Wednesday, November 2, 2011

"The walk for life", Formal organization with a cause

In sociology a formal organization is defined as being a type of secondary group which people create as a coordinating mechanism to achieve a planned outcome. They are viewed as such because they bring together people and resources that when worked together will achieve the desired outcome.
People all over Qatar shed their regular attire for bright pink t-shirts, as they took part in a walk along Doha’s Corniche to raise breast cancer awareness in our Qatari community.


The walk of life" channels human activity toward achieving an outcome which supports a mutual interest and meets important human needs, all for a non-profit goal. First of all, it was a voluntary organization. People attended the walk to donate their time and effort in achieving the ultimate goal of raising awareness  to the masses. The people who attended the cause were a mix of everything from different nationalities to different social statuses. This was definitely a secondary group because of the fact that everyone gathered for a specific purpose which was to take part in the walk that would use that awareness to aid in the prevention, early detection, and treatment of breast cancer.



However there were many differences that the walk of awareness had to formal organizations. It might be apparent but people walked together in large groups which even though the majority didn't know each other they were brought together by a common purpose. The notion of “McDonaldization” was not put into the extremes since the walk was to raise awareness unlike a production line of creating products as efficiently as possible. Efficiency and how fast or slow people walked was up to the people themselves since everyone who joined the walk was there voluntarily.