STRUCTURES AND ORIENTATIONS OF RETAIL BUSINESS: A TYPOLOGICAL ANALYSIS by Jack R. DeLora A THESIS Submitted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies of {ichigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Sociology and Anthropology 1956 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer is indebted to Dr. William H. Form, the advisor for this research, who was instrumental in the formulation of the problem and gathering of initial data. Dr. Form has been of great help in my graduate and pro- fessional career and has shown unfailing interest in the present research. Grateful acnnowledgment is herewith made to Dr. Charles P. Loomis, Head, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Michigan State University, who was of considerable assistance in this research, both through direct aid and through his own writings. This project would not have been possible were it not for the foresight and assistance of Dr. Joel Smith and Gregory P. Stone, who were instrumental in providing _the basic research from which this project was developed. Special acknowledgment is made also to Dr. Christopher Sower, who's guidance and encouragement was of great value. STRUCTURES AND ORIENTATIONS OF RETAIL BUSINESS: A TYPOLOGICAL ANALYSIS by Jack R. DeLora AN ABSTRACT Submitted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies of Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Sociology and Anthropology 1956 Approved l JACK R. DE LORA ABSTRACT Traditional social theory dealing with cities has emphasized their impersonal Gesellschaft-like relation- ships. Business, par excellance, has been considered the epitome of the economically rational spirit typically found in such communities. Recently a number of socio- logists have seriously questioned this theoretical posi— tion. As part of this challenge the present study investi- gated relations in retail business which consider emotion, sentiment and other social characteristics found in Gemeinschaft-like structures. The locale for this study was the Greater Lansing area. The sample consisted of six hundred and fifty-two businessmen drawn from various locations and representing different kinds of retail establishments. The purpose of this research was to ascertain the general structural order of retail business in a middle—sized city and to determine the consequences of such structure for the orientations of the retail businessman to his business, and the local community area. The social structure of retail business was investi- gated in terms of these contrasting Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft patterns. This was accomplished by considering retail business as a social system and classifying each business 2 JACK R. DE LORA ABSTRACT on an index developed from the theoretical categories of interaction of Gemeinschaft-like and Gesellschaft-like social systems. Such classifications were derived from the theoretical nature of gnds and nggmg in Gemeinschaft- like and Gesellschaft-like social systems. The former include connotations of economic-rationality and the latter include non-economic, sociability and affective connotations. The retailer was then classified with respect to his orientation to business by analyzing his answers to sev- eral crucial questions relative to changing the locale and type of business. It was demonstrated that proprietors of businesses Gemeinschaft-like in structure possessed Gemeinschaft-like orientations to their business and vice versa. The orientation of the retailer to the local resident was examined as it related to the social structure of businesses. The proprietor of a Gemeinschaft—like business structure was found to be particularly aware of the con- geniality and sociability of local residents and those operating Gesellschaft-like structures Were cognizant of their economic and social status. This would be expected since interaction within a Gemeinschaft-like social system 3 JACK R. DE LORA ABSTRACT is based on affective and face-to-face elements. In the Gesellschaft-like system of retail business, the inter- action is more impersonal and the proprietor is more likely to conceive of the resident in terms of purchasing potential which involves economic status. The consequences of the type of social structure of business and orientations held by the retailer were examined relative to mobility choices. These included the desire to change business locale and the business itself. It was ascertained that those retailers evaluating the local resident in a negative sense most often expressed the desire to change business locale and those retailers possessing Gesellschaft-like orientations to business most often expressed the choice of changing both type and location of business. Type of business structure was examined relative to the desire of their proprietors to change location, and no significant relationship was found. However when the structural type of the establishment was compared with choice of changing business, the proprietors of Gemeinschaft— like structures stated greatest preference for wanting to change. This could be due to two factors: first, the businesses classified as Gemeinschaft-like were generally 4 JACK R. DE LORA ABSTRACT small and less profitable than the others; and second, they involved relatively more direct, face-to-face and affective contacts with customers. The proprietors of such estab- lishments may have wanted to change businesses to effect different social relationships, economic chances, or both. This was investigated further by relating business structure and orientations to desires to change business. It was discovered that those who wanted to change most were the operators of Gemeinschaft-like business structures who possessed Gesellschaft-like orientations to business. It was also ascertained that those who wanted to change least were the operators of Gesellschaft-like structures who possessed Gemeinschaft-like orientations to business. Such deCisions apparently were related to many factors in- volving business structure, orientations to business, and orientations to the local area. This research suggests that retail businesses vary considerably in social structure and that such contrasting structure has consequences for the orientations of the retailer to his business and to the local resident, and that these factors are closely related to mobility choices. The implication of this is that an understanding of retail business, more so than other kinds of businesses, involVes 5 JACK R. DE LORA ABSTRACT determining the position of the retailer in the social fabric of the local community. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. II. III. IV. INTRODUCTIC‘IQ O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Theoretical Relevance of This Research. . . The Use of Constructive Typology . . . . . . Review of Relevant Literature on the Sociology of Retail Business . . . . . . . The General Problem Area . . . . . . . . . . THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF RETAIL BUSINESS. . . Structural Aspects of Retail Business. . . . A Typology of Retail Business Structure. . . Classification of Data Into Structural Types of Retail Business . . . . . . . . . MODES OF ORIENTATIJN OF RETAIL BUSINESSMEN TO THEIR BUSINESS AS RELATED TO RETAIL BUSIIQESS STRUCTURES. o o o o o o o o o o o o A Typology of Modes of Orientation to Retail Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Presentation of Data Relevant to Orienta- tions to Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . The Relationship of The Retail Businessmen's Orientation to Business and the Social Structure of Business. . . . . . . . . . . MODES OF ORIENTATION OF RETAIL BUSINESEKEN TO THE LOCAL COEJUNITY AREA AS iELATED TO BUSINES STRUCTUL‘E o o o o o o o o o o o o o A Presentation and Classification on Orientations to the Local Area . . . . . . Evaluations of Local Residents as Related to Choices of Remaining in Or Leaving the Local flarea 0 O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O 0 PAGE l—J OK» 12 39 42 49 61 85 92 94 97 117 120 125 138 iv CHAPTER PAGE V. AOBILITY CHOICES OF RETAIL BUSINESSEEN . . . 144 The Relationship of Orientation to Business to Choice of Remaining or Leaving Local Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 The Relationship of Orientation to Business to Choice of Changing Businesses. . . . . 146 The Relationship of Business Structure to Mobility Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 VI 0 SUIJEZIARY o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o l 5 6 APPEIqLICES o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 163 Appendix A. Retail Business Classification by Major Type . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Retail Business Classification by Type Breakdown . . . . . . . . . . 165 Average Purchase for Retail Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Classification of Content of Retail Businessman's Status Description of Local Residents . . . . . . . . 168 Appendix B. Business Interview Schedule, Census Tract Study, Social Research Service, Michigan State College. . 169 BIBLIOGRAPEIY. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 175 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. LIST OF TABLES Total Number of Personnel in Retail LgBusiness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Number of Unpaid Employees in Retail BUSineSSo O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Number of Relatives Employed in Retail BuSiness O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O 0 Estimated Number of Regular Customers in Retail Business . . . . . . . . . . ... . . Proportion of Customers Allowed Credit by Retail Businesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . ReSponse to Question Whether People Get Together in Place of Business . . . . . . . Residence of Most Customers of Retail Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Size of Customer Area from Retail Businesses for Those Giving Distances. . . . . . . . . Location of Residence from Retail Business. . Years in Business in Area for Retail BuSineSS. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O Classifications of Social Structure of Retail Business on Basis of Gemeinschaft- Gesellschaft Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . Retail Business Classification by Major Type. Retail Business Classification by Type Breakdown 0 O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O 0 Average Purchase for Retail Business. . . . . Classification of Orientations of Retail Businessmen to Their Business on Basis of Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft Criteria . . . PAGE 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 88 164 165 167 100 vi TABLES PAGE 16. Reasons of Retail Businessmen for Wanting to Remain In or Move Out of Their Local Community Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 17. Economic Reasons Given by Retail Business- men for Wanting to Remain in Local commity Area 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 104 18. Economic Reasons Given by Retail Business- men for Wanting to Leave Local Community Area. C O O O O O O O O O O O C O O O O O O 106 19. Non-Economic Reasons Given by Retail Busi- nessmen for Wanting to Remain in Local Community Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 20. Type of Business Preferred by Retail BUSinessman O 0 O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O 111 21. Reasons Given by Retail Businessmen for Choosing Same Business. . . . . . . . . . . 113 22. Reasons Given by Retail Businessmen for Choosing Different Business . . . . . . . . 115 23. Social Structures of Business and Orien- tation to Business According to Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft Scores. . . . . . 118 24. Orientations Toward Local Residents by Retail BuSineSsmen O O O O O O O O O O O O 128 25. Retail Businessmens' Orientation to the Local Residents According to Type of Business Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 26. Distribution of "Don't Know" Responses to Questions Posed to Retail Businessmen With Different Business Structure Concern- ing the Social Character of Their Local Community Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 27. Evaluative Components of Descriptions by Retail Businessmen of Local Residents as Compared with Retail Business Structure . . 137 TABLES 28. Distribution of Evaluations of Local Resi— dents by Retail Businessmen According to Choice of Remaining or Leaving Local Area . 29. Distribution of Orientations to Business of Retail Businessmen and Choice of Remaining or Leaving the Local Area . . . . . . . . . 30. Distribution of Orientations to Business of Retail Businessmen and Choice of Changing BuSiness O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O 31. Distribution of Business Structure Types and Choice of Changing Businesses . . . . . 32. Desire to Change Business Compared with Contrasting Type of Business Structure and Orientation to Business . . . . . . . . 33. Classification of Content of Retail Busi- nessman's Status Description of Local Residents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES l. A Comparison of Elements of Gemeinschaft- like and Gesellschaft-like Social Systems. 2. A Model for Analysis of Structure of Social systems 0 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 3. A Model for Analysis of Structure of Retail Businesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Norms of Orientations in Contrasting Social Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. Classification of Retail Businessman's Choices Regarding Change of Location and Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii PAGE 140 147 148 150 152 168 10 47 71 96 98 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION For the past five years, a number of sociologists at Michigan State University have been conducting a series of research projects for purpose of studying urban inte- gration resources in the Greater Lansing area. During this time, the Urban Integration Committee has utilized proce- dures which have delimited this area into sub-units mean- ingful for future sociological research. One result of this project, has been a breakdown of the area into ecological, demographic, and social sub-areas, the latter based on resident identity and intimacy patterns. Census tract boundaries were drawn utilizing these criteria, and regular census data are now available for this community. A partial description of this research is available in 1 current articles. 1. Joel Smith, wm. H. Form, and Gregory P. Stone, "Local Intimacy in a Middle-Sized City," American Journal g: Sociology, LX, No. 3 (November, 1954) pp. 276L284; Wm. H. Form, Joel Smith, Gregory P. Stone, and James Cowhig, "The Compatability of Alternative Approaches to the Delimitation of Urban Sub-areas " American Sociological Review, XIX, (August, 19545 pp. 434-4403 and Joel Smith, "A Method for the Classification of Areas on the Basis of Demographic Homogeneous Popula- tions," American Sociological Review, XIX, (April, 1954) pp. 201-207. One aspect of this larger project, has been an in— vestigation of retail business with reference to ascer— taining economic sub-areas within Greater Lansing. The Committee was interested in the economic organization of the Community as it related to resident shopping patterns and retail business structure. The latter was approached in terms of size and type of business, and areas within the Community served by them. This procedure was to have pro- vided a basis for determining the retail trade sub-areas for the larger Community. It is within the latter frame- work that this research was evolved. The major concern of this dissertation is with the type of social structure which characterizes retail busi— ness, and the consequences of this structure for the businessman's orientation to his business and the local community area. Because of the economic function of retail business, its personnel are in relatively close and continuous contact with customers. When social inter- action contains these characteristics, it becomes patterned or structured. For the social scientist, such order is of major interest, since he is interested in determining uniformities of human behavior. The social structure of most retail businesses is often closely related to interaction with residents of the area in which the business is located. Success or failure of such a business is often closely tied to the way in which the retailer behaves, both in and out of his business. Because of this socially strategic position, he develops certain conceptions of local residents which are related to the functioning of his establishment, and to himself as a businessman. It is the purpose of this research to determine the order of such phenomena. THEORETICAL RELEVANCE OF THIS RESEARCH. By posing such a problem, one raises questions which cannot be dealt with by many traditional theories relevant to the social organization of the modern city and its businesses. Many theorists have used such concepts as Gesellschaft, organic solidarity, and secondary groups to develop perspectives to analyze this aSpect of urban life.2 One factor which has been seen as contributing to the advent of this kind of city, was the develOpment of large scale industry with concomittant changes in community life. 2. For a development of this thesis see particularly R. E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess, and R. D. McKenzie, Thg Cit , (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1925 pp. 23-46; Georg Simmel, Thg Sociolo pf Georg Simmel, Translated by Kurt H. Wolff, (Glencoe: The Free Press, 1950) pp. 409-424; and Ferdinand Toennies, Fundamental Concepts 9: Sociology: Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, Translated by C. P. Loomis, (New York: American Book Company, 1940) p. 21. This is, to some degree, a matter of relative emphasis since these sociologists do not ignore the Gemeinschaft-like relations in analysis of the city. They have, however, given it somewhat less attention. 4 Previous to the "industrial" and "agricultural" revolutions in Northwestern Europe and the United States, the basic economic unit was the small farm, with its familistic- primary-type relationships in the relatively small commun- ities of that time. The larger farm enterprises were plantations or feudal estates. Along with industrializa- tion, came the rise of a larger community whose economic organization at a later period was based on a complex divi— sion of labor. Within such a community, the market place particularly, has been viewed as the epitome of the "impersonal," "rational," and "contractual" contacts, said to characterize human relations in the city.3 Recently a number of students of urban life have undertaken research which places such a perspective in question in terms of explaining the persistence of cities. The assumed necessity for close, intimate, and personal contacts for human well-being has led, probably, to studies which demonstrate that these kinds of relationships 3. Louis Wirth, "Urbanism as a way of Life " American sociological Review, xxxxrv (July, 1938} pp. 1-24; and Ferdinand Toennies, pp; cit., pp. 95-96. For Toennies, the merchants or capitalists were the nat- ural masters and rulers of the Gesellschaft. Since the basis of Gesellschaft was with exchange contracts, its development gained added impetus from the growth of commerce, trade, and industry. 4 exist in a number of different contexts. In addition, some aspects of urban life which have been posited as having characteristics of Gesellschaft- 1ike relationships, have been shown to integrate the indi- vidual with the larger community - a function which has been historically and theoretically treated more as a characteristic of Gemeinschaft-like interaction.5 Also, Firey's classic study demonstrated the function of tradi- tion and sentiment in determining land use patterns in a large urban area.6 As of now, it appears that the traditional perspec- tive of viewing the city and its economy largely in terms of Gesellschaft-like relationships is being questioned seriously by these and many other sociologists. The fact 4. Examples of such efforts are Joel Smith, wm. H. Form, and Gregory P. Stone, "Local Intimacy in a Middle- Sized City," American Journal pf Sociology, LX, No. 3, (November, 1954; pp. 276-284; Donald L. Foley, "Neigh- bors or Urbanites?" [University of Rochesterks Studies of Metropolitan Rochester, No. 2 (Rochester: De art- ment of Sociology, University of Rochester, 1952:] and Harry C. Harmsworth, "Primary Group Relations in Modern Society," Sociolo and Social Research, XXXI (March-April, 1947 pp. 291-296. 5. See particularly Morris Janowitz, The Community Press in,gn Ugban Setti , (Glencoe: The Free Press, 1952), and Gregory P. Stone, "City Shoppers and Urban Identi- fication: Observations on the Social Psychology of City Life," American Jougnal g; Sociology, LX, No. 1 (July, 1954) pp. 35-45. 6. Walter Firey, Land Use in Ce tral Epston (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 19475. 6 that cities persist and people persist with them, and that cities grow, would not be explicable were it not for the fact that people find roots within this setting. These factors have resulted in a need for recasting of theory relevant to the urban community. Business, par excelleance, has been considered the epitome of the development of the rational, Gesellschaft- like spirit. One of the basic propositions of this re- search is that even here are found elements of ties which consider emotion, sentiment, and other social character- istics found in Gemeinschaft-like structures. THE USE OF CONSTRUCTIVE TYPOLOGY. Enough evidence has been gathered to demonstrate that the social structure of cities contains both Gemeinschaft-like and Gesellschaft- like elements. With this in mind, retail business will be examined in terms of its structure as it pertains to these contrasting patterns of Gemeinschaft-like and Gesellschaft- 1ike interaction. For purpose of this analysis, these contrasting patterns will be utilized as "pure" or "ideal," or "constructed" types. It thus becomes possible to order data as representing positions between the theoretically established polar extremes.7 7. For development of this procedure see John C. McKinney in J. T. Doby gt, al,, An Introduction Lg Social fig- sgarch, (Harrisburg: The Stakpole Company, 1954). For L use of these models in this sense see C. P. Loomis, Studies in Applied gnd_Theoretical Social Science at Michigan State College, (East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1950) pp. 1-13, and Joel Smith, "Organ- ization of the Farm and Mass Communication," Unpub- lished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Sociology, Northwestern University, May, 1954. In the Loomis reference, analyses were made comparing the social structure of an Amish family, the families of students taking a course in Rural Sociology, the students' mili- tary units, and a government bureau. Smith used such a model to compare social structure of farm units and the kind of communication processes involved in market- ing. Following these procedures, this research will classify retail businesses by their structural type and relate these different types, to orientations of the businessman to his business and to his local community area. There exists the problem as to whether Gemeinschaft- like and Gesellschaft-like interaction represent polar types on a continuum and are in a sense antithetical. If this is assumed, the task becomes one of scaling the continuum. Then one is in a position to make statements concerning the degree of deviation of concrete systems from the ideal limits. This is essentially the position taken by Loomis. In this research, the structure of retail businesses will be analyzed with respect to where they can be placed, in a gross sense, on a Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft continuum. However, as will be pointed out, these polar positions are not completely antithetical, but rather represent somewhat contrasting patterns. It is expected that characteristics of Gemeinschaft-like interaction will be found in predominately Gesellschaft-like struc- tures and vice versa. The task for this research is one of classifying retail businesses as being predominately Gemeinschaft-like or Gesellschaft-like in structure. If they contain about equal characteristics of both types, they will be classified as Mixed. On basis of such a gross classification certain predictive statements will be made concerning the relationship between these structural types and the orientations of retail business- men to their business and the local community area. The primary use made of these types in this research is to order the data. This matter will be discussed more fully at the end of this chapter and in successive chapters. An understanding of the social structure of retail business as it relates to that of the local community area is vital to an understanding of the way in which the larger community is structured. The retail business operation may be one of the few focal points of local area interaction in urban areas. It is the purpose here, to ascertain the nature of such phenomena. In doing so, the attempt is not to invalidate earlier urban research, but rather to comple- ment it. The task still remains as Wirth defined it. "...to discover the forms of social action and organization that typically emerge in relatively permanent, compact settlements of large numbers of hetrogeneous individuals."8 One of the most useful analytical tools developed by sociologists (in analyzing structure is that of "social system." Following Loomis and Beegle, a social system refers to persons interacting with each other more than with outsiders for the purpose of attaining some SEQ or objective.9 All social systems have elements of value ori- entation and social structure. Value orientation of a system involves the ends and norms of the interaction. 8. Louis Wirth, op, cit., p. 6. 9. C. P. Loomis and J. Allan Beegle, Rural Social Systems (New York: Prentice Hall, 1950) and c. P. Loomis, Spudies in Applied and Theoretical Social Science gt Michigan State Colle e,fi(East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 19485. Structure refers to the status-role patterns, authority patterns, and the other ways in which members of the sys- tem are related to each other in the system. Retail business will be treated as a social system. The members of the system will include both business per- sonnel and customers, insofar as they are interacting for purpose of reaching some gnd or obiective. The character of their interaction will be analyzed in terms of initia- Lign,g£_action, authority patterns, emotional-rational context, and ggatus-role integration. As previously dis- cussed, Loomis has developed a method for classifying concrete social systems on basis of an ideal-typical analysis. Figure 1 outlines the above patterns as they exist in these "pure" forms. To classify ongoing retail businesses on this basis requires information which is available equally from all kinds of establishments. The nature of these data will be discussed later. However, since this investigation deals with practically all types of retail businesses, it was necessary to utilize a method which was capable of compar- ing all of them on a common ground. The model shown in Figure 1 fulfills such a requirement. The first task was to classify the structure of each retail business on basis of their Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft attributes. The idea that a business could be classified FIGURE 1* 10 A COMPARISON OF ELEMENTS OF GENEINSCHAFT-LIKE AND GESELLSCHAFT-LIKE SOCIAL SYSTEMS " 1w Element Gemeinschaft Gesellschaft Egds Functionally diffuse Functionally specific Tradition oriented Nggmg Functionally diffuse Tradition oriented Ends and norms fused Initiatiog g§.Action Two-way Authority Personalized Nature pf cogtact Direct, face-to-face Emotional—rational context Intimate-emotional Status-291g Required integration Integration of status-roles in and out of system Responsibility for conduct in all contexts Contract oriented Functionally specific Contract oriented Ends and norms separate One-way Impersonalized Indirect, use of intervening objects Rational-efficient Required integration of status-roles within system only Responsibility for conduct limited to system 11 other than as Gesellschaft-like may appear to be in con- tradiction to the traditional urban theory heretofore dis- cussed. However, much research that has been conducted by American sociologists dealing with the social structure of large scale business or governmental enterprises, has dem- onstrated that even in these highly bureaucratized organi- lO zations there are elements of Gemeinschaft-like interaction. If this condition exists to some degree in large scale :9- enterprises, it is expected that the relatively small re- tail business will exhibit structural features which contain many attributes of Gemeinschaft-like interaction. To the writers knowledge, this is the first effort to analyze the gross structural types of retail business. This analysis attempts to arrive at generalizations con- cerning the general social structure of retail business; yet it is capable of demonstrating important structural differences among such concerns. Such an analysis is necessary for gaining insight into an important element within the larger community. 10. For example, Turner discussed four "types" of Navy Pay Officers, only one of whom fitted the bureaucratic category. See Ralph H. Turner, "The Navy Dispersing Officer as a Bureaucrat," Americag Sociological Review, XII, No. 3 (June, 1947). Miller and Form discussed this matter in a more general sense with respect to industrial bureaucracy. See D. C. Miller and Wm. H. Form, I dustrial Sociology, (New York: Harper and Brothers, 19515 Chaps. VI and VII, pp. 143-225. 12 REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE ON THE SOCIOLOGY 0F RETAIL BUSINESS. Sociological research into retail busi- ness has involved investigation of a particular kind of business, or analysis of certain ecological and demographic aspects of retailing. Perhaps the best known study of the first kind is that of Whyte.ll His concern was with the social structure of the larger restaurant. Whyte referred to the "formal structure," "quantitative measures of inter- action," "symbols in relation to interaction," "attitudes and interaction," and "layout and equipment" of such a restaurant. "Formal structure" referred to the official allocation of positions within the social system of the restaurant. Such structure was outlined in terms of "length of hierar- chy," "division into departments," and "flow of work." Within the limits set by the formal structure, the rela- tions among members fall into a variety of patterns. To quote Whyte: The pattern we observe we call the gppial system. A social system is made up of interdependent parts. The parts are the relations of individ- uals in their various positions to each other. This is simply a first description of a social system, but there are important theoretical and 11. William Foote Whyte, "The Social Structure of the Restaurant," American Journal 9f Sociology, LIV, No. 4 (January, 19495 pp. 302-310. 13 practical considerations which flow from it. The relations of individuals to one another are subject to measurement, sufficient to allow them to be comparied and classified. He suggested that such interaction is subject to meas- uremegt in terms of initiation and response to action be- tween positions within the social system of the restaurant, and that an understanding of the general pattern of this relationship is of prime importance. In addition to "quantitative" aspects of interaction, it is necessary to discover why system members respond to each other. This is associated with the symbols of interaction. He said: ...In part, this is a matter of habituation, for we reSpond to the people we are accustomed to reSponding to and in the sorts of situations to which we are accustomed. But we must go beyond that to explain the development of new patterns and changes in old patterns of interaction. We observe that individuals reSpond to certain symbols in interaction. I have discussed here status and sex symbols affecting interaction (the problems of originating from below of action for high status individuals or by woman for man). I have noted some problems in language symbols in the discussion of mechanical means of commun- ication that leaves the whole field of symbols 12. Whyte suggests that this involves gathering "quanti- tative" data in the manner of Chapple and Coon and Arensberg's Chronograph. This is described in Elliot D. Chapple and Charleton S. Coon, "Principles ___A?§hropology, (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1941 Chapters 1 - 4. 14 in face-to-face interaction untouched, so that it represents only the barest beginning of an attempted formulation of the relations between symbols of communication and interaction. The fourth aspect of Whyte's analysis concerned what he called "attitudes and interaction." He stated that the patterns of interaction which exist between individuals are accompanied by attitudes towards each other. The way in which such attitudes come about is related to the nature of such interaction. Whyte pointed out that "...The whole experience of our research program leads us to believe that the dynamics of attitude formation and change can best be worked out as we correlate attitudes with human relations in the organizations we study." The physical layout of the restaurant was seen to be of significance to the sociologist as it affects the inter- action within the organization. He mentioned how the height of counters between waitresses and countermen affects the smoothness of work flow. In this case, the higher counters proved best, since the lower status wait- ress (in terms of sex symbols) did not appear to "give orders" to the male counterman. Also of importance, with reSpect to the kind of social structure possessed by the restaurant, is its gen- eral size in terms of personnel and layout. Whyte discussed five stages of "growth patterns" starting with the manager- 15 customer - waitress set up, to the last stage which in- cludes managers, supervisors, checkers, waitresses, bar- tenders, and many other positions. His analysis primarily dealt with the last type of restaurant. It is suggested that the "formal organization," "quantitative measures of interaction," "symbols in relation to interaction," etc., could be applied to analysis of the five "stages" of rest- aurants to which he referred. To do so would require a framework to compare these different kinds of restaurants in terms of their interactional patterns. It is suggested that the Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft framework heretofore discussed, would provide such a basis. After classifying the structure of restaurants on this basis, it would be possible to "correlate attitudes with human relations in the organizations we study." Whyte pointed out important structural features with which the sociologist must be concerned in examining retail business. As such, these factors will be incorporated into this research. Another study of retail business is by Kriesberg.13 He distinguished between "custom" and "business" furriers. 13. Louis Kriesberg, "The Retail Furrier: Concepts of Security and Success," American Journal 9: Sociolo 1, LVII (March, 1952) pp. 478-485. His research was based on a sample of fifty cases drawn from a universe of five hundred and forty furriers in Chicago. 16 The former include those who cut, sew, repair, and sell furs, while the latter include those who buy the product from a manufacturer and sell it. The concept of security and success of these two types of furriers was found to differ. The custom furrier thinks of the secure furrier in "self-oriented" terms or through knowledge of skills of the fur trade and money, while the business furrier thinks of it in "customer-oriented" terms or by having customer good will and a good business reputation. Kriesberg accounted for these different orientations in the following way. The orientation of the custom furrier is based on three factors. First, they have little contact with other furriers, and operate independently. They are less dependent on wholesalers than the business furrier since much of their income is based on repair work, and they require but a small stock of pelts from which to make coats. As a result, they are likely to feel dependent on their own possessions and abilities more than on the way others regard them. Second, their business is small and often located in the same place as living quarters, making business overhead small and difficult to distinguish from personal overhead. Such a business is not likely to appear as an ongoing, impersonal object that must be main— tained. Third, they earn their living from work they do on furs, and expend relatively little effort to keep their 17 customers or find new ones. Their clientele is established by word of mouth, and customers are dependent on the furriers judgment relative to quality of work. The custo- mer's patronage is almost taken for granted. Their interest is in the work they produce and they feel that their ability to do the fur work is their main source of security. The business furrier, on the other hand, is concerned primarily with merchandising problems. They are dependent on large volume of sales which intensifies their depen- dence on a large number of customers. Customers shop around and do not form close ties with any single furrier. Such furriers have a large number of employees and are located in a high rent area. They are therefore forced to be concerned with maintenance of the business. Such a business is more an object from which they draw a living, than the "way they make a living." The business furrier must attract and hold "shopping customers" for an ongoing enterprise. These factors contribute to a customer-oriented concept of security. Kriesberg's research suggests that the mode of orien- tation that retail businessmen possess relative to security and success, is associated with the "occupational situa- tion" which includes "...those prevailing and recurring ontingencies, activities, and relationships which charac- terize a given trade, business, or profession." The problem 18 here is that of relating the particular kind of social structure involved in the occupational situation, with the attitudes of those in the situation. This is comparable to what Whyte suggests with respect to attitude formation. Kriesberg demonstrated how the varying occupational situ- ations of custom and business furriers are related to dif— ferent modes of orientation involving "security." Factors of business size, location, type and volume of customers, were shown to related to these orientational patterns. It is suggested that these structural factors can be isolated and businesses can be classified and contrasted according to a general framework. The orientation of the business- man can then be compared with these structural attributes to see the kind of relationship which exists in this more general sense. Another kind of sociological research into retail business, involves analysis of ecological and demographic factors as they relate to such businesses. Schettler and Hawley utilized the United States Census of Business, 1935, as a basis for their investigations. Schettler 14. Examples of this are in Clarence Schettler, "Rela- tion of City-Size to Economic Services," American Sociological Review, VIII, No. 1 (February, 1943) pp. 60-62, and Amos H. Hawley, "An Ecological Study of Urban Service Institutions," American Sociological Review, VI, No. 5 (October, 19417'pp. 629—639. 19 related the city-size to the number of economic services (which were largely made up of retail establishments) and the ratio of persons per single economic service. He found that food stores, doctors, and filling stations are most numerous, and dry goods stores, movie theaters, and funeral directors, least so. Hawley compared characteristics of retail establish- ments to community characteristics of income, age of in- habitants, kind of industrial occupation, sex, nativity, and race. He found that retail volume (business size) is higher in high income communities. An "old population city" possesses relatively larger retail volume, and drug stores and personal service establishments become more important than in an average age city. In cities with proportionately large numbers of non-whites, the volume of business is less in stores and eating places, but such cities are "over-developed" with respect to general and drug stores. Hawley inferred that such communities are "deficient in the more specialized types of institutions and have excessive volume in the least Specialized types." Volume is smaller where foreign-born are numerous, but in such areas there are proportionately more food stores and eating places. The factors of industrialization and sex show little relationship to retail business volume. 20 These two articles presented relationships between population characteristics, and the number of kinds of re- tail establishments, or certain characteristics (such as business volume) of such businesses. As such, they did not consider the social structure of retail business or relate these data to such structure. They are suggestive, however, as to how demographic characteristics may relate to structure and have implications as to structural variety as related to demographic differences. Somewhat similar to these studies, are those which involve analysis of concentration, location, and distribu— tion of retail businesses.15 Rolph described the distri- bution of retail stores in Baltimore. She classified re- tail sub~centers, outside the central shopping area, into five types ranging from "Type A" capable of meeting the entire needs of the community, to "Type E", which is a small neighborhood development selling only convenience goods. The larger types are found towards the center of Baltimore with the smaller on the outskirts. Upper income 15. Such data have been compiled from the United States Census 9; Business in James A. Quinn, Human Ecolo , (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1950) pp. 340-342. See also Inez K. Rolph, "The Population Pattern in Rela- tion to Retail Buying," American Journal 9: Sociology, (November, 1932) XXXVIII, pp. 368-376, and Harland Bartholomew, Urban Land Uses, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1932) pp. 80-81. 21 groUps support the more specialized stores in the central business area, while the middle income areas with dense population support the "Type A" centers. Bartholomew's classic study dealt with maps showing land use patterns for commercial services. He showed the size and location of the central business district along with distribution of retail functions in the remainder of the cities. He demonstrated that the amount of foot space used by stores per number of population in the area, de- creases from the area near the center to the outlying districts. Both of these works are dated and should be redone. The recent development of large scale retail shopping centers on the periphery of cities would change many of the conclusions of such investigations. Of interest to this research, is the consideration that Hawley and Quinn give to retail business in their ecology texts.16 Each was concerned with retail business as it related to ecological organization and ecological processes in communities. As such, retail business was treated with respect to Spatial location and the effects 16. Amos H. Hawley, Human Ecolggy: A Theory g£_Commun- ipy Structure, (New York: The Ronald Press, 1950) pp. 248, 250, 273-278, 308, 379-380, 395, 414-415; and James A. Quinn, 0 . git. pp. 80-93, 173-176, 340-341- 22 of concentration, segregation, and expansion. As in the case of the recently cited research, such analyses provide a basis for relating ecological structure of communities to retail business, but they do not deal primarily with the structure of retail business itself. They do, however, provide one of the most systematic treatments of retail business as an aspect of community structure found in sociological literature. Caplow discussed retail business in his book in the chapter entitled "Occupational Institutions."l7 He treated retail business in terms of "recruitment of personnel," "seniority," "evaluation of merit," and "control of occu- pational behavior." With respect to recruitment, he stated that there are few or no formal controls as in the case of a profession, but a variety of "informal limitations." These include the need for a capital investment which is borrowed most generally, and after establishment, the ex- tensive use of commercial credit either through local banks, or through credit exchanges in larger cities. In cases like the gasoline stations, the supplier provides such credit arrangements. These factors of operation are con- trolled closely by existing local merchants, and they are 17. Theodore Caplow, The Sogiology 22“. Work, (Minneaplis: University of Minnesota Press, 1954) pp. 100-121. 23 able to limit the number of competitors admitted. Some factors operate to favor recruitment by inheritance. These include early familiarity with the business, the inherita- bility of "good will," and the "practical use of family members as part-time helpers." However, such enterprises are so small, numerous, and mobile that retail occupations "remain fairly open and are important channels to middle class status." With reSpect to seniority, Caplow stated that the average life of a small business is very short - less than five years. Repeated failures damage credit rating, so subsequent efforts are less likely to succeed. He continued: Success or failure does not depend upon the organized concensus of one's fellows, and age scarcely enters the picture except as an index of prudence or physical condition. However, amid the debris of millions of abortive ventures, there is a solid core of small enterprises which not only persist but tend, in the long run, to expand. It is among their operators that the skeleton of an occupational organization begins to emerge... Caplow asserted that the evaluation of merit of retail business is closely associated with public reaction, and the judgment of bankers, suppliers, and competitors. Heavy weight is given to size of original capital and selection of location. Retail business success was found to be de- pendent on "great swings of the business cycle, the activities 24 of large competitors, and other sizable events entirely beyond individual control." He continued: ...After all this is taken into account, there does remain a conventionalized situation in which the proprietor of a neighborhood business, with only family or part-time help, finds his fate de- termined by the prudence with which he keeps his accounts and inventories and his standing with the local householders. Under these conditions, his annual income is likely to be a very close reflection of his work performance as compared to that of his competitors. When discussing control of OCCUpational behavior in the retail trades, Caplow found such control quite dif- ferent from that in professions or industrial occupations. The common belief that the retailer is his own boss was found to be questionable. There were discussed three sources of control on the retailer. First, governmental rules, second, those imposed by creditors; and third, those evolved by customers. The first has a long history dating back to the origin of market law of medieval towns of Europe. These dealt with inSpection of weights and measures, enforcement of sanitary precautions, the fixing of prices, and assignment of locations. Modern state control has expanded on these to include statutes prohib- iting sale of certain goods like poisons, adulterants and some drugs; the liscensing of certain kinds of businesses; and other measures. In addition, the development of mass 25 production and wholesaling of retail goods has imposed other restrictions on the retailer. Such factors include rules regarding stocking of competitors brands, minimum orders and quantity discounts, tie-in sales, assignment of exclusive territories, and fixing of minimum retail prices by the supplier. Customer control of retailers was found by Caplow to be less formal than these other measures but nonetheless important. He stated that"...since the restriction of price and quality competition, personal relations with cus- tomers are often the decisive factor in the history of a retail business." This leads to the following conditions: 1. The merchant is expected to minimize his status and exaggerate that of the customer by exaggerated forms of deference, by yielding in minor arguments, by expressing more interest in the customer's personal affairs than the customer is expected to show in his, and by small personal services. 2. Under this ritual, it becomes essential that the habits of the customer be identified and protected. A strain is thus produced on the merchant to maintain nearly absolute consistency in his manners, his purchasing routines, and his hours of work. ' These observations by Caplow on institutional aspects of retailing, along with the work of the ecologists and demographers, provide important insights into the rela- tionship of retail business to the larger social milieu. 26 They provide also implications for the structure of such businesses. The first problem of this research involves the class- ifying of retail businesses on basis of their social structure. The previous discussion has suggested a method for doing this and has dealt with sociological research relevant to that problem. Closely related is the matter of orientations of the retail businessman to his business, his customers, and to those in the local area about his place of business. The work of Whyte and Kriesberg is suggestive of ways in which structure and orientations may be related. More basic, however, are the theoretical im- plications of the Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft model discussed above. For purposes of empirical procedure, Loomis consid- ered value orientation as including the gndg and nggms of a social system.18 The nature of these elements in the Gemeinschaft-like and Gesellschaft-like social systems was presented in Figure 1. If the structural components of a social system resemble either of these "pure" types, it is expected that the nggmg of orientation of system members likewise are characterized by Gemeinschaft-like or Gesellschaft-like attributes. 18. C. P. Loomis, op. cit2 pp 1-13. 27 Within the Gesellschaft-like social system, such nggmg are based on attainment and on rational and contractual considerations. Action within such a system is character- ized, theoretically, by planning to maximize returns and minimize expenditures of time and effort. Orientation to retail business, in this sense, is in terms of economically- rational considerations of an instrumental order. Within the Gemeinschaft-like system, such norms are based on tradition, and are particularistic; that is, action is governed by nggms of the reference system. Theoretically, action within such a system is characterized by functionally diffuse and emotionally based factors. The action itself becomes an gag, rather than a means to an end. Orientation to business in this sense, is in terms of non-economic considerations of an affective order. To the knowledge of the writer, the orientation of retail businessmen as a whole to their business has not been treated systematically. The work of Kriesberg has been cited as it relates to a particular kind of retailing, and Whyte has suggested how this problem can be approached. Perhaps the closest approximation to this has been made by Caplow in which he discussed "occupational ideologies" 19 with reference to the retailer. He considered these in l9. Theodore Caplow, op, cit, pp. 124-140. 28 terms of control of "non-occupational activities," "form- ation of OCCUpational attitudes," and "occupational stereotypes." Control of non-occupational behavior of the retailer was seen to be conditioned by the "absence of strong occu- pational organization," "his passionate identification with the role of a businessman," and "the fact that his personal characteristics and his style of living affect his business." He described this in the following way: The separation of the shopkeeper's residence from his shop is a fairly recent occurrence and has been more complete in the United States than else- where. The codes of symbols developed by Bardet for the systematic study of European communities use a single symbol to indicate both the shop and the shopkeeper's home, which are ordinarily found in the same building. One basic motive for sep- aration is that the norms of deference imposed on the shopkeeper prevent him from displaying a distinctly higher status than his customers, while his aspirations toward the role of busi- nessman impel him to do so. The most conSpicuous element in the folkways of this group is the double status imposed by cir- cumstances: on the one hand, the attempt to achieve full business-class status by an approp- riate style of living and by intensive partici- pation in business-class associations: on the other, the concealment of this status during the working day. Thus it comes about that when the retail business expands to the point of obvious prosperity, the owner usually retreats into anonymity and no longer wishes to be identified by all his customers. The legal device of incorporation offers an oppor- tunity to make this separation explicitly, by divorcing the behavior of the business from that 29 of its owner. The divorce is nullified to some extent by the network of credit information facilities which continues to present the essen- tial facts of ownership to potential leaders and suppliers. Nevertheless, the most striking ele- ment in the social organization of retail merchants is their withdrawal from traditional identifications. 20. The process of formation of occupational attitudes of the retailer is different than that of many occupations, according to Caplow, because he is partially isolated from his fellow retailers, and is not subject to every day ex- change of gossip which is conducive to shaping common atti- tudes. His role, however, is defined with great precision by agencies of mass communication. According to Caplow it has this effect: This places the shopkeeper squarely in the middle of one of the major ideological conflicts of our society: he is committed on the one hand to oppose "government interference" and the con- stantly enlarging network of social controls whicn interfere with the businessman's liberty of action, but he is constrained by the facts of economic concentraticn to oppose the Specific measures taken by large-scale business to diminish competition and to increase its control over him. 21. With reSgect to occupational stereotypes, Caplow con- cluded that there is none which is common to retailers as a class. For example, there is considerable difference between public images of the iceman, Chinese laundry man, and hardware merchant. 20. Ibid. pp. 123-129. 21. Ibid. p. 132. 30 Caplow pointed out in these excerpts that the retailer is in a position which can result in a variety of orien- tations to his business and to the customer. If he is well established and making a relatively large profit, he has a "passionate identification with the role of a busi- nessman." By this, it is assumed that Caplow defined the "business role" as being one of economic rationality in being a "good businessman." As such, the orientation is essentially Gesellschaft-like. Under such circumstances, the retailer seeks to disidentify with the customer. At the same time while he seeks to identify with "business role" which opposes "government interference," he is under pressure of certain businessmen, such as suppliers, which may force him to accept attitudes antithetical to those of "businessmen." The occupational ideologies of the less well established retail businessman, or the small time neighborhood operator was not discussed by Caplow. Based on his statements how- ever, it can be assumed that their passion for identifica- tion with the "business role" is less pronounced than in the case of the other. His orientation to business, there- fore, may involve Gemeinschaft-like attributes, and he is likely to identify with the local resident rather than wanting to disassociate with him. This may be particularly the case for retail businessmen who live in the same 31 building as their business, or in the local customer area. In terms of orientation they may not identify with the "business role," but have quite different outlooks. It is suggested that this may be the result of both the "ideological conflicts" and the basic social structure of their business. Constant contact between employees and customers of a Gemeinschaft-like order is likely to produce orientations to business and customers of a Gemeinschaft- like order. AS Whyte suggested, the "dynamics of atti- tudes formation can best be worked out as we correlate attitudes with human relations in the organizations we study."22 The paradox in which the retailer finds himself is also discussed by Mills.23 He suggested that the tradi- tional outlook of the middle-class retailer is no longer as strongly held by his modern counterpart, and that he is developing different orientations to work. Neither Mills nor Caplow demonstrated what these orientations are. Again , it is suggested that the basis for these non-middle class, non-business orientations, can be found in certain social relationships of the retailer. 22. William Foote Whyte, op, citz p. 9. 23. c. Wright Mills, White 9911ar, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1951) pp. 1-59, 215-238. 1/ 32 Mills has examined the retail businessman from the point of view of his place in the status order of a middle- sized city.24 He divided the occupational grouping into the following five categories: (1) Big Business and Executives (2) Small Business and Free Professional (3) Higher White-Collar (4) Lower White-Collar (5) Wage Workers These are listed from higher to lower income levels. The "higher white-collar" includes salaried professionals and semi-professionals, salesmen, government officials, and minor managerial employees. The "lower white-collar" includes government protection and service workers, clerks, stenographers and bookkeepers, and foremen. The chief concern of Mills was with groupings two, three and four. The small businessman is found to occupy a position which results in a differential ranking given him by upper-class and lower-class observers. 24. C. Wright Mills, "The Middle Classes in Middle-Sized Cities: The Stratification and Political Position of Small Business and White Collar Strata," Americpp Sociolpgical Review (October, 1946) XI, pp. 520-529. Middle-sized cities include those from 25,000 to 100,000 population. The city in this study had a population of 60,000. 33 To the lower-class observer, little businessmen are very often the most apparent element among "the higher-ups" and no distinctions are readily made between them and the "business" or "upper- class" in general. Upper-class observers, on the other hand, place the little businessmen - especially the retailers - much lower in the scale than they place the larger businessmen - especially the industrialists. Both the Size and the type of business influence their judgment. The conclusions are quite similar to those of Davis in which he found that groupings in the status order of "Central City" defined classes other than their own in a way that was different from the concept held by other 25 classes. In particular the "lower class" did not dis- tinguish between the "upper-middle," "lower-upper," and "upper-upper," classes; but lumped them all together. Mills continued by stating that there is greater movement from the lower stratum into the small business stratum than into the "free professional" and "big busi- ness" strata. From his data he ascertained that of those small businessmen who were urban derived, twenty-seven percent come from lower income groups and that Slightly more than forty percent marry daughters of wage workers. In terms of job histories he found that over half have wage earning jobs at time of first full employment and 25. Allison Davis, Burlei h B. Gardner, and Mary K. Gardner, Deep South, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1941) pp. 62-73. 34 later work into retail business. With respect to education, the small businessman ranked lower than the "big business" and "free professional" categories with about twice the proportion of the latter two graduating from high school than for the small businessman. For Mills these factors help explain the attitudes of the lower and upper strata towards the small businessman. The upper judges more on "status" and "background" while the lower more by "income and the appearances to which it readily leads." Closely associated with such attitudes are the power relationships between the small businessman and the upper stratum. To quote Mills: The ambiguous prestige of small business people has to do with power as well as with 'background': the small businessmen, especially in cities dom- inated by a few large industrial firms, are quite often 'fronts' for the larger business powers. They are, civically, out in front busily accom- plishing all sorts of minor projects and taking a lot of praise and blame from the rank and file citizenry. Among those in the lower classes who, for one reason or another, are 'anti-business,‘ the small business front is often the target of aggression and blame; but for the lower-class individual who is 'pro-business' or 'neutral,' the small businessmen get top esteem because 'ghey are doing a lot for this city.‘ 2 0 When discussing ideologies of small businessmen, Mills stated that such ideologies are based on identification with business as such and are controlled by the big business concerns in the community. The Chamber of Commerce was seen 26. c. Wright Mills, 92, cit, p. 521. 35 as the spokesman for both large and small businesses but being under the influence of the former. Based on the hearings of the Senate Small Business Committee, Mills states that the small businessman demonstrates aggression towards "labor" and "government." At the same time they see small business as "the backbone of the American economy." These factors put the Small businessman in an ambig- uous position according to Mills. Such a position "is explained by his social origin and by the 'power' which is ascribed to him by the lower but denied to him by the upper." This analysis suggests that the small businessman is in a marginal position with respect to power and prestige arrangements. As such his ideologies and political efforts are often oriented towards the big business stratum and he has not developed those unique to small businessmen as such. The data on which Mills based his conclusions concern- ing origin and education of small businessmen and their wives and other factors, consisted of thirty-seven cases. As he suggested "the results should be taken with a grain of salt, and caution exercised in any further use made of them: in reality, we are here dealing with qualitative materials." His source for "ideologies of small business" were Senate Small Business Committee Hearings. Such a committee defined a "small business" as one employing one hundred or fewer people. The average number of employees 36 in "small business" of the Mills investigation was two to four. In this research the average is four. It has been the experience of this writer and others working with the Committee that the larger sized "small businesses" are heard before this Committee. It is suggested therefore that the ideologies of "aggression towards labor and gov- ernment" may not be those of proprietors of average-sized "small businesses." It is also suggested that many of these small busi- nessmen are not members of, or associated with, local Chambers of Commerce or any other business association. These factors suggest that the ideologies of small busi- nessmen may be other than those reported. It may also be that such businessmen possess a common orientation to business and to their'public." In terms of political \, orientation he may possess one other than that of big business. An analysis of the kind which deals with the struc- ture of retail business and orientations of retailers must include a variety of existing types of businesses if it is to be representative. On basis of the previous discussion, such a sample Should include different establishments in terms of kinds of goods and services offered; it should be representative of different sizes of businesses; and the locations of such businesses should be representative of 37 the Spatial distribution of the universe of retail loca- tions. The community selected should be large enough so as to include the kinds of retail establishments found in the majority of cities. THE SAMPLE OF THIS INVESTIGATION. IThe universe for this study consisted of retail businesses of a Specified density in Lansing and East Lansing, Michigan, and their immediate fringe.'IThe fringe areas included those arteries contiguous to the municipal boundaries, which were occupied by retail concerns. Excluded from the universe was the downtown Lansing district. This area was not included Since such respondents would not have a type of business operation relevant to the problem of delimitation of socialflsub-areas. kIThe universe consisted of nine hundred and eighty- four retail businesses, from which were selected six hundred and fifty cases for interviewing purposes.1 The method of selection was as follows: First, the concern had to offer retail sales or services. Second, the areas selected had to include two or more such businesses within a block of each other. Third, all of the businesses were selected if the area contained up to four concerns, and if over four, a fifty percent sample was selected. Fourth, certain types of businesses were selected in their entirety. These included clothing stores, restaurants, bars, dairy 38 and drug stores, real estate offices, and barber and beauty Shops. These were entirely included because it was believed that operators of such businesses would be most likely to be cognizant of organizational features of the area about them. Thus, if an area contained twenty retail businesses, at least ten were selected. If the area contained more than ten of the heretofore mentioned types, these were in- cluded in the sample. The result was that not less than ten,but up to twenty cases were selected. 1 The sample represented sixty-six percent of the uni- verse and was distributed Spatially in a manner so as to be representative of the Greater Lansing area.‘ A compar- ison of the sample and universe shows that a gross repre- sentation of retail businesses by type was selected. Be- cause of this procedure, the information gathered probably represents local areal social phenomena insofar as the re- spondents were adequate informants. The data concerning business structure and business orientation appear to be representative of the retail businessmen in this larger area... I (An interview was developed and administered to the owners or managers of each business; The content of the schedule will be dealt with in successive chapters as it relates to the methods involved in ascertaining the social 39 structure of retail business, and the orientations of businessmen to their business and the people in the local area. THE GENERAL PROBL M AREA. The first problem discussed in following chapters is concerned with the general social structure of retail business. This will be approached by treating retail business as a social system. Social systems will be classified as Gemeinschaft-like and Gesellschaft- like types and a basis presented for such classification. This basis will be in terms of theoretical components of Gemeinschaft-like and Gesellschaft-like structures. Fol- lowing will be an analysis of the position of retail busi- ness within the economy of a middle-sized industrial community with statements as to the consequences of this position for the structure of retail business. Based on this analysis and the above typology, a typology of retail business will be developed and the data classified relevant to the social structure of retail business. It is expected that such businesses will be classified as essentially Gemeinschaft-like, mixed, or Gesellschaft-like. Following this, an analysis will be made of the ori- entations of retail businessmen to their business in terms of the Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft model. It is expected that the mode of orientation to business of the retailer can be predicted from the structural order of his business. 40 This will be analyzed first in terms of the general posi- tion of the retailer in the larger community, and next in terms of the particular structural classification of his business. The data will then be classified in terms of type of orientations to business possessed by the retailer and tests made of the relationships between business structure and orientation to business. It is expected that those retailers who operate a business essentially Gesellschaft-like in structure will be oriented to their business in a way comparable to the theoretical nature of ppdp and pppmp of a Gesellschaft- like social system as discussed in Figure 1. A contrasting pattern is expected for the proprietor of a retail business essentially Gemeinschaft-like in structure. The next problem involves the kind of orientation the retail businessman has to the local area about his place of business. Because of his relatively close association with the local resident it is expected that he develops conceptions of these people through interaction with them, and that these conceptions are related to the structure of his business and to his orientation to business. The first task at this point will be that of ascertaining the way the retail businessman may be expected to orient himself to those in the local area in terms of the general struc- ture of retail business. The data will then be analyzed 41 in terms of how he conceives of the local resident and compared with the predictive statements. It is suggested that those retailers operating businesses essentially Gesellschaft-like in structure will orient themselves to local residents in terms of their economic status, and that proprietors of the businesses essentially Gemeinschaft- like in structure will be particularly cognizant of the sociability and congeniality traits of the local resident. The final problem will be concerned with the orienta- tions of the retailer to the local area and his business and the structure of his business as these factors are re- lated to mobility choices. Such choices involve the retailer's preferences regarding change of business loca- tion or change of business. With respect to area orien- e- tations it is expected that those retailers who evaluate the local resident in a positive way will least want to change areas and those who express negative evaluations will most want to move. Relative to business orientations, it is expected (. that those retailers who possess orientations which are essentially Gemeinschaft-like will least want to change locations and type of businesses they are in and vice versa. The same relationships are expected in terms of business structure. CHAPTER II THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF RETAIL BUSINESS One of the most useful analytical tools developed by sociologists in analyzing social structure is that of "social system." According to Loomis and Beegle, a social system refers to persons interacting with each other more than with outsiders for purpose of attaining some end or objective.1 The manner or patterns of interaction within a social system constitutes the structure of the system. This is determined by analysis of the elements of a social system. These include the pndg or objectives, which may be changes desired by members, or if not change, the main- tenance of status quo. They may vary from pbjectives such as those for a business corporation of producing for a profit, to that of a family whose ends are more general or diffuse, involving such matters as security and love. The ppppp are the expected patterns of behavior for system members particularly as they involve the attaining of gpd_. They are the "rules of the game" and decide what l. C. P. Loomis and J. Allan Beegle, Rural Social Systems, (New York: Prentice Hall, 1950) and c. P. Loomis, Studies in Applied apd heoretical Social Science at m Michigap State Colle e, East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1948). 43 is right and wrong in terms of interpersonal relations for members of the system, and between the members and out- siders. They include a totality of expectations, whether they are written and codified, or unwritten. They may vary in degree or specificity from those of the family which may involve norms of demonstrating affection, to the quite specific norms of a large factory. The ppdg and ppppp of a social system are basic in determination of its structure. Structural elements are analyzed in terms of ppatus-role patterns, which refer to the expected behavior for an individual occupying a partic- ular position within the system. The definition of these status-pplpp and the determination of relationships be- tween them, gives a picture of the structure of a social system. Such relationship can be discussed in terms of power, rank, sanctions, and facilities. Loomis has developed a procedure for analyzing struc- ture of concrete social systems in terms of an ideal- typical analysis. After delimiting the elements of a social system i.e., gpdp, pppmp, and status-roles, he establishes contrasting patterns or types of social systems under the headings of Gemeinschaft and GesellSchaft. In general terms, the Gesellschaft-like social system is characterized by social interaction in which the relation- ships are means to a given end. In the Gemeinschaft type, 44 the relationship becomes an end in itself. Characteristics of the Gesellschaft type are functionally specific and contract-oriented ppdp and pppmp. Using a large corporate business as an example, the ppdp may be those of production for a profit. The pppmg of such a business would generally involve assignment of Specific tasks for workers, as on an assembly line, for purpose of attaining this end. Both would be contract-oriented in terms of articles of incor- poration for a profit making concern, and written agreements and directives relative to behavior patterns for different jobs. Within a Gemeinschaft-like system, the ppgp and pppmp tend to become fused, and are more functionally diffuse and tradition-oriented. Using a middle-class American family as an example, the distinction between ppdg and ppppp becomes difficult to make. The ppgp of such a unit involve such things as companionship, security, and affection. The way in which one displays such behavior is rooted in tradition, rather than in contractual agree- ments, although there are certain contractual elements of marriage. Such behavior is generalized or diffuse. The relationships between members of a Gemeinschaft- like system, in terms of initiation and response to action, are likely to be two-way. Authority is personalized and there is a feeling of a "community of fate," and of blanket 45 rights and responsibilities for system memberS. Inter- action involves intimacy and sentiment, and, in this sense, is non-rational. Using the family again to illustrate, initiation and response of action often occurs among all members. Decisions involving selection of television programs or even automobiles may illustrate this point. These family members are concerned with what happens to each other, both while interacting within and outside of the system. Authority is personalized in that the emotions and feelings of members are paramount when controlling others. Ideally within the Gesellschaft-like system inter- action is in the direction of being one-way, with imper- sonalized authority and limited rights and reSponSibilitieS. Intervening objects between members are common and the action is rational and planned in terms of attaining ob- jectives. To illustrate, within a large business corpora- tion there exists a "chain of command," with initiation of action following hierarchal lines through established channels. If the president of the concern wishes to communicate with a divisional sales manager, he would do so through the vice-president in charge of sales or through properly passed written directives. The intervening ob- jects, in this case, may be people or written rules. When dealing with employees of the corporation, the president 46 would ideally act on basis of the specific job they per- form, irrespective of who they may personally be. Nepotism has no place in such a system. The president would be concerned with employees insofar as they did or did not do their jobs in the establishment. He would feel responsible for their welfare as related to the job. For example, if an employee broke a leg on the job, then the company would take appropriate action. If this occured in the man's house, it would not be the responsibility of the firm to take care of him. The status-roles of the employee out- side this business is of no concern to the employer. Efficiency, planning, and rationality epitomize such inter- action in this ideal sense. These contrasting patterns have been diagrammed in Figure 1, page 10. These two models in Figure l are treated as pure types. They represent theoretically possible patterns of behavior. Although ongoing social systems may not be fully characterized by either Gemeinschaft or Gesellschaft patterns in all cases, it is possible to as- certain which type they most closely approximate. It be- comes possible then, to picture an ongoing system as being Gemeinschaft-like or Gesellschaft-like. This has been done by Loomis in comparing an Amish family, a Spanish-American Ditch Association, a government bureau in the United States Department of Agriculture, and a military unit. More 47 recently, he and McKinney have contrasted Latin-American communities of family farms and large estates on a similar 2 basis. This was accomplished by developing a continuum of these types placing pure Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft relationships on either end with intervening degrees of each as follows: FIGURE 2 A MODEL FOR ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL SYSTEI ... 5'8 STRUCTURE —. “_r m4? L—v Gemeinschaft Gesellschaft The elements of a social system were then analyzed on basis of where they would fall in this arrangement in terms of theoretically derived categories. For example, indirect contact through use of intervening objects in a pure sense 2. Loomis and Beegle, 924_cit, and Charles P. Loomis and John C. McKinney, "Systematic Differences Between Latin-American Communities of Family Farms and Large Estates," American Journal gf_Sociology, LX No. 4, (September, 19555 pp. 36-45. 48 (point five right above) would mean that interaction occurs through written communication or directives or other inter- vening objects. In a pure face-to-face, direct situation (point five left above) interaction occurs by each member confronting others individually and candidly. Characteris- tic of the first would be the communication process between a regimental commander and a company commander in his unit. This ideally occurs through written orders or through the person of the battalion commander but very seldom through direct, face-to-face contact. Within ongoing systems, these pure forms seldom occur. However this model allows comparison of ongoing systems based on these theoretically derived categories of action. Loomis has accomplished this by having independent observers, who have insight into the structure of ongoing systems, evaluate and place on the continuum, the position represented for the element under consideration. In the studies cited, the Amish family was most Gemeinschaft- like and the military unit most Gesellschaft—like with the other systems between. The writer will ascertain the structure of retail businesses in terms of Gemeinschaft-Seaellschaft reference points. Upon ascertaining some general structural features of such systems, he will deve10p a more systematic typology for differentiating retail concerns. 49 STRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF RETAIL BUSINESS. A social system includes those interacting with each other more than with outsiders for purposes of attaining some end or objective. The members of a retail business social system include the employees-the employer-and the customer. It is necessary to ascertain the general structure of their interaction in order to classify or type it on a Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft basis. To do this requires examination of retail businesses in the general economic setting of the society in which they operate, and a comparison of their function to that of other economic units within the community. In a society with a complex economic organization, there are links which can be delimited on basis of their specific economic function. The functional link of retail business is of particular concern at this point. Four kinds of economic activity are relevant in ascertaining the function of the retailer: first, is that of the manufacturer who produces goods more or less on basis of mass production; second, is that of the wholesale distrib- utor whose function is that of getting the product from the manufacturer to the retailer; third, is that of the retail businessman; and fourth, is that of the consumer or customer. The economic function of retail business is that of selling the product to the consumer. As such, retail 50 business is placed in the closest position, within the overall economic organization, to the customer. Such a fact has consequences for the social structure of retail business, particularly as compared with manufacturing and wholesaling activities. Another feature of retail business in this economic organization, is that there is less capital investment, generally speaking, required to establish and maintain a retail concern as compared to a wholesale or manufacturing establishment. Also, the number of employees are fewer and business size generally smaller. This means that there is greater opportunity for a larger number of people to become retail businessmen than other types, and that the turnover and entering and leaving of such businesses is relatively greater. In essence then, the retailer is a small time operator, recruited from a great variety of social backgrounds, possessing occupa- tional mobility, and in close contact with the customer. In addition, he is somewhat restricted in what he offers for sale in terms of what he obtains from the manufacturer and wholesaler. As was discussed by Caplow the retailer is between those from whom he obtains goods and those to whom he sells, and subsequently is subjected to pressures ’2 from two important economic links.’ 3. Theodore Caplow, The Sociology Qf_Work, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1954} pp. 115-120. 51 Such a socio-economic setting would appear to have the following consequences for the social structure of retail business. The number of people working within a retail business is relatively few. In the sample of this investigation, the average number of workers is four. The figure is somewhat higher when considering establishments in the central business district. Those working for the retail businessman are quite likely to be relatives, usu- ally a spouse or children. In many cases they are un-paid. The physical lay-out of most retail establishments is con- fined to a single, small building, so that the workers are in visual contact most of the time. The division of labor is not extensive in that most employees do about the same thing; that is waiting on or serving customers. This is most obvious in businesses with only one worker or a small number of workers. It is also important to observe that in many retail businesses there is but one shift and that all employees are in constant and continuous contact. The general pattern of interaction between retail businessmen and customers is related to the following fac- tors. The economic function of retailers and customers puts the two in close association. The customers are in visual contact with the businessman when purchasing goods or services in most cases. This contact is also quite 52 frequent, and may exist over a long period of time. The retail businessman, being the economic link to the consumer, becomes acutely aware of consumer Spending habits involving matters of taste. He also is very sensitive to the change in amount of purchasing power of his customer. In many lines of retailing, retailers get their goods from the same sources, and offer the same products for sale at about equal prices. This puts them on an equal economic-compet- itive basis. The sale of such items, therefore, involves an adequate conception of customer demand. Success, in many ways, is related to rather intimate knowledge of the customer. The retail businessman's customer usually lives in the local community, and within a relatively close distance to his place of business. The retailer himself often is also a resident of the community and lives in his place of business or close to it. Within the sample of this invest- igation, ninety-five percent of the businessmen reported that most of their customers were from within the Greater Lansing community and the majority of the retailers lived within ten blocks of their place of business. Examination of these socio-economic characteristics of retail business in terms of the Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft model presented, points to the following conclusions relative to placement of such structures within this framework. 53 Initiation g; action. - The customer-employee selling relationship is initiated by the customer with reciproca- tion on part of the employee. At some point, quite often the employee initiates suggestions as to purchases. Often, interaction involves discussion of factors unrelated to purchases, such as family health, vacation plans, sports, or similar mutual interests. Among employees, initiation 9; action generally is twp-way because of small number in- volved, the employment of relatives, and a lack of distinct and specific division of labor. When considering the actors within the social system of retail business the initiation 9f action would tend to fall on the twp-we side of the continuum. Authority. - Control over others within the customer— employer-employee relationship again involves consideration of the economic function of retail business. The customer, by buying goods or services, exercises power over the re- tailer. In this sense, the seller is influenced very strongly. At the same time, in a mass production economy, the items and services offered are often comparable and the advantage of shopping at different places is minimal. The customer's decision as to where he trades therefore, is based often on considerations other than price. Such considerations may involve treatment afforded him by em- ployees in terms of catering to individual desires. Insofar 54 as these kinds of factors are relevant, the authority patteggs are personalized rather than impersonal. Control of employees by the employer is related to the personnel size, division of labor, and non-business contacts of personnel. With four or five in a business, employed at non-specialized tasks, having family or friend- ship contacts outside business, it would be expected that the control exercised within a retail business would be per- sonalized. It would appear that both the authority patterns among personnel and between they and the customer would be placed towards the Gemeinschaft end of the continuum. Nature 9; contact. - The interaction between customers and employees, and among retail business personnel in many ways, is direct and face-to-face. In retail concerns, such as grocery and drug stores, the customer contact is fre- quent, occuring at least once a week. Among the personnel, the contact exists five or six days a week, for eight or more hours a day. In some cases intervening objects are involved in the customer relationship such as when machine dispensers are utilized. Between personnel, contact would involve intervening people or directives in large, bureau- cratic type organizations. On this point, it is difficult to generalize for retail business pg; gg. However, in most retail concerns, interaction would tend to be more face-to- face than that involving intervening objects. 55 Emotional-rational context. - "Pure" Gemeinschaft interaction at this level involves all actions determined completely by such emotions as pride, love, fear and loyal- ty, especially as manifested in an impulsive way. In Gesellschaft, interaction is calculated with attention given to the product or end of the interaction. Sentiments are important only as they contribute to attaining gbjgg- tizgg, with the least expenditure of effort, money and time. The retailer when treating customer sentiments and emotions in this way, would be highly rational. It has been demonstrated that consideration of emo- tional factors is built into this relationship. The ques- tion of whether they are means to a sale is difficult to demonstrate, particularly if consideration of emotion and sentiment become habituated to the selling relationship. Courtesy, politeness, sincerity, admiration, and sympathy fall into this category. The writer has observed the sell— ing procedure of automobiles in which strong play is made on emotional factors. Generally, the car salesman becomes your friend and you and he combine forces against the "boss" who doesn't want to give you the deal you deserve. Some- times the "line" may be that you and the salesman are "putting one over" on the boss and you both hope the sales— man doesn't get fired for losing so much money on the deal. Several car salesmen when questioned about this, said that 56 this is the situation as it truly exists, and that they really sympathize with the customer in trying to get a "good deal" for him. In other retail businesses, the emotional-rational context may vary from this in terms of customer-employer relationship. The "reputation" of a concern, however, is often described in terms of non- rational statements. Interaction among personnel, in this context in most cases would fall between the extremes of pure sentimentism and rationality when considering the factors of size, division of labor, physical proximity, and non-business contact of retail personnel. Status-role integration. - The fact that the retailer is often a resident of the community in which his business is located, and usually lives close to his customers, means that his behavior both in and out of business is relevant to success of his business. This means that his gtatus-role within the social system of business tends to be integrated with status-roles of being a father, neighbor, citizen, and other significant positions. Deviant behavior which is negatively evaluated by residents on part of the retail businessman in any of these roles, would result in loss of sales. In this respect, the retailer represents a status-rolg comparable to that of a minister or school teacher. The same would be true for employees, although 57 not to such an extent. Since this is an occupational role, it represents one of the most pervasive in determining the community standing of the businessman. Norms and ends. — Within the buyer-seller relation— ship, the objective can be viewed as that of exchange of goods or services for a price and the norms as means to such an end. This can be treated as a functionally specific and contract-oriented phenomenon, and placed on the Gesellschaft end of the continuum. As has been demonstrated, however, such interaction also involves many characteristics which are more diffuse and based on tradition or non-contractual factors. There is nothing written or formally codified concerning matters of courtesy or politeness, or maintenance of a small retail businessman's "reputation." When approaching the question as to why people shop one place rather than another, it becomes evident that a range of motivations are involved. Stone has classified customers in terms of their orientation to shopping in this respect.4 He arrived at the following categories of orien— tations to shopping. They were (1) economic, (2) personal- izing, (3) ethical, (4) apathetic, and (5) a residual category. 4. Gregory P. Stone, "City Shoppers and Urban Identifi- cation: Observations on the Social Psychology of City Life," American Journal 9; Sociology, LX, No. 1, (July, 19547 pp. 36-45. 58 The economig category included: Remarks coded in this category clearly indicated that the informant regarded shopping as primarily buying, her behavior being unambiguously directed to the purchase of goods. The criteria applied to the evaluation of stores included: an apprais- al of store's merchandise in terms of price, quality, and variety; a favorable evaluation of store practices that maximize the effichent dis- tribution of goods; conversely, an unfavorable evaluation of practices and relationships with personnel which impede the quick efficient sale of merchandise; and a favorable rating of con- ditions which maximized independence of customer choice.5 The pgrsonalizing category included: In this category were placed responses defining shopping as fundamentally and positively inter- personal. Such informants eXpressed a tendency to personalize and individualize the customer role in the store and rated stores in terms of closeness of relationships between customer and personnel. Consequently,"purely" economic cri— teria, such as price, quality, selection of merchandise, and highly raEionalized techniques were of lesser importance. The ethical category included: Responses in this category signified that the in- formants feel a moral obligation to patronize specific types of stores. They perceive shopping in the light of a larger set of values rather than of specific values and more immediately relevant norms. The following excerpts express it: ’It would be better if they were all neighborhood stores. The chains put people out of work be- cause the people have to wait on themselves. But that's what happens in a machine age. They set up everything like a factory. If there's another Ibig. p. 42 Ibid. p. 42 59 depression, the chains will put people out of work, because they are a self-help system. So, if you let the chains run the little business out, they will be wrecking their own chances for jobs, if times get too bad.’ 7 The apathgpig category included: Included in this category are responses showing that the informant was not interested in shop- ping and did not discriminate kinds of stores. ghey emphasize minimization of effort in purchasing. This evidence indicates that, as far as the consumer is concerned, the ends and norms of the shopping relation- ship, quite often involve factors other than those of rational-eXpediency.‘ The personalizing consumer views interaction with retail business personnel in some ways as an end in itself. "This type of consumer shopped 'where they know my name...‘ Strong personal attachments were formed with store personnel, and this personal relation- ship, often approaching intimacy, was crucial to her pat— ronage of a store. She vas highly sensitized to her exper- iences on the market; obviously they were an important part of her life. It followed that she was reSponsive to both pleasant and unpleasant experiences in stores. Her con- ception of a "good" clerk was one who treated her in a personal, relatively intimate manner." For the economig consumer, the relationship most closely approximated the Gesellschaft-like pattern. 7. Ibid. p. 43 8. 1mg. 9- 44 60 "Clerical personnel and the store were, for her, merely the instruments of her purchase of goods. Thus, efficiency or inefficiency of sales personnel, as well as relative commensurateness of prices, quality, or the selection of merchandise, were decisive in leaving her with a pleasant or unpleasant impression of the store. The quality she demanded of a 'good' clerk was efficiency." The ethical ponsume; approached the shopping situa- tion in terms of a value orientation which was tradition directed. She shopped where she "ought to" in terms of some broad, culturally based imperative. "She was willing to sacrifice lower prices or a wider selection 'to help the little guy out' or because 'the chain store has no heart or soul.'..." Such variation in orientation to shopping relation- ships for consumers suggests that, in many ways, the inter- action involves characteristics of both Gemeinschaft-like and Gesellschaft-like social systems. The orientation of retail businessmen to their business will be examined more completely in the next chapter. At this point, however, on basis of material previously discussed, it is evident that his orientation to work includes characteristics of both tradition directed emotional-diffuseness, and contract oriented rational-specificity. 61 The nature of gngg and nggmg for personnel within the social system of retail business has been discussed earlier under the heading of initiation 9: action, authority pat- terns,emotional-;a§igngl context, and status-role patterns. The general value orientation of members to the system probably involves considerations of satisfaction or dissat— isfaction with their job in terms of "getting along" with fellow employees and customers, or liking the work and finding it enjoyable. At the same time, considerations of making money or making a living are important. At this point it is suggested that the general value orientation of those in the social system of retail business contains features not entirely of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft types, and that it would be placed between these extremes on the continuum heretofore described. A TYPOLOGY OF RETAIL BUSINESS STRUCTURE. From the preceding discussion it is evident that retail busine s as a social system would be centered between the extremes rep- resented by pure Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft patterns. It is evident that not all retail businesses would be placed at the same point on this scale with reSpect to their social structure. This discussion will be concerned with development of a method for determining such a scale placement. 62 The concern at this point is with those factors which provide a basis for development of Gemeinschaft-like or Gesellschaft-like interaction within the retail business setting. Such factors include: (a) business size, in terms of number of personnel, purchases and customers; (b) the nature of employment, in terms of whether personnel are relatives, working full or part time, and paid or unpaid; (0) length of time in busiLess in the present loca- tion; (d) proximity of residence to place of business; (e) location of customers; and (f) the kind of goods or services offered. These factors will now be examined as they contribute to producing contrasting kinds of structure within a re- tail business in terms of initiation pf action, authoripy atter 3, nature pf contact, emotional-rational context, and status-role_integration. Ipitiation pi action and authority patterns. - Opp: p§y_initiation pf action and impersonalized authority exist in retail businesses in which there is an extensive divi- sion of labor. In such businesses, each individual has a specific task assigned to him which is different from those of others. His status-role is functionally specific. He is evaluated on how efficient he is in this particular job. Such efficiency is measurable in terms of amount of pro- duction. He is responsible to Specific other status—poles, 63 and has under him particular persons likewise reSponsible to him. Initiation pi action and authority within this system are closely related to the hierarchal control pat— terns within such a system. When interaction occurs in- volving these factors, it occurs on basis of the specific statu§~role of the individual; that is, in terms of the particular job he has, not on basis of friendship or similar factors. Jobs within such a system often require extensive training and it is possible to move from one system to another and keep on doing the same task. Adjustment to such a job involves effort in terms of ascertaining the particular procedures surrounding the new task, rather than getting along with new fellow employees. To illus- trate, the job of the inventory accountant would involve adjustments in terms of learning the level of inventories desired by the boss. On this basis, the accountant would apply appropriate inventonrcontrol procedures to maintain such a level. Division of labor of this order generally exists in retail businesses which employ a large number of people. There cannot be extensive specialization with but three or four working in a place. The type of business is one with a number of different jobs required to run it. This occurs in such establishments as department stores, or 64 large chain groceries, or many drug stores. Besides em- ploying large numbers, such places employ people who are not relatives. Because of the control over employees described above, they would be paid, rather than un-paid. The shopping relationship for the customer is imper- sonal in terms of initiation pf action and authority patterns. Epitomizing such a relationship would be a store in which all goods are purchased through machines, with no contact whatsoever with clerks. When customer— personnel interaction occurs, it is in terms of a pn§~nny . pattern, that is, the customer makes a specific request of the clerk or vice versa. Illustrating this is the ex- perience of a customer in a supermarket. When he interacts with clerks, it's in terms of getting something weighed, or ringing a buzzer to obtain a cut of meat not previously packaged for the counter, and finally paying at the check-out stands. This experience is evident particularly in businesses handling a large volume of customers, and dependent on quantity of sales for a profit. In such places, customers are there to buy goods, and not to talk to store personnel or other customers. Contrasted to this, pnnynny initiation pf action with perponalized authority most often exists in retail businesses with little division of labor. With status-roles undiffer- entiated, interaction generally is personalized and two-way. 65 Considering retail business personnel, this condition exists when there are a small number interacting, and when they know each other outside the business, as in the case of relatives. It is evident particularly when these rela- tives are un-paid. In addition, such jobs require little previous training, and adjustments required in job switches are largely in terms of "getting along" with people, rather than performing a specific task in an efficient manner. Perhaps the "mamma-pappa" grocery store most likely would represent this type of retail business. With regards to customer-personnel interaction, such a condition exists when the number of customers, relatively speaking are few, and when the customers "get together" in the store for gossip or other informal reasons. Prices are apt to be somewhat higher in these places than in those depending on volume for profit. Nature pf contact and emotional-rational context. The concern here is with aspects of retail business which provide a basis for direct, face-to-face contact involving intimacy and impulsiveness, as contrasted with that in~ volving indirect contact with intervening objects, and such contact being primarily a means to an end. Many of the factors discussed above which are related to Gemeinschaft- like or Gesellschaft-like initiation pf action and authority patterns,likewise are relevant to these aspects of structure. 66 The following discussion therefore will concentrate on additional factors. Direct contact between customers and retail business personnel occurs in situations when the latter has to per— form a rather extended operation for the customer. Certain retail services, such as those offered by the barber and beautician or tailor, typify such a condition. Within the retail sales category, this exists with automobile dealers and real estate salesmen. In these kinds of businesses, often the interaction contains elements of sentiment, particularly if a sale is based on appeals to taste, vanity, ethics, or comparable factors. Competition for customers between these businesses not only involves quality and price, but the ability to personalize the relationship to the customer's satisfaction. Of importance to this discussion is the kind of interaction, if any, which tranSpires between customers in the place of business. On one hand, there are busi- nesses in which no contact occurs between customers, or in contrast, those in which a great deal of interaction takes place often involving sociability. When this is crucial to patronage, the factors of direct, face-to- face contact of an emotional order are built into the system. The neighborhood tavern best illustrates such a business. Not only are the customers in such a relationship but the bartender as well. 67 Factors producing the contrasting patterns of indirect and strongly rationalized interaction within retail busi- ness, are a highly Specialized and diverse division of labor with concomittant large size. The business is of the type in which customer-personnel interaction is strictly a means to an end of conducting an economic transaction. Indirectness is illustrated by the change from the butcher- customer relationship, to the pre-packaging of meats in a supermarket. Before the housewife often referred to "her butcher." However, this relationshi; generally has passed from the American scene. Complaints as to service or pro- ducts in these places of business pass through established channels and are a highly routinized affair. Some even have a "complaint department" for this purpose. As men— tioned previously, interaction is most indirect when a customer purchases everything by inserting coins in a ma- chine. This, also is the least intimate experience conceivable. Also involved in this kind of relationship, is highly habituated behavior on part of employees and customers, even when it has overtones of friendliness, courtesy and intimacy. Illustrating this, is the behavior of a gas station attendant who, as H. L. Mencken pointed out, taught courtesy to a generation of Americans. It is coubtful that such behavior is Spontaneous and emotional. It is 68 more likely representative of a rationalization of emotional directness. Although not under investigation in this study, a telephone company, known to the writer, has gone so far as to have written down the kind of reSponse the operator should give to callers mentioning the fact that they have a birthday, or want a date. These patterns are most evident in businesses which cater to a large number of people who come from a wide area. It is impossible for an employee to be on intimate and direct terms with a large number of people per week, particularly if he does not see them often, either in the store or has no contact with them outside his place of business. Integration pf Status-roles. Here the concern is ...—- -_ with the degree to which the status-roles of members of the social system of retail business is related to those he has in other social systems of the community. On the Gesellschaft side, there is a complete indifference on the part of members of the system to those roles played by members outside. On the Gemeinschaft side, members are permitted to participate only in roles which are integrated with those of the system. It has been demonstrated that the retail businessman OCCUpieS a position within the community which places him in an extremely sensitive relationship with clientele. 69 Misbehavior on his part, either in his business or within the community, has adverse consequences on his sales. This is evident particularly when customers know him out- side his place of business. If he is a poor family pro— vider, or gets drunk every night, or doesn't support worth— while community projects, and his customers know this, it has severe repercussions on his business. Such customer awareness of the businessman exists, most directly, when the retailer lives near his customers. This occurs when his customers are from near his place of business and when he lives in the local area. This condition of social awareness becomes heightened the longer the retailer lives in an area. Many reported that it took Up to four years to get acquainted with local residents. In contrast, conditions effecting non~integratipn pf status-rolep in and out of business involve situations in which the customer has no knowledge of, or cares little about behavior of the retailer aside from his business. This exists in cases when the majority of customers are transient, or, when he serves a large number of people. Similarly, non—integration is most apt to exist when the businessman lives in an area remote from residence of his customers and particularly remote from his place of business. A final point relative to business structure involves the credit policy of the businessman. If he allows credit, 70 then he has rather extensive information about the consumer. In most cases in this sample, such information did not come from credit bureaus, but rather from first hand eXperience on part of the retailer and customer. Extension of credit therefore, indicates attributes of Gemeinschaft structure. Salient features of retail business have been examined as they contribute to producing Gemeinschaft-like or Gesellschaft-like structure. Figure 3 summarizes the preceding analysis. This outline provides a basis for classifying retail businesses of this sample in terms of their general struc- tural character relative to this model. The criteria used to differentiate structure are arbitrarily drawn and not derived directly from the above theoretical discussion. They are, however, reasoned guesses. Later it will be seen that the material on orientations is more closely derived from this theoretical view and at that time the relationship between structure and orientation will be demonstrated. Following are the data on which the structural assess— ment will be made. The schedule from which this information was derived is found in Appendix B. The varying kinds of retail businesses in terms of goods and services offered which are in the sample appear in Tables 12 and 13 in FIGURE 3 71 A MODEL FOR ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURE OF RETAIL BUSINESSES Characteristic T __-:: r —-—V ———-L. Gemeinschaft-like r Gesellschaft-like Naturelgf Employment Nature 9f Customers mature _f Residence flature 9: 115111835 Nature 9; customer interaction nature 9; Location Few employees Personnel related Personnel unpaid Small number of regular customers Customers from local area Credit allowed Businessman lives in local area Little division of labor Extensive customer personnel contact Extensive informal customer inter— action Located in area for extended period Many employees Personnel not related Personnel paid Large number of irregular customers Customers transient and from large area Credit not allowed Businessman lives outside local area Highly developed division of labor Limited customer personnel contact Little customer interaction Located in area for short period 72 Appendix A. When the term "average" is used herein it will refer to the median value of the distribution. This is preferable to an arithmetic mean since there are unequal intervals and open ended categories in most of the distributions. Table 1 presents the distribution of the number of workers in the businesses of the sample. The average num- ber of employees is between three and four, with the pro- portions falling sharply with those businesses employing five or more workers. The sample in this research is comparable to that reported by Mills in his research. Table 2 refers to those businesses with unpaid employees. When the one person businesses are eliminated from the calculations, the remaining proportion employing unpaid help is twenty-nine percent. Of these, practically all are related to the proprietor of the businesses under discussion. The husband-wife combination constitutes over fifty percent of these cases. The proportion of retail businesses employing relatives is depicted on Table 3. When the "one person" establish- ments are eliminated from consideration, the proportion 9. C. Wright Mills, "The Middle Classes in Middle-Sized Cities: The Stratification and Political Position of Small Business and White Collar Strata," American Sociological Review (October, 1946) XI, p. 521. 73 of retail businesses employing relatives is close to fifty percent. In the latter, the average number of related employees is between one and two with but four percent employing more than four. The retailer was asked to estimate the average number of "steady" customers for his establishment and the re- sults appear in Table 4. It will be noted that those giv— ing an estimate report an average of around two hundred. The greatest frequencies were around one—hundred, two hundred, and four hundred with but ten percent reporting having more than five hundred and forty regular customers. Table 5 shows that slightly over fifty percent of the businessmen give no credit to customers. Of those allowing credit, seventy percent report giving it to "a few" or around twenty percent of their customers. Extensive credit apparently was not the policy for the great majority of the businessmen in this sample. Many of those offering limited credit state that they do so only under Special circumstances such as near the end of the pay period. Table 6 presents data relevant to the amount of custo- mer interaction as viewed by the retailer. Of those re- porting such, most state that the purpose of the gathering involved gossiping, "shooting the breeze," and other "informal" reasons. A limited number report that people conduct meetings or more "formal" activities. 74 Tables 7 and 8 present data on the residence areas of customers. Close to eighty-five percent of the custo- mers are from the community area of Lansing. Of these, around forty percent are from the "local" area or within a radius of a mile of the business. For these, the customers reside relatively close to the business. Those retailers reporting customers coming from surrounding towns are generally located in the "fringe" areas of Lansing. The majority of retail businessmen live within a mile of their residence as shown in Table 9. Those who live in the same building generally have quarters in the rear or above their establishment and those living within zero to two blocks generally live next door. When considering these factors and the evidence from Tables 7 and 8, it is evident that a large number of retailers live in the same area as do the majority of their customers. The average length of tire in business in the present location for those of this sample is shown to be between four and five years in Table 10. The greatest frequency for a single year is for the one to twelve month period. When these data are plotted on an x-y axis of time- frequency the resulting curve is skewed to the right in- dicating a relatively large proportionleing in business for a short period. Table l 75 TOTAL NUMBER OF PERSONNEL IN RETAIL BUSINESS Number of People Frequency Percent l 79 12.1 2 114 17.5 3 134 20.6 4 95 14.6 5 59 9.0 6 34 5.2 7 29 4.4 8 — 12 49 7.5 13 - 17 15 2.3 18 - 26 13 2.0 27 or more 23 3.5 No answer or not ascertainable 8 1.2 Totals 652 99.9 76 Table 2 NUMBER OF UNPAID EMPLOYEES IN RETAIL BUSINESS Number of Unpaid Employees Frequency Percent *None 588 90.0 1 35 5.4 2 22 3,4 3 5 .8 4 1 ,2 5 l .2 Totals 652 100.0 *Includes those businesses with only one person working. 77 Table 3 NUMBER OF RELATIVES EMPLOYED IN RETAIL BUSINESS _ Number of Relatives Employed Frequency Percent *None 382 58.6 1 116 17.8 2 82 12.6 3 47 7.2 4 16 2.5 5 5 .8 6 2 .3 7 1 .1 s - 12 1 .1 Totals 652 100.0 '*Includes those businesses with only one person working. Table 4 78 ESTIMATED NUMBER OF REGULAR CUSTOMERS IN RETAIL BUSINES Number of customers Frequency Percent 1 - 34 40 6.1 35 - 69 44 6.7 70 - 119 75 11.5 120 - 169 49 7.5 170 - 229 61 9.4 230 - 379 36 5.5 380 - 539 60 9.2 540 - 1229 34 5.2 1230 and over 38 5.8 No regular customers 30 4.6 Don't know 138 21.2 No answer or not ascertainable 47 7.2 Totals 652 99.9 79 Table 5 PROPORTION OF CUSTOMERS ALLOWED CREDIT BY RETAIL BUSINESSES iiigggdiggedit Frequency Percent None 334 51.2 A few 220 33.7 Half 36 5.5 Most 42 6.4 All 14 2.2 No answer 6 .9 Totals 652 99.9 80 Table 6 RESPONSE TO QUESTION WHETHER PEOPLE GET TOGETHER IN PLACE OF BUSINESS ReSponse Frequency Percent No 489 75.0 Yes 158 24.2 No answer 5 .8 Totals 652 100.0 81 Table 7 RESIDENCE OF MOST CUSTOMERS OF RETAIL BUSINESS Response Frequency* Percent** Local area - customers live nearby 110 23.6 City area - customers from all over town 148 31.7 Community area - customers from surrounding towns 71 15.2 Customers from regional area 19 I34.1 No regular customers 11 2.3 From no definite area 27 5.8 Many customers transient 73 15.6 No answer, don't know 8 1.7 Area given in distance 209 Totals 676 100.0 * These are multiple punch categories ** Based on 467 total of reSponses through "no answer, don't know." Table 8 82 SIZE OF CUSTOMER AREA FROM RETAIL BUSINESSES Area in Blocks FOR THOSE GIVING DISTANCES* “_k Frequency Percent l — 8 44 21.0 9 - 18 18 8.6 19 - 28 17 8.1 29 - 48 19 9.1 50 - 68 18 8.6 69 - 98 10 4.8 99 -148 19 9.1 149 ~198 6 2-9 199 -298 19 9.1 299 -398 8 3°8 399 -520 ll 5.3 521 and over 20 9.6 Totals 209 100.0 * These reSponses constitute a breakdown of the last category of Table 7. Table 9 83 LOCATION OF RESIDENCE FROM RETAIL BUSINESS Distance from Business Frequency Percent Same building 104 16.0 0 - 2 blocks 101 15.5 3 - 4 blocks 38 5.8 5 - 6 blocks 38 5.8 7 - 8 blocks 20 3.1 9 - 14 blocks 56 8.6 15 - 20 blocks 42 6.4 21 - 26 blocks 43 6.6 27 - 40 blocks 74 11.3 41 blocks or over 53 8.1 Lives in other city 51 7.8 No answer or not ascertainable 32 4.9 Totals 652 99.9 YEARS IN BUSINESS IN AREA FOR RETAIL BUSINESS Table 10 84 Length in years Frequency Percent Under 1 80 12.3 1 41 6.3 2 76 11.6 3 57 8.7 4 - 5 97 14.9 6 - 7 59 9.0 8 - 10 35 5.4 11 - 15 80 12.3 16 - 2O 43 6.6 21 - 31 59 9.0 32 and over 25 3.8 Totals 652 99.9 85 CLASSIFICATION OF DATA INTO STRUCTURAL TYPES OF RETAIL BUSINESS. These data provide a basis for ascer- taining the gross structural type of each of the six hundred and fifty-two retail businesses in the sample as they are related to the Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft model presented in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The basis for classify- ing the following factors is arbitrary and where possible the data are dichotomized. The rationale for the follow- ing cutting points has been discussed and will be referred to in subsequent chapters. Nature 9; employment. - Tables 1, 2 and 3 present these data. The business was classified as Gemeinschaft- like if it employed one or more related personnel, or one or more unpaid employees; and four or fewer total number of people. It was classified as Gesellschaft-like if it employed five or more people, none of whom were related. On this basis the business could be classified as possess- ing up to two Gemeinschaft traits or up to two Gesellschaft traits. We of customegg. — Tables 4, 5, 7 and 8 present U. these data. The business was classified as Gemeinschaft- like if the number of regular customers were two hundred and twenty-nine or fewer; if they came predominately from the local area or two or less miles; and if credit was allowed. The business was classified as Gesellschaft-like 86 if the number of regular customers were two hundred and thirty or more or if they were irregular; if customers came from an area greater than two miles; and if no credit was allowed. On this basis the business could be classi- fied as having up to three Gemeinschaft traits or up to three Gesellschaft traits. Natur” g; residence. - Table 9 presents these data. The business was classified as Gemeinschaft-like if the businessman lived within fourteen blocks of his business, and as Gesellschaft-like if it was above this or in another community. This classification involves the criterion of whether the businessman lived in or out of the "local" area. On basis of other data, he is shown to live outside the "local" area as he conceives of it, in fifty percent of the cases reported, therefore this indicates that those living within fourteen blocks are in the "local" area. (See Table 9.) On this basis the business could be classified as having one Gemeinschaft or one Gesellschaft trait. Natggg 9: customer interaction. - These data are pre- sented in Table 6. The business was classified as Gemein- schaft-like if some customers were reported to "get Together" in the place of business and Gesellschaft-like if none reported. The business could be classified as having one Gemeinschaft or Gesellschaft trait on this basis. 87 Nature Q£ busine§§ location. ~ Table 10 presents these data. The business was classified as Gemeinschaft- 1ike if it was in the area six years or more and as Gesellschaft-like if five years or less. Thus they could be classified as having one Gemeinschaft or Gesellschaft trait on this basis. Based on these breakdowns, it was possible for a busi— ness to possess up to eight Gemeinschaft-like traits or up to eight Gesellschaft-like traits. Each business was classified in terms of these criteria. Table 11 presents the distribution of businesses based on this classification. Position eight (8) above on Table 11 denotes that there are four businesses which possess eight Gemeinschaft- like traits and no Gesellschaftelike traits. Such a busi— ness therefore employed related personnel and had four or fewer employees; had fewer than two hundred and twenty-nine customers who came from the local area to whom credit was allowed; had a proprietor who lived within fourteen blocks of his business, and reported that customers would "get together" in his business; and the proprietor had been in business in the local area six years or more. Position seven (7) above on Table 11 denotes that the business possesses seven more Gemeinschaft-like than Gesellschaft-like traits. This generally indicates that they possess eight Gemeinschaft-like and one Gesellschaft- 88 Table 11 CLASSIFICATIONS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF RETAIL BUSINESS ON BASIS OF GEMEINSCHAFT—GESELLSCHAFT CRITERIA Social Structure Scores Frequency Gemeinschaft-like 10 12 17 49 35 67 56 l—‘NbJ-bU‘IO‘QCD Mixed Equal 97 Gesellschaft-like 70 101 44 54 17 13 00Q0\U‘+\\2JNI—‘ 89 like traits. In some cases, the retailer did not answer the questions in a way that could be classified (such as don't know). These reSponses therefore were not considered in computing a classification for that business. The positions towards the center indicate that the business possesses about equal numbers of Gemeinschaft— like and Gesellschaft-like traits and therefore are classified as Mixed structural types. This classification is admittedly gross, however, it offers a basis of ordering structural data of different types of retail businesses (as noted in Tables 12 and 13 of Appendix A) which would be difficult to do on other bases. Of concern at this point, is the degree to which this device differentiates retail businesses in terms of their structure. The rationale for constructing the index has been presented. Those businesses towards the tOp are treated as being more Gemeinschaft-like than those near the bottom. A simple test was made of this in terms of a degree of knowledge the retail businessman has of customers. The following question was posed. "About what proportion of your customers would you say that you know by name?" It is hypothesized that the businesses which are towards the to: of the range, or possess a greater degree of Gemeinschaft—like traits, have proprietors who know a 90 larger proportion of customers by name than those towards the bottom of the range. Results of this analysis show that seventy~six percent of those businesses between points two and eight inclusive in the Gemeinschaft-side reported knowing between one half to all of their customers by name. Between points one and one inclusive the figure is sixty-two percent. Between points two and eight inclusive on the Gesellschaft-side, the figure is forty—nine percent. A more refined analysis showed that between points three and eight inclusive on the Gesellschaft-side the figure drops to forty-three percent. This indicates that on this general dimension, the index is capable of differentiating structural types of retail businesses. The next problem involves relating these gross structural types of retail business to the modes of ori- entation of the businessman to his business and to the people in the area about him. It is expected that such orientations will vary with reSpect to the type of structure of his business, as previously discussed with respect to gngg and nggmg of Gemeinschaft-like and Gesellschaft-like social systems. The general value orientation of members of a Gemeinschaft-like system is tradition directed and functionally diffuse. In the Gesellschaft, the orientation is contract directed and functionally specific. The next 91 chapter will deal with the relationship of retail business structure and mode of orientation of the retailer to his business. CHAPTER III MODES 0F ORIENTATION OF RETAIL BUSINESSMEN TO THEIR BUSINESS AS RELATED TO RETAIL BUSINESS STRUCTURE In the last chapter a method for classifying retail businesses as to their gross structural types was presented. This was accomplished through use of Gemeinschaft—Gesell- schaft criteria developed from the theoretical statements of Toennies, Loomis, and others; and applied to the range of data available for the retail businesses of this sample. This chapter is involved with the orientation of the re- tailer toward his business. It will be concerned with: (a) theoretical staterents concerning the prevailing value-orientations within Gemeinschaft-like and Gesell- schaft-like social systems, (b) an analysis of the orien- tations of the retail businessmen of this study, and (c) the relationship of these orientations to the social structure of business. For purposes of empirical analysis, Loomis considered value orientation as including the gndg and nggmg of a 1 social system. By ascertaining the general nature of 1. C. P. Loomis, Studies in Applied and Theoretical Social Science a; Michigan State ggllege, (East Lansing: Michigan State College Press) pp. 1-13. 93 gndg and nggmg in an ongoing social system as they are classified on basis of Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft criteria, one is in a position to make statements concerning the prevailing modes of orientation of system members. These factors have been examined in part with respect to the social structure of retail business in preceding chapters. Of particular concern here is the nature of gng§_and nggmg as they influence gtatus-role patterns within Gemeinschaft- 1ike and Gesellschaft-like social systems. Within the Gesellschaft-like social system the nggmg are based upon attainment and upon rational and contractual considerations. Action involves planning to maximize re- turns with minimized expenditure of time and effort. Such nggmg are based on the application of universal criteria. Further, specific attributes are expected for fulfilling positions within such a system. The action within the Gesellschaft-like social system and the nggmg influencing such action are instruments for reaching a specific gnd. Within the Gemeinschaft-like system, the gndg and nggmg determining status-gglg patterns are based on tra- dition. Action is governed by the nggmg built within the specific system of interpersonal relations and applied in many facets of these relations. Thus diffuse and particu- laristic norms, function to attain a complete community of fate between members of the Gemeinschaft-like social system. 94 The structural implications of these normative dif- ferences has been demonstrated previously. The particular concern here is with implications of membership in these contrasting systems on the orientation expressed by members. Loomis utilized the following technique to ascertain nature of norms of orientation of different social systems. A question was posed which involves the articulation of the systems under analysis. An expert on the subject acted as a "judge" and stated how the system would react in the given situation. The expert was asked to place his answer on a continuum representative of Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft orientations. After several such operations, the systems were compared on basis of these factors. A TYPOLOGY 0F MODES 0F ORIENTATION TO BUSINESS. The procedure followed in this research is comparable to that of Loomis except that the "expert" is not used. Instead, orientational questions are posed directly to the members of the social system. Their reSponses are then analyzed in terms of their orientational direction. The following questions were asked of retail businessmen relatiVe to operational decisions: "If you could move your business to some other place in the Lansing area, would you stay here or move?" 2. See C. P. Loomis, op, cit. pp. 3-8. 95 For those who would stay: "What reasons would you have for preferring this neighborhood?" For those who would move or change: "Where would you like to move? What reasons do you have?" "If you had your choice of any business but had to run it in this general location, what kind would you prefer? Why?" At this point, the concern is with the nature of reasons given for remaining in or leaving the area, and the reasons for business preferences as they are related to a Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft classification. Figure 4 is an outline of the theoretical categories of such orientations. A person reSponding to the above questions in terms of a Gesellschaft-like pattern is most likely to consider factors of profit. A businessman can be postulated as making decisions concerning his business on basis of maxi- mizing profits under given operating conditions. The business itself is a means for accomplishing such an objective. This is the most obvious characteristic of Gesellschaft-like orientation for the businessman. Also, he may consider factors such as those of training and experience in coming to such decisions. The rigid train- ing required in some retail businesses more or less pro- hibits changes in occupation. In some cases, experience, 96 FIGURE 4 NORMS OF ORIENTATIONS IN CONTRASTING SOCIAL SYSTEMS* Gemeinschaft-like Gesellschaft-like Tradition directed Contract directed Emotional-sentiment Rational-instrumental Functionally diffuse Functionally specific Particularistic Based on competence and universal criteria * Adapted from C. P. Loomis, op. cit. p. 2. 97 coupled with training, provides a basis for wanting to keep the same business. These are clear-cut reasons, based on economically rational considerations. Within the Gemeinschaft-like pattern, reSponses to these questions are more of an emotionally diffuse order. Such reSponses include factors of "liking" or "disliking" certain aspects of retail business. These include liking the people in the area, or having local friends, or the opposite. Also included are statements of personal interest, such as enjoying their work or liking to deal with people. PRESENTATILN OF DATA RELATIVE TO ORIENTATIONS T0 BUSINESS. The reSponses to the questions concerning re- moval of the business have been coded according to the categories as found in Tables 15 through 21. These tables present the kinds of answers given by retail businessmen regarding hypothetical situations requiring decisions. Such decisions involved the choice of remaining in their area of business or leaving it, or keeping the same kind of business or changing it. The responses have been coded so as to be meaningfull in terms of Gemeinschaft-Gasellschaft criteria relative to gngg and nggms as they apply to the social system of retail business. Figure 5 summarizes this analysis. 98 FIGURE 5 CLASSIFICATION OF RETAIL BUSINESSMAN'S CHOICES REGARDING CHANGE OF LOCATION AND BUSINESS - ~— Gemeinschaft-like Responses Non—economic basis for choices General "personal interest" as basis for choices Sociability basis for choices Gesellschaft-like ReSponses Economic basis for choices Training basis for choices 99 Each of the retail businessmen reSponding to these questions relative to moving or changing businesses was classified on basis of the outline in Figure 5. It was possible for the respondents to answer the questions in terms of either the Gemeinschaft or Gesellschaft classi— fications, or both. As is shown in Table 15, the range of responses is from two Gemeinschaftelike to two Gesell- schaft-like statements. Data in this Table indicates that thirty-nine businessmen gave two reasons, relative to area and business changes, which have been classified as Gemeinschaft-like and no Gesellschaft-like reasons. The next group of one hundred and thirteen reSpondents gave one more Gemeinschaft—like than Gesellschaft-like reasons or one Gemeinschaft-like reSponse and no Gesellschaft-like responses. Among the latter, a few cases answered only one of the questions relative to area or business change. The central or Mixed position indicates that the retail businessman gave an equal number of Gemeinschaft—like and Gesellschaft-like responses. This classification is admittedly a crude one but it is a first approximation which may be useful in pointing the way for future research. The content of such orientations has been classified in Tables 16 through 22. When coding the data, the re— Sponses to these questions were copied and put into like categories. Following this, the reSponses were classified Table 15 100 CLASSIFICATION OF ORIENTATIONS OF RETAIL BUSINESSMEN TO THEIR BUSINESS ON BASIS OF GEMEINSCHAFT—GESELLSCHAFT CRITERIA Orientation Score Frequency Gemeinschaft-like 2 39 1 113 Mixed Equal 129 Gesellschaft-like 1 179 2 81 Totals 541 101 on basis of the Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft model heretofore described. Three people were involved in this coding operation besides the writer. One coder frequently commented that many retailers were not businessmen as expressed by their orientation to business. This meant that his rationale for leaving the local area or changing businesses was not "business~like." The same comment came from colleagues in the department of Economics. For the latter, the Gemeinschaft-like orientations represented "rationalizations" while the Gesellschaft-like reSponses were "true." The writer also was somewhat surprised with these data and this led to an attempt to explain such ori- entations. These will now be examined in greater detail. Table 16 presents a general classification of reasons retailers give for wanting to remain in or leave the local area for business purposes. The economic categories will be examined first. The proportion giving such rea- sons for wanting to change is greater than those stating reasons for staying. The figures are seventy-nine percent and fifty-six percent reSpectively. In Tables 17 and 18 these categories are specified. The most detailed and specific statements made by retailers were by those ex- pressing the desire to move. In Table 18 these reasons are classified. The "ecological" basis for leaving was stated most frequently. Most of these retail businessmen 102 Table 16 REASONS 0F RETAIL BUSINESSMEN FOR EANTING TO REMAIN IN OR MOVE OUT OF THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITY AREA Reaponses Number Percent For those wanting_§g gtgy Economic reasons 146 56.4 Non-economic reasons 54 20.8 Combination of economic and non-economic reasons 40 15.4 Answer cannot be classified into these categories 19 7.3 Totals 259 99.9 For those wanting t move Economic reasons 83 79.0 Non-economic reasons 16 15.2 Combination of economic and non-economic reasons 6 5.8 Totals 105 100.0 No reasons given 3 Don't know to entire question 21 103 mentioned preferences for locatiens where they would be in the center of walking traffic or automobile traffic. Their statements indicated that they would like to get into a point of "median location" for their particular kind of business. These Gesellschaft-like orientations will now be examined in greater detail. This is necessary since the respondents presented more detailed reasons than is appar- ent in collapsed code categories. Following are examples of such reSponses: This is a good location for business - there is none better in the city. The store is close to shopping areas either way. I own the building and overhead costs are low. I can undersell chain stores since I get food from jobbers at about four percent. The chain stores own their warehouses in which they store products. That costs them five or six percent. The Post Office, bank, clothing stores are all easily accessible to this location. There is a lot of foot traffic from these and Olds and Reo. My business is well established here. I can't afford to move. This section's as good as any. I've develOped a good clientele and there is a lot of potential right here. I know the people in this area and they know me. My business is established in this area. This is a good location. I know the people and I have a reputation here. 104 Table 17 ECONOMIC REASONS GIVEN BY RETAIL BUSINESSEEN FOR WANTING TO REMAIN IN LOCAL COMMUNITY AREA Response Frequency Percent Areal consideggtions Proximity to good facilities: parking, traffic, other stores or services 27 13.0 A good business location - general statement 59 28.4 Other areal considerations of an economic order 39 18.8 References pg business Established in area 44 21.2 Other economic references to business 21 10.1 References §g_residen§§ Good customers in area 16 7.7 Other economic references to residents 2 1.0 Totals 208 100.2 105 The above excerpts are typical of certain kinds of reasoning presented by the retail businessmen who would remain in their local area. These considerations are largely justified in terms of economically instrumental factors. When the local resident is mentioned, it is in terms of their economic relationship with the retailer. These responses indicate the emphasis placed on "good" customer relations, and point up the close ties between the retailer and customer. Being "established" in the local area for this retail businessman means that he has built a good "reputation" among the local residents. They trust him and "know" him. Moving would require re-estab- lishment of this relationship. This would be quite costly. The following Gesellschaft-like responses were given for wanting to leave the local area. I would like to move to Michigan avenue. There's more traffic. It's a larger neighborhood and the people are better off. I want to go to the new area on South Cedar. There's more traffic and a larger thoroughfare into the city there. I would like a store in the outskirts. Here we are too close to the downtown drug trade. It wouldn't be like that in a factory area. I don't care where I move as long as it's to a place with a larger amount of business. I need a bigger place - more room. I am going to move to the east side. Most of my business comes from that area. Table 18 ECONOMIC REASONS GIVEN BY RETAIL BUSINESSMEN FOR WANTING TO LEAVE LOCAL COMMUNITY AREA 106 Response Frequency Percent Ecological basis: - get better position in terms of traffic, close to customers 27 32.5 Facilities basis: - get better parking, fire, police protection 8 9.6 Competitive basis: - get better competitive position 8 9.6 Expansion basis: - increase business size and/or volume 12 14.5 Existing economic ties with other area 7 8.4 Increase economic chances: - basis unspecified 14 16.9 Other economic evaluations 7 8.4 Totals 83 99.9 107 These responses, like those to which were previously referred, indicate an economic basis for consideration of changing location. The non-economic reasons involved in choice of moving are presented in Table 19. The most frequent reSponses here relate to the "goodness" of the neighborhood, parti- cularly as a place to live. These are probably important considerations to a retailer who lives close to his place of business as is the case with about fifty percent of this sample. The following from Table 19 are characteristic of what has been classified as Gemeinschaft-like basis for the retail businessman's remaining in, or leaving the local area. This is my neighborhood. I like it, 'cause I know everyone here. I like the people in the area. I've lived here twenty years. It would be too much trouble to move. I've been here a long time. I grew up here. The people are tops. I like the neighborhood. It's more friendly and enjoyable in this district than in other parts of town. These are friendly people. This is a clean, quiet, district. Table 19 108 NON-ECONOMIC REASONS GIVEN BY RETAIL BUSINESSMEN FOR WANTING T0 REMAIN IN LOCAL COMMUNITY AREA Response Frequency Percent Areal considerations Neighborhood character: - a good neighborhood, like the neigh- borhood, a good place to live. 24 21.2 Long standing friendship ties with area 14 12.4 Other areal references 7 6.2 Resident geferences Sociability of people: - like people in area, they like me 32 28.3 Know the people in the area 7 6.2 Other resident references 3 2.7 Qghg;,references Close to home 6 5.3 Like the area - general statement 9 8.0 Other 11 9.7 Totals 113 100.0 109 There is honesty among customers. The people are very congenial. I have many friends in the area. I like the people. They're not so high class such as East Lansing people. I would like to move to South Logan. My mother and lot of friends live there. There ain't so much noise. These excerpts typify the Gemeinschaft-like categories utilized in classifying data for Figure 5. Basic to these considerations, is the matter of sociability of relation- ships between the retailer and the local resident, either in his place of business or out of it in the local area, or both. They are more characteristic of affective rela- tions than in the case of those previously discussed, that is, those involving the local resident in an economic relationship. They represent diffuse feelings and are often based on sentiment. Tables 20, 21 and 22 present a classification of re- Sponses to the question involving whether the businessman would prefer another business or keep the same if he had a choice. Table 20 shows the general pattern of such choices. The great majority of retailers of this sample prefer the same business as they presently operate. When considering only those who stated such preferences (rows one and two of Table 20), the figure is close to eighty percent. Only 110 four percent stated preferences for leaving retail business. Tables 21 and 22 present classifications of reasons given by retailers regarding business choices. In the first the responses involving keeping the same business are about equally distributed among the interest, economic, training and habitual orientations. In Table 22, involving changing businesses, the economic orientation is most fre- quent and the additional category of regularity is evident. No retailer stated that he wanted the same business because it is easy work but some said they would prefer another because it would be less difficult work or have more regular hours. The Gesellschaft-like orientations will be examined first. Classified under this label are the economic and training categories. These code categories will now be made more explicit. Included under the economic orientgtion are reSponses comparable to those discussed previously with reSpect to the retailers desire to stay in or leave the local area. Generally, these emphasized the fact of profit for the present type of business in the local area. The training orientation involved reSponses emphasizing training, ex- perience and knowledge as a basis for choice of business. Following are excerpts from these respondents: 111 Table 20 TYPE OF BUSINESS PREFERRED BY RETAIL BUSINESSMAN L Response Frequency Percent Same as present 470 72.1 Different ' 121 18.6 None - would get out of business 24 3.7 No preference 3 .5 Don't know 26 4.0 No answer 8 1.2 Totals 652 100.1 112 I am experienced in this type of business - it's my line. I know and understand this business better than others. I am trained in this field. It took a long time to become a pharmacist. I would prefer the garage business. I am mechan- ically minded. I have been in it for eighteen years in Lansing before coming into the store business. I am better trained for that. The above statements carry with them an instrumental connotation. These businessmen conceive of themselves as being competent in their particular field, either through experience or training, or both. A change in business is considered in terms of time and cost of this past experience as related to the return potential of a different business. Within the Gemeinschaft category on this question are those code classifications which are called interest ori- entation, habggual orientation and sociability orientation. The interest orientation includes those reSpondents who eXpress positive or negative feelings of enjoyment with their jobs as follows: I just love to cook. I find this work quite interesting. We wouldn't change businesses 'cause we just like this one. I would like to sell stamps - work my hobby. Table 21 REASONS GIVEN BY RETAIL BUSINESSMEN FOR CHOOSING SAME BUSINESS 113 Response Frequency Percent Interest Orientation: - like this work - enjoyable Economig Orientatipn: - good area for business, profitable business Training_0rientation: - trained at this business, experienced in it, know it better than others Habitual Orientation: - only business I know, been at it a long time, too old to change Sociability Orientation: - enjoy working with people Totals 82 67 67 82 16 314 26.1 21.3 21.3 26.1 5.1 99.9 114 I've been in business so long, I'm sort of married to it. I would like a sporting goods store. This is interesting work. My hobbies are hunting and fishing. I have one thousand dollars worth of equipment. I like to do just about anything but sling hash. I get real tired of it. Closely related to this, is the sociapilipy orienpar tion in which the businessman expresses pleasant or un- pleasant feelings concerning interpersonal relations in his establishment. I just like meeting peOple. I get along with people good. I like the people who come in here. I enjoy working with people. I'd like a beer tavern. We don't have a Negro tavern in Lansing. Negroes do not feel comfortable in other taverns. I want them to be at home and feel comfortable. I'd like real estate. You deal with a different class of people. People would treat me with more respect. The clothing business would be good. It's clean work, respectfully regarded. You're treated as humans. I'd like the wholesale business. It's easier to deal with dealers than customers. These responses are akin to those of retailers who ‘established friendship and congeniality ties with local Table 22 REASONS GIVEN BY RETAIL BUSINESSAEN FOR CHOOSING DIFFERENT BUSINESS 115 ”. Response Frequency Economip Orientation: - higher profits, more profitable business 81 Regularity Oriewtation; - more regular hours, income, easier work 17 Interest Orientatiop; — more interesting type of work, same as hobby, always wanted to do it 15 Training Orientatipp: - have been trained in it, experienced in it 12 Negativg Orientation: — do not like present business - basis unspecified 7 Percent 61.4 12.9 1104 5.3 Totals 132 100.1 116 residents. Again, in these cases the orientation is of an affective order. They indicate that much of the satis— faction or dissatisfaction of being in business is related to factors which are diffuse and based on emotion. The habitual orientation refers to retail businessmen who expressed strong habituation to their jobs. He expresses, in some cases, a feeling of futility regarding a change in business. The following represent this category. This was my father's business and mine too. I make a living here. If I change, how do I know what will happen - like you - you now live in a clean room - why move? - maybe you get a dirty room. The above responses indicate conservatism on part of the businessman. Past eXperience is seen as a brake on future action and the force of tradition is evident. In one sense, what has been discussed as Gemeinschaft-like orientations to business under the "non-economic," "intera est," "sociability," and "habitual" headings, are concept- ually akin to Weber's affective and traditional categories. The "economic" and "training" classifications, on the other .hand, more closely represent the zweckrational, which is fundamental in the Gesellschaft-like social system. These categories provided the basis for classifying retail ‘businessmen in terms of their orientation to business. 117 THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE RETAIL BUSINESSMAN'S ORIEN- TATION TO BUSINESS AND THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF BUSINESS. The next problem involves the relationship between these modes of orientation to the social structure of retail business, as discussed in the previous chapter. Each busi— ness was classified as to its structural type on basis of the Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft model. In this chapter, most of them have been classified relative to the orienta- tion of the reSpondent to the business. It is expected that those retail businesses which are Gemeinschaft-like in structure are characterized by the proprietor possessing a Gemeinschaft-like orientation to business. The converse of this also is expected. The structural model presented in Figure 3 of Chapter II classified businesses on a scale ranging from the Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft extremes. The orienta- tion model presented in Table 15 of this chapter classi- fies businessmen on a seven point index. Following in Table 23 are the results of cross runs of these figures. A comparison of distributions on Table 23 indicates that Gemeinschaft-like structure tends to be associated with Gemeinschaft-like orientations and vice versa. The association is most pronounced in the extreme cases, as noted by the Chi-square and probability figures and is less pronounced for the center of the table. In any case 118 Table 23 SOCIAL STRUCTURES OF BUSINESS AND ORIENTATION TO BUSINESS ACCORDING TO GEMEINSCHAFT-GESELLSCHAFT SCORES Social Structure Gemeinschaft-like Mixed Gesellschaft-like Scores: 2 - 8 l - 1 2 - 8 e .x 44 T t’. 2 oz 17 25 38 a I g} :1 H 53 63 62 w 2: 5 e m c: S 1:94 3 g g 41 38 50 "* :3 £2! 2 O -H +3 0) 3 E! g '7' H 35 44 34 vi .9 I a ta 0 g N 18 12 9 O U) E ‘3 Totals 164 182 193 8 ‘6 c: o -——— ——JQ 2 7‘ = 9.54 P‘< .Ol;- Chi-square was computed for columns one and three, rows one and five, 2 7K 1: 4.85 p‘< .05; - Chi-square was computed for columns one and three, rows one and two, three and four. 119 the probability values are beyond the five percent level which is the usual basis of statistical significance. The data in Table 23 demonstrate the general ten— dency for the type of association hypothesized. This evidence supports the earlier contention that the retail businesses which possess structural traits which are Gemeinschaft—like are most apt to be associated with businessmen who possess Gemeinschaft-like orientations to their business. Conversely the Gesellschaft-like business structure is likely to coexist with businessmen who have a Gesellschaft-like orientation to their business. CHAPTER IV MODES 0F ORIENTATION OF RETAIL BUSINESSMEN TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY AREA AS RELATED TO BUSINESS STRUCTURE The general social position of the retail business- man places him in close contact with the local community area. As was discussed in Chapters I and II, a variety of factors converge to make him cognizant of the local area. His functions within the distribution system make him the closest link with the consumer. As such, he becomes most directly aware of purchasing patterns of the customer. Success in many ways is dependent on the ability of the retailer to appraise properly these habits of consumption and the changes in them. Caplow pointed out that, in addition, the retailer often has to know a great deal more about his customer.l .He must have knowledge of their personal affairs and ex- press interest in them in order to succeed. Caplow noted 'that this is particularly true in cases of the "neighbor- liood store." Stone demonstrated that the "personalizing" ‘ 3.. Theodore Caplow, The Sociology Q£ Work, (Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 1954) pp. 110-120. 121 type of consumer expressed a "tendency to personalize and individualize the customer role in the store, and rated stores in terms of closeness of relationships between customer and personnel."2 For many retailers these con- ditions result in considerable knowledge of certain con- ditions in the local community area. Such information is usually valid, since misinformation may result in business failure. While the retail businessman is in a position to know a great deal about certain conditions in the local commun— ity area, he probably lacks a basic attitude towards the "public." The reasons for this have been implied above in the discussion of certain structural aSpects of retail- ing. The retailer is not organized into a socially cohesive group from which occupational attitudes are developed. Except in a few cases, he does not have organized spokesmen to tell his story to the public or to influence govern- mental bodies. As such, he stands in contrast to the pro- fessional and manufacturing interests which have such organizations as the National Association of Manufacturers wand.American Medical Association. No one, to the knowledge k 23. Gregory P. Stone, "City Shoppers and Urban Identifica» tion: Observations on the Social Psychology of City Life," American Journal 9; Sociology, LX, No. 1 (July, 19545 pp. 36445. 122 of the writer, speaks on national issues for the retail businessman. If he is a member of local associations, they are usually service clubs or in some cases chambers of commerce. In many cases, he is not a member of any such association. One result of this is that the retailer, on entrance into business and during his tenure, does not have ideology concerning how the public should be treated or conceived formulated for him by established business lassociations. Likewise he is not under direct pressure to maintain Specific attitudes towards the public. Another factor relevant to the orientation of the re;;ihi tail businessman to the public involves the background of those who enter retailing. In terms of social class, their recruitment is usually from middle and lower strataI‘JInitl the former, entrance often involves inheritance of busi- ness from parents. With the latter, entrance involves movement up the social class scale. In this sense retail business offers one the major avenues for upward mobility H in the class order. This means that there is no single L pattern associated with a particular social class orienta- tion in terms of recruitment. it.. h “fin, The retailer generally has not gone througha formal education program in preparation to becoming an owner or operator. Numerous studies of recent date have demonstrated that the business administration majors in American colleges 123 and universities plan to join large, established business bureaucracies rather than go into business for themselves or into small retail concerns.3 The retailing recruit therefore does not have the college-bred business admin- istration outlook on what constitutes a businessman. If what Caplow said about patterns of deference is true, a college education may hinder rather than help the retail businessman. He pointed out that the merchant is expected to minimize his status and play up that of the customer by exaggerated forms of deference.4 Customers may be reluctant to patronize an establishment if they _ feel that the proprietor is above them in status. On the other hand, there are probably few customers who refuse to shop in an establishment because the proprietor is below them in status. This means that many retailers tend to reflect the status level of the area in which they are located, particularly if their customers are from the local area. It may be expected therefore, that the retailer is I quite conscious of the social class make-up of the local V - .' l f v ' I l4 . I , f Q... V --; 1’ . . a _ _ \L» £,"|' ¥‘ . I. ' ( A v.7,l‘A|'. . I . . . : . ., ’K'J . V area. Some research has demonstrated that the ambition of many hourly rated employees of industry is to open up a 3. Gilbert Burch, "So You Want To Make Money," Fortune, May, 1953. 4. Theodore Caplow, op, cit. p. 120. 124 5 "small business." In some of the cases interviewed in this investigation, the owners mentioned that they had worked in factories and the husband and wife saved enough to start or buy into a small retail concern. In other cases, the wife ran the business during the day while the husband worked in a factory and he took over at night. This is comparable to similar findings concerning the residents on farms working in Lansing factories and farm- ing on weekends. Both of these cases appear to occur most frequently in what has been defined as the "fringe" area of cities. 5 The number of people entering and leaving retail business as owners or managers is much higher than for those in wholesaling or manufacturing. Their tenure is also shorter. This relatively rapid mobility, along with the factors discussed above, preclude the development of a coherent occupational ideology as would be the case in the medical profession. For example, the retailer's atti- tudes towards the "public" are probably developed through direct interaction with the "public" rather than through 5. Eli Chinoy, Automobile Workers and The American Dream, (Garden City, Doubleday, 19557 pp. 110-122; and Pierre Gonon, "The Relationship of Independence in the Work Situation to Job Acceptance; A Study of the Job ASpirations of Employed Adult Males," Unpublished M. A. thesis, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Michigan State University, 1956. pp. 82-85. 125 interaction with fellow retailers, or by common experience in preparation for his life's calling. The "public" for the retailer generally constitutes his customers from the local community area. The patterns of orientation he dis- plays towards these residents therefore are representative of the retailer's outlook towards the public. A PRESENTATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF ORIENTATIONS TO THE LOCAL AREA. It is expected that the retail businessman, because of the general structure of his business and the position he occupies in the local community area is conscious of particular social qualities of the residents about his place of business. Since interaction with the local resi— dent often is Gemeinschaft-like, it is expected that the retailer is cognizant especially of the sociability qualities of such residents. This includes such factors as whether they are friendly or unfriendly, or easy to get along with or not. Such an orientation to the resident is expected to be most pronounced on part of those retail businessmen whose business structure most closely approximates the Gemeinschaft model. It is in such structures that inter- action is characterized by diffuse and affective elements. When individuals engage consistently in a particular form of interaction with others, they become aware of those qualities of others which contribute to that pattern. In 126 the case of the retail businessman under discussion, he is expected to become aware of those qualities of residents which contribute to that pattern of interaction which involves sociability. As was suggested by Caplow, the retailer often finds it necessary to engage in deferential behavior with re- Spect to his customer. Patterns of deference vary con— siderably with respect to different groups within a given society, and particularly in one with hetrogeneous compo- sition in terms of social class or ethnic factors. What constitutes deference for the middle c1255 may be quite different from that of the upper class. What constitutes deference towards a white customer is different from that 7 for a Negro. 6. Harvey W. Zorbaugh, The Gold Coast and the Slum (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 19287} Zor- baugh presented many cases of proper deference for the middle class individual which appeared out of place to many readers. One of the tasks of the "instructors" in social climbing involved that of "relearnimg" the social graces of deference. For example, the middle class practice of complimenting the hostess on the taste of meals was out of place in the Gold Coast setting although other practices in this setting were deemed appropriate. 7. Allison Davis, Burleigh B. Gardner and Mary K. Gardner, Deep South, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1941) pp. 457-459. The white retail businessman was reported as starting to engage in deferential behavior towards the Negro during the depression. This was evident particularly in case of the small grocer located in the Negro area and on part of the service station attendants. The forms of such behavior were different than for the white customer however. 127 Since deference is defined differently by particular. status levels the retailer must be cognizant of the status of his customer. It is expected then, that he is well aware of such social characteristics of the local community resident. When the emotional-rational context of inter- acticn between the retailer and customer was discussed, it was suggested that factors of pride, loyalty, politeness and courtesy are often built into the relationship. When the retail businessman treats customer sentiments and emotions in a way so as to effect a sale, the interaction is a means to an economic end. Patterns of deference are most likely to be utilized by such operators and they are probably conscious of their use. It is suggested that such instrumental behavior is generally most associated with business structures that are essentially Gesellschaft- like in structure. Proprietors of such businesses then probably are most often cognizant of the status of the resident of the local community area. To ascertain the general conception held by the retail businessman of the local resident this question was asked: "How would you describe people who live around here?" Table 24 presents data on general orientations of re- tail businessmen towards the local resident in terms of status, sociability, and ethical categories. It may be observed that about half of the retailers described the I . Table 24 ORIENTATIUNS TOWARD LOCAL RESIDENTS BY RETAIL BUSINESSMEN 128 Orientations Towards Local Residents Frequency Status - described in terms of social standing, income, occupation, education. 337 Sociability - described in terms of friendliness, congeniality. 208 Ethical - described in terms of honesty, integrity, righteousness, being hard working, or lazy or opposite. 124 Percent 50-4 31.1 18.5 Totals 669 100.0 129 resident in their area in status terms, while thirty per— cent saw them in sociability terms, and around twenty percent described the local resident in ethical terms. Table 33 in Appendix A presents a breakdown of the status categories as perceived by the retailer. Slightly over twenty percent saw their customers in economic or class terms while the remainder used prestige references. In either case, the local resident was described as being from lower income groups or from the working class. These tables demonstrate the high degree of sensitivity of the retail businessmen to the economic and social background of the local resident. The oth r categories in Table 24 included statements also indicating such awareness. In the sociability orien- tation, the responses include both positive and negative connotations concerning congeniality of residents. Following are excerpts from the interviews: These are the most cooperative bunch of people in Lansing. They're pleasant to deal with. They are very friendly. It's a small area and everyone knows everyone else. They're very congenial - all around good American people. They are just a friendly bunch of neighborly people. They are very friendly and warm hearted. The people around here are self styled big shots. 130 They are difficult to get acquainted with. The above reSponses were largely favorable towards the local resident and emphasized the factors of friendli- ness, congeniality, being easy to get along with, and similar outlooks. The ethical orientation includes statements which evaluate the local resident in terms of moral references. The following excerpts illustrate this orientation: These people are independent and self sustaining. They are good, hard workers - honest people. They are very civic minded - this is a energetic, growing community - a continuous building of new homes. Their character is above reproach except one family. They're very ethical in promises. They are very honest in their dealings but sometimes slow in paying bills. There is no difference in cleanliness or intelligence of white and colored customers. The dirt on the collar of colored men's shirts washes out much more easily than that of whites. These are just normal, every day, upright people. People of foreign origin live here. There is much drinking and low moral standards, but customers are friendly. The above responses emphasize or have connotations concerning the ethical character of local residents. They indicate that the retail businessman is conscious of and 131 identifies with certain moral qualities of the people living in the local community area. Contrary to SUgges- tions of Caplow, these orientations indicate that many retailers seek to identify with the local resident. It was suggested that the way in which the retail businessman conceives of the local resident is related to the pattern of interaction occuring between the two. It was further hypothesized that the proprietors of businesses essentially Gemeinschaft-like in structure primarily possess sggigpility orientations to the local community area, and those with businesses essentially Gesellschaft- like in structure primarily possess status orientations to the local community area. These hypotheses are drawn recognizing that both orientations are likely to be found in both types of retail businesses but that these general tendencies will be evident. The comparative distribution of status and sociabil— ity orientations with the structural types of business is presented in Table 25. The Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft structural categories included scores two through eight on Table 15. It will be noted that the general pattern indicated in Table 25 supports the stated hypotheses. The mixed business structure category in each case is between 8. Theodore Caplow, op. cit. pp. 110-120. 132 Table 25 RETAIL BUSINESSMENS' ORIENTATION TO THE LOCAL RESIDENTS ACCORDING TO TYPE OF BUSINESS STRUCTURE , Orientation to Local Resident Type of Bu51ness Structure* Sociability Status Total Gemeinschaft-like 98 95 193 Mixed 91 116 207 Gesellschaft-like 86 127 213 Totals 275 338 613 2 X =- 4.38 p<.05 * Row 2 was excluded in computation of the Chi-square. 133 the Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft categories as would be expected. It can be seen that both orientational cate- gories are present in each structural type of business. However, the differences found between the two extremes are probably not due to chance since the probability for such a distribution using the Chi-square test is below the .05 level. The degree g: knowledge pf the retail businessman as related §g_the social structure 9f business. - Another important aspect of orientation of retail businessmen to the local community area involves the general degree of knowledge he has of social conditions of the local area. Here the concern is with whether or not the retailer knows and is concerned about certain social features of the local area. To approach this problem the responses were analyzed to questions asked the retailer concerning the degree of intimacy among residents, their activities, organizations, and other characteristics. The primary interest at this point is with those retailers whozare not cognizant of these features and the reasons for such lack of knowledge. Table 26 provides the questions asked of retailers. The data indicate that the great majority (over 80%) of the businessmen expressed awareness of certain social aSpects of the local community area. The analytical 134 concern here is with those features of retail business which may account for the lack of awareness of local area conditions on part of the businessman as indicated by "don‘t know" reSponses to the question posed to them. Since such awareness is most likely developed through contact between the retailer and customer in his place of business, it would be expected that proprietors of those establishments with the majority of customers from out- side the local area would know least about such conditions. Closely related would be the situation in which the inter- action in the business is impersonal and indirect. Under these conditions the businessman would not likely find out facts about the social contacts, organizations, and other social characteristics of the local area. Because of these factors, it is expected that the "don't know" reSponses would be most frequent among proprietors of businesses which are essentially Gesellschaft- like in structure and vice versa. Table 26 indicates that the greatest proportion of "don't know" reSponses occurred for the Gesellschaft-like business structures and the least with the Gemeinschaft-like. In all three cases the mixed structures were between these two types. That this relation was not due to chance is indicated by the probability of less than .001 for such a distribution based on the Chi-square test between the Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft categories. l .oamswmlflgo map Mo moapmpsd806 CH cowsaoxo mm; maomopmo @mxas one * Hoo. V a mama u x N med ham ow 0mm mm owe wawpoa mm mam ma mom a oma amsmg annoys mamoma map mnflpommp so» Ufisoa Bom hm mad mm wwa mm NBA ammo: pcsopm oamooa Hmooa pom mmflpfl>fipom yo mCOprNHCmmHo mam opmsp mp4 mo 00H om «ma om mod anonuo scam some mama canons manomm on Haws sow omSOQmom », omnogmmm mmcodmom Bock p.com coamsmna song p.CoQ copmsmcd Roux p.com cmpmzmcq mxHHIpmonomfiHmmoo mwmwfl mxwalpmnnomqaosmo Soapmoso *opsposapm mmmmamsm mo dang mamm¢ NBHZDEEOU adooq mHmmH mo mmao—.—- Amount of average purchase Frequency Percent t .01 - .34 13 2.0 .35 - .69 49 7.5 .70 - 1.19 88 13.5 1.20 - 1.79 66 10.1 1.80 - 2.59 83 ' 12.7 2.60 - 3.79 56 8.6 3.80 - 5.79 53 8.1 5.80 - 12.99 28 4.3 13.00 and over 56 8.6 Cannot ascertain — too variable 40 6.1 Don't know. 48 7.4 No answer or not ascertainable 72 11.0 ‘— Totals 652 99.9 168 Table 33 CLASSIFICATION OF CONTENT OF RETAIL BUSINESSMAN'S STATUS DESCRIPTION OF LOCAL RESIDENTS ..- '— —— _— v—v— — — ‘f -.‘—-' Classification Frequency Percent Economic status references Below average - low income, poor housing 35 11.3 Average — middle income, average housing 19 6.1 Above average - high income, very good housing 14 4.5 Prestige status references Lower class - below average status 9 2.9 Working class — working people, including those considering these as middle class 128 41.3 Middle class - connotation of middle status of residents 90 29.0 Upper class - connotation of above average status of residents 15 4.8 Totals 310 99.9 169 APPENDIX B Business Interview Schedule Social Research Service Census Tract Study Michigan State College (INTERVIEWER: RECORD TYPE OF BUSINESS OR SERVICE OFFERED ) .V. V JLQ’J’..." .V. I\ 7? I\ A n [C I\ How long have you been in business at this location? ____Xears ____Months Does this area around here have any name? ____Xes: What is it __*_No: Do people think of called? DK: it as a distinct part of town? What are its No boundaries? Yes: What are its What is the name boundaries? of the streeton What is the name , the: of the streetcn ,/ the: North North ‘_ East East_fi_ __ South___ South __ West hast Do you live in this building? Yes No: Where do you live? (Street? (Nearest two cross streets) Do most of your customers come from the same part of town? 170 Yes: What are the No: Where do they boundaries of come from? this area on the: North East South West Don't know About what percent of your customers would you say you know by name? None » A few (e.g., a quarter, a third) About half Most (e.g., two-thirds, three quarters) All For the most part, what kinds of jobs do people around here have?___ Where do most of them work? How well do you think they know each other? (INTERVIEWER: READ LIST EXCLUDING "DON'T KNOW") Very well Quite well Fairly well Not so well Not at all Don't know (IF ANY BUT "DON'T KNOW" IS GIVEN as AN ANSKER) What kinds of things did you have in mind when you decided this? How else would you describe the people who live around here? (IF some GENERAL TERM LIKE "VERY GOOD," "NEIGHBORLY", "AVERAGE", ca "NICE" Is GIVEN, ASK) What do you mean by (Insert term)? 10. ll. 12. 13. 14. 171 Do the local people have any organizations and/or activities that you know of/ No Don't know Yes: What are they? Do the local people ever get together in your store or use it for a meeting place? No Yes or sometimes: Vhat people use it? (IF GENERAL ANSWERS LIKE NEIGHBOR— HOOD PEOPLE" 0R "PEOPLE LHO WORK AROUND HERE" ARE GIVEN AS ANSWERS, ASK) Are they mostly of one specific group, like men or young people or factory workers, for example? (ASK OF ALL who SAY "YES" 0R "sozarlmss") What do they do while they're here? Is there anything else that you would like to say about this neighborhood? In general, how has your business been recently? About how many people work here: FUIl time: Paid Unpaid Part time: Paid Unpaid Total: Paid Unpaid (ASK ONLY IF THE OWNER OR PART OWNER OF THE BUSINESS IS BEING INTERVIEWED) Are any of these people your relatives? Yes: How many? No 172 15. Could you please estimate: a. The no. of regular customers you have? b. The amt. of an average purchase by a regular customer? c. The number of other customers you serve in an average week? d. The amount of an average purchase by these people? 16. Do you belong to any local business organizations? No Yes: What are they? 17. Do you allow credit? No Yes: What percent of your customers do you extend credit to? A few (e.g., a quarter, a third) About half Most (e.g., two-thirds or three quarters) All 18. Do you deliver? No Yes: We'd like to know the boundaries of the area within which you make most of your deliveries. What is the name of the street on the: (INTERVIENER: FILL IN NUMBER OF BLOCKS AWAY FRON CENTER OF SHGL PING DISTRICT FROM NAP IN OFFICE) North East South West Other (SPECIFY BOTH STREET AND DIRECTION) 19. 20. 21. 22. 173 (ASK OF STORE OWNERS) (ASK OF STORE MANAGERS) If you could move your If you could manage any business to some other of your company's stores place in the Lansing in the Lansing area, area, would you stay would you stay here or here or move? move to another one? Stay: What reasons do you have for preferring this neighborhood? Move or change: Where would you like to move? (IF A SPECIFIC LOCATION IS GIVEN) What reasons do you have for choosing that place? Will you be moving there in the foreseeable future? Yes No: Why not? What reasons do you have for wanting to move from here? If you could have your choice of any kind of a business, but you had to run it in this general location, what kind would you prefer? (IF SPECIFIC BUSINESS (ES) MENTIONED; What reasons do you have for choosing this (these ? (IF SPECIFIC BUSINESS (Es) NENTIONED) Why haven't you gotten into this kind of business? Where are your main competitors located? (INTER- VIERER: GET STREET AND NEAREST CROSS STREETS OR CORNERS. IF STORES ARE NAMED, LIST THE NAMES.) STORE NANE STREET NEAREST TWO CROSS STREETS 174 23. Do you think that Lansing (East Lansing) should expand its city limits to include all of the unin— corporated residential areas around the city? Yes No Don't know (INTERVIENER: THIS INFORMATION) LOCATION OF STORE: NAKE OF STORE Street IF IN THE MIDDLE OF BLOCK: Side of st. Two nearest cross FILL OUT, BUT DO NOT ASK THE PROPRIETOR FOR IF ON A CORNER: Other st. forming corner: Direction of AREA NUMBER INTERVIEEER: Name DATE streets: corner: 1. NE SE 2. SW NW Class Section aaaaaa INTERVIEWER IMPRESSIONS BI BLI OGRAPHY 176 BIBLIOGRAPHY Bartholomew, Harland, Urban Land Uses (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1932). Burch, Gilbert, "So You Want to Make Money," Fortune, May, 1953. Caplow, Theodore, The Sociology of Work, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1954). Chapple, Elliot D., and Charleton S. Coon, Principles 9; Anthropology, (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1941). Chinoy, Eli, Automobile Workers and the American Dream, (Garden City: Doubleday, 1955): Davis, Allison, Burleigh B. Gardner, and Mary K. Gardner, Deep South, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1941). Firey, Walter, Land Use in Central Boston, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1947 . Foley, Donald L., "Neighbors or Urbanites?" University of Rochester's Studies of Metropolitan Rochester, No. 2 (Rochester: Department of Sociology, University of Rochester, 1952) . Form, Wm. H., Joel Smith, Gregory P. Stone, and James Cowhig, "The Compatability of Alternative Approaches to the Delimitation of Urban Sub—areas," American Sociological Review, XIX, (August, 1954). Gonon, Pierre, "The Relationship of Independence in the Work Situation to Job Acceptance: A Study of the Job ASpirations of Employed Adult Males," Unpublished M. A. Thesis, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Michigan State University, 1956). Harmsworth, Harry C., "Primary Group Relations in Modern Society," Sociolo and Social Research, XXXI (March-April, 1947). 177 Hawley, Amos H., "An Ecological Study of Urban Service Institutions," American Sgpiological Review, VI, No. 5, (October, 1941). , Human Ecology: A Theory 2; Community_§tructure (New York: The Ronald Press, 1950). Janowitz, Morris, The Community Press in gn Urban Setting (Glencoe: Free Press, 1952). Kriesberg, Louis, "The Retail Furrier: Concepts of Security and Success," American Journal 9f Socio— lo , LVII (March, 1952): Loomis, C. P., Studies in Applied and Theoretical Social Science Q: Michigan State Collgge, (East Lansing: Michigan State College Press, 1950). , and J. Allan Beegle, Rural Social Systems, (New York: Prentice Hall, 195_). , and John C. McKinney, "Systematic Differences Between Latin-American Communities of Family Farms and Large Estates," American Jggrnal g: Sociology, LX, No. 4 (September, 1955). , J. O. Morales, R. A. Clifford, and 0. E. Leonard (eds.), Turrialba: Social Systems and the Intrpduction 9; Chan e, (Glencoe: The Free Press, 1953 . McKinney, John C., in J. T. Doby et. al., An Introductign 39 Social Research, (Harrisburg: The Stakpole Company, 1954). Miller, D. C., and Wm. H. Form, Industrial Sociology, (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1951). Mills, C. Wright, "The Middle Classes in Middle-Sized Cities: The Stratification and Political Position of Small Business and White Collar Strata," American Sgpiological Revigw, (October, 1946) XI. , White Collar, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1951). Park, R. E., Ernest W. Burgess, and R. D. Mckenzie, The City, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1925) 178 Quinn, James A., Human Ecology, (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1950 o Rolph, Inez K., "The Population Pattern in Relation to Retail Buying," American Journal 9: Sociology, (November, 1932) XXXVIII. Schettler, Clarence, "Relation of City-Size to Economic Service," American Sociological Review, VIII, No. 1, (February, 1943). Simmel, Georg, The Sociology 93 Geogg Simmel, Translated by Kurt H. Wolff, (Glencoe: The Free Press, 1950). Smith, Joel, "A Method for the Classification of Areas on the Basis of Demographic Homogeneous Popula- tions," American Sociological Review, XIX, (April, 1954). ,"Organization of the Farm and Mass Communication," Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Sociology, Northwestern University, May, 1954. , Wm. H. Form, and Gregory P. Stone, "Local Intimacy in a Middle-Sized City," American Journal 9; Sociology, LX, No. 3 (November, 1954)) Stone, Gregory P., "City Shoppers and Urban Identifica- tion: Observations on the Social Psychology of City Life," American.Journal g; Sociology, LX, No. 1, (July, 1954): Toennies, Ferdinand, Fundamenta; Qpncepts g; Sociology: Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, Translated by C. P. Loomis, (New York: American Book Co., 1940). Turner, Ralph H., "The Navy Dispersing Officer as a Bureaucrat," American Sociological Review, XII, No. 3 (June, 1947). Whyte, William Foote, "The Social Structure of the Rest- aurant," American Journal 9£,§99101ogy, LIV, No.4 (January, 1949). Wirth, Louis, "Urbanism as a Way of Life," American Sociological Review, XXXXIV (July, 1938). Zorbaugh, Harvey W., The Gold Coast and the Slum, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1928). W61 i ROOM USE ONLY AUE “is—pt. mw~~~ W.