Final answer:
Bureaucracies are formal organizations with a hierarchy of authority and impersonality, intended for efficiency, but often criticized for being slow and uncaring.
Step-by-step explanation:
Formal organizations characterized by a hierarchy of authority, a clear division of labor, explicit rules, written records of work and activities, meritocracy, and impersonality are referred to as bureaucracies. These are types of formal organizations that exist in various sectors of society including schools, businesses, healthcare, and government. Max Weber, a pioneer sociologist, identified the essential characteristics of a bureaucracy in 1922, which help these organizations to operate efficiently at a large scale. However, the strict application of these characteristics can result in slow, inflexible organizations that individuals often find difficult to navigate.
A bureaucracy's impersonality is intended to ensure fairness by removing personal feelings from professional situations, aiming to prevent nepotism and favoritism. Large organizations, such as Walmart, are examples of bureaucracies which can serve large numbers of customers efficiently but may come off as uncaring about individual or community concerns due to their standardized procedures and rules.
Understanding the structure and function of bureaucracies helps in recognizing the implications these formal organizations have on society, including the benefits of efficiency and the potential drawbacks of impersonal interactions and inflexibility.