Gary Gemmill

Leadership: An Alienating Social Myth?

The social construct of leadership is viewed as a myth that functions to reinforce existing social beliefs and structures about the necessity of hierarchy and leaders in organizations. The dynamics of the leadership myth in terms of its consequences for alienation characterized by intellectual and emotional deskilling is discussed. A trend toward massive deskilling on a societal scale is viewed as indicated by the current emergence of magical wishes for omnipotent leaders demonstrating a sense of helplessness and despair in being able to personally initiate and create less alienating social forms for the workplace. The types of experimentation required for refraining socially constructed meanings of leadership are explored, with emphasis placed on the role of heightened awareness of covert and undiscussable power and authority dynamics in an organizational context.

A Dissipative Structure Model of Organization Transformation

Modern organizations must transform amidst the internal and external complexity and turbulence they face. Transformation processes are not understandable through the equilibrium models we most often use to describe system dynamics. More applicable system models, recently emerging within the physical sciences, incorporate disorder, uncertainty, and complexity and provide insight into the process of transformation, its characteristics and dynamics. One such model put forth by the Belgian physicist, Ilya Prigogine, is offered here as an explanatory theory of organization transformation. The model postulates that “inherent stabilities” make more probable a systems successful transition through highly unstable conditions. These same stabilities offer a point of convergence of current theories of organizational learning, of self-organizing systems, and of high performance teams. Summary propositions and some directions for future research are discussed.

Machiavellianism As A Factor In Managerial Job Strain, Job Satisfaction, And Upward Mobility

This study investigates the relationship between Machiavellian orientation and several job-related correlates among 150 managers in a large manufacturing firm. The findings indicate that Machiavell...

Change in the Small Group: A Dissipative Structure Perspective

In living systems that are experiencing highly turbulent conditions, dissipative self-organization sometimes takes place and results in greater viability. The potential applications of the paradigm of dissipative self-organization to the study of change dynamics in small groups are explored. A certain type of change in groups is likened to change in dissipative structures found in the physical world, and group effectiveness amid complex and turbulent environments is seen to require the key elements of dissipative self-organization: an ongoing tolerance for error and for deviation from an established order, a breaking of existing system relationships so that new ones may emerge, a reflective, self-referencing mode, and a creative process of boundary reparation and movement into new configurations. Lewins model of change in social systems is extended here through the application of the self-organization paradigm. Instead of utilizing Lewins formulation of a discrete movement through phases, the emphasis is placed on continual change taking place amid turbulence or near-chaos conditions. The groups ability to be self-organizing, by opening to turbulence and functioning at its boundaries, and by experimenting, self-referencing, and repairing boundaries is discussed as a crucial factor in group effectiveness amid such conditions.

The Dynamics of Scapegoating in Small Groups

An analysis is made of the proposition that the scapegoat role emerges in small groups to unconsciously allow other members to distance themselves from the anxiety and threat aroused by the intrapsychic and interpersonal conflict displaced onto the scapegoat. The analysis concentrates on describing the scapegoating process in small groups, the underlying dynamics, and the consequences for a group. Researchable propositions derivable from the dynamics of the scapegoating process are presented

The Hidden Side of Leadership in Technical Team Management

OVERVIEW:Developing a high-performing team is one of the most challenging tasks facing technical project managers. Not only must they as team leaders deal with planning, supervising, coordinating, and controlling their projects, but, equally important, they must cope with a multitude of interpersonal issues always present in team-oriented work environments. If these issues are not handled intelligently and constructively, they can quickly derail the best-intentioned projects. This article, based on a field study of 100 project leaders, examines several interpersonal issues found in most technical teams and suggests a number of options for managing them. The authors argue that attending only to the technical dimensions of the team leaders responsibilities presents an incomplete and misinformed view of leadership. Effective project leaders understand and are competent in dealing with a wide range of hidden interpersonal issues that can undermine the management of project performance.

The Meaning of Boredom in Organizational Life

Lack of vitality and creativity within an organization is often attributed to widespread boredom and the underlying lack of personal meaning members associate with their work process. However, exploration of the causes of chronic patterns of boredom in organizational life is often blocked because of the indiscussibility and repression of powerful negative feelings that surface with the experience of boredom. By developing a better understanding of the meaning of boredom in organizations, organization members can learn to constructively confront their boredom, thereby expanding their awareness and unblocking repressed feelings. The net effect of exploring such deeper meanings and unblocking them is the infusion of vitality and new personal meaning into the experience of work.

Executive and MBA Student Views of Corporate Promotion Practices: A Structural Comparison1

The article focuses on a study that compares the views of executives and students participating in masters of business administration programs on corporate promotion practices. The purpose of this ...

The Dynamic of the Group Shadow in Intergroup Relations

The proposition that members of a group unconsciously displace the shadow of the group onto other groups to reduce feelings of internal conflict and threat within the group is examined. The discussion focuses on describing characteristics of the group shadow, as well as its psychodynamic function within and between groups. Research- able propositions derivable from the dynamics of the group shadow are presented.

MACHIAVELLIANISM, JOB SATISFACTION, JOB STRAIN, AND UPWARD MOBILITY: SOME CROSS-ORGANIZATIONAL EVIDENCE

Machiavellianism is shown to be consistently related to job satisfaction and job strain across a variety of organizational settings, including 34 managers of a small, family-owned firm and 52 managers in a state government agency. Consistent, but modest, trends with organizational mobility are also demonstrated. Factors which may account for differences in the magnitude of these relationships are suggested.