Module 7:

Work Teams and Groups

MGT 332
Dr. Karen Landay
 Module 2: Module 3: Module 5:
Module 1: Individual Module 4: Module 6:
Personality, Attitudes, Learning &
OB & Motivation at Stress & Well-
Perception & Emotions, & Performance
Opportunity Work Being at Work
Attribution Ethics Management

Module 8:
Module 10: Module 9: Module 7: Interpersonal
Power &
Conflict & Leadership & Work Teams &
Political
Negotiation Followership Groups
Behavior

Organizational Module 11: Module 12: Module 13:

Organizational Career Managing
Culture Management Change
Panopto Recap
Modern Types of Teams, Group Behaviors, &
Intro to Teams Group Development
• Groups vs teams • Virtual and global teams
• Why teams? • Positive aspects of group behavior
• Functions in teams • Negative aspects of group behavior
• Stages of group development
Teams: Good, Bad, or Unavoidable?
Self-Assessment: Common Beliefs About Teams
• Teams will always perform better than individuals
• Large teams are more effective than smaller
teams
• Team members must put aside their own self-
interests for the good of the team
• Teams are appropriate and effective for all tasks
• In effective teams, members think very similarly
to each other
 Does (Team) Size Matter?
Team Dimension 2-7 Team 8-12 Team 13-16 Team
Members Members Members
Demands on leader Low Moderate High
Direction by leader Low Moderate Moderate to high
Member tolerance of direction by leader Low to moderate Moderate High
Member inhibition Low Moderate High
Use of rules and procedures Low Moderate Moderate to high
Time taken to reach a decision Low Moderate High
Group Decision Making
Advantages
• More knowledge and
information through the pooling
of group member resources
• Increased acceptance of and
commitment to the decision
• Greater understanding of the
decision
Disadvantages
• Pressure within the group to
conform and fit in
• Domination of the group by one
forceful member
• Increased amount of time
required to make a decision
Groupthink
• A deterioration of mental efficiency,
reality testing, and moral judgement
resulting from pressures within the
group
• Conditions that lead to groupthink:
• High cohesiveness
• Making highly consequential decisions
• Time constraints
• Symptoms of groupthink:
• Illusions of invulnerability
• Illusions of group morality
• Illusions of unanimity
• Rationalization
• Stereotyping the enemy
• Self-censorship
• Peer pressure
• Mindguards
Groupthink Gone Wild: Crowdthink
• When crowds react to
crowdsourcing campaigns by
making a mockery of them
• Instead of benefiting from
the wisdom of large groups,
decisions go off the rails
entirely
Group Polarization
• The tendency for group discussion to
produce shifts toward more extreme
attitudes among members
• Group members initially in favor of a
decision become even more supportive
• Group members initially opposed to a
decision become even more against it
Group Decision Making Techniques
• Brainstorming
• Generate as many ideas as
possible, suspending evaluation
until all ideas have been suggested
• Nominal group technique
• A structured approach to group
decision making that focuses on
generating alternatives and
choosing one
• Devil’s advocacy
• A technique for preventing
groupthink in which a group or
individual is given the role of critic
during decision making
• Dialectical inquiry
• A debate between two opposing
sets of recommendations
Teams at the Top
• Upper echelons
• A top-level executive team in an
organization

• Upper echelon theory

• Background characteristics of the top
management team predict organizational
characteristics and set standards for values,
competence, and ethics
Upper Echelon Theory in Action: Elon Musk & Twitter
• April 2022:
• Musk offers to buy Twitter for
$44 billion
• May 2022:
• Musk rescinds offer, citing
volume of fake/spam accounts
• July-September 2022:
• Twitter sues Musk
• Deposition and trial scheduled
• October 28, 2022:
• Musk closes the deal
• Fires key executives, including CEO
• November 2022:
• Musk launches $7.99/month
verification program
• Donald Trump’s account reinstated
• Mass layoffs
• Musk emails all employees demanding
total commitment
Activity: Evaluate a Team Decision
• Think about a decision that you were involved in as part of a team:
• What was the team size? How did that influence the decision-making process?
• Did groupthink or crowdthink occur?
• If yes, what led to it?
• If no, how was it prevented?
• Did group polarization occur?
• If yes, in which direction?
• Which group decision making technique was used?
• Did social loafing occur? How did the team handle it?
Exam Review (1/2)
• Greg, Robert, and Eric work in • In their team of programmers,
the same department and share Amber works on writing code.
information but are held What function is Amber
accountable as individuals. This performing?
is an example of a ________: A. Task
A. Team B. Essential
B. Cohort C. Job
C. Group D. Maintenance
D. Cluster
Exam Review (2/2)
• A top-level executive team in an • Lisa does not complete their
organization is a ________: assigned part of the team project.
A. Exec team What is Lisa engaging in?
B. Management group A. Forming
C. C-team B. Social loafing
D. Upper echelon C. Loss of individuality
D. Maintenance function
Reminders
• Group A discussion
• 5 replies due Sunday, 3/12
• Group B discussion
• Initial post due Wednesday, 3/15
• 5 replies due Sunday, 3/19
• Ch. 11 quiz due Wednesday, 3/15
• Ch. 11 self-assessment due
Wednesday, 3/15
• Exam #2 taken ONLINE
• Available 8am Monday 4/4 until
11:59pm Friday 4/7
• Reflection #2 due Sunday, 4/9
• Questions:
• Canvas message
• Email kmlanday@umkc.edu