Management and Organization Behavior

Dr. Leigh Stelzer

REFERENCE OUTLINE: Groups, W&N, Chapter 14

Know how to work with groups and overcome disadvantages.

For many years, American Business lost sight of the importance of groups in the work process. We are an individualist society in competition with collectivized societies (once communist now Asian). It was natural for us to emphasize the importance of the individual. Nevertheless, most people work in groups, now called teams. The success of the individual is dependent on the group. To succeed, the individual (leader, boss, worker) must harness the power of the group.

How can we make groups more effective? It is important to distinguish the formal from the informal, task from friendship; rules from norms. Task groups are formed by management to accomplish organization goals.

Explain group development/ formation with interaction and balance theory. Stages of group development (relate to leader emergence at the conflict and challenge stage).

Adaptation... Orientation

Goal Attainment: focus on task behavior, priorities and leadership Conflict

Integration: focus on socio-emotional support; Norming; relations orientation is empathetic, showing concern. Cohesion stage

Size. Is the impact/importance of size obvious? On leadership?

Groups establish norms and roles. Are they accepted? See W&N 576, Why might a work group's norms accepted over those of the management?

What advantages (disadvantages) does group decision making have over individual decision making?

Pooled resources

Synergies: members stimulate the ideas of each other

Enhanced commitment to goals and group.

Cohesiveness: Schacter, Hawthorne, Balance Theory

What are groups better at than individuals?

Idea generation, creativity?

Finding the answers to factual questions?

Evaluation of ideas?

Criticism/downside of Groups: avoid decisions, hide (diffuse) responsibility, compromise. Free rider, sucker effect.

Enhanced commitment v. social loafing as a result of group work.

Evaluation apprehension: The presence of some group members may intimidate others.

Group pressure begets compliance conformity. Don't voice unpopular opinions. Identification with norms begets personal acceptance conformity.

Groupthink, the downside of cohesiveness. Know characteristics of groupthink. W&N, p. 549, 585.

Other hindrances to effective group decision making: Status, gender, time, compromise, conflict. Does Japan suffer from massive groupthink? In Asian societies, it is considered rude to confront issues openly (to disagree). They Speak around the problem. Chinese tend to participate in discussion but not decision making. Conflict is associated with "confusion" chaos. You avoid public conflict at all cost. .

Overcoming the downside with Nominal Group Techniques (NGTs),

brainstorming (idea generation v info exchange v. coordination), devils advocate, leader neutrality, etc. When is NGT better than brainstorming? NGT designed to make individual judgements the inputs in arriving at a group decision. Note it is non-judgmental, more private, anonymous. Helps deprive blocking, dominating and censoring members of their power. Thus it helps to overcome or avoid groupthink. Note though: NGT is not appropriate for routine meetings that focus on task coordination or information exchange.

What is the affect of the informal group structure on goal achievement? Taylor said to break up the group.

Balance Theory: Balance Theory can be used as an explanation of 1) group associations: why people form groups; 2) leadership-followership influence: Why people do as they are directed; 3) conflict that leads to change: Why people change their attitudes and behaviors? The theory says that people seek balanced triadic relationships. Once they achieve balance, they seek to maintain it. If imbalance occurs, people seek to restore balance.

Balanced triads that are maintained. +++ +--

Imbalanced triads that cause stress. ++- ---

Schacter's checkerboard study

The study is a test of the impact of leadership or group norms on (cohesive) groups. Cohesion: feeling close to the group, willingness to stay Induction: The direction of leadership (pro v. con).

Most productive are high cohesion, produce.

Second best are low cohesion, produce.

Least productive are high cohesion, hold back. This was what worried Taylor. Thus, it is the direction of the group, induction (how it is led) and not the groupness, cohesion, that is important. (Both best and worst are cohesive, so cohesion is not a determinant. So what would Taylor get when he breaks up the group? How does this relate to Hawthorne?