TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction........................................................................................................................2
1.1

Objectives of the Study...............................................................................................2

1.2

Background.................................................................................................................3

1.3

Methodology...............................................................................................................4

1.4
Scope.

.4
1.5
Limitation

Literature Review...............................................................................................................5
2.1

Organizational Behavior Overview.............................................................................5

2.2

Group Behavior...........................................................................................................5

2.3

Group Purpose and Types...........................................................................................7

2.4

Stages of Group Formation.........................................................................................7

2.5

Group Social/Emotional Behavior..............................................................................7

Discussion and Analysis of OB at Group Level............................................................10

3.1

Data Analysis............................................................................................................11

3.2

Results and Discussions............................................................................................12

CHAPTER_I

INTRODUCTION

Aiming for the group productivity is the most challenging task in every organization. It is
through the productive and efficient work group/team that a firm can easily bring in
sustainable success in its business operation and thereby improve its potential and position in
the industry.
Accordingly, the survey of group behavior vis--vis performance needs to be continuously
appraised to identify the areas that demands to polish and improve. Though the intention is
fully academic and for the partial fulfillment of the course Organizational behavior and
development, the study tries to appraise the group level behavior in NMC and its impact on
the group performance thereby to draw a concrete conclusions and recommendations for the
gaps identified.
1.1

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Generally speaking, any business organizations continuity and sustainable growth relies on
the presence of productive work teams/groups. The general intent of the study is, therefore:
To appraise the group level behavior and its link with productivity in
NMC from the theoretical and educational materials point of view.
Specifically, the study targeted at assessing:
The group level behavior in the NMC and its link with organizational
performance,
The understanding of the management about the work group and its
behavior,
The link between group level behavior in NMC and its theoretical
components (what literatures say),
Group level behavioral challenges and factors that affect group
productivity,
Group formation and its management in an organization,

 Individual understanding of the group and the way differences

managed, and
To forward recommendations and suggestions based on the findings.
1.2

BACKGROUND

National Motors Corporation was founded in 1993 and is one of the modern private
companies which is engaged in the imports and sales of light and heavy duty Trucks, Pickups, Four wheel utility Vehicles, Automobiles and their Spare parts.
NMC envisioned being an auto assembly plant in the country which enhances local small
scale auto-part manufacturers would have the opportunity to share in the manufacturing of
components and will help the country to save foreign currency. NMC core values are
Integrity, Commitment, Adding value and never being satisfied.
The Organizational structure of the company is a kind of Functional structure which is
organized according to an individuals purpose within the organization. It is arranged in such
a way that departments focus on a single function or goal. NMC is organized as Commercial
Department, after sales department and Administration department reporting to the General
Manager of the company.
NMC is an authorized agent for Chevrolet and Isuzu and it represents the following
renowned industries of automotive manufacturers, covering America, Europe and Asia that is
General Motors Corporation North America for Chevrolet Vehicles and Isuzu Motors Japan
In addition to importing and selling of Vehicles and Automobiles NMC has after sale
maintenance services division equipped with state of the art technology and trained work
force which makes it one of the best facility in the country.
NMC head office is located around Mexico near Popolarae Building which includes sales
office and light Vehicle and Automobiles maintenance service. It Has one branch Workshop
located around Kality for heavy truck maintenance service .The company currently employed
211 permanent and contract staffs of which GM office 5, Personnel and Administration 69,

Finance 13, sales 10, spare parts 16, purchasing 7,technical service Mexico 49 and Technical
Service Kality 42 of which 173 male and 38 female.
In general the company is growing rapidly and has a yearly turnover of over three hundred
and fifty two million birr.
1.3

METHODOLOGY

In conducting the study of the organizational behavior at group level, both primary and
secondary sources of information were taken into consideration.
Accordingly, the secondary sources of information were accessed from reviewing different
literatures, research findings and class materials.
The second and primary sources of information were gathered from randomly taken 51
individual employees (minimum respondents assigned) through questionnaire prepared in
line with the format of Likert-Scale.
For further concretizing the findings of the study, the personal interview has been conducted
with one of the management member of the NMC.
1.4

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

1.5

The study was focused on analyzing group level behavior and

management understanding of work group behavior in NMC,
The HQs units including human resource department staff were
considered for survey,

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The limited time and other resources available were thought to have
impacted the result and
Convincing the company for survey and efforts to access necessary
information for the study have time more than we expected.

CHAPTER _II

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR OVERVIEW

Organizational behavior (OB) is the study of factors that have an impact on how people and
groups act, think, feel, and respond to work and organizations, and how organizations
respond to their environments. It is a field of social science which studies how people interact
in the workplace. It also examines personal and group behavior and mechanisms that help to
increase efficiency at both the individual and organization level. In this sense, organizational
behavior is an applied discipline and is closely related to sociology, psychology, statistics and
ergonomics.
Organizational behavior is characterized by its different levels of analysis:

Individual level behavior can be explained in terms of personality, learning,

perception, creativity, task performance, and deviant behavior that closely linked with
the field psychology.

The group level behavior can be distinguished by the group dynamics, diversity,
leadership, power, and communication. The group-level analysis focuses on group
dynamics, roles, norms, cultural diversity and leadership. The analysis may focus on
how different leadership styles (autocratic or democratic) influence the performance
of the individual within the group and the group as a whole. A group level analysis
comprises

detailed

appraisal

of

inter

group

disagreements,

interpersonal

communication, composition of hierarchy and other group centric parameters.

2.2

GROUP BEHAVIOR

Group Behavior is well defined as, situations that allows people to interact in large or small
groups. These individuals working together may begin to coordinate their behavior by acting
in a certain way to achieve a goal that differs from what each person would do if acting alone.
Group dynamics, combined with great leadership or management, can achieve goals that are
set for organizational success.
5

The organizations social systems are made up of many complex sets of human behavior and
relationships that interact in many ways within the workplace and also in the businesses world
they face every day. These working groups can be comprised of like-minded individuals, a
diverse group of individuals, or a group of specialized skilled individuals who are developed
by management to achieve one common goal in the organization or project at hand. Balancing
the rights of each individual in the workplace is sometimes difficult for the employer since
most organizational goals are set to be achieved through group effort. People become
dependent on established cultural systems that gives each individual stability, understanding,
security, and the ability to respond to any given situation. Working Groups impose certain
expectations and rules on each individual member of the team which can expose the weaker
members lack of shared responsibilities. This can affect the working teams set goals that must
be met by everyone involved in the groups effort to get every detail finished and
accomplished.
Employers views on Group Behavior Quality Management Systems within the workplace will
become the key element that will measure the success or failure of an organization. Individual
attitudes within the workplace can reflect a persons likes/dislikes toward other co-workers.
Although some scholars distinguish work teams and work groups (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993),
for our current purpose no such distinction were considered and the terms were used
interchangeably.

Others distinguish dyads or triads from larger teams. Although we

acknowledge that intra-team processes increase in complexity with more team members. Work
teams and groups come in a variety of types and sizes, cutting across different contexts,
functions, internal processes, and external linkages. However, several features provide a
foundation for a basic definition. Work teams and groups: (a) are composed of two or more
individuals, (b) who exist to perform organizationally relevant tasks, (c) share one or more
common goals, (d) interact socially, (e) exhibit task interdependencies (i.e., workflow, goals,
outcomes), (f) maintain and manage boundaries, and (g) are embedded in an organizational
context that sets boundaries, constrains the team, and influences exchanges with other units in
the broader entity (Alderfer, 1977; Hackman, 1987; Hollenbeck, Ilgen, Sego, Hedlund, Major,
& Phillips, 1995; Kozlowski, Gully, McHugh, Salas, & Cannon-Bowers, 1996a; Kozlowski,
Gully, Nason, & Smith, 1999; Salas, Dickinson, Converse, &Tannenbaum, 1992).
6

2.3

GROUP PURPOSE AND TYPES

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. By a
formal group, we mean one defined by the organizations structure, with designated work
assignments and established tasks. In contrast, an informal group is neither formally
structured nor organizationally determined. Informal groups are natural formations in the
work environment that appear in response to the need for social contact. Three employees
from different departments who regularly have lunch or coffee together are an informal
group. These types of interactions among individuals, though informal, deeply affect their
behavior and performance.
The need to form and be the member of a group originates from different social needs and
individual perspectives. Among others, the similarity of individuals in the need for Security,
Status, Self-esteem, Affiliation, Power, and Goal Achievement are few first coming motives
in forming the group.
2.4

STAGES OF GROUP FORMATION

Forming Stage: The first stage in the process of group development is the issues of much
uncertainty among members
Storming Stage: The second stage in group development,characterized by intergroup
conflict
Norming Stage: The third stage in group development, characterized by close relationships
and cohesiveness
Performing Stage: The fourth stage in group development, when the group is fully
functional
Adjourning Stage: The final stage in group development for temporary groups,
characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than performance
2.5

GROUP SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR

While it has been historically noted that groups possess both task and social/emotional
components (Bales, 1950), attention has primarily been directed toward understanding these
tasks rather than emotional elements. The construct of group emotion and shared emotion
7

among group members has been broadened in recent years. In much of early group research,
if affective components were mentioned at all, it was in the context of individual-level
satisfaction, morale, or cohesion. More recently, the social nature of emotions has been
emphasized (Parkinson, 1996), and affect has been explicitly recognized as an important
stimulus in a groups environment (Hackman, 1992). This recognition has increased as the
construct of affect within groups, and in the workplace in general, has been expanded and
reformulated, offering a more complete understanding of its role in small groups and
organizations. While the concept of a group emotion has a long history, there is no one
common definition. One can define group emotion as the groups affective state that arises
from the combination of its bottom-up componentsaffective compositionaleffectsand
its top-down componentsaffective context (Barsade& Gibson, 1998). That is, group
emotion results from both the combinations of individual-level affective factors that group
members possess as well as from group- or contextual-level factors that define or shape the
affective experience of the group. The concept of group emotion has been shown to be
reliably recognized by group members and outside raters, both on-site and through video
ratings (Barsade, 2000; Bartel&Saavedra, 2000; Totter dell, Kellet, Teuchmann, &Briner,
1998), and has been reliably measured through a variety of statistical techniques. We
specifically describe the posited processes behind this affective compositional and affective
context effects and offer an organizing structure within which to examine these affective
factors. The affective influences in groups can be described in a general input, process, and
output form, where inputs refer to affective antecedents to the group experience, process
refers to how affect is spread among other group members, and output refers to the resulting
group emotion and its effects on group life.
The affective compositional effects begin with the variety of individual-level affective
components members bring with them into the group interaction. Ashforth and Humphrey
(1995) defined affects broadly and inclusively as a subjective feeling state that can range
from diffuse moods to intense emotions. Group members bring their individual level
emotional experiences, such as dispositional affect, moods, emotions, emotional intelligence,
and sentiments, with them to a group interaction. Through a variety of explicit and implicit
processes, these affective inputs are communicated to other group members and form the
8

affective compositional group effects. Explicitly conscious processes include various forms
of socially induced affect, such as the deliberate creation or maintenance of emotional
experience in group members through affective influence and what is termed affective
impression management. Implicit processes include automatic affective transfer processes,
such as emotional contagion, feeling affect vicariously, and behavioral entrainment, that lead
to the spread of individual-level moods and emotions to other group members. Through these
two types of emotional sharing processes, individual-level moods and emotions are spread
and shared and form the bottom-up process of affective team composition (Barsade&
Gibson, 1998).
On the other hand top-down factors in the groups affective context are factors that may
impose an affective tone on the group or amplify or constrain the ways in which a group
experiences or expresses emotion. Specifically, organizational emotion norms, local group
norms, and the groups emotional history together can be considered as important context
variables. The combination of the affective context and the groups affective composition
leads to the group emotion at each given moment. Group emotion can refer to specific
emotional states, such as group jealousy or envy, to more diffuse feeling states, such as
pleasant or unpleasant group moods. The group emotion then feeds back into the affective
antecedents and the affective context, leading to a dynamic affective system in the group.

CHAPTER_ III

DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF OB AT GROUP LEVEL

To get the wider insight of the organizational behavior at group level, we have looked into
various literatures and research findings. Then the questionnaire prepared on the basis of the
likert-scale was distributed to the employees of NMC to assess the group level behavior in
same considering it as a primary strategy to obtain the needed information. Through the
combination of survey and interview, the current situation of group behavior in the
organization under consideration has been assessed.
Accordingly, few concrete points from the survey of literature have been presented in the
literature review parts. The information gained from distributed questionnaire (on a randomly
taken 51 individual employees) was further analyzed through tabular presentation, pie charts
and graphs whereby the discussion points and results were drawn. We, as a researcher, have
viewed the individuals behavior as a member of the group and the group level behavior
impact on individual performance and organizational achievement.
For further concretizing the findings of the study, the personal interview has been conducted
with one of the management member of the NMC. The interview has got a purpose to
recognize the various strategies and their strong points to create and maintain the higher
Group Performance and cohesiveness.

10

3.1

DATA ANALYSIS

Ite

Strongly

Criterion for evaluation

Disagree

Disagree

No
Opinion

Agree

Str

NMC has healthy organizational culture that provides benefits to team

65%

35

cohesiveness
In your department employees fosters open communication and recognizes

65%

35

individual contributions
3

NMC has fair motivation system that inspires teams for better performance

33%

40%

27

NMC organization is structured in such a way that members receive first hand

82%

18

and up to date information

5

I believe that team work and its performance is affected by individual attitudes

12%

76%

12

In this organization , group efforts are always fruitful compared to individual

6%

94%

efforts
7

NMC performance measurement system enhances group performance

31%

56%

13

Group structure is more valued than individualism

29%

53%

18

In my organization, major rewards are based on only performance

67%

33

10

effectiveness
In my organization subordinates are expected to obey their boss without

6%

12%

18%

29%

35

11

question
In this organization, managers encourage group loyalty even if individual failed

7%

7%

7%

71%

7%

12

to achieve goals.
In this organization, a persons influence is based primarily on ones ability and

47%

35%

18

contribution to the organization

Table 1 The Response Result Analysis

11

It is clearly depicted on the table above that the percentage response of the respondents
on average shows that the NMC has developed a better group and their response were
as such found to be in favor of their company.
3.2

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The primary data collected has been further analyzed through pie charts and bar graphs
followed by discussions of the findings. Accordingly, feedbacks of the respondents
collected through questionnaires dispatched to randomly selected individuals were
presented as follows.
a. Q1 The Presence of Healthy Organizational Culture for Team Cohesiveness

NMC has healthy organizational culture that provides benefits to team cohesiveness
Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

No Opinion

35%
65%

Chart -1

The chart above indicates that the NMC has developed an organizational culture that

will positively impact the cohesiveness of the team

Higher percentages of the respondents (65%) out of the total respondents were

answered in favor of the organization. 12

As such it can be said that the culture of the organization is built in a way to support a
cohesive team.

b. Q2 Employees Foster Open Communication and Recognize Individual

Contribution
Chart -2

In your department employees fosters open communication and recognizes individual contributions
Strongly Disagree Disagree
Agree

No Opinion

Strongly Agree

35%
65%

It is indicated in the chart that there is a better communication among

the employees of the organization

The individual contribution is also well recognized
The whole respondents (100%) agreed on the presence of fostered
communication

among

employees

individual contribution.

13

and

better

understanding

of

c. Q3 The Presence of Fair Motivational System

Chart -3
NMC has fair motivation system that inspires teams for better performance
40

33
27

Strongly0Disagree

Disagree
0

No Opinion

Agree

Strongly Agree

The chart above indicates that large size of the respondents (about 33%)
have reservation on the issue which shows discomfort on the fairness of
the motivational system of the company.

cnart

14

d. Q4,5,6 Perfect Information Flow, Attitudes Affect Performance and Group

Effort is Better Than Individual Effort
Chart -4
NMC organization is structured in such a way that members receive first hand and up to date
information
I believe that team work and its performance is affected by individual attitudes
In this organization , group efforts are always fruitful compared to individual efforts
94%
82%
76%

18%
12%

12%
6%

Strongly
Disagree
0% 0%
0%

Disagree
0%
0% 0%

No
0%Opinion

Agree

Strongly Agree
0%

With regards to the organizational structure all of the respondents agreed

up on the presence of up to date and firsthand information dissemination.

The majority of the respondents believe that individual attitude has a

greater impact on team work and its performance.

The majority of the respondents agreed that group effort is productive.
.
15

e. Q7,8,9 Measurement Adds Productivity, Group Structure is Better Than

Individualism and Performance Effectiveness is The only Basis for Reward
Chart -5
70%
67%
60%
56%
53%

50%
40%
31%
29%

30%

33%

20%
18%

10%
13%
0%
0% 0%
Strongly
Disagree
0%

0%
Disagree
0% 0%

No Opinion
0%

Agree

Strongly Agree

NMC performance measurement system enhances group performance

Group structure is more valued than individualism
In my organization, major rewards are based on only performance effectiveness

69% of the respondents agreed up on the idea of performance

measurement improve group performance in an organization. But, 31% of
respondents have shown reservation on the issue.
71% of the respondents agreed that their organization gives a better value

to group structure than individualism. 29% of respondents have shown

reservation on this issue.
100% of the respondents agreed on performance effectiveness to take a

better value in reward provision.

16

a. Q10,11,12 Boss Obeyed Without Question, Group Loyalty always Encouraged

and Ability& Contribution are Basis of Personal Influence
Chart -6

In this
my organization
organization,subordinates
managers
a
persons encourage
influence
are expected
isgroup
based
to loyalty
obey
primarily
their
even
on
boss
ifones
individual
without
ability
question
failed
and to
contribution
achieve goals.
to the
organization

71%

47%

35%
29%

6% 7%

Strongly Disagree
0%

12%
7%

35%

18%
18%

7%
7%

Disagree

No Opinion
0%

Agree

Strongly Agree

64% of the respondents agreed that every employee obey their boss with

no question. But the remaining 36% respondents disagree with the issue.
78% of the respondents believe that their managers encourage the group
performance even in time of individual failures in achieving their

respective goals. But the remaining respondents disagree with the idea.
Only 53% of respondents agreed on the presence of the individual ability
and contribution that influence the other members of the team. The
remaining i.e., the majority of the respondents disagree with issue.
17

CHAPTER_ IV

Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations

4.1. Summary of the Findings

The theoretical thought factors that influence the group formation and its performance were
taken into consideration in analyzing the finding of the study. Accordingly, among others, factors
like the psychological factors (interest, attitude, personality, perception), social factors (social
class, culture, religion), security factors (new place, termination of job, etc.), economic factors
(shortage of money for house construction, medical care & other needs), proximity, interaction,
interest and influence were some of the elements considered for comparison. Following are,
therefore, the summary of the findings;

NMC has developed an organizational culture that will positively impact the

cohesiveness of the team as favored by many of the respondents.

The other area observed to be strong side of the company was the presence of good
communication among the employees and the better recognition given to individual

contribution.
The company, however, failed to impress its employees in establishing the fair

motivational system where one third of the respondents found to have reservation.
The better information flow in the company may be another success area of the company
where almost all respondents opted for the presence of up to date and firsthand

information dissemination.
Something good was also the understanding individual employees got on the impact of
individual attitude to team work and its performance as the majority answered in favor
of the issue.

18

The management principle that says the total is greater than the sum of its parts is well
understood as the opinions of the majority of the respondents agreed on group effort to

be better productive.
The idea of the performance measurement improves the group performance were agreed

up on by many. But large enough respondents have shown reservation on the issue.
The group structure has been valued better in an organization. Yet the issue observed not
well addressed as almost one third of the respondents have shown reservation on this

issue.
Though the majority agreed on performance effectiveness takes a better value in reward

provision few have failed to respond.

Obeying the without question is almost what practiced by all as majority opted for that

though few disagree with the idea.

The managers encourage the group performance even in time of individual failures in

achieving their respective goals though not adequate enough.

The personal influence in the company is believed to be based not mainly on individual

skill and contribution as the majority assured.

4.2. Conclusions
In conclusion, the company can be said to have a better group formation and management as
per the findings of the questionnaire survey. Either through thoughtful strategy or by chance
the company was evaluated at higher rate by many criteria. However, not few that indicated
for the need of improvement in some areas. The points for further improvement were,
therefore, listed in the under mentioned topic.
4.3. Recommendation
We, as the study group, recommend the following to the company to bring betterment in areas of
identified weaknesses;

Conducting a continuous employees satisfaction survey on motivational system and thereby

responding to the gaps identified.

The management needs to design mechanisms other than performance measurement to improve
productivity like introducing different motivational schemes, establishing effective M&E

mechanisms and others that improve group and individual performance.

Giving group structure a better value to create good team spirit and improving a practice of

performance effectiveness based reward is also major areas that need management attention.
Creating a participatory work environment with free flow of information and ideas where
personal ability and contributions are main factor of influence.

19

References:
1. Stephen P. RobbinsSan Diego State University; Timothy A. Judge University of Notre
Dame; Organizational Behavior( Edition 15),
2. R. Peccei, A. Giangreco, and A. Sebastiano,
The Role of Organizational Commitment in the Analysis of Resistance to Change:
Co- predictor and Moderator Effects, Personnel Review 40, no. 2 (2011)
3. J. P. Kotter,
Leading Change: Why Transformational Efforts Fail, Harvard Business Review 85 (January
2007).
4. K. van Dam, S. Oreg, and B. Schyns,
Daily Work Contexts and Resistance to Organizational Change: The Role of Leader-Member
Exchange, Development Climate, and Change Process Characteristics, Applied Psychology: An
International Review 57, no. 2 (2008).
5. K. Lewin,
Field Theory in Social Science (New York: Harper & Row, 1951)
6. W. W. G. Dyer, W. G. Dyer, and J. H. Dyer,
Team Building: Proven Strategies for Improving Team Performance (Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass,
2007).

20

Interview Summary
On Tuesday march 24 2015 the team members have visited NMC head office around Mexico
square and conducted an interview with the company Administration Manager
AtoTameneBirhanu. In our visit and interview we came up with a brief understanding of how the
company works and treats its employees and the result of findings of our interview is
summarized here in below.
Q1. Who is NMC and what kind of business it has?
Ans. NMC is a private company established in Nov 1993 GC, inaccordance with
Ethiopian law.

Ato Seid Hussein Alamoudi, Ato Busseiri Keyum and Ato Hassen

Hussen Alamoudi with a capital of 10,000,000.

Regarding its business the company

Imports and sales new Chevrolet cars from General Motors Corporation

North America and Isuzu Motors Japan

imports and sales original Spare parts
provides after sale technical support and periodical technical services

Q2. What kinds of Motivational factors are used to increase participation and productivity of
workers in the company?
Ans. NMC has established Progressive benefit packages like

Yearly Bonus depends on the Company profit

Merit based annual salary increment
Salary adjustment depending on the living cost of the country
Medical expense coverage
Life insurance
Continuing skill upgrade training

Q3.What is employees rate of turn over?

Ans. There are some but it is not significant number
Q4. Do you make exit interview when an employee leaves the company

21

Ans. No we dont
Q5.

22