FOUNDATIONS OF GROUP BEHAVIOUR

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MANAGERS AND LEADERS

Term “LEAD” means “go, travel, guide”
– Leaders give direction, cope with change and innovate
Term “MANAGE” originates from “hand”
– Managers “handle things”, cope with complexity by maintaining order consistency and
control

LEADERS MANAGERS
CREATIVE ANALYTICAL
EXPERIMENTAL AUTHORITATIVE

FLEXIBLE PROBLEM SOLVING

INSPIRING RATIONAL

INITIATE CHANGE STABILIZING

PASSIONATE STRUCTURED

VISIONARY TOUGH MINDED

As per John P Kotter

Management Leadership
Direction ● Plan and budget ● Create vision and strategy

● Minimise risk for sure results ● Maximize opportunity

● Focus on bottom line ● Keep eye on horizon

Alignment ● Organize and staff ● Create shared culture and values

● Direct and control ● Provide learning opportunities

● Create structure and order ● Encourage network and flexibility

Relationships ● Invest in goods ● Invest in people

● Use position power ● Use personal influence

● Focus people on specific goals ● Inspire with purpose and trust

Personal ● Emotional distance ● Emotional connections (Heart)

Qualities
● Expert mind ● Open mind (Mindfulness)

● Talking ● Listening (Communication)

● Conformity ● Nonconformity (Courage)

● Insight into organization ● Insight into self (Character)

 Outcomes ● Maintain stability; create a culture of ● Create change and a culture of agility
efficiency and integrity

DEFINITION
• Leadership is the ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the
effectiveness of the organizations of which they are members.
• Leadership is the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations
• A Leader is a prime mover in pushing for implementation of strategic decisions
Organizations need strong leadership and strong management for optimal effectiveness
We need leaders to
● Challenge the status quo
● Create vision of the future
● Inspire the organizational members to achieve the vision
We need manages to
● Formulate detailed plans
● Create efficient organizational structures
● Oversee day-to-day operations

DEFINING AND CLASSIFYING GROUPS

Distinction between different types of groups
Group Two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come
together to achieve particular objectives

Formal Group A designated work group defined by an organizations structure

Informal Group A group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined;
such a group appears in response to the need for social contact.

Social identity

Social Identity Perspective that considers when and why individuals consider themselves
Theory members of groups

● Social identity theory proposes that, people have emotional reactions

to the failure or success of their group, because their self-esteem gets
tied to whatever happens to the group. When group does well, you
 bask in reflected glory and your self-esteem rises. When your group
does poorly, you might feel bad about yourself.

● People develop many identities through the course of their lives – the
organizations you work for, the city you live in, profession, religious
background, ethnicity or gender.

● We may pick and chose which of our social identities are salient to the
situations or we may find that our social identities are in conflict - such
as business leader and parent.

● Social identities help to understand who we are and where we fit in

with other people. To experience good outcomes, we need to feel that
our social identities are positive.

● Identities may develop through relational identification, when we

connect with others because of our roles, and collective identification,
when we connect with the aggregate characteristics of our groups.

Ingroups and Outgroups

Ingroup Perspective in which we see members of our ingroup as better than other
favoritism people, and people not in our group as all the same.

Outgroup The inverse of an ingroup, which can mean everyone outside the group but is
more usually an identified other group.

 Ingroup & outgroup – animosity between them

 One of the most powerful sources of ingroup-outgroup feeling –
practice of religion – even in workplace.

Social identity Ingroup & outgroup – pave the way for social identity threat – akin to
threat stereotype threat.

Individuals believe that they will be personally negatively evaluated – due to

association with a devalued group – may lose confidence and performance
 effectiveness

STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

Punctuated- A set of phases that temporary groups go through that involves transition
equilibrium between inertia and activity
model

Stages in this mode includes,

 The first meeting sets the groups direction

 The first phase of group activity is one of inertia and thus slower
progress
 A transition takes place exactly when the group has used up half its
allotted time
 This transition initiates major changes
 A second phase of inertia follows the transition
 The group’s last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated
activity

Alternative models suggest that teams progress

Formation stage – a conflict resolution or “storming” stage – members agree
on roles and make decisions or “norming” stage – members begin to work
collaborately or “performing” stage

 Forming, storming, norming and performing stages – phase one of

punctuated-equilibrium model

 A second performing and conforming stage – second phase of

punctuated-equilibrium model – following a short period of reforming
group norms and expectations

Stages of punctuated-equilibrium model

 First meeting – group’s general purpose and direction established -

 framework of behavioral patterns and assumptions for approaching its
project emerges – sometimes within first few seconds of its existence

 period of inertia -the group tends to stand still or become looked into a fixed
course of action - even if it gains new insights that challenge initial patterns
and assumptions 

 group experienced a transition precisely halfway between the first meeting

and the official deadline - midpoint appears to work like an alarm clock

 group’s last meeting is characterized by a final burst to finish its work

GROUP PROPERTIES

Defining group properties are roles, norms, status, size, cohesiveness and diversity

GROUP PROPERTY 1: ROLES

Roles A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given

position in a social unit