HND – 10. Group BehaviorLim Sei Kee @ cK

A group is a collection of two or more people who work with one another regularly to achieve common goals.

Effective groups achieve high levels of:◦ Task performance.

Members attain performance goals regarding quantity, quality, and timeliness of work results.

◦ Members satisfaction. Members believe that their participation and experiences are

positive and meet important personal needs.◦ Team viability.

Members are sufficiently satisfied to continue working together on an ongoing basis.

Nature of groups

Two or more individuals, interacting and

interdependent, who have come together to achieve

particular objectives

Group

FORMAL GROUPS

A designated work group

defined by the organization

structure

INFORMAL GROUPS

Appears in response to the

need for social contact

Subclassifications of Groups

Formal Groups Informal Groups

Command Group◦ A group composed of the

individuals who report directly to a given manager

Task Group◦ Those working together to

complete a job or task in an organization but not limited by hierarchical boundaries

Interest Group◦ Members work together to

attain a specific objective with which each is concerned

Friendship Group◦ Those brought together

because they share one or more common characteristics

Security

Status

Self-esteem

Affiliation

Power

Goal Achievement

Why do people join groups?

Reason Benefits

Security Reduce the insecurity of “standing alone”; feel stronger, fewer self-doubts, and more resistant to threats

Status Inclusion in a group viewed by outsiders as important; provides recognition and status

Self-esteem Provides feelings of self-worth to group members, in addition to conveying status to outsiders

Affiliation Fulfills social needs. Enjoys regular interaction; can be primary source for fulfilling need for affiliation

Power What cannot be achieved individually often becomes possible; power in numbers

Goal achievement

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

Why People Join Groups?

Temporary group with task-specific deadline

Five stage group development

Characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the

group’s purpose, structure and leadership

Uncertainty

Feelings not dealt with

Poor listening

Weaknesses covered up

Unclear objectives

Low involvement in planning

Forming

Characterized by intragroup conflict

Accept existence

Wider options considered

Personal feelings raised

Intragroup conflicts

More listening

Storming

Characterized by close relationships and

cohesiveness

Methodical working

Agreed procedures

Established ground rules

Strong sense of group identity

Norming

When the group is fully functional

High flexibility/ability to lead process

Maximum use of energy & ability

Needs of all met

Development is a priority

High commitment, balanced

team roles & shared leadership

Performing

Characterized by concern with wrapping up activities

rather than task performance

Purpose fulfilled

Everyone can move on to new things

Feeling good about what's been achieved

Adjourning

Roles

Norms

Status

Size

Cohesiveness

Group structure

A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone

occupying a given position in a social unit.

Role identity – certain attitudes and behaviors consistent with

a role.

Role perception – an individual’s view of how he or she is

supposed to act in a given situation.

Roles

Role expectations – how others believe a person should

act in a given situation

Role conflict – a situation in which an individual is

confronted by divergent role expectations

Role research conclusions:

◦ People play multiple roles. ◦ People learn roles from the stimuli around them:

friends, books, movies, television.◦ People have the ability to shift roles rapidly when

they recognize that the situation and its demands clearly require major changes.

◦ People often experience role conflict when compliance with one role requirement is at odds with another.

Roles

Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that

are shared by the group’s members

Common classes of norms

Conformity

Deviant workplace behavior

Norms

Performance norms – provide members on how hard they

should work, how to get the job done, levels of output.

Appearance norms – appropriate dress, loyalty to work

group/organization, when to look busy and when it’s acceptable

to goof off.

Social arrangement norms – informal work groups and

primarily regulate social interactions within the group.

Allocation of resources norms – cover things like pay,

assignment of difficult jobs and allocations of new tools and

equipment

Common classes of norms

Conformity – adjusting one’s behavior to align with the norms of the

group

Reference groups - important groups to which individuals belong or

hope to belong and with whose norms individuals are likely to

conform

Deviant workplace behavior – antisocial actions by organizational

members that intentionally violate established norms and that result

in negative consequences for the organization, its members, or both.

Category Examples

Production •Leaving early•Intentionally working slowly•Wasting resources

Property •Sabotage•Lying about hours worked•Stealing from the organization

Political •Showing favoritism•Gossiping and spread rumors•Blaming coworkers

Personal aggression •Sexual harassment•Verbal abuse•Stealing from coworkers

Deviant workplace behavior

Examples of Cards Used in Asch Study

X A B C

Demonstrated that subjects conformed in about 35% of the trials

Members desire to be one of the group and avoid being visibly different

Members with differing opinions feel extensive pressure to align with others

Conformity and the Asch Studies

A socially defined position or rank given to groups or

group members by others

Status Characteristics Theory

Status and Norms

Status and Group Interaction

Status Inequity

Status and Culture

Status

Status Characteristics Theory – differences in status

characteristics create status hierarchies within groups.

People who control the outcomes of a group through their

power or have the ability to control the group’s behavior

People whose contributions to a group are critical to the

group’s success

Personal characteristics that are positively valued by the group

such as good looks, money or intelligence

Status and Norms – high status members often are given more freedom to

deviate from norms then other group members

Status and Group Interaction – high status members tend to speak out

more, criticize more, state commands and interrupt others

Status Inequity – when inequity is perceived, it creates disequilibrium

Status and Culture – make sure you understand who and what holds status

when interacting with people from a culture different from your own

Group size affects behavior Size:

◦ Twelve or more members is a “large” group◦ Seven or fewer is a “small” group

Best use of a group:

Size

Attribute Small Large

Speed X

Individual Performance X

Problem Solving X

Diverse Input X

Fact-finding Goals X

Overall Performance X

Smaller groups

Faster at completing tasks than the larger ones.

Larger groups

Better in problem solving

Good in gaining diverse input

Size

Group Structure - Size

Group Size

Performance

Expec

ted

Actual (due to

loafin

g)

Other conclusions:• Odd number groups do

better than even.• Groups of 7 or 9 perform

better overall than larger or smaller groups.

Social LoafingThe tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually.

Causes of social loafing

Belief that others in the group are not carrying their fair share

Dispersion of responsibility

Group performance increases with group size, but

addition of new member to the group has diminishing

effects on group’s productivity

Degree to which group members are attracted to each

other and are motivated to stay in the group

Encourage group cohesiveness – Make the group smaller Encourage agreement with group goals Increase the time spend together Increase the status of the group and perceived difficulty of

attaining membership in the group Stimulate competition with other group Give rewards to the groups rather than individual Physically isolate the group

Cohesiveness

Relationship of Cohesiveness to Productivity

Cohesiveness

Ali

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High Low

High

LowDecreaseinproductivity

No significanteffect onproductivity

Strong increaseinproductivity

Moderate increaseinproductivity

Group VS Individual

Groupthink and Groupshift

Group Decision-making Techniques

Group decision making

Individual

More efficient Speed No meetings No discussions Clear accountability Consistent values

Group

More effective More information and

knowledge Diversity of views Higher-quality

decisions Increased acceptance

Group VS Individual

Groupthink◦ Situations where group pressures for conformity deter the

group from critically appraising unusual, minority, or unpopular views

◦ Hinders performance

Groupshift◦ When discussing a given set of alternatives and arriving at a

solution, group members tend to exaggerate the initial positions that they hold. This causes a shift to more conservative or more risky behavior.

Group Decision-Making Phenomena

Group members rationalize any resistance to their assumptions

Members pressure any doubters to support the alternative favored by the majority

Doubters keep silent about misgivings and minimize their importance

Group interprets members’ silence as a “yes” vote for the majority

Symptoms of Groupthink

A change in decision risk between the group’s decision and

the individual decision that members within the group

would make; can be either toward conservatism or greater

risk

Greater risk can be taken because even if the decision fails,

no one member can be held wholly responsible.

Groupshift

Interacting Groups

Brainstorming

Nominal Group Technique

Electronic Meeting

Group decision-making techniques

Group Decision-Making Techniques

Interacting Groups

Typical groups, in which the members interact with each other face-to-face.

Nominal Group Technique

A group decision-making method in which individual members meet face-to-face to pool their judgments in a systematic but independent fashion.

Group Decision-Making Techniques

Electronic Meeting

A meeting in which members interact on computers, allowing for anonymity of comments and aggregation of votes.

Brainstorming

An idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives, while withholding any criticism of those alternatives.

TYPE OF GROUP

Effectiveness Criteria

Interacting Brainstorming Nominal Electronic

Number and quality of ideas

Low Moderate High High

Social pressure High Low Moderate Low

Money costs Low Low Low High

Speed Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate

Task orientation Low High High High

Potential for interpersonal conflict

High Low Moderate Low

Commitment to solution

High Not applicable Moderate Moderate

Development of group cohesiveness

High High Moderate Low