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CHAPTER 12

TEAM PRESSURES AND CONFLICTS:

MEETING THE CHALLENGES

At this point in their work, students will have begun to see some of the problems in group

processes. This chapter takes them into a study of those problems with pressures on deviants,

conformity, groupthink, hidden agendas, competitive communication and game playing, conflict,

Chapter Outline

Team Pressures

 Deviance

 Conformity

 Motives

 Methods

 Choices

 Responses

 Groupware and Virtual Meeting Influences

Groupthink

 How Groupthink Happens

 Cohesiveness

 Structure

 Situation

 Leadership

 What Groupthink Does

 How to Reduce Groupthink

Competitive Communication

 How People Play Games

 How Games Affect Climate

 How to Handle a Game

Conflict

 Types of Conflict

 Sources of Conflict

 Approaches to Conflict Management

Summary

Exercises

Discussion Suggestions For Boxes

Gender and Role Expectations

In the University of Surrey study respondents were more likely to attribute innovative problem

solving styles to female manager than to male. Ask students what more they they would want to

find out about the study to determine its validity. What kind of follow-up study would they like

to see to gain further insight into perceptions of male vs. female management problem solving

styles.

Teamism—Granfalloons

This excerpt is from a section that focuses on uses of groups for propaganda. The idea is that the

“granfalloon” makes a group a prime candidate for manipulation on the basis of its ill-conceived

group pride and cohesiveness.

Can You be Comfortable with Conflict?

Based on the John Ford article, American, Canadian, Western European, Australian, and New

Zealand cultures are considered more individualistic than many cultures from other countries.

Collectivist cultures put an important value on the group above the individual.

Talking Points:

• How truly individualistic is American culture?

• Did the UK’s fight over accepting the Euro as their currency show that it was more

individualistic than its Continental counterparts?

• Are there parts of the U.S. more collectivist than others?

Discussion Suggestions for Case Analysis 12.1

Quality Is No “Easy Rider”

One company students are very much aware of is Harley-Davidson. Many are aware that the

company was in trouble and experienced a high-visibility, high-altitude change. Given that

awareness, they should be interested in this excerpt. They may wonder how the Harley-Davidson

culture of teamwork and empowerment reconciles with the notion of confrontation.

Suggestions For Guiding Chapter Exercises

Exercise 1: Conflict Management Assessments

After groups or teams have created their method, set up groups in pairs as in previous exercises.

• In each pair, have Team A use Team B’s instrument to assess its conflict management

and have Team B use Team A’s instrument.

Exercise 2: The Games People Play—Comparing Narratives

This one is fun. It’s especially good for Syllabus B, because it can lead to a journal assignment

to identify ways in which individuals’ personal experiences have included games that their

groups identified.

Exercise 3: Group Pressure Stories

This is a good journal exercise. Or, you can have students meet in groups to discuss their

experiences with deviance and pressure to conform.

2. From that list, ask students to identify some categories or themes that emerge and to relate

those to the chapter information about deviance and conformity.

Exercise 4

After groups have acted out their groupthink skits, ask the class to identify specifically when and

how groupthink emerged.

1. What communication behaviors indicated that groupthink was occurring? Help students

2. What kinds of pressure did members in the skit put upon each other? Isolate verbal or

3. If the skit didn’t show a conclusion, ask the class what they thought would be the results

of the groupthink. Did the skit indicate closedness, inadequate exploration, and

assessment of risks and options that would lead to bad decisions?

Additional Exercise

CONFLICT IN THE SITCOM

Objective

To analyze conflict as it is played out

Time

1 to 2 hours outside of class; up to 1 hour in class

Materials

2. Alternatively, you can bring in a videotaped sitcom for all to see on a VCR and monitor in

Procedure

1. Give students instruction sheet.

3. Alternatively, have students report to the class what they observed.

Preparation of Materials

Duplicate an instruction sheet as follows:

Instruction Sheet for Conflict in the Sitcom

Select a televised situation comedy that shows conflict among members of a family or some

other group. Watch the show carefully (it is preferable if you can tape it and play it back for this

assignment). Then answer the following questions:

1. What (briefly) was the situation?

2. What were the goals, assumptions, needs of the participants?

3. What kind of conflict was it?

4. What styles of conflict management did the principal characters reveal?

Debriefing

This assignment can be used for a journal or for an in-class exercise (if you bring in the tape).

1. If you debrief it in class, ask students first what sitcoms they used.

3. Have groups report their findings to each other and agree on one example to report to the

class or, if members all reviewed one episode, ask them to synthesize their findings together.

5. Discuss to what extent the sitcoms represented effective or ineffective conflict management.

What did they leave out for sake of time? For the sake of dramatic or comic effect? What would

be different in real life?

Case Study 1: The Church Dance Conflict

The pastor of a church has asked an advisory committee to recommend whether or not to permit

a dance in the social hall.

Of the committee members, Jen leans toward “yes,” Dave tends slightly toward “no,” Sue Ann is

completely unsure. Bob is definitely for it, and Lila is strongly against it.

Bob’s arguments are: The church has no rules against dancing; the town has few social activities

and this will give folks—including some restless kids—something to do; it will enhance the

church’s service to the community; it will cost nothing, but will bring in money for the day-care

Questions

1. What are the causes of the conflict between Bob and Lila?

2. What should Jen, Dave, and Sue Ann do? How can this conflict be managed?

Suggestions for Debriefing Case Study 1

1. Help students track through Bob’s and Lila’s arguments and separate what seem to be

emotional/personality issues and what seem to be substantive issues.

Case Study 2: The Social Studies Swindle

The Board of Education in Townsville adopted a new social studies curriculum, spending

$350,000 on a consultant, materials, and teacher training seminars.

The town is in an uproar. The Citizen, a local newspaper, has revealed the curriculum is

fraudulent and the consultant who was paid to design it has fake credentials. Professors from the

nearby university have examined the curriculum and declared that it is factually inaccurate and

pedagogically unsound.

P. T.’s impressive resumé, overhead slides, and startling allegations, the board hired Barnone as a

consultant to design a special curriculum for Townsville’s schools.

The board refused to hear the opinions of the Superintendent of Schools, the Chairperson of the

Social Studies Department, the university professors who normally acted as advisors, and several

parents’ committees. The board said these people were biased.

The Citizen tried to interview members of the board and Consultant Barnone, but was unable to

get anyone to respond.

In accordance with the law, the board held an open meeting. A crowd arrived, Barnone

presented the curriculum, and members of the board spoke in its favor.

Questions

What happened here? Discuss this case in terms of deviance, conformity, cohesiveness, agendas,

and groupthink. Track the chain of behaviors that led to the fiasco.

Suggestions for Debriefing The Social Studies Swindle

1. Have students start with the background; what are the goals and motives of Dayang? What

kinds of assumptions did she make to begin with?

3. Ask students to identify where illusions of superiority, unanimity, and invulnerability crop

up in this story.

Additional Resources

Print resources

Burton, G. E. (1990). The measurement of distortion tendencies induced by the win-lose nature

of in-group loyalty. Small Group Research, 21, 128-141.

Genuario, James and Carr, Charles. (Feb 2008). The role of shared decision making in sports

medicine: putting the “I” back in “team”. (25TH Anniversary SPECIAL SERIES) (Report). The

Journal of Musculoskeletal Medicine, 25.2 p63.

Guy, John. (Feb 16, 2009). Are we victims of ‘group think’? (Conference news). Indianapolis

3-14.

Media resources

Dealing with conflict. Carlsbad, CA: CRM Films.

The Abilene paradox. Carlsbad, CA: CRM Films. 28 min.