Life with Bureaucracies Primary groups, which are parents, relatives, and friends, play an important role in our lives. Today, however, we spend most of our time in secondary groups such as schools, factories, government offices, or banks. We refer to these types of organizations as formal organizations, which are large, special purpose groups that are explicitly designed to achieve specific goals. Like other groups, formal organizations are characterized by unique, and complex sets of interrelated statuses, roles, and norms. Formal organizations also involve clearly established rules, regulations, and standards of conduct that are designed to coordinate people’s behav