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a.
II. Group Decision Making
A. Groups Versus the Individual
1. Strengths of group decision making
considered.
the best individual.
e. Groups lead to increased acceptance of a solution.
2. Weaknesses of Group Decision Making
a. It is time consuming.
d. Group decisions suffer from ambiguous responsibility.
3. Effectiveness and Efficiency
a. Whether groups are more effective than individuals depends on the criteria
you use.
superior.
e. If creativity is important, groups tend to be more effective than
individuals.
groups are better.
g. In terms of efficiency, group decision making consumes more work hours
than having an individual tackle the same problem.
increases in effectiveness are more than enough to offset the reductions in
efficiency.
4. Summary
a. Groups offer an excellent vehicle for performing many of the steps in the
decision-making process.
b. They are a source of both breadth and depth of input for information
gathering.
c. When the final solution is agreed upon, there are more people in a group
decision to support and implement it.
d. Group decisions consume time, create internal conflicts, and generate
pressures toward conformity.
B. Groupthink and Groupshift
1. Groupthink is related to norms.
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a. It describes situations in which group pressures for conformity deter the
group from critically appraising unusual, minority, or unpopular views.
2. Groupshift describes the way of discussing a given set of alternatives and
arriving at a solution.
they hold.
3. Groupthink
a. Groupthink appears closely aligned with the conclusions Solomon Asch
drew in his experiments with a lone dissenter.
b. Individuals who hold a position different from that of the dominant
feelings and beliefs.
i. As members of a group, we find it more pleasant to be in agreement—
to be a positive part of the group—than to be a disruptive force, even if
disruption would improve effectiveness.
c. Groups that are more focused on performance than learning are especially
threat to its positive image.
e. What can managers do to minimize groupthink?
i. First, they can monitor group size. People grow more intimidated and
hesitant as group size increases, and although there is no magic
number that will eliminate groupthink, individuals are likely to feel
members.
ii. Managers should also encourage group leaders to play an impartial
role. Leaders should actively seek input from all members and avoid
expressing their own opinions, especially in the early stages of
deliberation.
offering divergent perspectives.
iv. Yet another suggestion is to use exercises that stimulate active
discussion of diverse alternatives without threatening the group or
intensifying identity protection.
4. Group shift and group polarization
a. There are differences between group decisions and the individual
decisions of group members.
d. Using the findings of group shift?
i. Recognize that group decisions exaggerate the initial position of the
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of the members’ pre-discussion inclinations.
C. Group Decision Making Techniques
1. Most group decision making takes place in interacting groups.
members toward conformity of opinion.
traditional interacting group.
2. Brainstorming can overcome pressures for conformity that dampen
creativity.
around a table.
3. The nominal group technique restricts discussion or interpersonal
communication during the decision-making process.
independently.
b. The chief advantage of the nominal group technique is that it permits the
the interacting group.
4. Each of the group-decision techniques has its own set of strengths and
weaknesses.
cost–benefit trade-off.
b. As Exhibit 9-5 indicates, an interacting group is good for achieving
commitment to a solution, brainstorming develops group cohesiveness,
large number of ideas.
III. Summary and Implications for Managers
A. We can draw several implications from our discussion of groups.
E. Fourth, cohesiveness may influence a group’s level of productivity, depending on
the group’s performance-related norms.
can hurt it.
G. Sixth, role conflict is associated with job-induced tension and job dissatisfaction.
Specific implications for managers are below:
1. Recognize that groups can dramatically affect individual behavior in
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norms do not support antisocial behavior.
3. Pay attention to the status aspect of groups. Because lower-status people tend
to participate less in group discussions, groups with high status differences are
likely to inhibit input from lower-status members and reduce their potential.
4. Use larger groups for fact-finding activities and smaller groups for
performance.
5. To increase employee satisfaction, make certain people perceive their job roles
accurately.
EXPANDED CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Defining and Classifying Groups
A. Definition
1. A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent,
who have come together to achieve particular objectives.
2. Groups can be either formal or informal.
a. Formal groups—those defined by the organization’s structure, with
designated work assignments establishing tasks.
i. The behaviors that one should engage in are stipulated by and directed
toward organizational goals.
ii. An airline flight crew is an example of a formal group.
b. Informal groups—alliances that are neither formally structured nor
organizationally determined.
i. Natural formations in the work environment in response to the need
for social contact.
ii. Three employees from different departments who regularly eat lunch
together is an informal group.
B. Social Identity
1. Our tendency to take personal pride or offense for the accomplishments of a
group is the territory of social identity theory.
2. Social identity theory proposes that people have emotional reactions to the
failure or success of their group because their self-esteem gets tied into the
performance of the group.
3. Social identities help us understand who we are and where we fit in with other
people, but they can have a negative side as well.
a. Social identities can even lead people to experience pleasure as a result of
seeing another group suffer.
b. We often see these feelings of schadenfreude in the joy fans experience
when a hated team loses.
c. Our social identities help us understand who we are and where we fit in
with other people, and research indicates they bring us better health and
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lower levels of depression because we become less likely to attribute
negative situations to internal or insurmountable reasons.
C. Ingroups and Outgroups
1. Ingroup favoritism occurs when we see members of our group as better than
other people, and people not in our group as all the same.
2. Recent research suggests that people with low openness and/or low
agreeableness are more susceptible to ingroup favoritism.
ingroup’s members.
4. When there are ingroups and outgroups, there is often animosity between
them.
5. One of the most powerful sources of ingroup–outgroup feelings is the practice
of religion, even in the workplace.
resources.
D. Social Identity Threat
1. Ingroups and outgroups pave the way for social identity threat, which is akin
to stereotype threat (see Chapter 6).
2. With social identity threat, individuals believe they will be personally
may lose confidence and performance effectiveness.
II. Stages of Group Development
A. An Alternative Model for Temporary Groups with Deadlines
1. Temporary groups with deadlines have their own unique sequencing of actions
(or inaction).
d. A transition initiates major changes.
e. A second phase of inertia follows the transition.
f. The group’s last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated activity.
This pattern, called the punctuated-equilibrium model, is shown in
Exhibit 9-1.
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where members begin to work collaboratively. The forming, storming,
norming, and performing stages may occur at phase one of the punctuated
and expectations.
III. Group Properties: Roles
A. Introduction
1. Work groups are not unorganized mobs; they have properties that shape
members’ behavior and help explain and predict individual behavior within
diversity.
B. Group Property 1: Roles
1. Introduction
a. All group members are actors, each playing a role.
b. A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a
given position in a social unit.
jobs.
d. Different groups impose different role requirements on individuals.
2. Role perception: One’s view of how one is supposed to act in a given
situation is a role perception.
a. Apprenticeship programs exist to allow beginners to watch an “expert,” so
context in which you are acting.
b. The psychological contract is an unwritten agreement that exists between
employees and their employer.
i. It sets out mutual expectations.
c. If role expectations as implied are not met, expect negative effects on
employee performance and satisfaction.
contradictory.
a. It exists when compliance with one role requirement may make the
compliance with another more difficult.
b. We can experience interrole conflict when the expectations of our
different, separate groups are in opposition.
another.
d. During mergers and acquisitions, employees can be torn between their
identities as members of their original organization and of the new parent
company.
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organization.
5. Role Play and Assimilation
a. One of the most illuminating role and identity experiments was done a
number of years ago by Stanford University psychologist Philip Zimbardo
and his associates. They created a “prison” in the basement of the Stanford
Consistent with social identity theory, the guards came to see the prisoners
as a negative out-group, and their comments to researchers showed they
had developed stereotypes about the “typical” prisoner personality type.
After the guards crushed a rebellion attempt on the second day, the
practically considered the prisoners cattle, and I kept thinking: ‘I have to
watch out for them in case they try something.’” Surprisingly, during the
entire experiment—even after days of abuse—not one prisoner said, “Stop
this. I’m a student like you. This is just an experiment!”
emotional stability.
d. What should you conclude from this prison simulation?
i. The participants had learned stereotyped conceptions of guard and
prisoner roles from the mass media and their own personal experiences
in power and powerless relationships at home.
different from their inherent personalities.
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