Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
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Interactive Classroom Material:
EXAMPLE: Informal Groups & Informal Learning: Sharing Knowledge in the
Lunchroom and on Social Media
This Example asks the question “Can social interaction—in the lunchroom, on Second Life,
Instagram, or Twitter—encourage collaboration and peer-to-peer learning?” Interest in this
question comes from research that shows 70 percent of workplace learning is informal.
Click for follow-up activity.
Types of Teams
● Teams can be different based on their purpose, duration, and level of member
commitment.
● Cross-functional teams are designed to include members from different areas within an
organization, such as finance, operations, and sales.
● Self-managed teams are defined as groups of workers who are given administrative
oversight for their task domains.
● Virtual teams work together over time and distance via electronic media to combine
effort and achieve common goals.
o Virtual teams and distributed workers present many potential benefits: reduced
real estate costs; ability to leverage diverse knowledge, skills, and experience
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
o When virtual teams cross country borders, cultural differences, holidays, and local
laws and customs can also cause problems.
o There is no substitute for face-to-face contact, and meeting in person is especially
beneficial early in virtual team development.
Interactive Classroom Material:
PRACTICAL ACTION: Best Practices for Virtual Teams
This Practical Action provides eight best practices that will help students develop their abilities
Click for follow-up activity.
13.2 Stages of Group & Team Development
POWERPOINT SLIDES:
#8 Stages of Group and Team Development
#9 Stage 1: Forming
#10 Stage 2: Storming
#11 Stage 3: Norming
#12 Stage 4: Performing
#13 Stage 5: Adjourning
#15 Punctuated Equilibrium
Section 13.2 introduces students to the group development process. Tuckman’s five-stage model
of the group development process and punctuated equilibrium are discussed.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–12
innovation, and creativity.” In the exercise, you provide teams of four students with 20 sticks of
uncooked spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one standard-size marshmallow
(not a mini size). Tell the students that they have 18 minutes to build the tallest free-standing
Topics and Tips for Discussion:
1. Discuss how the stages of group development might be different for virtual teams
compared to traditional face-to-face teams.
The five stages of group development are forming, storming, norming, performing, and
2. Describe a time when one of your teams (either from your personal life or work)
experienced the storming stage of group development. Describe the conflicts that
developed and how the team was able to progress to stage 3.
3. Provide examples of firms or industries that are likely experiencing punctuated
equilibrium. How are the changes likely to impact teams in the organizations?
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–13
Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
the medical field (from changes in government regulations and technological change).
Teams whose companies are experiencing punctuated equilibrium may revert back to
earlier stages in the group development process. For instance, new norms might need to
be established as a result of the abrupt change.
Section 13.2 Key Concepts:
Tuckman’s Five-Stage Model
● As shown in Figure 13.1, groups and teams go through five stages of development:
forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
● Stage 1: Forming
o The first stage, forming, is the process of getting oriented and getting acquainted.
● Stage 2: Storming
o The second stage, storming, is characterized by the emergence of individual
personalities and roles and conflicts within the group.
● Stage 3: Norming
o In the third stage, norming, conflicts are resolved, close relationships develop,
and unity and harmony emerge.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–14
o Groups that make it through stage 2 generally do so because a respected member
other than the leader challenges the group to resolve its power struggles so
something can be accomplished.
● Stage 4: Performing
● Stage 5: Adjourning
● Although research does not support the notion that groups can’t perform until the
performing stage, both academics and practitioners agree that groups have a life cycle.
Connect® Exercise
CLICK AND DRAG: Five Stages of Group Development
Summary of Activity:
In this Click and Drag activity, students will match fictitious scenarios with their corresponding
stage in the group development process.
SELF-ASSESSMENT 13.2
Assessing Your Team’s Productive Energy
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
This 12-question Self-Assessment determines team productive energy at a current or former
place of student employment or based on university experiences. Questions on alertness,
opportunity recognition, and pace of work are presented.
Click for follow-up activity.
Punctuated Equilibrium
● Punctuated equilibrium often occurs in the wake of unexpected change.
13.3 Building Effective Teams
POWERPOINT SLIDES:
#16 Building Effective Teams
#17 Collaboration and Trust
#18 Performance Goals and Feedback
#19 Motivation and Team Composition
#20 Team Roles
#21 Team Norms
#22 Effective Team Processes
Section 13.3 discusses how to build a high-performance team. The impact of collaboration, trust,
performance goals and feedback, mutual accountability and interdependency, composition, roles,
norms, and effective team processes are discussed.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–16
1. How do you come to trust your classmates or your co-workers? What can managers do to
foster trust within their teams?
2. Think of the class group project that you most enjoyed working on as a student. Describe
the extent to which that group met the characteristics of a high-performance team.
High-performance teams are characterized as having (1) collaboration, (2) trust, (3)
performance goals and feedback, (4) motivation through mutual accountability and
interdependency, (5) composition, (6) roles, (7) norms, and (8) effective team processes.
3. Think of your last team project that you completed either at work or at school. Describe
the task and maintenance roles that you performed for this project.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–17
include: encourager, harmonizer, compromiser, gatekeeper, standard setter,
commentator, and follower.
Section 13.3 Key Concepts:
High-Performance Teams
● Current research and practice suggest seven attributes of high-performance teams: shared
leadership, shared accountability, sense of common purpose, trust and open
communication, clear role expectations, early conflict resolution, and collaboration.
● The most essential considerations in building a group into an effective team are
● Collaboration
o Collaboration is the act of sharing information and coordinating efforts to achieve
a collective outcome.
● Trust
o Trust is defined as reciprocal faith in others’ intentions and behaviors.
Interactive Classroom Material:
EXAMPLE: Building Trust Starts with Leader Behavior
This Example suggests leader behaviors that engender trust. These behaviors include showing
vulnerability, taking responsibility for your mistakes, and asking for help. All of these increase
trust between leaders and followers which in turn leads to greater collaboration and increased
productivity.
Click for follow-up activity.
● Performance Goals and Feedback
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–18
o Since teams are individuals organized for a collective purpose, the purpose needs
to be defined in terms of specific, measurable performance goals with continual
feedback to tell team members how well they are doing.
● Motivation through Mutual Accountability
o Team leaders need to monitor the quality of team member interdependence.
● Team Composition
o Team composition reflects the collection of jobs, personalities, values,
knowledge, experience, and skills of team members.
o Team member composition should fit the responsibilities of the team.
● Roles
o A role is a socially determined expectation of how an individual should behave in
a specific position.
Connect® Exercise
CLICK AND DRAG: Task and Maintenance Roles
Summary of Activity:
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–19
In this Click and Drag exercise, students will match descriptions of roles with either the task or
maintenance category.
● Norms
o Norms are general guidelines or rules of behavior that most group or team
members follow.
o Norms define the boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
o Although typically unwritten, norms have a powerful influence on group and
organizational behavior.
o Norms are enforced for four primary reasons:
Interactive Classroom Material:
PRACTICAL ACTION: How to Build a High-Performing Team
This helpful Practical Action suggests methods by which teams can develop productive and
effective team norms that will increase performance and productivity. It suggests considering
what norms have worked well or poorly in past teams, the behaviors that are necessary to make
norms effective, and how teams can insure accountability for normative behaviors.
Click for follow-up activity.
● Effective Team Processes
o Team processes are “members’ interdependent acts that convert inputs to
outcomes through cognitive, verbal, and behavioral activities directed toward
organizing taskwork to achieve collective goals.”
o The following activities may improve team processes:
Connect® Exercise
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–20
CLICK AND DRAG: Eight Ways to Build Effective Teams
Summary of Activity:
In this Click and Drag activity, students will match the eight ways to build effective teams with
their corresponding examples.
SELF-ASSESSMENT 13.3
Assessing Team Effectiveness
This 18-question Self-Assessment determines team effectiveness at a student’s current or former
job or based on university experiences. Questions on task-related problem solving, overcoming
challenges, and facilitating team performance are presented.
Click for follow-up activity.
Group Exercise #1: Identifying Task and Maintenance Roles within Groups
Exercise Objectives
2. To examine how task and maintenance roles influence group effectiveness.
Click for follow-up activity.
Connect® Exercise
VIDEO CASE: Treating Employees Well
Summary of Activity:
In this video case, students will first watch a video on JoJo Maman Bebe, a UK-based multi-
channel maternity wear and baby clothing retailer. The video focuses on the company’s view on
teamwork. After viewing the video, students will respond to 4 multiple-choice questions to
measure comprehension.
Follow-Up Activity:
Instructor should divide students into groups of four to five. Groups should discuss the following
questions:
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–21
1. Should a company focus more on team satisfaction or return on investment? Why?
2. How does team job satisfaction have an impact on the company’s bottom line? What examples
from the video support this?
3. What would you do if a member of your team is constantly underperforming?
13.4 Managing Conflict
POWERPOINT SLIDES:
#24 Managing Conflict
#25 Relationship Between Intensity of Conflict and Performance Outcomes
#26 and 27 Three Kinds of Conflict
#28 How to Stimulate Constructive Conflict
#29 Programmed Conflict
#30 Five Basic Behaviors to Help You Better Handle Conflict
#31 Five Conflict-Handling Styles
Section 13.4 discusses conflict, which can be dysfunctional or functional. Three major sources of
conflict are described: personality, intergroup, and multicultural. Strategies used to stimulate
constructive conflict and basic behaviors to help you better handle conflict are discussed. The
conflict-handling styles of avoiding, obliging, dominating, compromising, and integrating are
described.
One way that you could begin your coverage of these topics is to have the students read The Wall
Street Journal article “When Winner-Take-All Battles Backfire at Work.” This article discusses
Topics and Tips for Discussion:
1. Think of examples of conflict that you have observed at your workplace (or at a previous
one). Describe the positive and negative outcomes of this conflict.
ONLINE
ARTICLE
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–22
Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
can quickly turn negative if it is poorly managed or if it gets personal. Conflicts can
result in negative emotions, negatively impact job satisfaction and productivity, and
result in employee absenteeism or turnover. Have the students reflect on how well the
conflict they observed was managed.
2. Describe the situations that most commonly produce conflict at your employer (or at a
previous one). How could the conflict at the company be more effectively managed?
3. Discuss how spurring competition between employees can benefit and harm the
organization.
Competition is often healthy in spurring people to produce higher results. By giving a
reward to the organization’s top performers, you encourage everyone to be a top
performer. Competition can motivate workers to exert more effort to achieve results. This
Section 13.4 Key Concepts:
Conflict
● Conflict is a process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or
negatively affected by another party.
● Conflicts may be between individuals, between an individual and a group, between
groups, or between an organization and its environment.
● There are two types of conflicts: dysfunctional conflict and functional conflict.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–23
o Functional conflict benefits the main purposes of the organization and serves its
interests.
● Social scientists believe that organizations can suffer from too little conflict.
o Work groups or organizations that experience too little conflict tend to suffer
apathy and lack of creativity.
Connect® Exercise
CLICK AND DRAG: Functional vs. Dysfunctional Conflict
Summary of Activity:
Connect® Exercise
CLICK AND DRAG: Stimulating Functional Conflict
Summary of Activity:
SELF-ASSESSMENT 13.4 CAREER READINESS
Interpersonal Conflict Tendencies
This 5-question Self-Assessment measures the amount of conflict students experience. Questions
on feelings and frequency of undesirable actions are presented.
Click for follow-up activity.
Kinds of Conflict
CAREER
READINESS
13–24
Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
● Three of the principal conflict triggers are (1) between personalities, (2) between groups,
and (3) between cultures.
● Personality Conflicts: Clashes Because of Personal Dislikes or Disagreements
o Personality conflict is defined as interpersonal opposition based on personal
dislike, disagreement, or differing styles.
● Intergroup conflicts: Clashes Between Work Groups, Teams, and Departments
o “We versus them” thinking can produce conflict among work groups, teams, and
departments within an organization.
o Some causes of intergroup conflicts are:
▪ Inconsistent goals or reward systems—when people pursue different
objectives.
● Multicultural Conflicts: Clashes between Cultures
o With cross-border mergers, joint ventures, and international alliances, there are
opportunities for clashes between cultures.
o Often success or failure, when business is being conducted across cultures, arises
from dealing with differing assumptions about how to think and act.
o Table 13.3 describes ways to build cross-cultural relationships.
How to Stimulate Constructive Conflict
● Constructive conflict can be productive under a number of circumstances:
o When your work group seems afflicted with inertia and apathy.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–25
● Four strategies used to stimulate constructive conflict are to: spur competition among
employees, change the organization’s culture and procedures, bring in outsiders for new
perspectives, and use programmed conflict.
● Spur Competition among Employees
o Competition can spur people to produce higher results.
● Change the Organization’s Culture and Procedures
● Bring in Outsiders for New Perspectives
o Organizations can become inbred and resistant to change without “new blood.”
o Outsiders can bring new perspectives and can shake things up.
● Use Programmed Conflict
o Programmed conflict is designed to elicit different opinions without inciting
people’s personal feelings.
▪ Devil’s advocacy is the process of assigning someone to play the role of
critic to voice possible objections to a proposal and thereby generate
Interactive Classroom Material:
PRACTICAL ACTION: Playing the Devil’s Advocate
This Practical Action presents students with tips about how to behave if they are designated as
the devil’s advocate for their team. They are advised to listen and paraphrase the suggestion
under discussion, to be non-confrontational, to mention the positive as well as the negative, and
to refrain from continuously returning to the issues once they have made their point.
Click for follow-up activity.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–26
Group Exercise #2: Empathy: The Misunderstood Skill
There is a Group Exercise available at the end of this manual that provides students with the
opportunity to practice a three-step approach for being empathetic.
Exercise Objective:
To present and practice a three-step approach for being empathetic.
Click for follow-up activity.
Connect® Exercise
CASE ANALYSIS: Teamwork is a Driver of Success at Whole Foods Market
Summary of Activity:
In this case analysis, students will first read about how Whole Foods structures its work teams.
Then, students will respond to 4 multiple-choice questions to measure comprehension.
Follow-Up Activity:
Step 1: Instructor should divide students into small groups of four. First, groups should discuss
how hiring factors can influence teamwork and performance within groups.
Five Basic Behaviors to Help You Better Handle Conflict
● There are five basic behaviors that enable you to work on disagreements and keep them
from flaring into out-of-control personality conflicts: openness, equality, empathy,
supportiveness, and positiveness.
● Openness
o State your views openly and honesty, not trying to disguise the real object of your
disagreement.
● Equality
o Treat the other’s status and ideas as equal to yours, allowing that person time to
completely express his or her opinions.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–27
o Evaluate all ideas fairly and logically, without regard to ownership.
● Empathy
o Try to experience the other person’s feelings and point of view, showing you are
truly listening.
● Supportiveness
● Positiveness
Conflict-Handling Styles
● There are five conflict-handling styles, or techniques, a manager can use for handling
disagreements with individuals: avoiding, obliging, dominating, compromising, and
integrating.
● Avoiding
o Avoiding is ignoring or suppressing a conflict.
o Avoidance is appropriate for trivial issues, when emotions are high and a cooling–
off period is needed, or when the cost of confrontation outweighs the benefits of
resolving the conflict.
● Obliging
o Obliging is allowing the desires of the other party to prevail.
o This style is also referred to as “smoothing” or “obliging.”
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
13–28
● Dominating
o Dominating or “forcing” is simply ordering an outcome, when a manager relies
on his or her formal authority and power to resolve a conflict, but the needs of the
other party are largely ignored.
● Compromising
o In compromising, both parties give up something in order to gain something.
o Compromise is appropriate when both sides have opposite goals or possess equal
power.
● Integrating
o Integrating, or problem solving, is about collaboration.
o The manager strives to confront the issue and cooperatively identify the problem,
generating and weighing alternatives, and selecting a solution.
o Integrating is appropriate for complex issues plagued by misunderstanding.
SELF-ASSESSMENT 13.5 CAREER READINESS
What Is Your Conflict-Management Style?
This 20-question Self-Assessment determines students’ conflict-management style based on
current or former employment experiences. Results will present an avoiding, accommodating,
forcing, compromising, or collaborative style.
Click for follow-up activity.
CAREER
READINESS
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 13 Groups and Teams: Increasing Cooperation, Reducing Conflict
Connect® Exercise
CLICK AND DRAG: Five Conflict-Handling Styles
Summary of Activity:
In this Click and Drag exercise, students will match provided statements with their
corresponding conflict-handling style.
Group Exercise #3: What is Your Preferred Conflict-Handling Style?
There is a Group Exercise available at the end of this manual that provides students with the
opportunity to apply and evaluate the effectiveness of conflict-handling styles.
Exercise Objective
To give students a chance to apply and evaluate the effectiveness of five different conflict-
handling styles.
Click for follow-up activity.
13.5 Career Corner: Managing Your Career Readiness
POWERPOINT SLIDES:
#32 Model of Career Readiness
#33 Managing Your Career Readiness
Section 13.5 describes actions for becoming a better team member and tips for becoming a more
effective collaborator. To become a better team member, first you need to commit to the team.
View team work as an opportunity to apply your best talents toward the goal of increasing the
team’s overall performance. Second, you want to support team members. You can make your life