The contribution of sociology

Sociology is concerned with the sociogram rather than the organization chart, i.e. the social links between the different populations in a company, and the outcomes of the study of these links. The analysis of the organisation chart alone cannot provide a systemic insight into the issues to be addressed. The central issue of sociology is that of change.

Sociological analysis allows us to see more than just an instant photograph of the organization, it allows us to see the film of what is happening every day in what is alive, and therefore eternally changing: a corporation. The study of organizations is not limited to the relevance of the organizational chart, and it is sometimes the very structure of a company, defined precisely by the organizational chart, that generates these famous « zones of uncertainty »[1], where the strategic freedom of the actors is nestled. Stakeholders do not play, they conduct themselves according to strategies based on their own rationality, which must be decoded. And this is only revealed by the establishment of the sociogram of the studied organization, which reveals, beyond hierarchical or organizational ties, the nature of the social ties woven within the community of life and destiny that is a company. It is by capturing this movement that we can respond to the challenge of organizational evolution. And the sociological view is an essential one, because it places the human being at the heart of everything.
But what’s the point in understanding individual and collective behavioural patterns? Does sociology provide an operational approach? At a time when the challenges posed within corporate life are vast there is no universal solution. All answers are tailor-made, because each situation is unique. Each company promotes virtuous ambitions in its organization, but can also generate unexpected and unintentional situations, and sociological analysis can detect this, and above all accompany it in a movement of fertile debate: the management of change is the very purpose of sociology.

The main missions of a sociologist cover, through a field survey:
– Identification of the social model, cooperation and working culture
– Demand analysis and problematization of the organization’s issues
– Designing an intervention and change management strategy

1] As authors Crozier and Friedberg put it, in « The actor and the system »