Compiled by

A Srinivasa Rao
The dynamics of OB
- Groups and teams
Types of Groups
Formal Groups
created by managerial
decision to accomplish
stated goals of the
organization.
Command Group
Task Group
Informal Groups
arise from individual
efforts and develop
around common
interests and
friendships rather than
deliberate design.
Interest Groups
Friendship Groups
Why People Form Groups
The Satisfaction
of Needs
Proximity and
Attraction
Group Goals Economics
Mutual Acceptance
Communication and Decision Making
Motivation and Productivity
Control and Organization
Stages of Group Development
Characteristics of Groups
Structure Status
Hierarchy
Roles
Leadership
Cohesiveness
Norms
Expected role: Formal requirements of
the role within the group.
Perceived role: The set of behaviors
which the group member believes
he/she should enact.
Enacted role: The behaviors which the
member actually carries out.
Role Types in Groups
Group Norms
Standards of behavior shared by group
members
Formed only for things important to the
group
May be written, but more often orally
communicated; can be implicit
Accepted in various degrees by group
members
May apply to all or to only some group
members
Leadership Roles in Groups
In Formal Groups
Can exercise legitimately sanctioned power (i.e., rewards
and punishment)
In Informal Groups
Helps accomplish group goals
Enables members to satisfy needs
Embodies the values of the group
Represents groups viewpoint with other group leaders
Facilitates group conflict, initiates group actions,
maintains the group as a functioning unit
Group Cohesiveness: Sources of
Attraction to a Group
The goals of the group and the members
are compatible and clearly specified
The group has a charismatic leader
The group has a reputation for
accomplishment
The group is small enough to have
members opinions heard
The members support one another and
help each other overcome obstacles
Degree of
group
cohesiveness
Low
Performance
probably oriented
away from
organizational goals
Performance
probably oriented
toward achievement
of organizational
goals
High
Performance
oriented away from
organizational goals
Performance
oriented toward
achievement of
organizational goals
Low High
Agreement with organizational goals
Relationship Between Group Cohesiveness and
Agreement with Organizational Goals
Groupthink A cohesive
groups desire for agreement
interferes with the groups
consideration of alternative
solutions.
Characteristics of Groupthink
Illusion of invulnerability.
Members believe that they are invincible.
Tendency to moralize.
Any opposition to group views is characterized by
members as weak, evil, or unintelligent.
Feelings of unanimity.
Each member of the group supports the leaders
decisions. Members may have reservations about
decisions, but do not share their views.
Characteristics of Groupthink (continued)
Pressure to conform.
Formal and informal attempts are made to
discourage discussion of divergent views.
Opposing ideas dismissed.
Any individual or outside group that criticizes or
opposes a decision receives little or no attention
from the group.
Types of Teams
Problem-Solving
Teams
Virtual Teams
Cross-Functional
Teams
Sunk works
Self-Directed Work
Teams
Why are Teams Formed?
To enhance
organizational
productivity
To assume the tasks
of managers
eliminated by
downsizing
To provide flexibility
and faster decisions
To take advantage
of the benefits of
diversity
To improve quality
To increase
customer
satisfaction
Teams should be used when the
following factors are present:
A serious commitment from group members.
A complicated problem that requires
employees with diverse talents and functional
expertise.
A goal of improving on an existing product,
service, or process.
A task that lends itself to a division of labor.
A situation in which making the wrong
decision is too costly.
Before placing employees into teams,
decision makers should ask the following
questions:
Can the work be performed better by more than
one individual?

Does the work lend itself to a common set of
goals for the people in a team?

Are members of the team interdependent?
Requirements for Effective Teams
Top-level commitment and provision
of clear goals.
Management-employee trust.
Willingness to take risks and share
information.
Time, resources, and a commitment
to training.
The Role Concept
Role: Organized set of behaviors expected
of an individual in a specific position
Multiple roles: Roles performed
simultaneously because the individual holds
many positions in a variety of organizations
and groups
Role set/role perception: Individuals
expectations for behavior of a person in a
particular role; different groups have
different expectations
Role Conflict
Person-role conflict: role requirements
violate the basic values, attitudes, and
needs of the individual
Intra-role conflict: difficulty in satisfying
the role requirements of people with
different expectations
Inter-role conflict: difficulty in fulfilling
multiple roles with conflicting expectations
Results of Role Conflict
An individual confronted with role conflict
experiences psychological stress that may
result in emotional problems and indecision.
Role conflict occurs frequently and with
negative effects on performance over a wide
spectrum of occupations.
When individuals are faced with conflicting
expectations or demands from two or more
sources, the likely result is a decline in
performance.
Groups, Teams and
Organizational Effectiveness
Group
Two or more people who interact with each other to
accomplish certain goals or meet certain needs.
Team
A group whose members work intensely with each
other to achieve a specific, common goal or objective.
All teams are groups but not all groups are teams.
Teams often are difficult to form.
It takes time for members to learn how to work together.
Groups and Teams Contributions
to Organizational Effectiveness
Figure 14.1
Groups and Teams as
Performance Enhancers
Performance Enhancement
Making use of the synergy from employees in a group
producing more or better output than employees
working separately.
Bounce ideas off one another.
Correct each others errors.
Bring more new ideas to bear on problems
Accomplish projects beyond the scope of individuals
Managers should build autonomous empowered
groups composed of members of complementary
skills and knowledge.
Groups and Teams and
Responsiveness to Customers
Responsiveness to Customers
Difficult to achieve given the many
constraints.
Safety issues, regulations, costs.
Cross-functional teams can provide the wide
variety of skills needed to meet customer
demands.
Teams consist of members of different
departments.
Teams and Innovation
Innovation
The creative development of new products,
new technologies, new services, or new
organizational structures
Individuals rarely possess the wide variety of skills
needed for successful innovation.
Team members can uncover each others flaws
and balance each others strengths and
weaknesses
Managers should empower the team and make it
accountable for the innovation process.
Groups and Teams as
Motivators
Members of groups, and particularly
teams, are often better motivated and
satisfied than individuals.
Team members are more motivated and satisfied
than if they were working alone.
Team members can see the effect of their
contribution to achieving team and organizational
goals.
Teams provide needed social interaction and help
employees cope with work-related stressors.
The Types of Groups and Teams in
Organizations
Figure 14.2
Source:
The Types of Groups and Teams
Formal Group
A group that managers establish to achieve
organization goals.
Informal Group
A group that managers or nonmanagerial
employees form to help achieve their own
goals or to meet their own needs.
The Types of Groups and Teams
Type of Team
Top-management
team
A group composed of the CEO, the president,
and the heads of the most important
departments
Research and
development team
A team whose members have the expertise
and experience needed to develop new
products
Command groups A group composed of subordinates who
report to the same supervisor, also called a
department or unit,
Task forces A committee of managers or nonmanagerial
employees from various departments or
divisions who meet to solve a specific,
mutual problem; also called an ad hoc
committee

The Types of Groups and Teams (contd)
Type of Team
Self-managed work
team
A group of employees who supervise their
own activities and monitor the quality of the
goods and services they provide.
Virtual team A team whose members rarely or never meet
face to face and interact by using various
forms of information technology such as
email, computer networks, telephone, fax and
video conferences.
Friendship group An informal group composed of employees
who enjoy each others company and
socialize with each other.
Interest group An informal group composed of employees
seeking to achieve a common goal related to
their membership in an organization.

Group Dynamics
Group Dynamics
The characteristics and processes that affect how a
group or team functions.
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.
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.
Group Dynamics: Interdependence
Task Interdependence Types
Pooled
Members make separate, independent contributions to group
such that group performance is the sum of each members
contributions.
Sequential
Members perform tasks in a sequential order making it difficult
to determine individual performance since one member
depends on another.
Reciprocal
Work performed by one group member is mutually dependent
on work done by other members.
Types of Task
Interdependence
Figure 14.3
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.
Stages of Group Development
Forming
Group members get to know each other and
reach common goals.
Storming
Group members disagree on direction and
leadership. Managers need to be sure the
conflict stays focused.
Norming
Close ties and consensus begin to develop
between group members.
Stages of Group Development
Performing
The group begins to do its real work.
Adjourning
Only for task forces that are temporary.
Note that these steps take time!
The Stages of Group Development
Figure 14.4
Punctuated equilibrium model
For temporary groups with deadline
Alarm clock at half way of deadline
Phase one
Period of inertia
Directions written in stone not reexamined
Transition
burst of changes
Dropping of old patterns
New perspectives

Punctuated equilibrium model cont
Phase 2- Execution and completion.
Group Dynamics
Group Norms
Shared guidelines or rules that most group
members follow.
Groups may set their working hours, behavior
rules, and output quotas.
Group Cohesiveness
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.
Sources and Consequences of
Group Cohesiveness
Figure 14.6
Factors Leading to Group Cohesiveness
Factor
Group Size Smaller groups allow for high cohesiveness;
Low cohesiveness groups with many
members can benefit from splitting into two
groups.
Managed Diversity Diverse groups often come up with better
solutions.
Group Identity Encouraging a group to adopt a unique
identity and engage in competition with
others can increase cohesiveness.
Success Cohesiveness increases with success;
finding ways for a group to have some small
successes increases cohesiveness.

Ways to Reduce Social Loafing
Make individual
contributions
identifiable
Make individuals feel
that they are making
valuable contributions
to a group
Keep the group as
small as possible
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Advice to Managers
Whenever feasible, make individual contributions or
individual levels of performance in a group identifiable,
and evaluate these contributions.
When work is performed in groups, let each member know
that he or she can make an important and worthwhile
contribution to the group.
When you are unable to evaluate individual contributions
to a group, consider having group members evaluate each
others contributions and rewarding group members on
the basis of group performance.
Keep work groups as small as possible while making sure
that a group has enough resources (member knowledge,
skills, experiences) to achieve its goals.
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Task Interdependence
Thompsons model of group tasks helps managers
identify
Task characteristics that can lead to process losses.
The most effective ways to distribute outcomes or
rewards to group members to generate high motivation.
The model is based on the concept of task
interdependence, which is the extent to which the
work performed by one member of a group affects
what other members do. There are three types:
Pooled Task Interdependence
Sequential Task Interdependence
Reciprocal Task Interdependence
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Task Interdependence
Pooled Task Interdependence: each member of
a group makes separate and independent
contributions to group performance.
Sequential Task Interdependence: requires
specific behaviors to be performed by group
members in a predetermined order.
Reciprocal Task Interdependence: the
activities of all work group members are fully
dependent on one another so that each members
performance influences the performance of every
other member of the group.
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Task Interdependence
As task interdependence moves from pooled to
sequential to reciprocal interdependence, the
potential for process losses increases because
Identifying individual performance becomes
increasingly harder.
Coordination becomes more difficult.
The potential for process gains also increases
as task interdependence becomes more
complex because of the increased likelihood of
synergy.
Synergy: A process gain that occurs when members
of a group acting together are able to produce more
or better output than would have been produced by
the combined efforts of each person acting alone.
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Advice to Managers
When a group task involves pooled interdependence, allocate
individual tasks to group members to avoid duplication of
effort, and evaluate individual levels of performance and reward
group members for their individual performance.
When a group task involves sequential interdependence, do as
many of the following as feasible: Monitor on-the-job behaviors
of group members. Reward group members for group
performance. Assign workers with similar ability levels to the
same group. Reward workers for good attendance. Have
multiskilled workers available to fill in when needed.
When a group task involves reciprocal interdependence, do as
many of the following as feasible: Keep group size small. Make
sure that each group member knows that he or she can make a
contribution. Reward group members for group performance.
Increase physical or electronic proximity of members.
Encourage clear and open communication. Encourage
members to help one another as needed.
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Signs of Cohesiveness
Low cohesiveness: Information flows slowly within the
group, the group has little influence over its members
behavior, and the group tends not to achieve its goals.
Moderate cohesiveness: Group members work well
together, there is a good level of communication and
participation in the group, the group is able to influence
its members behavior, and the group tends to achieve
its goals.
Very high cohesiveness: Group members socialize
excessively on the job, there is a very high level of
conformity in the group and intolerance of deviance, and
the group achieves its goals at the expense of other
groups.
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Consequences of High Cohesiveness
(Table 11.1)
Consequences of
High Cohesiveness
A high level of
participation and
communication
within the group



A high level of
conformity to group
norms


Group goal
accomplishment


Advantages
Group members are more likely to
perform behaviors necessary for
the group and organization to
achieve their goals, information
flows quickly in the group, and
turnover may be relatively low.

The group is able to control its
members behavior to achieve
group goals.


The group achieves its goals
and is effective.

Group members may waste
time socializing on the job
and chatting about nonwork
matters.



Excessive conformity within the
group may result in resistance to
change and failure to discard
dysfunctional norms.

Group members may not
cooperate with other groups
as much as they should.
Potential
Disadvantages
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Disadvantages of High Cohesiveness
(Table 11.2)
Consequences of
High Cohesiveness
A high level of
participation and
communication
within the group



A high level of
conformity to group
norms


Group goal
accomplishment


Disadvantages
Group members waste time socializing
on the job and chatting about nonwork
matters.

Group members behave in ways that are
dysfunctional for the organization.


The group achieves its goals at the
expense of organizational goals.

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Advice to Managers
If group and organizational goals are aligned and group
cohesiveness is very low, try to increase cohesiveness by
decreasing the size of the group, increasing the level of
similarity of group members, introducing some element of
competition with other groups, giving special rights or
privileges, and encouraging small successes.
If group and organizational goals are aligned and group
cohesiveness is very high, try to lower it by increasing group
size, introducing more diversity within the group, discouraging
competition with other groups, and encouraging cooperation.
If group and organizational goals are not aligned, do not try to
increase cohesiveness. Try to realign group goals with
organizational goals by ensuring that group members benefit
when their efforts help the organization achieve its goals.
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Important Organizational Groups
The Top Management Team is the team of
managers who report to the chief executive officer
(CEO).
Self-Managed Work Teams are teams in which
team members have the autonomy to lead and
manage themselves and determine how the team
will perform its tasks.
Research and Development Teams are usually
cross-functional teams that are formed to develop
new products.
Virtual Teams are teams in which a significant
amount of communication and interaction occurs
electronically rather than face to face.
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Thank you