Levels of Organizational Reality Orgs exist at all

Levels of Organizational Reality Orgs exist at all levels of social life, from the micro to the macro levels. Let’s look at some of them.

The Micro Level • Face-to face exchanges between individuals in roles and relationships within small groups characterize the Micro level. Organizations here would include a “mom&pop” candy store, a family-owned tree farm, a neighborhood patrol association, a small sorority chapter and the local volunteer fire department.

The Intermediate/Middle Level • In between these small associations and those whose members range into the hundreds of thousands are a vast number of middle-sized organizations. Think of such examples as Seton Hall University, the New York Police Department, Beth Israel Hospital, a mid-sized law firm or bank, the Museum of Modern Art, the NY Yankees.

The Macro Level • Here we enter the largest sphere of social life, where organizations are vast collections of members in a highly complex set of subgroupings, and where power and influence reaches to national and international arenas. Think of General Electric, ATT, the U. N. , the Roman Catholic Church, Sony, the AFL -CIO.

The “so what? ” question • As with all things we are told, we should ask: “so, what is the usefulness of knowing this? ” Thus, think about why we want to identify organizations at different levels of social size and complexity? What kinds of issues get raised and what kinds of questions can we pose if we think about these different levels of social reality?