Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Serdyukov, Peter

Titel

Origins of formalization

Ist Teil von

• Challenging Formalization in Education and Beyond, 2023, Vol.1, p.20-36

Auflage

1

Ort / Verlag

Routledge

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Formalization is widely used in almost all spheres of human activity. Its primary function is to effectively organize knowledge or information: "Formalism is the view that theoretical information about an object, or practical guidance about how to treat it, are to be derived from attention to its form rather than its matter or content" (Korsgaard, 1996). Another function is to efficiently manage human groups and individuals for establishing a collective order: "Formalism means the enactment of determinate... rules and their application..." (Pildes, 1999, p. 612). So, it is a way to bring some organization and order into chaos, be it a classroom, a business, or a society. People don't generally like chaos, and formalization is used for systematizing and unifying knowledge and social groups to escape from the complexity and disorder in the world. Following the rules brings about "formal coordination of behavior, reduction of decision costs, and reduction of error costs" (ibid, p. 613). (Make a note of the phrase "formal coordination of behavior" which has far-reaching consequences.) So, formalization in the organization is a method, instrument, and process in which the managers specify in writing procedures, rules, and responsibilities for the individual members, units, groups, and the organization as a whole with the purpose of making the activities, relationships, and operating procedures orderly and efficient.