I. An Individual Group Relations.

A. Individualism vs. collectivism.

 Cultural belief in individualism causes
discomfort about collectivism.
 Believe individuals should have most
influence in organizations.
 Cultural belief in collectivism leads to use of
groups in decision making within organizations.
 The principal difference is between "fitting
into the group" and "standing out within the
group."
 Even in individualistic societies the impact
of group is strong.
I. An Individual Group Relations.

B. Individual vs. group interests.

 Conflicts may exist, but not always.
 Groups do exist and thus must be dealt with.
 Groups are inevitable.
 Groups are powerful and produce important effects for
individuals.
 Group produces both good and bad
consequences/results.
 Groups can be managed to increase benefits from them
 Problems to be avoided:
 Free-rider - group member can produce sucker
effects
II. Group Types and Development
A. Types of groups.
 Friendship and task groups.
 According to the purpose they might serve.
 Friendship group--personal needs of security,
esteem, and belonging.
 Task group-organizationally defined goals.
 Any single group can serve both purposes.
 Interdependence in task groups.
 Interacting group-can't perform task until all
members complete their shares. Eg. Task forces
 Coacting group-perform independently in the short
run.
 Counteracting group--interact to resolve some
conflict.
 Usually through negotiation and compromise.
II. Group Development

B. Stages of group development.

 Types of task and social behavior differ in different stages.
 Stages: (Need to understand; can fail at any stage.)
 Forming.
 Task behaviors-define goals and develop
procedures.
 Relation behaviors--resolving dependence issues
among members.
 Getting acquainted; understanding leader and
member roles.
 Individuals might:
 Hide feelings until they know situation.
 Act more secure than they really are.
 Feel confused about expectations.
 Act polite.
 Do cost/benefit analysis of being in group.
Figure 9.1 Stages of Group Development
II. Group Development

B. Stages of group development.

 Stages: (Need to understand; can fail at any stage.)
 Storming
 Task behaviors--conflicts over priorities,
responsibilities, leadership.
 Relation behaviors--hostility, competition, isolation.
 Need to manage rather than suppress conflict.
 Otherwise, won't make it into third stage.
 Norming.
 Task behaviors-sharing information, accepting
different opinions, reaches agreement on goals and
rules.
 Relation’s behaviors-cohesion, resulting from empathy,
concern, positive expression of feelings.
 Cooperation dominant and sense of shared
responsibility.
II. Group Development

B. Stages of group development.

 Stages: (Need to understand; can fail at any stage.)
 Performing.
 Individuals accept and understand roles.
 Know when to work independently and when to
work interdependently.
 Some groups continue development; others perform
minimally.
 Minimal if: excessively self-oriented behavior, norms
hindering effectiveness develop; poor leadership.
 Adjourning.
 Terminate task behaviors and relation behaviors.
 May be well-defined (e.g., task force) or indefinite.
III. Factors Affecting Group
Behavior and Outputs.
A. Size.
 Beyond 12-16, members cannot react and interact.
 Depends partly on time available, member commitment.
B. Member composition and roles.
 Problem-solving styles.
 Members differentiated by:
 How obtain information (sensation or intuition).
 How reach decision (thinking or feeling).
 Combination of member differences affects group
processes and decisions.
 Different viewpoints may be constructive or
conflictive.
 Managers need to try to alter behavior rather than
trying to alter personalities.
III. Factors Affecting Group Behavior
and Outputs.
B. Member composition and  Self-oriented roles.
roles.  Blockers.
 Task-oriented roles.  Recognition seekers.
 Initiators.  Dominators.
 Information seekers.  Avoiders.
 Information givers.  Members often play
 Coordinators. both task and relations
 Evaluators. roles.
 Relations-Oriented roles.  High status if play one
 Encouragers. or more roles especially
 Harmonizers. well.
 Gatekeepers.  Group effectiveness
 Standard setters. hurt if persons playing
 Followers. self- oriented roles
dominate.
 Group observers.
III. Factors Affecting Group
Behavior and Outputs.
C. Norms.
 Defined-rules of behavior accepted by members of group.
 Define behavior necessary to realize goals.
 Individuals may join group wherein norms already
established.
 Facts about groups in organizations.
 Group norms may differ from standards
management sets.
 Peers may be more influential than management in
pressuring workers to follow norms.
 Workers are concerned with both task and
relations behaviors.
 Managers must consider relations behavior
when trying to change task behavior.
III. Factors Affecting Group
Behavior and Outputs.
C. Norms.
 Norms -vs- organizational rules.
 Norms are unwritten.
 Members must accept norms in order for them to
exist.
 Must be a power system to back up norms.
 Rules may be unacceptable and widely ignored.
 Members may be only vaguely aware of some
norms by which they live.
 Subconscious norms should be brought to conscious
level.
 Increases potential for individual and group freedom and
maturity.
 They influence individual, group, and organizational
effectiveness.
III. Factors Affecting Group
Behavior and Outputs.
C. Norms.
 Conditions for enforcement.
 If they aid in-group survival and provide benefits.
 If they simplify or make predictable the behavior that is
expected.
 If they help avoid embarrassing personal problems.
 If they clarify values, goals, or distinctiveness of the
group.
 Conformity to norms.
 Pressures to adhere to norms may produce conformity.
 Compliance-even if personally do not accept.
 May feel a united front appearance necessary.
 Want to be liked and accepted.
 Cost of non-conformity too high.
III. Factors Affecting Group
Behavior and Outputs.
D. Goals.
 Group goals--only in minds of group members.
 Not sum of individual goals.
 Objectives/states desired for group.
 Refer to the group as a system.
 Relation to group norms.
 Groups usually adapt norms to help attain goals.
 Even seemingly counterproductive norms may be rationalized as
necessary.
 Pervasiveness of goals.
 Need to understand goals to understand changing individuals,
groups, and organizations.
 Each is a goal-oriented system.
 Individual goals may influence group goals, behavior, and output.
 Compatible and incompatible goals may exist within and
between individuals, groups, and organizations.
III. Factors Affecting Group
Behavior and Outputs.
E. Cohesiveness.
 Defined-strength of members' desires to stay in
the group and commitment to the group.
 Influenced by compatibility between individual
and group goals.
 Relation to conformity.
 Low cohesiveness usually positively related
to low conformity.
 Could have high cohesiveness and low
conformity.
 When common commitment to group goals.
 When facing complex problems.
III. Factors Affecting Group
Behavior and Outputs.
E. Cohesiveness.
 Relation to groupthink.
 Defined-when decision-making
groups are both conforming and
cohesive.
 Groupthink is an agreement-at-any
cost - mentality that results in
ineffective group decision making and
poor decisions
III. Factors Affecting Group
Behavior and Outputs.
E. Cohesiveness.
 Relation to groupthink.
 Characteristics of Group think: illusion of
invulnerability; collective rationalisation; belief in
inherent morality of the group; stereotypes of other
groups; direct pressure on dissenters; self-censorship;
illusion of unanimity; self-appointed “mind guards”
 Initial conditions of Group Think: High cohesiveness;
insulation of the group from outsiders; lack of
methodological procedures for search and appraisal;
directive leadership; etc
 Effects of group think: incomplete survey of
alternative, goals and information; failure to have
contingency plans
 III. Factors Affecting Group
Behavior and Outputs.
E. Cohesiveness.
 Relation to groupthink.
 Conditions likely to lead into groupthink.
 Illusion of invulnerability.
 Collective rationalization (discounting warnings).
 Unquestioned belief in group's morality.
 Stereotype of rivals as not worth trying to negotiate
with.
 Pressure members so they understand any dissent is
not good.
 Results in self-censorship.
 Shared illusion of unanimity.
 Results from self-censorship and assumption that silence is
consent.
 "Mind-guards" who protect other members from adverse
information.
III. Factors Affecting Group
Behavior and Outputs.
E. Cohesiveness.
 Relation to groupthink.
 Groupthink is not inevitable.
 Leaders can encourage new ideas and criticism.
 Impact on productivity.
 Productivity and cohesion interrelated (especially in
groups with highly task- oriented goals).
 Success in goal attainment obtains feedback, which
obtains commitment.
 Low cohesiveness may hurt group's ability to achieve
goals.
 Must know group's goals before can understand
relationship between cohesion and productivity.
III. Factors Affecting Group
Behavior and Outputs.
F. Leadership.
 Informal leader is one who emerges over time and has influence
in the group.
 Multiple leaders.
 May have "relations-oriented" and "task-oriented" leaders.
 "Relations leader" more likely to be informal than is
"task" leader.
 Effective group leaders.
 Virtually all other factors affecting group output and
behaviors are strongly affected by leader.
G. External Environment.
 Defined-factors not controlled by group.
 E.g. technology, physical conditions, management practices etc.
 Task group may jointly try to influence external factors: e.g.
introduction of technological change.
IV Effective Group
Decision-Making
A. Continuum of group decisions.
 As group deals with increasingly important decisions, gains
autonomy. .
 Six-phase model for decision-making.
 Problem-definition.
 Explore fully and identify.
 Collect detailed information.
 What goals trying to serve.
 Problem solution generation.
 Look at alternatives.
 U.S. managers too often pick solution first.
 Ideas to actions.
 Evaluates alternatives and picks one.
 Involves group through participation.
IV Effective Group Decision-
Making
A. Continuum of group decisions.
 Six-phase model for decision-making
 Solution action planning.
 Forecast problems.
 Pick right people.
 Involve those whose support necessary.
 Assign and accept responsibilities.
 Solution evaluation planning.
 Groups usually do not see end-results of their
plan.
 Need to revise plans if fail.
 Need information.
 Evaluation of the product and the process.
 After evaluate solution.
 Look at process.
V. Stimulating Group Creativity-
The NGT ---There is Delphi also
A. NGT defined-structured process to stimulate creative group
decision-making where members lack agreement or there is
incomplete knowledge regarding the problem.

B. Key to effective group decision making is to separate the idea-

generating phase from the task of evaluating ideas and making a
final decision
B. The process.
 Step 1-Generation of ideas.
 By each participant in response to central focus.
 Developed privately in group session.
 Step 2-Recording of ideas.
 Each person's ideas recorded on visible device until all are
represented.
 Round-robin so equal opportunity and so will get everything.
 Listing makes potential conflict less threatening.
 Having the ideas visible de-personalizes them.
V. Stimulating Group Creativity-
The NGT.
B. The process.
 Step 3-Clarification of ideas.
 Each idea discussed to clarify.
 Members may agree or disagree.
 Must show logic.
 Step 4-Voting on ideas.
 Feedback and discussion tend to yield decisions close to the true
preferences of the group.
C. Conditions for effectiveness.
 Advantages of NGT.
 Greater emphasis on idea generation.
 Increased attention to each idea.
 Greater likelihood balanced participation of each member in
group.
 NGT best when:
 Members unaware of existing problem.
 Communication process in-group is inadequate.