Smith & Falmouth Online Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Smith & Falmouth Online - Essay Example This report describes the current culture at Smith & Falmouth as well as various controls for organizational performance. In addition, recommendations to better enhance the business are proposed. At Smith & Falmouth, it is a team-oriented organization which relies on various professional and technical expertise to accomplish sizeable projects mandated at the strategic level. As a team leader, the Chief Operational Officer acts as the project leader, dictating the activities of various colleagues (at similar levels in the management hierarchy) and subordinate peers. This team-oriented philosophy consists of a leader who directs the activities of the group, demanding compliance and routine reporting on project activities. However, the transformational leadership style, according to two specific organizational theorists, involves a leader who also uses actions which are â€Å"visionary, values-based, emotional, intellectually-stimulating, and charismatic† (Antonakis and Hooijberg, 2008: 2). Having a project team leader who can be both the authoritarian and the inspirational leader provides a clear job description for the project leader and demands that the individual in this leadership role maintains the correct balance of personality to accomplish group unity and performance. This is very much a top-down organizational hierarchy where managers of the same level or business status cooperate via means of special projects, typical of many companies today, requiring transformational leadership. Transformational leaders should be more well-versed in psychological theory, as they often have to assess the self-worth of various staff individuals to determine how to involve the individual in group activities and to commit to organizational goals (Avolio and Bass, 2002). The Chief Operations Officer is continuously praised for their dedication to the project and their ability to coordinate group activities

What are the limits of a Social Identity approach to the social Essay

What are the limits of a Social Identity approach to the social psychology of deviance - Essay Example In this context, we can look at deviances which are obvious such as taking drugs which are prohibited in society and we can examine deviant behaviour which is less commonly seen or discussed in polite society as such e.g. paying cash to avoid taxes and other white collar crimes. We can also try to understand the social identity process that takes place in the formation of groups that display socially deviant attitudes and even consider situations in which a person can be purposefully deviant within a given scenario. At the same time, an examination of other approaches to understanding deviance within society is also mandated. Other theories such as the strain/anomie theory and the social disorganization theory can be helpful in explaining parts or covering areas which are lacking in the social identity approach. However, the first step in the process remains an understanding of deviance and how the social identity approach is limited in clearly understanding the process as it occurs in society. Henri Tajfel and John Turner have been credited with the creation of the Social Identity Theory which begins with how people categorise themselves and others using labels (Johnson & MacEachern, 1985). For example, an American may categorise all people coming from the Middle East as Muslims or a person in the Middle East may think that all Americans are Christians. Once a person has made categories, s/he can then identify and create an in-group identity for themselves as being part of a group which in turn helps in increasing that person’s self-esteem. Finally, the person can have and can even be taught to have and understand the differences between the in-group individuals and out-group others. These comparisons can be mostly favourable to the group the person belongs to but they can also be negative in certain cases. For example, a person living in an economically less developed country may accept that s/he belongs to a