Robbins, Judge, and Vohra

Organizational Behavior
15th Edition

Foundations
Foundations of
of Group
Group Behavior
Behavior

Kelli J. Schutte
William Jewell College
Copyright © 2014 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Authorized adaptation from the United States edition of Organizational 9-1
Behavior, 15e
Chapter
Chapter Learning
Learning Objectives
Objectives
 After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
– Define groups, and distinguish the different types of groups.
– .
– Show how role requirements change in different situations.

– Demonstrate how norms and status exert influence on an

individual’s behavior in a group.

– Contrast the benefits and disadvantages of cohesive groups.

– Contrast the strengths and weaknesses of group decision making.

– Explain social loafing, and the effects of diversity in groups.

9-2
 Defining
Defining and
and Classifying
Classifying Groups
Groups
Group:
– Two or more individuals interacting and interdependent, who have
come together to achieve particular objectives
 Formal Group:
– Defined by the organization’s structure with designated work
assignments establishing tasks
 Informal Group:
– Alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally
determined
– Appear naturally in response to the need for social contact
– Deeply affect behavior and performance

9-3
Why
Why people
people need
need to
to be
be aa part
part of
of an
an informal
informal
group????
group????

 Any insights provided by McClelland’s need theory??

 Any insights provided by social identity theory???

 Any insights provided by Maslow’s hierarchy of need

theory??

 Sense of belonging to the social world

9-4
 In
In which
which ways
ways informal
informal groups
groups might
might impact
impact
organizational
organizational outcomes?
outcomes?
 Informal groups cross organizational structure and can facilitate getting work done
more quickly. "I used to work with Joe in the other division. Let's see if he can
expedite..." is the sort of informal line of communication that can bypass corporate
hierarchy.

  Informal groups also provide a support structure for workers under adverse
conditions.

 They maintain the sense of camaraderie amongst the group members which keeps
the morale of the group members up.

 The group may have its own work standards for example understandings between
members about not telling management anything that would be detrimental to
another group member.

 Negative group pressure.

 Take away for managers?????? 9-5

Group
Group Properties
Properties

9-6
Group
Group Property
Property 1:
1: Roles
Roles

Role
– A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone
occupying a given position in a social unit
 Role Perception
– An individual’s view of how he or she is supposed to act in a
given situation
 Role Expectations
– How others believe a person should act in a given situation

9-7
Zimbardo’s
Zimbardo’s Prison
Prison Experiment
Experiment
 Set up a fake prison using student
volunteers
 Randomly assigned student
volunteers to guard and prisoner
roles
 Within six days, the experiment
was halted due to following
concerns:
– Guards had dehumanized the prisoners
– Prisoners were subservient
– Fell into the roles as they understood
them
– No real resistance felt

9-8
 Take
Take away
away for
for managers?????
managers?????

 The take away from Zimbardo’s prisons was that people learn
to play their roles due to their social learning, past
experiences, social expectations and observations.

 Take away for managers…….What managers can do to foster

strong role perceptions amongst young interns???

9-9
 Role
Role Conflict
Conflict

– A situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent

role expectations….
– Any suggestions for managing role conflict?????
– Define your roles and their boundaries

– Familiarize yourself with the people related to the roles you are
playing.
– Understand your need to play a given role. The gravity of need one
has to do in order to execute his roles is important 
– Set standards for your roles. Too much of one may conflict with the
other.
9-10
 Group
Group Property
Property 2:
2: Norms
Norms
Norms
– Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by
the group’s members. As a member of a group, you desire acceptance
by the group. Thus, you are susceptible to conforming to group
norms.

Peer Pressure
How can managers use Peer Pressure as an influence tactic
 for better performance???

 Sattar Minute | Scene | Chak De India | Shah Rukh Khan | Shimit Amin | Sattar Minute
Dialogue - Bing video

9-11
 Group
Group Property
Property 3:
3: Status
Status
Status
– A socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members
by others – it differentiates group members
– Important factor in understanding behavior
Status Characteristics Theory
– Status derived from one of three sources:
• Power a person has over others by controlling group’s resources
• Ability to contribute to group goals
• Personal characteristics

What are common group dynamics because of status

differences?????

9-12
Status
Status Effects
Effects
 On Norms and Conformity….take away for managers??
– High-status members are less restrained by norms and pressure to
conform
– Some level of deviance is allowed to high-status members so long
as it doesn’t affect group goal achievement

 On Group Interaction….. take away for managers??

– High-status members are more assertive
– Large status differences limit diversity of ideas and creativity

9-13
Group
Group Property
Property 5:
5: Cohesiveness
Cohesiveness
Cohesiveness
− Degree to which group members are attracted to each
other and are motivated to stay in the group

Managerial Implication
– To increase cohesiveness:
• Make the group smaller.
• Encourage agreement with group goals.
• Increase time members spend together.
• Increase group status and admission difficulty.
• Stimulate competition with other groups.
• Give rewards to the group, not individuals.

9-14
6-
6- Group
Group Diversity
Diversity
 Pros and cons of group diversity??????

9-15
Group
Group Decision
Decision Making
Making vs.
vs. Individual
Individual Choice
Choice
 Group Strengths:
– Generate more complete information and knowledge
– Offer increased diversity of views and greater creativity
– Increased acceptance of decisions
– Generally more accurate (but not as accurate as the most
accurate group member)
 Group Weaknesses:
– Time-consuming activity
– Conformity pressures in the group
– Discussions can be dominated by a few members
– A situation of ambiguous responsibility

9-16
Group
Group Decision-Making
Decision-Making Phenomena
Phenomena
 Groupthink
– Situations where group pressures for conformity deter the
group from critically appraising unusual, minority, or
unpopular views
– Hinders performance.
– Affective Conflict
– Affective conflict is commonly termed as a “clash of
personalities” because it involves interpersonal difficulties in
group that arise over feelings of anger, mistrust, dislike, fear,
and the like.
– Social Loafing
– Individuals feel less responsible for acting in a given
situation if there are other people present who could also act

9-17
 LUMS
How will you handle social loafing in project groups????
1–18
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education,
Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall