ASSIGNMENT
Unit 8: Group Discussion Making
1. How does the culture for group decision making developed?
The following are the methods to develop culture for group decision making:
• Readiness: In this initial phase plan for and begin to move toward group
decision making. While maintaining control over all phases of the process they
establish the school culture in which the process can begin to develop. They
determine what decisions will b shared who will participate in the process and
extent of involvement
• Experimentation: This phase focuses on building comfort and familiarity
with followers’ involvement in decisions. Because group members and school
leaders are experimenting with shared decision making, the emphasis is on
the evolving process rather than on the decisions themselves.
• Refinement: In the third phases, school leaders begin to share with the
followers the process for decision making as well as the decision themselves.
Followers assist in determining what will be decided in a shared manner and
who will be involved. They also assist in refining the process by which
decisions are made.
• Institutionalization: At this point, group decision making becomes the norm
in the school or school district. Based on the school’s/school district’s history,
the process of group decision making may be formal or informal. The group
members and school leader determine jointly which decisions will be shared
and what process will be used to make decision. The group members assume
the responsibility for their decisions and monitor their decision-making
process.
2. What the advantages of group decision making?
The following are the advantages of group decision making:
• Greater sum total of knowledge: The gap in knowledge of one person can
be filled by another. Whenever you bring in people from different
educational backgrounds, family environments, and personal experiences,
then you will receive a wide array of perspectives that can help you to
reach a better overall decision in almost any situation. People who come
from unique situations will always have different ideas than a group of
individuals who all have a similar life story to share.
• Greater Number of Approaches to the problem: Most people develop
familiar pattern for decision making. If each individual possesses her
unique way of searching for information, analyzing problems, and the like,
participatory decision processes provide more angles of attack at each
stages of decision making process.
• Greater number of alternatives: Partly as a result of increased
information and the use of varied decision making patterns, group
typically can identify and evaluate more alternatives than one individual
could. In listening to each other’s ideas, group members may combine
information to develop unique solutions that no single member could
conceive.
• Increased acceptance of a decision: Shared decision making breeds ego
involvement. That is, people tend to accept and support decisions that they
make rather than those others make. The more people, who accept a
decision and are committed to it, the more likely the decision is to be
implemented successfully.
• Better comprehension of a problem and decision: More people
understand a decision when it is reached by a group. This factor is
particularly important when group members are to be involved in
executing the decisions.
3. What the disadvantages of group decision making?
The following are the disadvantages of group decision making:
• Social pressure toward conformity: Individuals fear being labeled
uncooperative by other group members; they confirm to the direction the
group is taking even if they disagree with group’s position
• Individual domination: Often one person will dominate the group
because of difference in status or rank from other members or through
force of personality. This can cause resentment among other group
members who are prevented from participating fully
• Conflicting secondary goals: Wining an issue becomes more important
that making a quality decision. Too much energy is devoted to political
maneuvering and infighting and too little to reaching a quality decision.
• Undesirable compromises: Groups often make decisions that are simply
compromises resulting from differing points of view of individual
members. This is likely when a group must make a decision on a
controversial issue. After a brief discussion, the group may conclude that a
decision favoring either side is unacceptable so a compromise solution is
chosen. Such an approach may result in a low quality decision.
• Ambiguous responsibility: In group decision, the responsibility of any
single member is diffused across the group participants. Research has
shown that group decisions across the group is more risky that the average
of the individual decisions.
• Time: Groups often require more time to reach a final decision that do
individuals. It takes time to assemble a group and the interaction take
place once the group is installed is frequently inefficient. This limit a school
leader’s ability to act quickly and decisively when necessary .It is costly
because groups use more human resources .
4. How does group decision making increase the acceptance of a decision in the
organization?
Shared decision-making breeds ego involvement. That is, people tend to accept
and support decisions that they make rather than those others make. The more
people, who accept a decision and are committed to it, the more likely the decision
is to be implemented successfully. More people understand a decision when it is
reached by a group. This factor is particularly important when group members
are to be involved in executing the decisions.