GROUPS CHAPTER 9

@ZURAIDAH MOHAMED ISA/UiTM KEDAH/2008

Organizational Behavior (OB) Defined

The study of the actions of people at work The focus of OB
Individual behaviors
Personality, perception, learning, and motivation

Group behaviors
Norms, roles, team-and conflict

The goals of OB
To explain To predict behavior

Why People Join Groups

Security
Reduce the insecurity of standing alone; feel stronger, fewer selfdoubts, and more resistant to threats Inclusion in a group viewed by outsiders as important; provides recognition and status Provides feelings of self-worth to group members, in addition to conveying status to outsiders Fulfills social needs. Enjoys regular interaction; can be primary source for fulfilling need for affiliation What cannot be achieved individually often becomes possible; power in numbers Some tasks require more than one person; need to pool talents, knowledge, or power to complete the job. In such instances, management may rely on the use of a formal group

Status

Self-esteem

Affiliation

Power

Goal achievement

Defining and Classifying Groups

Group(s) Two or more individuals interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives. Formal Group A designated work group defined by the organizations structure. Informal Group A group that is neither formally structured now organizationally determined; appears in response to the need for social contact.

Defining and Classifying Groups (contd)

Command Group A group composed of the individuals who report directly to a given manager. Interest Group Those working together to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned. Task Group Those working together to complete a job or task.

Friendship Group Those brought together because they share one or more common characteristics.

Norms
Norms are acceptable standards shared by the members of a group. Dress/attire Effort/performance Loyalty/commitment Attitude/manners Conformity/peer pressure

Norms
1. Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are adopted and shared by the groups members
Influence the group's behavior with a minimum of external controls Exert pressure upon members to bring their behavior into conformity with the standards of the group; individuals do desire to conform to group standards and norms (Ash study) Performance norms are most important

Cohesiveness
The degree to which group members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group. Time spent together Shared experiences Number of members and diversity

EXHIBIT 123 Relationship between group cohesiveness, performance norms, and productivity.
Copyright 2001 Prentice Hall Publishing Supervision Today, 3/e Stephen P. Robbins and David A. De Cenzo

Group Structure - Cohesiveness

Cohesiveness Degree to which group members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group.
Increasing group cohesiveness:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Make the group smaller. Encourage agreement with group goals. Increase time members spend together. Increase group status and admission difficultly. Stimulate competition with other groups. Give rewards to the group, not individuals. Physically isolate the group.

Sources of Cohesion
Group Formation Factors Difficulty of Entry Group Size Threat Previous Successes Reward Systems Stability of Membership

Relationship Between Group Cohesiveness, Performance Norms, and Productivity

How groups make decision

Decision by lack of response Decision by authority rule Decision by minority Decision by majority rule Decision by consensus Decision by unsnimity

Potential Assets of Group Decision Making

Greater sum total of knowledge and info Greater number of approaches to the problem Better understanding Increased acceptance of final decision

Potential Liabilities of Group Decision Making

Social pressure to conform Individual domination Time spend

Techniques Used to Improve Group Decisions

Brainstorming The nominal group technique Delphi technique

What is brainstorming?
Brainstorming is a means of generating ideas. Brainstorming can be used to identify alternatives, obtain a complete list of items and to solve problems. There are a variety of brainstorming techniques. The common principle of brainstorming is to set aside the restrictive thinking processes so that many ideas can be generated.

RULES
No criticism of ideas Go for large quantities of ideas Build on each others ideas Encourage wild and exaggerated ideas

Why use brainstorming techniques?

Brainstorming can: break through traditional thinking about a problem. generate new ways of thinking. provide an environment for building on new ideas. reduce the tendency to prematurely discard new ideas. facilitate team building. encourage team problem solving.

Brainstorming is not a structured meeting

Brainstorming is: Idea generation Issue generation Divergent thinking Open format Structured meeting is:
Fixed agenda Chairperson Minutes Action items

A brainstorming technique
Present the problem or opportunity for which brainstorming is being applied Allocate 3-5 minutes to write on the post-it notes as many ideas as possible one idea per note Each person quickly writes their thoughts onto the post-it notes regardless of how impractical, outrageous, extreme, crazy they may be (do not filter the ideas)

Affinity analysis
Each person in turn sticks their post-it notes on the whiteboard, putting their note near to an idea that is similar to theirs. This should result in clusters of post-it notes representing similar ideas. Review the ideas by cluster. For each type of idea ask the group How could we make this work? Discuss each variation of the idea and refine to develop a possible solution.

Summary and future action

Write up a summary of each type of idea/solution presented. Determine an action plan for working through the ideas. The action plan may be to test or further research the alternatives identified to select a shortlist of the most suitable solutions for further evaluation.

The Nominal Group Technique

Nominal Group Techniques Defined
A technique to improve group decision making that brings people together in a very structured meeting that does not allow of much verbal communication. The group decision is a mathematically pooled outcome of individual votes

The Nominal Group Technique

One or more small groups sit at tables of 4-5 people The problem is defined as fully as possible to the group

Participants are instructed to silently write down all possible solutions that occur to them. Creativity is encouraged The leader conducts a round-robin collection and recording of ideas. One idea at a time is taken from each person until all ideas are exhausted Ideas can be rank ordered within the groups, results compared and the best ideas chosen Ideas are discussed expanded on, clarified and evaluated by the group(s)

Strengths of NGT
NGT provides structured output that can be analyzed at an individual level The NGT process results in high respondent involvement and commitment The process of identifying and scoring problem themes makes it possible to study both intraand inter-group differences

Weaknesses of NGT

The major disadvantage of NGT relates to sampling. Because participants have to agree to come to a central meeting location, attempts at probability sampling are met by a serious level of non-response

Definition

The Delphi Technique is a method for gathering opinions from a group of geographically dispersed experts to reach a consensus through the use of multiple questionnaires without holding a group meeting.

Issue Selection

Panel Selection

Development and Distribution of Questionnaire Collect and Analyze Results

Yes

Consensus? Prepare New Questionnaire

No

Some advantages
Does not require face-to-face meetings. Convenient to participant. Distance is not a factor. Inexpensive. Free of social pressure. Focus stays on issue at hand.

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Some Disadvantages
May eliminate extreme positions and force middle-of-the-road consensus. Requires skill in written communication. Results are limited. More time consuming and requires full commitment from participants.

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