They are smaller
divisions, such as economic classes(high class
and low class) which gives status.
4. On the basis of Territory occupied or not:
a. Territorial group: for e.g. communities and states lie in
territorial group.
b. Non Territorial group: crowd lie in non- territorial group.
5. On the basis of membership and non-membership:
a. Membership group: the individual is born in the midst
of a group i.e. family. He gets the membership of some group
by birth such as that of village, town, caste or religion.
b. Non-membership group: as people grows, the
individuals comes into contact of non-membership group
such as school, clubs and political parties.
6. On the basis of individuals Liking, Desire
and Orientation:
a. Positive group: Those groups towards
whom individuals have more liking or tends
more favorably are positive groups.
b. Negative groups: Those groups that the
individual does not like are negative group.
He/she rejects their assumptions.
7. From the organizational point of view:
a. Formal group: Formal groups are those groups which are
organizationally determined and are designated with work assignments
and performing tasks. The formal groups may further be classified into
following groups:
- command group
- task group
- committees
characteristics of formal groups:
- part of organization
- fulfill social needs
- hierarchy
- impersonal relationship
b. Informal group: Informal groups are alliances that are neither
formally structured nor organizationally determined. These groups are
formed naturally in response to the common interests for the purpose
of self defense, social interaction. It can also be in different forms:
-interest group
-friendship group
-reference group
Characteristics of Informal Group:
- spontaneous formation
- formed by member themselves
- no rigid rules
- satisfaction of needs
 Social Norms and Values
• Social Norms: These are the rules, standard
and guidelines for socially appropriate
behavior. They are also specific guidelines that
specify how people should behave in various
social institution, these are the means to
achieve ends.
 Characteristics of social Norms
• Social norms are universal
• Norms incorporate value-judgement
• Norms are relative
• All norms are not equally important
• Norms are internalized by the individuals
 Types of Norms
• Folkways: These are the norms that are socially
approved but may be broken without severe
punishment because they are not morally significant.
• Mores: These are the norms that society considers
very important because they maintain moral and
ethics.
• Taboos: These are the norms that forbid certain
activities.
• Laws: These are the formal rules enacted by the state.
 Importance of Norms
• A norm less society is impossible
• Norms give cohesion to society
• Norms influence individual’s attitude

Function of norms:
• Norms regulate behavior
• Norms maintain social order
• Norms maintain social cohesion
• Norms helps to have self-control
 Social value
• Social value: Values influence the nature of an
individual’s behavior. Values are the criteria
people use in assessing their daily lives;
arrange their priorities and choosing between
alternative course of action. For e.g. values
such as respect for human dignity, sacrifice,
patriotism etc.
• Social values are abstract conceptions of what
is right, what is good and what is bad.
 Characteristics of social value
• Values provides standards of competence and
morality.
• Values are fewer in number than attitude
• Values are abstract concept
• Values are relatively stable, permanent and
resistant to change
• Values are most central to the core of a person
 Types of social values
• Dominant values: These are those values that the majority of
people in a society support at a particular time.
• Traditional values: These are those values that a majority of
people have believed over a long period of time.
• Emerging values: These are new ideas which emerge due to the
failure of traditional values. These values replace the earlier
values or may be sophisticated.
• Oppositional values: These are those values held by a small
group in society which are in opposition to those held by the
majority of society.
• Alternative values: These are those values that exist outside of
dominant or traditional values but not in opposition to them.
 Function of values
-values provide goals or ends for the members
to aim for
-values shared in common
-values bring legitimacy to the norms or rules
-values help to bring about some kind of
adjustment between different sets of norms
Importance of values
- values lay the foundations for the
understanding of attitudes and motivators
- personal value system influences the
perception of individuals, managers
- values influence the attitude and behavior
 Status and Role
Status: “status” is a social position that a
person occupies in a society or a group. Acc.
to Ralph Linton “status is the place in a
particular system, which a certain individual
occupies at a particular time.”
 Features of Status
• Person can add and subtract status
• Status establish social identity and say who we
are
• Each status in society is accompanied by role
• One individual may have several status
• Status change throughout the course of life
 Types of Status
1. Ascribed status: These are those status which are assigned
to individuals without considering their innate abilities and
achievements. And also it cannot be changed. For e.g. caste
2. Achieved status: These are those status which are
attained through personal efforts and which can be
changed or controlled. For e.g. social class
3. Master status: Master status is that ascribed or achieved
status that makes someone’s identity and is very visible and
often shape a person’s life. For e.g. doctor, lawyer
4. Mixed status : Mixed status is a mixture of achievement
ie. Achieved and ascribed.
Role: the behavior expected of a person
who has a particular status is called “role”.
Acc to Kingsley Davis, “the manner in
which a person actually carries out the
requirements of his/her position”.
for e.g. professor is accompanied by role
of professor
 Nature of Role
• Role playing is obligatory for all members
• Some social roles are shared by many people
• Some social roles are voluntary while some
are involuntary
 Types of Role
1. Ascribed Role and Achieved Role: ‘Ascribed roles’ are the one that are
given at birth. These roles pertain to one’s gender, age, kinship, caste,
class etc. ‘Achieved roles’ are the ones that are largely acquired over
lifetime on the basis of merit.
2. Relational and Non-relational Roles: ‘Relational roles’ are certain roles
which are complementary in nature and are understood in relation to
other.
‘Non-Relational Roles’ are not dependent or complementary in
nature. For e.g. painter, musician
3. Basic, General and Independent roles: ‘Basic Roles’ are mostly
determined by sex and age ascribed to individuals at birth. ‘General
roles’ are assigned on the basis of merit of the individual. ‘Independent
roles’ are determined by merit and have very less implications for other
roles.
• Role conflict: In the Industrialized society the
people has many statuses and many roles as
compared to pre- industrial society.
‘Role conflict’ refers to the competing demands of
two or more roles due to multiple statuses of a
person. For e.g. As a mother and as a sister at same
time.
The more statuses we have, and the more roles we
take on, the more likely we are to experience role
conflict.
• Role strain: “Role strain” is when the role
demands from a single status cause stress and
burden to a person. For e.g. father has many
roles such as earning, taking care of family,
attends meeting etc.
 Caste, Ethnicity, Class, Gender
• Caste : “Caste” is predetermined hereditary social category
based on division of labor, under the Hindu caste system. Once
born in a caste, he has to remain the same. For e.g. in Nepal,
Brahmin is a caste and Acharya, Sharma, Ghimire etc are its sub-
caste.
• C.H. Cooley defines caste as, “when a class is somewhat strictly
hereditary, we may call it a caste.”
• Caste system is a closed social stratification in Hindu society
whereby people are often divided on the basis of their
occupations, status
• The origin of caste system in Nepalese and Indian society relates
with the ‘Chaturvarna’ system of Hindu philosophy.
• In the classical Hindu caste system, there are four
Varna's (or categories):
a. Brahman (priests, divine people)
b. Kshatriya ( leaders, warriors)
c. Vaishya (traders)
d. Shudra (cleaners)
Though originally, caste system represented merely the
division of society based on occupational status but
later, over the centuries, castes became hereditary.
 Features of Caste System
• Hierarchical division
• Rigid system
• Restriction
• Restriction on Food Habits
• Restriction on Occupation
• Restriction on Marriage
• Restriction on Social Relation
• Theory of Pollution
• Ethnicity: It refers to a sense of cultural awareness
and identity within groups that share a common
history and common cultural heritage.
• It is an idea of sense of belongingness to a particular
group and not to the other i.e. the recognition of a
contrast between them and us.
• Ethnic groups is a category of people who see
themselves because of their cultural heritage such as
their own mother tongue, folk practices, dress,
gestures, religion etc.
 Features of Ethnicity
• Specific cultural traits
• Common history
• Mother tongue
• Away from mainstream culture
• Collective cultural identity
• Sense of belongingness
• Religion
• Class : A “Class” refers to a group of people in a
society with similar power, prestige, property and
education.
• The term ‘class’ was first used by the German
political economist, Karl Marx.
• According to Giddens (2000), “a class is a large-
scale grouping of people who share common
economic resources, which strongly influence the
type of lifestyle they are able to lead”.
 Types /divisions of class:
i. upper class: class that controls the majority of wealth
and power. E.g. industrialists
ii. Middle class: engaged in non manual work , often
having higher levels of educational achievement. E.g.
professor, doctor
iii. Working class: engaged in manual work. Low level of
education . E.g. factory worker
iv. Under class: little possibility of full time employment,
disabled, young unemployed. E.g. ‘dalits’ in Nepal
 Features of social Class
• Class is a status group
• Class is mode of feeling
• It is element of prestige
• Mode of lifestyle
• Social class is an open group
• Social class is an economic group
 Features of class system
• Hierarchy
• Social ranking
• Inequality
• Open system
• Achieved status
• Social restriction
• Distinct mode of Lifestyle
• Gender : The term “gender” refers to socially
constructed role and identity of a person, either
male or female, as well as the relationship between
them rather than biological differences.
• Acc to The World Health Organization(WHO);
“Gender” refers to the socially constructed
characteristics of women and men, such as norms,
roles and relationships of and between groups of
women and men. It varies from society to society
and can be changed.
• While ‘sex’ is a natural or biological feature,
‘gender’ means a cultural or learned feature
i.e. the set of characteristics that a society or
culture defines as masculine and feminine.
 Characteristics of Gender
• Gender refers to masculinity and femininity
• Socially, culturally and historically constructed
• Learned through socialization
• Gender varies with time and space
• Gender considers men as bread earners, while
women are regarded as child bearers
Implication of sociological concepts in management and
business administration related Issues and Problems

• “Society”, “community” in management and business

administration: There is two what society expects from the
businessman and what businessman expects from the society .
• ‘Culture’ in Management and Business Administration: The
existence of multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-ethnic
population groups is both an opportunity and challenges for a
business organization and its economy.
-helps business managers become culturally responsive
- gain values that help to steer business
-handling employees
- public relation, find market opportunity
• Linkage of ‘Culture’ and ‘Sub-culture’ of a society and
‘Consumer Behavior’: The culture of a society also has a
bearing on buying patterns and consumption behavior. The
kinds of product and services that consumer buy and use
are all based on their culture and sub-culture.
• ‘Group’ in management and Business Administration:
There is always a formal group responsible for the
management and administration of the company. Such
group is referred to as ‘management’.
• Linkage of the concept ‘Norms’, ‘Values’
• Linkage of the concept ‘Status’, ‘Role’
 Social Institutions
• A social institution is an important human
organization in a culture group that helps a society
to survive.
• Anthropologists have identified government,
religion, education, economy, and family as the five
basic social institutions that are necessary for a
society to survive.
• To a sociologist families, sports teams, religions,
hospitals, and healthcare systems are all
considered to be institutions.
• Socialization:“socialization” is an on-going
and life-long process whereby an individual
learns and is trained on the basic norms,
values, beliefs, skills, attitudes, way of doing
and acting as appropriate to a specific social
groups or society.
• It is the process that turns a biological being
into a social being and develops a self or sense
of individual identity called ‘personality’.
• Social interaction: it is the process of people engaging
with each other through various forms of communication,
such as language, gestures, and symbols. It allows people
to form groups share information, and coordinate their
behavior.
• Social Control: : it s a mechanism or strategy to bring
conformity to social norms and laws and therefore,
regulate people’s behavior and attitude in the society. The
main goal of social control is to maintain social order.
• It is mainly done by socialization where people learn to
maintain social norms and values.
 How does society shape Individual?
• Every society has its ground rules (social
norms, customs etc.) that control behaviors of
its members. These norms are very important
to know how human s act and interact with
each other. When we say society shapes an
individual, it means shaping our personality
(our thoughts, feelings, behaviors and values).
Society plays an important role in shaping
individuals in several ways. They are:
• Social institution
• Biology and socio-cultural environment
• Social norms and values
• Social interactions
• Gender role
• Culture
• Social hierarchy
• Socialization
 Importance of sociology in Understanding
Consumer Behavior
• Understanding the social and cultural
dimensions of consumption
• Analyzing the impact of globalization on
consumption patterns
• Understanding the role of marketing and
advertising
• Informing policy and practice
 Benefits of incorporating study of
organizational behavior in Sociology
• Understanding the relationship between
individual and organization
• Analyzing the impact of power and hierarchy
within organization
• Investing the role of organizational culture in
shaping employee behavior and attitudes
• Examining the impact of organizational
behavior on social and economic outcomes