Amity School of Business

DEFINING GROUPS Broadly, a group is any collection of individuals who have mutually dependent relationships. A group may be defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives.
1

Amity School of Business

A GROUP IS AN ASSOCIATION OF TWO OR MORE INDIVIDUALS WHO INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER FOR A SECURITY COMMON PURPOSE. WHY GROUPS?
SOURCE OF INFO. MONOTONY GROUP IN JOB

GOAL SOCIAL NEED ACHIEVEMENT 2

Amity School of Business

The Types of Groups

Based on structure: Formal Group
A group that managers establish to achieve organization goals. (Standing task group/command group and task groups)

Informal Group
A group that managers or nonmanagerial employees form to help achieve their own goals or to meet their own needs.( friendship groups, interest groups, reference groups)
3

Types of Groups
I. a)

Amity School of Business

Formal Group Command group: Command group which is

determined by the organizational chart depicting the approved formal connections between individuals in an organization. Task groups: are often not restricted to the organizational hierarchy and can be crossfunctional in nature. Standing committee: is a permanent committee in an organization to deal with some specific types of problems that may arise more or less on a regular basis.
4

b)

c)

II) Informal Groups

a)

Amity School of Business

b)

c)

Interest groups: are formed when a group of employees band together to seek some common objectives, like joining the union to achieve a higher amount of bonus. Friendship groups: It satisfy affiliation need of members. Reference group: are the groups, with which individuals identify and compare themselves. These could be within the organization when a middle level executive compares himself with the higher-level executive. It might exist outside the organization as well when an individual compares himself with his batch mates working in other organizations

Amity School of Business

Other types of groups

Based on change of membership: Open : constant state of change, changing membership, time perspective and equilibrium. Closed : quite stable, fixed membership, long-term. Based on beliefs, values and preferences: In-group: a group to which we belong, it is best. Caste, religion, community, etc. Out- group: a group to which we do not belong. Rival groups( neighbourhood gangs, warring nations).
6

Contributions of Groups to the Organization

Amity School of Business

Synergy = the creation of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts Superior performance (i.e., better than lone individuals) when:
No clear expert to assign decision to Problem-solving can be handled by dividing work and sharing information Need for creativity and innovation (groups more willing to take risks than are individuals)
7

Contributions of Groups to the Organization (contd)

Forum to learn and share information Satisfying needs for:
Social interaction Security Emotional support Ego involvement in activities

Amity School of Business

Amity School of Business

Groups Contributions to Organizational Effectiveness

Figure 14.1

Amity School of Business

GROUP DECISION-MAKING
Advantages
More information More alternatives considered Better understanding and acceptance of decision Greater commitment to decision

Disadvantages
Social pressure to conform

Minority domination Time demands

10

Amity School of Business

Group Dynamics/ Determinants of group behaviour

1.Group Norms
Shared guidelines or rules that most group members follow. Groups may set their working hours, behavior rules, and output quotas.
11

Amity School of Business

Group Cohesiveness
2.Group Cohesiveness
The degree to which members are attracted or loyal to the group. Increases in group cohesiveness causes:
Participation in the group to increase which helps get members actively involved, but too much involvement can waste the groups time. Conformity to group norms to increase, although with too much conformity, group performance can suffer. Group goal accomplishment to increase in importance which can result in the group becoming more focused on itself than the organization.
12

Amity School of Business

Groups with high cohesiveness

demonstrate lower tension & anxiety demonstrate less variation in productivity demonstrate better member satisfaction, commitment, & communication
13

Amity School of Business

Group Dynamics
3.Group size affects how a group performs. Normally, small groups (2 to 9 members) interact better and tend to be more motivated. Larger groups can be used when more resources are needed and division of labor is possible. 4.Group tasks impact how a group interacts. Task interdependence shows how the work of one member impacts another; as interdependence rises, members must work more closely together.

14

Amity School of Business

5.Group Leadership :Effective leadership is a key ingredient in high performing groups, teams, and organizations. Formal groups created by an organization have a leader appointed by the organization. Groups that evolve independently in an organization have an informal leader recognized by the group.
15

Amity School of Business

6. Task Interdependence-Higher the level of exchange of resources among groups, higher would be degree of interdependence.

16

Amity School of Business

Group Development
Groups generally pass through a standardized sequence of their evolution. This sequence is known as the five stage model of group development. These stages areForming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning

17

Amity School of Business

The Stages of Group Development

Figure 14.4

18

STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT Amity School of Business

19

Amity School of Business

1. Forming : It is the first stage in group development, characterized by much uncertainty (about groups purpose, structure, and leadership). 2. Storming: It is characterized by intra-group conflict. Members accept the existence of group but there is resistance to the constraints that the group imposes on individuality. Members often show hostility towards each other and resist the leaders control. If these conflicts are not adequately resolved, the group may even be disbanded.
20

Amity School of Business

3. Norming: This stage is characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness i.e., in this stage close relationships develop and people start having strong sense of identity. 4. Performing: Structure at this point is fully functional and accepted. Group energy has moved from getting to know and understand each other to performing the task at hand. 5. Adjourning: It is the final stage when the group, after achieving the objectives for which it was created, starts to gradually dissolve itself.
21

Amity School of Business

GROUP PROBLEMS
1. Social loafing = when people work less hard in groups than they would by themselves Why?
Individual contributions less noticeable Prefer others to carry the workload

To deal with social loafing

Define members roles and tasks to maximize individual interests Make individual rewards dependent on contributions to group Enhance responsibility by identifying individual contributions to the group
22

Problem with Groups

2. GROUPTHINK

Amity School of Business

Groupthink = tendency of group members of cohesive groups to lose their ability to evaluate critically Groups affected by groupthink ignore alternatives and tend to take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups. A group is especially vulnerable to groupthink when its members are similar in background, when the group is insulated from outside opinions, and when there are no clear rules for decision making.
23

Contd..

Amity School of Business

Groupthink occurs when groups are highly cohesive and when they are under considerable pressure to make a quality decision. Some ways to avoid groupthink:
Assign role of devils advocate at meeting Impartial leader Subgroups work on same problem second-chance meetings Members discuss issues with outsiders and report back

24

Amity School of Business

GROUP SHIFT/RISKY SHIFT PHENOMENON: It is a tendency where group members take irrational or very higher degree of risk which would not have been taken if working in isolation/individually. It occurs as the risk is divided among members and if loss occurs that is also spread among all. Leads to unnecessary wastage of company resources.

25