Five Components of GBM being practices from selected company

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1.0 Introduction to company background and

work group
For the purposes of completing on my report about work group, performance and
satisfaction, I was selecting my workplace as a organization requirement to evaluate.
My workplace is UTP. Base on references from www.utp.edu.my, Universiti
Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) was established on January 10, 1997. UTP offers a wide
range of engineering and technology programmes at undergraduate and
postgraduate levels complemented with a strong focus on Research and
Development.
Due to assess of performance and satisfaction of a work group, I was selecting one of
the UTP's department which is IT & Multimedia Services Dept. or ITMS. Under
ITMS dept, it has sub division called Information Technology and Facilities
Operation, named as ITFO. Furthermore, ITFO has 3 work groups which consist of
Inventory Management, Deployment & Production and IT Helpdesk & Training.
These groups are classified as Formal Groups and characterized as Task Groups. All
the said groups have interdependence from each other as illustrated in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1: ITFO Work Group: source: UTP ITMS Dept.

1.1 Explanation of work group, performance and

satisfaction
Based on reference from Wikipedia.com, the definition of work group is a group of
people working together toward a common goal, also known as a working group.
Another definition of work group is a group which consists of two or more individual
that interacts primarily to share information and to make decision to help each
member perform within his or her area of responsibility.

Work group have no need or opportunity to engage in collective work that requires
joint effort. So their performance is merely the summation of each group member's
individual contribution. There is no positive synergy that would create an overall
level of performance that is greater than sum of the input. (Robbins, 2004)
With regard to Group Behaviour Model which I will elaborate later in this report, can
lead members of a group towards developing effective groups where it can improve
performance and satisfaction of its members and ensure success of the organisation.
Effective groups are groups that have creative ideas, accomplish their tasks and can
adapt
to any changes. Group members will be more involved with the group and goals of
the organisation. As a manager, he or she need to see and assess the strategies
required to develop effective groups in an organisation. Elements that need extra
attention are those involving people, organisation and the assigned task/s. A high
degree of understanding between the group leader and his/her members also has a
positive effect on the performance and satisfaction of group members.

2.0 Five Components of GBM being practices

from selected company
Figure 2.1: Group Behaviour Model. Source: Robbins, S.P.(2003)
Group Behavior Model or GBM as illustrated on figure 2.1 are the main components
which are influencing to the performance and satisfaction levels of groups. I will
explain each components of GBM where the company being practices.

2.1 An external condition is imposed on group

Every work groups is influence by external conditions imposed by outside it. This
external conditions include organization's overall strategy, the structure of authority,
formal regulations, resources, employees' selection process, performance appraisal
and reward system, culture and workplace condition.
Organizational Strategy, typically, overall strategy of the organization is usually
determined by top management. They have developed the organizational
goals and how to achieve these goals. For example, they can direct
the organization to reduce costs, improve quality, etc.
These strategies can affect the power of the various working groups,
particularly in determining the resources needed to carry out from

them. For example, termination of contract to IT maintenance vendor and UTP's

employees need to take over. This action will affect the work group which
will increase their anxiety and further potential
to improve the internal conflict.
The organization has the authority structures that define who reports to whom,
who make decisions, and the types of decisions can be made by individuals or
groups. This structure determines where a working group placed in a hierarchical
organization, the formal leader of a group, and as well as formal relationships
between the groups.
Organization established rules, procedures, policies, job descriptions and other
forms formal regulations to standardize the behavior of workers. The more rules
formally applied to all workers, the more consistent and predictable behavior from
them.
Meanwhile, organization's resource such as money, time, materials, and other
equipment have a major impact on group behavior. Some organizations have a lot of
resources on which the employee obtained modern tools and equipment, sufficient
and high quality. Organization with limited resources will affected of group activities.
For employee selection process, A member of a work group is also a member of the
organisation because the group is a part of the organisation. Accordingly, the criteria
employed by the organisation for employee selection purposes will also be used to
decide who becomes part of a group.
Another variable that can affect all employees is the performance appraisal and
reward system. The company provided specific, challenging and achievable goals.
Reward will be given to both individual and groups for their achievement. Since
groups are part of a bigger organisation, the behaviour of group members are also
influenced by the manner in which organizations appraise a certain task that has
been achieved and the kind of behavior that is rewarded.
Each organization has their own culture in which it has defined standard behavior is
acceptable and not acceptable to the employee. After a few months joining the
organization, most employees will begin to understand the cultural practice in the
organization. Group members are also part of the organization must follow dominant
cultural practices of the organization although they have their own subculture.

Subculture refers to a culture that received only adopted by certain groups within the
organization.

Finally, work group behaviour is also influenced by the workplace condition where
condition of the workplace as provided by the organisation. Physical layout of
employee's work space, the location of equipment, etc are provided with amicable
work environment. All these can simultaneously be obstructions and opportunities
for the interaction of work groups.

2.2 Resources for Group Members

Figure 2.2: General resources available to group members
The potential level of achievement of the group is dependent on the resources carried
by each member of the group. In this section, we will look at two sources generally
highly significant, the ability of self and personality characteristics.
Personal Capability means the knowledge, skills and abilities that exist in an
individual. A large part of the group's performance can be predicted by assessing the
knowledge and skills that exist in each of its members. It is true, even though a group
of players who are moderate, but because the best coach, team spirit is high, they can
finally beat a group of players much better. But this does not always happen.
Evidence shows that there is a positive correlation between good interpersonal skills
and group achievement. This refers to the management and resolution of conflict,
cooperation in problem solving and communication skills. According to the ITFO
group members, the manager has been selecting each member following their skill
and capability.
Many studies about personality traits have shows that there
is a clear relationship between the characteristics personality and
attitude and behavior of the group. The properties have a positive
relationship with our culture also showed a positive relationship with
productivity, morale and closeness or solidarity groups. These
features also include features such as easily hang out, take
initiative, openness, and flexibility. On the other hand, negative features such
as authoritarianism, dominant, and not according to custom
(unconventionality) showed a negative relationship with productivity,
morale and the closeness of the group. These personality traits affect the

performance of the group by the way people interact with other members
of the group.

2.3 Group Structure

The working group has a structure that could form the behavior of group members. It
also enables the majority of individual behavior and group performance groups
described and predicted. The structure of the group include formal leadership, roles,
norms, group status, group size, composition and the degree of closeness of the
group. (Please refer Appendix for the main Group Structure and function of ITMS
dept.)

(a) Formal Leadership

Nearly all work groups have a formal leader. ITMS dept has managers, supervisors,
project leader and head of a particular committee such as ITFO. Leaders play an
important role in the success of a group.

(b) Roles
Each member of a work group has his/her own role to play with a set of expected
behavior patterns accompanying his/her position and responsibilities within the
group. It found that, each person of ITFO have more than one role to play at any
given time within his/her different groups. Beside of ITFO task, the members from
level 2 and 1 (figure 1.1) have their main job such as computer lab administration.

(c) Norms
All groups have established norms. These norms, which strongly influence work
behavior was defined as acceptable standards of behavior. An effective work group
will establish norms on quality, punctuality, absenteeism, safety, honesty in giving
ideas and others.

(d) Group Status

Status is a socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by
others. Awarding of status can influence the behavior of groups. ITFO practicing the
title hold of the workgroup's leaders are depending of staff grade such as grade ST3
in level 2 and ST2 and ST1 at level 1 (figure 1.1).

(e) Group Size

Smaller groups are more productive than larger ones. On the other hand, larger
groups deal better with problem solving since more ideas are put forth. ITFO is a
small group that consists of 3 to 6 members of each workgroups.

(f) Group Composition

Most group of ITMS and ITFO have their skill and knowledge. When the group
consists
of various personalities - gender, age, education level and experiences, the greater
the chances are for that group to accomplish its task successfully. Heterogeneous
groups are more effective compared with homogeneous ones because they possess
more abilities, skills, and information as a result of having members from a variety of
backgrounds.

However, it is also worth noting that both heterogeneous and homogeneous groups
have their own strengths and weaknesses.

(g) Cohesiveness
ITFO workgroups are differ in their level of cohesiveness, which is the degree of
members being attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group. For
instance, some work groups are cohesive because the members have spent a great
deal of time together, the group's small size facilitates high interaction or the group
has experienced external threats, which has resulted in its members becoming very
close. Cohesiveness is important since it has proven to be positive towards the
productivity of a group.

2.4 Group Processes

Figure 2.3: General resources available to group members
When the working group in which each member contributions are not clear, there is
a tendency for individuals to reduce effort. In other words, 'social loafing' describes
the loss of certain processes as a result the group. However, the processes also can
produce results positive such as the group could produce output exceeds input used.

Heterogeneous group are potential to generate various creative alternatives. Figure

2.3 and 2.4 illustrated the resource of group members and effects of group process.
Figure 2.4: Effects of group processes. Source: Adapted from Robbins (2003).

2.5 Group Task

Tasks can be classified as either simple or complex. A standard task or routine is
usually simple. A complex task is usually unusual as not in the norm and is seldom
carried out. With simple or routine, group members simply need to follow the
standard procedure in performing the task without the need to discuss the
alternatives. Similarly, group members need to interact more often if the degree of
task dependency is high. Group performance relies on effective communication and
minimum level of conflict among members.

3.0 Evaluation of the 5 components of GBM in

UTP organization
All evaluation findings are based on personal interview and observation from the
members of the ITFO work group (figure 1.1). The evaluations resulted were obtained
without difficulties because selected company is my workplace and I am one of the
members of ITFO work group. These are the evaluations findings based on the GBM
model:

3.1 An external condition is imposed on group.

a) Organizational Strategy - Overall strategy of the organization is
usually determined by top management. They have developed the
organizational goals and how to achieve these goals. For example, UTP has
reduced costs of operation instead of hired outsource to organized convocation
ceremony by build a certain group to handle it. ITFO group is formed to support such
event directly.
b) Authority structures - Is defined who reports to whom, who make decisions, and
the types of decisions are clearly stated to groups members. This structure was
cleared to ITFO to follow hierarchical organization (figure 1.1), the formal leader of a
group, and as well as formal relationships between the groups. UTP has established
standard rules, procedures, policies, job descriptions and other forms.

c) Formal Regulations - UTP has employee regulation and personal conduct which is
cleared to all employees. It's help to the company to determine group behaviour.
d) Organization's Resource - It found that, money is the major concern need to pay
attention. such as when group request budget which is required from the task like
purchase high end computer to accelerate particular job, it always take longer time to
approve. Thus, activities of the group will effect.
e) Employee Selection Process - ITFO has selected member to enter the group is
within UTP's staff and recommended by ITMS managers.
f) Performance Appraisal and Reward System. - The UTP management provides
specific, challenging and achievable goals such as, become Research University in
2013 and also practiced cleared mention about Performance Appraisal and Reward
System. Behavior of group members is influence by the manner in which
organizations appraise a certain task that has been achieved and the kind of behavior
that is rewarded.
g) Culture. - The ITFO followed the UTP standard culture which has no obstacle to be
effective work group. All members are Muslim and also most of UTP Top
management. Thus, culture is same among them.
h) Workplace Condition - UTP has provided better and amicable employee's work
environment. The opportunity for the interaction for the all work groups is
excellence.

3.2 Resources for Group Members

a) Personal Capability- According to the ITFO group members, the manager has been
selecting each member following their skill and capability. For example, group of IT
Helpdesk and Training (figure 1.1) is consist of capable members who are able to
develop System Helpdesk and maintain. They have strong programming language.
b) Personality Traits - ITFO manager and supervisor which are support level and
level 3 (figure 1.1) has determined each members from level 2 and 1 are based on
personality trait. For example of some members which have lack of communication
skill are not really suitable in Deployment and Production which is required good
communication skill to interact outside from the groups.

3.3 Group Structure

(a) Formal Leadership - ITFO Leaders play an important role in the success of a
group.
(b) Roles - Each member of a work group has their own role to play with a set of
expected behavior patterns accompanying their position and responsibilities within
the group. It found that, each person of ITFO have more than one role to play at any
given time within their different groups. Beside of ITFO task, the members from level
2 and 1 (figure 1.1) have their main job such as computer lab administration. From
the evaluation made, the level acceptance and satisfaction of tasks are moderate.
(c) Norms - In terms of quality, punctuality, absenteeism, safety, honesty in giving
ideas and others, it was found the situations of all characteristic is fare, which means
there are no big issue arise in the group.
(d) Group Size - It found that, the ITFO group size is acceptable to the tasks
requirement.
(e) Group Composition - All group members of ITMS and ITFO have their skill and
knowledge. It consists of various personalities - gender, age, education level and
experiences. Heterogeneous groups such ITFO IT Helpdesk and Deployment groups
are more effective compared with homogeneous such as Inventory Management sub
group because they possess more abilities, skills, and information as a result of
having members from a variety of backgrounds. However, each group members have
their own strengths and weaknesses.
(f) Cohesiveness - It found that, cohesiveness among ITFO is excellence because they
interact well each other and the tasks given which is interrelated flows effectively.
For example, the IT Helpdesk assigned task such as troubleshoot customer (lecturer)
computer problem to the Deployment & Production group. The result found they are
easily interacts each other without conflict.

3.4 Group Processes

ITFO work group has formed base on decision made from Support Level and Level 3
in figure 1.1. The main objective is to accelerate and give better IT & Media services to
UTP organisation. Based on the result since a year ITFO been established,
effectiveness of the work group is still being monitored by ITMS manager. Support
level has claimed that, there is positive movement in terms of efficiency of task given.
For example, Deployment & Production group (figure 1.1) has given task on

migration of new computer laboratory instead of the custodian of the laboratory do

their own migration which is consumed longer time and more effort.

3.5 Group Task

Result from the findings, it found, with a simple or routine task, group members did
well in term of follow the standard procedure in performing the task without the
need to discuss the alternatives such as, how to log user problem in the Helpdesk
system or how to install MS Office to the user computer. Similarly, group members
have interact more often if the degree of task dependency is high. For example,
available version of software like MATLAB can't be installed to the new OS computer.
Thus, ITFO work group (inventory management and Deployment group) need to
work together to find alternative and decision have to be made. Group performance
of ITFO is having effective communication and minimum level of conflict among
members.

4.0 Workgroup's Performance and Satisfaction

Based on the Group Behavior Model which I was elaborated above, can lead
members of a group towards developing effective groups where it can improve
performance and satisfaction of its members and ensure success of the organisation.
From the findings, ITFO it closely to be an effective group due to the creative ideas
among members, accomplish their tasks and can adapt to any changes such as IT
revolution. As a IT manager on Support level in figure 1.1, he was able to see and
assess the strategies required to develop effective groups in an organization. For
example, he encourages the workgroup's member to attend suitable training to
particular area of their expertise such as inventory management system to the
inventory management workgroup.
Nevertheless, the level 3 (figure 1.1) need extra attention in cohesiveness matter to
their subordinate group which resulted less cohesiveness. Then, a degree of
understanding between the group leader and his/her members is moderate. For
example, biasness occurred and favorable practices. If the situation can be eliminate,
positive effect on the performance and satisfaction of group members will increase.

5.0 Conclusion and Recommendation to

improve performance and satisfaction

From the findings, it concluded that, better GBM approaches from selected company
can lead members of a group towards developing effective groups where it can
improve performance and satisfaction of its members and ensure success of the
organization. External condition imposed on the group such as better performance
appraisal and reward system is the most concerned into effectiveness of the work
group performance and satisfaction.
These are the three recommendations on how to improve performance & satisfaction
from the selected company:
a) The performance appraisal and reward system from the company can be said
stated clearly, but the result at the end is not the same of what members group has
expected. Thus, misjudge about performance evaluation of the particular group must
be eliminate and required accuracy.
b) Cohesiveness of superior and support level 3 (figure 1.1) to their subordinate
group members must be strength. According to Robbins (2004) "Cohesiveness is
importance because it has been found to be related to the group's productivity". To
strengthen cohesiveness, the leader must frequently meet group's member such as
conduct meeting twice a month, or involved external activity such as team building
and sport event.
c) From the findings, group task of each work group is claimed to be bias from
certain member. For example, Deployment & Production work group perceived that
their task load is heavy compared to Inventory Management. Thus, leader must
clearly state about task segregation and be balanced to each work group's member
due to workgroup productivity and job satisfaction.

Total number of words: 3387

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