Informal Organizations

Informal organizations are critical to the effectiveness of bureaucracies. These networks can be instrumental in helping individuals adapt to problems of ineffective management and interpersonal tensions. Networking is also a factor in the ease of an individual's vertical movement within an organization. The absence of social ties between people who frequently work together could be a sign of exclusion, and could warrant intervention given the benefical nature of such alliances. The following articles provide insight into the types of informal social organizations typical of government agencies.

The subject of "Mentoring: Philosophy and Practice" by George Caravalho and Terri Maus is the concept of mentoring and its application in government agencies. One of the concerns facing local government is the preparation of tomorrow's leaders. Government has a responsibility to its future leaders to share the wisdom and knowledge gleaned from experience. Mentoring provides the opportunity to accomplish this objective.

The author's purpose in writing the article is to facilitate the practice of mentoring in the bureaucracy. The philosophy of the concept of mentoring is explained. Tips for both mentor and mentee are provided.

Although mentoring can be established as a formal relationship, it works best as an informal arrangement. According to the authors, "Informal relationships tend to prosper and flourish in organizations that hold the value of the individual in hig

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etworks. The author conducted her study by means of interviews with top managers in state government. Over 90 percent of these managers were men. With only one exception, all the survey subjects were white. The subjects were comprised of 36 women and 65 men. Male participation was based on a selected sample; almost all the women in the top level at the two state agencies involved in the survey were interviewed: "The small number of women in the study, representing almost the population of senior managerial women in the two agencies, reflects the scarcity of women in top positions." The study found that two types of informal networks existed in the agencies: advice circles and friendship circles. Gender integration of the networks depended on their type and size. Most of the advice circles and friendship circles contained both men and women. However, in the smaller size cliques, only half contained both men and women, regardless of whether the alliance was based on advice or friendship. In the author's words, "This suggests that small, face-to-face groups frequently form around the similarity of gender, while larger groups are more heterogeneous." Groups based on advice networks were also more likely to be gender

Category: Business - I