Social Institution Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Institution - Research Paper Example No matter how extensive the family membership is, the mutual bonds under a common authority exist among the members of a family. The evolving traits of the family’s structure are best explicated by sociological theories such as functionalist, conflict, and interactionism. Functionalists view that every society has interrelated social institutions, including the family, the educational institutions, the religious sects, the government and political system, and the mass media (Giddens & Griffiths, 2006). Each social institution contributes toward the advancement of the society. Since every society operates based on the consensus of its members, it serves the best interest of the general populace. In particular, functionalists emphasized the value of social structures than that of the individuals. Functionalism is a â€Å"top-down,† structuralist theory, which gives more importance on the societal structure and stratification, rather than on the individuals (Giddens & Griffiths, 2006). Functionalism views individuals as the product of social influences as they continuously expose themselves to other structures or members of the society, including family members, peers, relatives, and media. Family as a social institution, in the eyes of the funct ionalists, is beneficial to individuals because they usually experience physical care and emotional support from it. In 1965, Talcott Parsons tackled the origin of â€Å"family† and the roots of nuclear family (Giddens & Griffiths, 2006). He suggested that prior to industrial revolution societies were founded on an extensive network of kinship. This network bridges the relationship of the family members to the members of the nuclear family. In such family networks, the role of each member is mainly defined not by any skills or educational background, but through ascription. G.P. Murdock argued that the nuclear family has universally existed because it supported the economic,

Final Exam for Organization Research and Theory Term Paper

Final Exam for Organization Research and Theory - Term Paper Example A computer technology firm has experienced tremendous growth owing to the effective leadership of an efficient top management team. However, it has also witnessed a huge turnover of scientists as well as researchers. The company can be stated to be in maturity stage of the organizational life cycle which signifies that it is functioning in an effective manner which enables it to generate higher profits. At this stage, the management of the firm generally remains the same and there is less delegation of authority or power. The firm at this stage is more focused on developing the efficiency in its business operations. This stage exists as long as the firm is generating profit. The firm is mainly concerned about analyzing as well as managing the costs of the products. The management structure of the firm tends to be more bureaucratic and there is less emphasis on brining in new innovations in the organizational process. In this stage, profit is maximized for its growth as well as the se rvices which are provided by the firm. The growth of the firm is for the result of better collaboration as well as team work along with enhanced leadership by the top management (Daft, Murphy & Willmott, 2010). The firm after gaining drastic growth in the maturity stage may tend to proceed towards the decline stage for inefficient performance as well as bureaucratic nature of the management. These factors primarily result in crisis for delayed decision making process as well as slow performance. The performance of the firm can decrease or decline and there can also be a lack of innovativeness. The firm also suffered a huge number of turnovers of employees which declined its performance. The workforce of the firm has decreased which results in reduced market share as well as it reduces the competency of the firm. The management at this stage needs to take up certain measures immediately in order to recover from the crisis (Practical Management, 2012). The crisis which is suffered by the firm may be recovered at the revival stage of the organizational life cycle. The revival stage may occur at the maturity or decline stage for recovering the firm from the crisis which is hampering its growth. The firm should take innovative decisions and the bureaucratic nature of management should be minimized for retaining the growth of the firm. The workforce of the firm should be engaged in the decision making process. The management should devise methods for encouraging as well as developing trust among the employees for enhanced performance of the firm. The issues should be analyzed and steps or measures should be taken for lowering turnover of key employees of the organization such as scientists and researchers as they significantly contribute towards ensuring innovativeness in the products and services of the firm. The employees should be provided with better working atmosphere as well as culture for effective performance of employees with reduced turnover. The aspect of providing rewards and recognitions to deserving employees including the scientists as well as researchers can be started by the organization to ascertain that they are motivated to remain in the organization and provide their best. All these measures will assist the firm to resolve the prevailing crisis and to retain its best workforce which in turn would facilitate the company to ensure long-term profitability and sustainability (Products Arts, 2012). Question 6 a) A Mechanistic Structure A mechanistic