THE WORK GROUP WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION: A SOCIOPSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH.

PETER M. NEWTON AND DANIEL J. LEVINSON PSYCHIATRY, Vol 36, May 1973, pp. 115-142,

• Notes by William L. Anderson, circa 1995, updated 2023-10-19

TASK: primary and secondary task definitions

PRIMARY TASK: “the task which the group or organization must achieve at some significant level if it is to survive.”

SECONDARY TASKS: "often ... stand in a support or maintenance relationship to the primary task.”

SOCIAL STRUCTURE:

1. division of labor: how the total work of a social system is distributed among its component parts

2. division of authority: configurations of subordination within the organization

3. boundaries: defined by the division of labor; responsibility for regulating boundaries is defined by the division of authority

CULTURE:

“values, assumptions, and beliefs which characterize a given social system and which are interrelated over time with the system’s social structure.”

SOCIAL PROCESS:

1. “imagery, fantasies, and feelings, nonrational and irrational that characterize collective life”

2. What methodology (or technology) does the group employ to accomplish its task and what is the tempo of the work; e.g., continuous ... or alternating brief periods of intense activity and long periods of quiescence?”

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