Assignment task 1: Leadership Effects On Organizations
Leaders influence micro-, meso-, and macro-level issues in an organization. For example, good leaders can motivate employees, improve the functioning of work teams, and help the organization evolve to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
In this Assignment, you will culminate your learning over the past three weeks by examining how leaders affect micro-, meso-, and macro-level phenomena. In doing so, you will revisit topics from previous weeks (i.e., leadership, motivation, and group dynamics) and explore new topics (i.e., organizational structure and culture).
To Prepare for this Assignment:
• Select an organization in which you currently work or have previously worked. You may also select a well-known organization (e.g., Amazon, Walmart, Facebook). Choose a leader in the organization for which you worked or a leader you are familiar with in the well-known organization.
- Read the article, "Leadership Style and Organizational Impact." Focus on the strengths and limitations of different leadership styles. Think about which style your chosen leader embodies, and why.
- Reflect on your prior learning about employee motivation (Week 5) and group dynamics (Week 6). Consider how your chosen leader positively and/or negatively influences both.
- Review pages 368-388 in the e-book, General Systems Theory. Focus on different types of organizational structures (referred to as organizational designs in the book). Then consider the role of your chosen leader in determining and supporting organizational structure.
- Read Chapter 9 in The SAGE Handbook and the journal articles in the Learning Resources. Pay particular attention to definitions, components, and types of organizational culture. In addition, consider how your chosen leader's actions influence the organization's culture.
Required Reading:
Systems Theory:
- Lalande, D., & Baumeister, R. F. (2013). Systems theories (psychology). Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health.
- Skyttner, L. (2005). Organizational theory and management cybernetics. In L. Skyttner, General systems theory: Problems, perspectives, practice. (2nd ed., pp. 352-389). Singapore: World Scientific.
Leadership and Organizations:
- Ashkanasy, N., & Dorris, A. (2018). Organizational culture and climate. In D. S. Ones, N. Anderson, C. Viswesvaran, & H. K. Sinangil (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of industrial, work, and organizational psychology (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 187-205). London, UK: SAGE Publications, Ltd.
- Germano, M. (2010, June). Leadership style and organizational impact
Instructions:
Submit a 2-3-page paper that addresses the following questions. Your paper should follow APA style, be double-spaced with one-inch margins, and include a title page and reference list.
1. Describe the leadership style that your chosen leader embodies. Then explain how the leadership style affects the following, with one specific example for each:
- employee motivation;
- group dynamics;
- organizational structure;
- organizational culture.
2. Explain any insights you gained about relationships among micro, meso, and macro-level topics of organizational psychology. Need Assignment Help?
Assignment task 2: Systems Theory
In 1968, biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy developed General Systems Theory (GST). Simply put, GST suggests that complex issues are best understood by examining how interdependences and interrelationships among their component parts account for the whole. Prior to the development of systems theory, professionals from many different disciplines examined one part of a problem in isolation, which is referred to as a reductionist approach. For example, medical doctors using a reductionist approach would focus solely on the biological causes of a disease (e.g., abnormal cells) without also considering sociological causes (e.g., exposure to pollutants) and psychological causes (e.g., smoking to reduce stress).
Taking a systems approach can also be useful for organizational development and change. Last week you examined change management theories, which illustrate that there are many different parts of change that must be considered to manage it effectively. In this Discussion, you will explore systems theory and its importance for organizational development and change.
To prepare for this Discussion:
- Read the article, "Systems Theories (Psychology)." Pay particular attention to the definition of systems theory and how it is applied.
- Read pages 368-388 in the e-book, General Systems Theory. Think about the life cycle of organizations and identify specific examples of organizational development and change.
- Select an organization for which you currently work or have previously worked, or a well-known organization (e.g., Amazon, Walmart, Facebook). Consider the benefits of using systems theory for organizational development and change (e.g., creation of new product line, implementation of new software, mergers/acquisitions, downsizing).
Required Reading:
Systems Theory:
- Lalande, D., & Baumeister, R. F. (2013). Systems theories (psychology). Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health
- Skyttner, L. (2005). Organizational theory and management cybernetics. In L. Skyttner, General systems theory: Problems, perspectives, practice. (2nd ed., pp. 352-389). Singapore: World Scientific.
Leadership and Organizations:
- Ashkanasy, N., & Dorris, A. (2018). Organizational culture and climate. In D. S. Ones, N. Anderson, C. Viswesvaran, & H. K. Sinangil (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of industrial, work, and organizational psychology. (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 187-205). London, UK: SAGE Publications, Ltd.
- Germano, M. (2010, June). Leadership style and organizational impact
Instructions:
Briefly explain systems theory. Then assess its importance for organizational change and development. In your assessment, use specific examples from the organization you selected and current research on systems theory to illustrate your points.