Several features or attributes of organizations can therefore be recognized

Organizations are social institutions (entities) composed of sets of persons with established patterns of interaction. | Organizations develop to achieve specific goals. Therefore, organizations are social creations that require order and cooperation. | Organizations are social instruments possessing relatively identifiable boundaries and existing on a relatively permanent basis. While this final point is perhaps less clear than were those that precede it, the identification of fixed boundaries (for instance, the distinction between members and nonmembers) and continuity (that is, existence and identity over time) provide a conceptual framework for the study of organizational activity.