Organisational Behaviour
Topic 5: Group Work
Source:
Organisational Behaviour, Stephen Robbiins & Timothy Judge (Chapter 9, 10)
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Foundations of Group
Behaviour
Source:
Organisational Behaviour, Stephen Robbiins & Timothy Judge (Chapter 9)
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Learning Objectives
Distinguish between the different types of groups.
Describe the punctuated-equilibrium model of group
development.
Show how role requirements change in different
situations.
Demonstrate how norms exert influence on an
individual’s behavior.
Show how status and size differences affect group
performance.
Describe how issues of cohesiveness and diversity can
be integrated for group effectiveness.
Contrast the strengths and weaknesses of group
decision making.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-3
LO 1 Distinguish Between
Different Types of Groups
A group is defined as two or more individuals,
interacting and interdependent, who have
come together to achieve particular objectives.
Groups can be either formal or informal.
Formal groups: those defined by the
organization’s structure.
Informal groups: alliances that are neither
formally structured nor organizationally
determined.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-4
LO 1 Distinguish Between
Different Types of Groups
Social identity theory: considers when and
why individuals consider themselves members
of groups.
People have emotional reactions to the
failure or success of their group because
their self-esteem gets tied into the
performance of the group.
Social identities help us understand who we
are and where we fit in with people.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-5
LO 1 Distinguish Between
Different Types of Groups
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-6
LO 1 Distinguish Between
Different Types of Groups
Ingroups and Outgroups
Ingroup favoritism occurs when we see
members of our group as better than other
people, and people not in our group as all
the same.
Whenever there is an ingroup, there is by
necessity an outgroup, which is sometimes
everyone else, but is usually an identified
group known by the ingroup’s members.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-7
LO 1 Distinguish Between
Different Types of Groups
Social Identity Threat
Ingroups and outgroups pave the way for
social identity threat, which is akin to
stereotype threat.
Individuals believe they will be personally
negatively evaluated due to their association
with a devalued group, and they may lose
confidence and performance effectiveness.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-8
LO 2 Describe the Punctuated
Equilibrium Model
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-9
LO 3 Show How Role
Requirements Change
Role: a set of expected behavior patterns
attributed to someone occupying a given
position in a social unit.
Role perception: one’s perception of how to
act in a given situation.
Role expectations: how others believe one
should act in a given situation.
Psychological contract
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-10
LO 3 Show How Role
Requirements Change
Role conflict: situation in which an
individual faces divergent role expectations.
We can experience interrole conflict
when the expectations of our different,
separate groups are in opposition.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-11
LO 3 Show How Role
Requirements Change
Role Play and Assimilation
Philip Zimbardo’s prison experiment.
Participants easily and rapidly
assumed roles that were very different
from their inherent personalities.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-12
LO 4
Show How Norms Exert Influence
On An Individual’s Behavior
Norms:
Acceptable standards of behavior
within a group that are shared by the
group’s members.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-13
LO 4
Show How Norms Exert Influence
On An Individual’s Behavior
Norms and Emotions
A recent study found that, in a task group,
individuals’ emotions influenced the group’s
emotions and vice versa.
Researchers have also found that norms
dictated the experience of emotions for the
individuals and for the groups – in other
words, people grew to interpret their shared
emotions in the same way.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-14
LO 4
Show How Norms Exert Influence
On An Individual’s Behavior
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-15
LO 4
Show How Norms Exert Influence
On An Individual’s Behavior
Norms and Emotions
A recent study found that, in a task group,
individuals’ emotions influenced the group’s
emotions and vice versa.
Researchers have also found that norms
dictated the experience of emotions for the
individuals and for the groups – in other
words, people grew to interpret their shared
emotions in the same way.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-16
LO 4
Show How Norms Exert Influence
On An Individual’s Behavior
Positive Norms and Group Outcomes
One goal of every organization with corporate
social responsibility (CSR) initiatives is for its
values to hold normative sway over employees.
If employees aligned their thinking with positive
norms, these norms would become stronger
and the probability of positive impact would
grow exponentially.
Positive group norms may well beget positive
outcomes, but only if other factors are present.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-17
LO 4
Show How Norms Exert Influence
On An Individual’s Behavior
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-18
LO 4
Show How Norms Exert Influence
On An Individual’s Behavior
Norms and Culture
Do people in collectivist cultures have
different norms than people in individualist
cultures? Of course they do.
But did you know that our orientation may be
changed, even after years of living in one
society.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-19
LO 5 Show How Status and Size
Differences Affect Performance
Status: a socially defined position or rank
given to groups or group members by others.
Status characteristics theory: status is
derived from one of three sources:
The power a person wields over others.
A person’s ability to contribute to a group’s
goals.
An individual’s personal characteristics.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-20
LO 5 Show How Status and Size
Differences Affect Performance
Status and Norms: high status individuals
often have more freedom to deviate from
norms.
Status and Group Interaction: high status
people are often more assertive.
Status Inequity: perceived inequity creates
disequilibrium and can lead to resentment and
corrective behavior.
Status and Stigmatization: stigma by
association.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-21
LO 5 Show How Status and Size
Differences Affect Performance
Group size affects the group’s overall
behavior.
Large groups are good for gaining diverse
input.
Smaller groups are better doing something
with input.
Social loafing: the tendency for individuals
to expend less effort when working
collectively than alone.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-22
LO 6 Integrating Cohesiveness and
Diversity for Group Effectiveness
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-23
LO 6 Integrating Cohesiveness and
Diversity for Group Effectiveness
Diversity: degree to which members of the
group are similar to, or different from, one
another.
Increases group conflict, especially in the
short term.
Culturally and demographically diverse groups
may perform better over time.
May help them be more open-minded and
creative.
Faultlines
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-24
LO 7
Group Decision Making
Strengths of group decision making:
More complete information and knowledge
Increased diversity of views
Increased acceptance of solutions
Weaknesses of group decision making:
Time consuming
Conformity pressures
Dominance of a few members
Ambiguous responsibility
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-25
Group Decision Making
LO 7
Effectiveness and efficiency of group
decisions:
Accuracy
Speed
Creativity
Acceptance
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-26
LO 7
Group Decision Making
Groupthink: situations in which group
pressures for conformity deter the group
from critically appraising unusual, minority, or
unpopular views.
Groupshift: a change between a group’s
decision and an individual decision that a
member within the group would make.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-27
LO 7
Group Decision Making
Most group decision making takes place in
interacting groups.
Members meet face-to-face and rely on both
verbal and nonverbal interaction to
communicate with each other.
Interacting groups often censor themselves
and pressure individual members toward
conformity of opinion.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-28
LO 7
Group Decision Making
Brainstorming can overcome pressures for
conformity.
In a brainstorming session:
The group leader states the problem.
Members then “free-wheel” as many
alternatives as they can.
No criticism is allowed.
One idea stimulates others, and group
members are encouraged to “think the
unusual.”
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-29
LO 7
Group Decision Making
The nominal group technique: restricts
discussion or interpersonal communication
during the decision making process.
Group members are all physically present, but
members operate independently.
Permits the group to meet formally but does
not restrict independent thinking, as does the
interacting group.
Nominal groups outperform brainstorming
groups.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-30
Group Decision Making
LO 7
Steps for a nominal group:
Each member independently writes down
his/her ideas on the problem.
After this silent period, each member
presents one idea to the group.
The ideas are discussed for clarity.
Each group member rank-orders the ideas.
The idea with the highest aggregate ranking
determines the final decision.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-31
Group Decision Making
LO 7
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-32
Implications for Managers
Recognize that groups can dramatically affect
individual behavior in organizations, to either
positive or negative effect. Therefore, pay
special attention to roles, norms, and cohesion
—to understand how these are operating
within a group is to understand how the group
is likely to behave.
To decrease the possibility of deviant
workplace activities, ensure that group norms
do not support antisocial behavior.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-33
Implications for Managers
Pay attention to the status aspect of groups.
Because lower-status people tend to participate
less in group discussions, groups with high
status differences are likely to inhibit input from
lower-status members and reduce their potential.
Use larger groups for fact-finding activities and
smaller groups for action-taking tasks. With
larger groups, provide measures of individual
performance.
To increase employee satisfaction, make certain
people perceive their job roles accurately.
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. 9-34
Understanding Work Teams
Source:
Organisational Behaviour, Stephen Robbiins & Timothy Judge (Chapter 10)
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Learning Objectives
Analyze the continued popularity of teams in
organizations.
Contrast groups and teams.
Contrast the five types of team arrangements.
Identify the characteristics of effective teams.
Explain how organizations can create team
players.
Decide when to use individuals instead of
teams.
10-36
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
LO 1 Analyze the Growing Popularity
of Teams in Organizations
Why are teams popular?
Teams can achieve feats an individual could never
accomplish.
Teams are flexible and responsive to changing
events.
They can quickly assemble, deploy, refocus, and
disband.
They are an effective means to democratize
organizations and increase employee involvement.
They introduce a collaborative mindset.
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Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
LO 2 Differences Between
Groups and Teams
10-38
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LO 3 Contrast the Five
Types of Teams
10-39
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LO 4 Identify the Characteristics
of Effective Teams
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LO 4 Identify the Characteristics
of Effective Teams
Team Context: What factors determine whether
teams are successful?
Adequate Resources
Leadership and Structure
Climate of Trust
Performance Evaluations and Rewards
10-41
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
LO 4 Identify the Characteristics
of Effective Teams
Team Composition: How should teams be
staffed?
Abilities of members
Personality
Allocating roles
Diversity
Cultural differences
Size of teams
Member preferences
10-42
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LO 4 Identify the Characteristics
of Effective Teams
10-43
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
LO 4 Identify the Characteristics
of Effective Teams
10-44
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
LO 4 Identify the Characteristics
of Effective Teams
Team Processes
Common Plan and Purpose
Reflexivity
Specific Goals
Team Efficacy
Team Identity
Team Cohesion
Mental Models
Conflict Levels
Social Loafing
10-45
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
LO 5 Explain How Organizations
Can Create Team Players
Creating Team Players
Selecting: hire team players
Training: create team players
Rewarding: incentives to be a good team
player
10-46
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
LO 6 Decide When to Use
Individuals Instead of Teams
When not to use teams…
Ask:
Can the work be done better by one person?
Does the work create a common goal or
purpose?
Are the members of the group
interdependent?
10-47
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Implications for Managers
Effective teams have adequate resources,
effective leadership, a climate of trust, and a
performance evaluation and reward system
that reflects team contributions. These teams
have individuals with technical expertise, and
the right traits and skills.
Effective teams tend to be small. They have
members who fill role demands and who prefer
to be part of a group.
10-48
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Implications for Managers
Effective teams have members who believe in the
team’s capabilities, are committed to a common
plan and purpose, and have an accurate shared
mental model of what is to be accomplished.
Select individuals who have the interpersonal
skills to be effective team players, provide training
to develop teamwork skills, and reward
individuals for cooperative efforts.
Do not assume that teams are always needed.
When tasks will not benefit from interdependency,
individuals may be the better choice.
10-49
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.