CHAPTER 19
Managing Work Groups and Teams
CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter is about groups and teams in organizations. It opens with a discussion of general
perspectives on groups. It then identifies and discusses several basic characteristics of groups and teams.
Interpersonal and intergroup conflict are then described. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion
of how conflict can be managed.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After covering this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define and identify types of groups and teams in organizations, discuss reasons why people join
groups and teams, and list the stages of group and team development.
2. Identify and discuss four essential characteristics of groups and teams.
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. GROUPS AND TEAMS IN ORGANIZATIONS
A group consists of two or more people who interact regularly to accomplish a common purpose or
goal.
A. Types of Groups and Teams
Teaching Tip: Stress to your students that most of the work in an organization results from people
working together—in groups, teams, or other social units.
Extra Example: The local reservations staff of a Continental Airlines ticket office represents a
functional group. The organization created the group and it generally meets the other criteria specified
in the definition.
2. Informal or interest groups are created by the members of the groups themselves for
Chapter 19: Managing Work Groups and Teams
Extra Example: A group of Continental Airlines employees who bowl or go to movies together on the
weekend constitute an informal group.
Extra Example: The flight crew of a specific Continental Airlines flight is a task group. Its
composition changes regularly, and it remains intact for only a single flight.
Many organizations today are using a special form of task group called a team.
a) A team is a group of workers that functions as a unit, often with little or no
Extra Example: Continental also uses teams periodically to get specific projects completed.
Teaching Tip: Note the various types of work teams identified and described in Table 19.1.
B. Why People Join Groups and Teams
1. Interpersonal attraction draws people to groups; they are attracted to the members or the
Extra Example: Groups people join because of their activities include swing-dancing classes, Scrabble
clubs, and softball leagues.
3. Group goals may motivate people to join if they subscribe to the goals.
Extra Example: Many people join a political party if they feel that a party’s goals are important to
them. On the other hand, people who whose goals are not compatible with any party’s may choose not
to join.
Discussion Starter: Ask students if they are likely to join one or more extra groups or clubs as they
approach graduation in order to improve their job market opportunities.
Chapter 19: Managing Work Groups and Teams
Discussion Starter: Ask students to identify various groups that they belong to. Ask them to discuss
why they chose to join various ones.
C. Stages of Group and Team Development
When new groups are formed, they usually evolve through four stages of development.
Teaching Tip: The hypothetical study group may have some initial difficulties in agreeing on a time
and place to study, as well as the study process they want to use. Some members of the group may drop
out, and new members may join. This would be representative of the storming stage.
3. During norming, the group members determine their role in the group as well as how the
4. Group members enact their roles and assess their performance during the performing stage.
Teaching Tip: In the hypothetical study group, the members finish up and then take their test. If they
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS AND TEAMS
Groups and teams have several key characteristics: role structures, behavioral norms, cohesiveness,
and leadership.
A. Role Structures
Each member in the group has a part—or role—to play. A role consists of the part individuals
play in groups in helping the group reach its goals.
1. Role ambiguity arises when the sent role is unclear and the individual does not know
what is expected of him or her.
Chapter 19: Managing Work Groups and Teams
Teaching Tip: Note that many new employees experience role ambiguity when they first join an
organization.
2. Role conflict occurs when the message and cues composing the sent role are clear but
contradictory or mutually exclusive.
a) Interrole conflict occurs when a person has two roles that are in conflict with one
another.
Group Exercise: Have small groups of students identify personal examples of the various forms of
role conflict they have experienced.
3. Role overload occurs when expectations for the role exceed the individual’s capabilities
to perform.
B. Behavioral Norms
Norms are standards of behavior that the group accepts and expects for its members.
Teaching Tip: Provide some examples to your students about norms you have witnessed or
1. Norms do not always generalize or transfer from one group to the next (a process known
as norm generalization). What is accepted in one group may be frowned on in another.
2. Norm variation allows some variation within a group as long as it is not taken to an extreme.
Extra Example: Some professional sports teams make exceptions for their star athletes. For example,
Extra Example: When rookie athletes first join a professional sports team, they must often undergo a
ritualistic learning process—somewhat like hazing—intended to help them become a true member of
the group.
Chapter 19: Managing Work Groups and Teams
Extra Example: The stronger and clearer the organization’s culture, the easier it is to socialize
newcomers. The culture makes it easier for them to learn about the organization and what is and is not
acceptable to it.
C. Cohesiveness
Cohesiveness is the extent to which members are loyal and committed to the group.
1. Factors that increase cohesiveness include intergroup competition, personal attraction to
Extra Example: Athletic teams often go through a period of heightened cohesiveness after winning a
championship or big game. Select a team of local interest that has done this and use it here to illustrate
how success enhances cohesiveness.
Extra Example: An organization undergoing a period of layoffs and downsizing may experience a loss
of cohesiveness among those employees who retain their jobs.
3. Consequences of cohesiveness include more group interaction, more norm conformity,
Global Connection: Japanese work groups have traditionally been characterized by both high
performance norms and high levels of cohesiveness. This characteristic may help explain why Japanese
businesses are so competitive.
D. Formal and Informal Leadership
Formal groups have an appointed, formal leader and may have an informal leader also.
Extra Example: Before he founded Wal-Mart, Sam Walton was a strong informal leader. Many of his
former classmates at the University of Missouri recall that he was frequently looked to for leadership
and that they knew he would eventually be a big success.
Extra Example: Another strong informal leader on campus was President Lyndon Baines Johnson,
Chapter 19: Managing Work Groups and Teams
Discussion Starter: Ask students to identify recent and/or personal examples of informal leaders.
III. INTERPERSONAL AND INTERGROUP CONFLICT
A. The Nature of Conflict
Conflict is a disagreement between two or more individuals or groups.
1. Organizational conflict results from disagreements between individual employees, work
Teaching Tip: Ask students to recall any recent instances of conflict that affected them. Ask them to
identify any potentially beneficial aspects of that conflict.
B. Causes of Conflict
Several different things can cause conflict in organizations:
1. Interpersonal conflict—conflict between two or more people—can be caused by
personality differences, different beliefs, different perceptions, or excessive
Discussion Starter: At some competitive M.B.A. programs, ambitious students will steal important
library materials or make all-night prank phone calls in an attempt to lower the grades of other students,
improving their own chances. Ask students: “Can this type of excessive competition and conflict ever
IV. MANAGING CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATIONS
A. Stimulating Conflict
Chapter 19: Managing Work Groups and Teams
1. Increase competition.
Discussion Starter: Ask students their thoughts on the wisdom of intentionally stimulating conflict.
Extra Example: Whenever a college or university hires a new president from the outside, he or she
usually reassigns some key administrators and often ends up creating at least a small amount of
conflict.
Discussion Starter: Ask students to discuss the ethics of intentionally stimulating conflict.
B. Controlling Conflict
Sometimes managers want to control conflict to keep it from becoming excessive.
Discussion Starter: Ask students if they can think of other methods for controlling conflict.
C. Resolving and Eliminating Conflict
Managers often need to resolve and eliminate conflict.
Global Connection: Conflict among coworkers is much less acceptable in Japan than it is in the United
States.
END OF CHAPTER QUESTIONS
Questions for Review
1. What is a group? Describe the several different types of groups and indicate the similarities and
differences between them. What is the difference between a group and a team?
A group is two or more people who work together to accomplish a goal. Functional groups are
Chapter 19: Managing Work Groups and Teams
2. What are the stages of group development? Do all teams develop through all the stages discussed in
this chapter? Why or why not? How might the management of a mature team differ from the
management of teams that are not yet mature?
The stages of group development are (1) forming—bringing members together and becoming
3. Describe the development of a role within a group. Tell how each role leads to the next.
Roles begin with expectations based on the role that the group members want the individual to
4. Describe the causes of conflict in organizations. What can a manager do to control conflict? To
resolve and eliminate conflict?
and (3) conflict between the organization and the environment—competition, lawsuits, consumer
relations, and so on.
Questions for Analysis
5. Individuals join groups for a variety of reasons. Most groups contain members who joined for
different reasons. What is likely to be the result when members join a group for different reasons?
What can a group leader do to reduce the negative impact of a conflict in reasons for joining the
group?
When members have different reasons for joining a group, conflict over goals, norms, structures,
Chapter 19: Managing Work Groups and Teams
6. Consider the case of a developed group, where all members have been socialized. What are the
benefits to the individuals of norm conformity? What are the benefits of not conforming to the
group’s norms? What are the benefits to an organization of conformity? What are the benefits to an
organization of nonconformity?
Individuals who conform to group norms experience positive outcomes such as acceptance and
7. Do you think teams are a valuable new management technique that will endure, or are they just a fad
that will be replaced with something else in the near future?
Students will argue both sides of this issue. Those who feel teams are just a phase may list other
Questions for Application
8. Think of several groups of which you have been a member. Why did you join each? Did each group
progress through the stages of development discussed in this chapter? If not, why do you think it
did not?
Student responses will vary, and not everyone will have been a group member through all of the
9. Describe the behavioral norms that are in effect in your Management class. To what extent are the
norms generalized; in other words, how severely are students “punished” for not observing norms?
To what extent is there norm variation; that is, are some students able to “get away” with violating
norms to which others must conform?
Clearly, students’ answers will vary, but they may identify norms around issues of class attendance,
10. Describe a case of interpersonal conflict that you have observed in an organization. Describe a case
of intergroup conflict that you have observed. (If you have not observed any, interview a worker or
manager to obtain examples.) In each case, was the conflict beneficial or harmful to the
organization, and why?
Clearly, students’ responses will vary, depending on the situations they describe. They should
Chapter 19: Managing Work Groups and Teams
END OF CHAPTER EXERCISES
Building Effective Conceptual Skills
I. Purpose
This conceptual exercise gives students a chance to think about the factors that lead to team
effectiveness.
II. Format
The conceptual skills exercise can be done individually or in groups. It requires about 15–20
minutes to complete.
III. Follow-Up
A. Use the Internet to identify an example of a real-life team. Be sure to choose one that meets
two criteria: (1) It’s not part of a for-profit business and (2) you can argue it’s highly effective.
B. Determine the reasons for the team’s effectiveness. (Hint: You might look for web sites
sponsored by the group itself, review online news sources for current articles about it, or enter
Building Effective Communication Skills
I. Purpose
This in-class demonstration shows the value of communication in fostering teamwork.
II. Format
This exercise should be done by the entire class and will take about 20-30 minutes.
III. Follow-Up
The object of this game is to think of as many people as possible who have these letters as the
initials of their first and last name. The person must be famous or well-known to the students, must
Chapter 19: Managing Work Groups and Teams
A. Play the “Name Game” that your professor will explain to you. In round 1, work out your
answers individually and then report your individual score to the class.
B. For round 2, you’ll join a group of 3 to 5 students. Work out your answers together and write
C. Your professor will then ask the highest-performing individuals and groups to share their
methods with the class. At this point, your professor will make some suggestions. Be sure to
consider at least two strategies for improving your score.
Suggestions include:
1. thinking of categories of names such as baseball players, presidents, or movie stars
D. Now play round 3, working together in the same small group in which you participated in
round 2. Report your group scores to the class.
E. Did average group scores improve upon the average individual scores? Why or why not?
F. Did average group scores improve after methods for improvement were discussed at the end of
round 2? Why or why not?
G. What does this game teach you about teamwork and effectiveness? Share your thoughts with
the class.
If the typical results, as described in answer to Questions 5 and 6, are obtained, then students
MANAGEMENT AT WORK
TRACKING CARBON FOOTPRINTS ACROSS SCIENTIFIC BORDERS
Research both in academia and in business appears to have become increasingly team based rather than
by solo authors. For example, a team of interdisciplinary researchers from different nations collaborated
at Princeton University to produce a new study on carbon emissions. A study done by Northwestern
University found that, not only were team-based studies becoming more prominent, but that such studies
were more influential than sole-authored ones.
Discussion Starter: Ask students to recall their experience working on team projects. Did they come
up with better solutions or did better work as a team? Were there situations when the student could
have come up with better work on his or her own?
Chapter 19: Managing Work Groups and Teams
1. Case Question 1: In what sense was the carbon footprint team a task group? As a task group, in
what ways was it a team? As a team, in what ways was it a virtual team?
A task group is a group created to accomplish a relatively narrow range of purposes within a stated
2. Case Question 2: Consider both the carbon footprint team and the Carbon Mitigation Initiative
(CMI). In what ways must such groups work to achieve cohesiveness? What factors are likely to
make this effort difficult?
The team members come from different disciplines – physics, political science, etc. Since they come
3. Case Question 3: What’s your experience with teamwork? Have you ever undertaken a solo
project which, in retrospect, would have benefitted from a team-based approach? If you’ve ever
been part of a team, either permanent or formed to tackle a specific set of problems, explain why, in
your opinion, it succeeded (or failed) at its appointed task(s).
4. Case Question 4: Some researchers are wary about collaborations between academic and industry
organizations, such as CMI. Why do you suppose this is so? What potential problems do you see?
How can they best be avoided?
CMI is a partnership between Princeton, Ford, and BP, with BP funding 75 percent of the project