MENT EXAM 2

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Group

two or more people, interacting and interdependent, who come together to achieve particular objectives

Formal Groups - Types of Groups

defined by an organizational structure with designated work assignments and behaviors are stipulated by and directed towards organizational goals

Informal Groups - Types of Groups

alliances that are neither formally structured or organizationally determined

• Natural formations in work environment due to need for social contact

Why do people join groups?

security, self esteem, status, affiliation, power, goal achievement

Stages of Group Development(Stage Model)

1. Forming(period of uncertainty)

2. Storming(period of intragroup conflict, jockey for roles)

3. Norming(cohesiveness, differences are resolved and expectations align)

4. Performing(fully functional, focus on task at hand)

5. Adjourning(optional: disbandment)

Punctuated-Equilibrium Model

• Characterizes groups as exhibiting long periods of inertia interspersed with brief revolutionary changes triggered primarily by their members’ awareness of time and deadlines

• Teams develop through the sudden formation, maintenance, and sudden revision of a “Framework for Performance”

• Common for temporary groups with a deadline

Difference between PEM and Stage Model

PEM focuses on how a team works on a specific task, stages models focus on overall development of the team

Role Perception - Group Roles

individual view of how to act in a given situation(how we perceive)

Role Expectation - Group Roles

how others believe one should act in a given situation(how others perceive)

Role Conflict - Group Roles

when an individual in confronted with divergent role expectations

Group Norms

acceptable standards of behavior within a group that is shared by group members

• Norms can influence individual behavior by providing explicit cues about the group’s expectations

  • How hard members should work

  • How to do the job

  • What level of tardiness is appropriate

Reference Group

for conformity

• One where the person is aware of the others

• The person defines himself or herself as a member, or would like to be a member

• And the person feels that the group members are significant to him/her

Group Status

socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members

Status Characteristics Theory

status derived from one of three sources

• Power a person wields over others

• Person’s ability to contribute to a group’s goals

• Individual’s person characteristics

Dark Side of Status

high status people are more abusive and critical

• Status differences may inhibit diversity of ideas and creativity

  • Lower status individuals are less active participants 

Group Size

• number of people in the group

  • Depends on what the group is trying to accomplish

    • Small - completing tasks

    • Large - solving problems

Dark Side of Group Size

• social loafing - Max Ringlemann Tug of War

Group Cohesiveness

•  degree to which members are attracted to each other

  • If performance norms are high, cohesive groups are more productive

  • If performance norms are low, cohesive groups are less productive

How to increase cohesiveness

• Make the group smaller

• Encourage agreement with group goals

• Increase time members spend together

• Increase group status and barriers to entry

• Stimulate intergroup competition

• Give group, rather than, individual rewards

• Physically isolate the group

Group Decision Making

multiple members gather and consider ideas relevant to their specializations, then make recommendations to the final decision maker(usually team leader)

Pros - Decision Making in Groups

• More complete information and knowledge

• Increased diversity of views

• Increased acceptance of solutions

Cons - Decision Making in Groups

• Time-consuming 

• Conformity pressures

• Domination by small numbers

• Ambiguous responsibility 

What is better for Decision Making?

• Accuracy - groups(however accuracy performance worse than most accurate member)

• Creativity - groups

• Acceptance - groups

• Speed - individuals

Potential Dark Side of Group Decision Making

• Groupthink - a situation where group pressures for conformity deter the group from critically appraising unusual, minority, or unpopular views

  • Members of a group make decisions based on the pressure they get from the group

Symptoms of groupthink

• Members rationalize any resistance to the assumptions they have made

• Members apply direct pressure on those who express doubts about shared views or who question the alternative favored by the majority

• Members have doubts or differing points of view keep silent about misgivings 

• There appears to be an illusion of unanimity

• Groupthink is not about suppressing dissenters, it’s about maintaining a positive image of the group

Reducing Groupthink

• Monitor group size 

• Encourage leaders to be impartial

• Actively seek input from all members

• Appoint a devil’s advocate

  • Someone who, given a certain argument, takes a position they do not necessarily agree with(alternative position from the accepted norm), for the sake of debate or to explore a thought further

  • Focus on negative aspects of options

Teams

consists of two or more people who work interdependently over some time period to accomplish common goals related to some task-oriented purpose.

How do teams differ from groups?

1. Interdependently 

2. Common goals

3. Task-oriented purpose 

Work Groups

a group that interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to help each group member perform within his or her area of responsibility 

Work Teams

a group whose individual efforts result in a performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs.

Groups vs. Teams

Why have teams become so popular?

• Teams typically outperform individuals

• Teams better utilize employee talents

• Teams are more flexible and responsive to changes in the environment

• Teams facilitate employee involvement

• Teams are an effective way to democratize an org. and increase motivation

Problem-Solving Teams - Types of Teams

groups of employees meeting to address particular issues

Self-Managed Work Teams - Types of Teams

groups of employees performing highly interdependent jobs and take on responsibilities that are traditionally performed by supervisors

Cross-Functional Teams - Types of Teams

employees from different work areas who come together to accomplish a task

Virtual Teams - Types of Teams

teams that use tech. to connect physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal

Team Effectiveness

• Context

• Composition

• Work Design

• Process

Context - Team Effectiveness

• Adequate resources

• Appropriate leadership and structure 

• Climate of trust

• Evaluation and reward systems

Composition - Team Effectiveness

• Abilities of members - need technical expertise problem-solving, decision making, and good interpersonal skills

• Personality - conscientiousness, openness to experience, and agreeableness all relate to team performance 

• Allocating roles - putting most able, experienced, and conscientious worker into central roles

• Diversity - diversity can lead to lower performance at first

• Size of teams - 5-9

• Member flexibility 

• Member preferences - not everyone is a team player

Work Design - Team Effectiveness

• Skill variety - requirements for different tasks in the job

• Task identity - completion of a whole piece of work

• Task significance - the job’s impact on others

• Autonomy - level of discretion in decision making

• Feedback - amount of direct and clear information on performance

Process - Team Effectiveness

• Common plan and purpose - developing goals and creating strategies to achieve the overall goal

• Specific goals - transfer common purpose into specific goals, specific goals facilitates clear communication

• Team efficacy - teams that have confidence will believe that they can succeed → motivates members to work harder

• Conflict levels 

  • Task conflict → stimulates discussion for better decision

  • Relational conflict → hinders team performance

• Social loafing - clear communication about individual versus joint responsibility

Three tests to see if a team fits the situation:

• Is the work complex and is there a need for different perspectives?

• Does the work create a common purpose or set of goals for the group that is larger than the aggregate of the goals for individuals?

• Are the members of the group involved in interdependent tasks?

Diversity

• the differences between individuals on any attribute that may lead to the perception that another persona is different from the self

• Recognizing and accepting individual uniqueness and differences

Dimensions of Diversity

race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, physical abilities, and political/religious beliefs

Benefits of Diversity

• contributes to the availability of a richer pool of information

• Heterogeneous teams can be characterised by having more different perspectives, information, and ideas than homogeneous teams

• Can outperform homogeneous teams, as long as members engage in information and cognitive processes are shared among team members

Harms of Diversity

• Diversity within groups can create subgroups and intergroup biases

• Subgroups → ingroup and outgroup categorization

• This facilitates ingroup biases

  • Favoritism - people favor ingroup over outgroup members

  • Negative intrateam interactions

  • Conflict, distrust, disliking, limited communication between members

Trust

the willingness to be vulnerable to a trustee based on positive expectations about the trustee’s actions and intentions

• Intangible asset and takes a long time to build

• Affects both customers and employees

Dispositional Trust - Personality

• a general expectation that the words, promises, and statements of individuals and groups can be relied upon

• High trust propensity(too much trust, can trust the wrong people) vs. low trust propensity(not enough trust, can keep them from trusting the right people)

Cognitive Trust(Trustworthiness)

• defined as characteristics or attributes of a trustee that inspire trust

  • Ability - the skills, competencies and areas of expertise that enable an authority to be successful in a specific area 

  • Benevolence - the belief that the authority wants to do good for the trustor, apart from any selfish or profit centered motives

  • Integrity - the perception that the authority adheres to a set of values and principles that the trustor finds acceptable

Affective trust(Feelings toward Trustees)

• trust that depends on feelings towards the authority that go beyond any rational assessment 

Based on emotions rather than reason, we trust because we like them rather than them proving themselves to be trustworthy

Organizational Justice

• the perceived fairness of an authority’s decision making

• key factor in managing a diverse team

Distributive Justice

• the allocation of goods

  • Should everyone receive the exact same amount?

    • Equality is treating everyone the same

    • Equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful(not giving everyone the same amount)

Procedural Justice

• Voice - giving employees the chance to express their opinions and views

• Correctability - provides employees with the chance to request an appeal when a procedure seem to have worked ineffectively

• Consistency - procedures should be consistent across time and people

• Bias suppression - procedures should not be affected by personal self-interest or blind allegiance to existing perceptions

• Representativeness - procedures should reflect the basic concerns, values and outlooks of the individuals who are affected by them

• Accuracy - procedures should be based on completely accurate and valid information

Distributive vs. Procedural Justice

• Distributive and procedural justice combine to influence employee reactions

• When outcomes are undesirable, procedural justice becomes enormously important

• Procedural justice tends to be a stronger driver of reactions to authorities than distributive justice

Interpersonal Justice

• the perceived fairness of the treatment received by employees from authorities

• Occurs when authorities are rude or disrespectful to employees, or when they refer to them with inappropriate labels

• Extreme forms of interpersonal justice occurs when there is abusive supervision(the display of hostile verbal and nonverbal behavior, excluding physical contact)

  • Angry outbursts

  • Public ridiculing to be used as scapegoats for negative events

The Respect Rule - Interpersonal Justice

whether authorities treat employees in a dignified and sincere manner

The Propriety Rule - Interpersonal Justice

whether authorities refrain from making improper or offensive remarks

Informational Justice

the perceived fairness of the communication provided to employees from authorities

Justification Rule - Informational Justice

authorities should explain decision making procedures and outcomes in a comprehensive and reasonable manner

Truthfulness Rule - Informational Justice

communications should be honest and candid

Reputation

Why do organizations care about ethics?

Some Ethical Considerations

• Important to both report ethical behavior to supervision and the person the unethical behavior is towards

• Spin - if there is a scandal - should the public be told honestly about what is happening or should there be a spin to make it sound better - what works better

• If a friend is fired, do not cut ties with them - spend time with them outside of work while still maintaining your job

• Important for supervisors to let their employees know they are required to report before they divulge information

• Seemingly small unethical behavior snowball and lead to larger unethical situations

Corporate Social Responsibility

a perspective that acknowledges that the responsibilities of a business encompass the economic, legal, ethical, and citizenship expectations of society

• More obligations than just profit maximization

• Understanding ethical rights and wrongs, and following them

  • Legal component

  • Ethical component

  • Citizenship component

Management

use of authority inherent in designated formal rank to obtain compliance from organizational members 

Leadership

the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of collective goals 

The Trait Theory of Leadership(1900s - 1950s) - Classical Theories of Leadership

“the great man theory”, which assumes that the leader’s personal traits are the key to leadership success. It considers personality, social, and physical, or intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from non-leaders.

• This theory focused on identifying the innate qualities and characteristics possessed by great social, political, and military leaders - people were BORN with these traits

• Assumes leaders are born, leaders differ from others in a small number of key traits, these traits do not change over time, these individuals have the potential to be great leaders at any point in time and in any society 

• Conscientiousness(leader effectiveness), openness(leader effectiveness), and extraversion(leader emergence)

  • Personal characteristics can predict leadership - however traits are more predictive of leader emergence(who becomes a leader in the first place) than leader effectiveness(how well a person actually leads)

Power

a capacity that A has to influence the behavior B so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes

Dependency

B’s relationship to A when A possesses something that B requires

• Dependency is the key to power

The General Dependency Postulate

• the greater B’s dependency on A, the greater the power of A over B

  • People are more or less dependent due to access to resources that are scarce, important, and non-substitutable

Leadership

• Focuses on goal achievement of group goals

• Requires goal compatibility with followers

• Used for downward influence

• Research focus - leadership styles and relationships with followers

Power

• Used as a means for achieving individual goals

• Requires dependency 

• Used for lateral, upward, and downward influence

• Research focus - power tactics for gaining compliance

Leadership As Power - Classical Theories of Leadership

Formal/Organizational Power

established an individual’s position in an organization

• Coercive power

• Reward power

• Legitimate power

Person Power

comes from an individual’s unique characteristics

• Expert Power

• Referent Power

Coercive Power - Formal/Organizational Power

This is derived from having the perceived capacity to penalize or punish for non-compliance

• A power base exercised via fear

• This is subject to abuse and is often associated with legitimate power

• The use of this power will inevitably damage any relationship with the subordinate 

Reward Power - Formal/Organizational Power

compliance achieved based on the availability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable

• The power to give or withhold rewards such as salary increases, bonuses, promotions, recommendations 

Legitimate Power - Formal/Organizational Power

• the power a person receives as a result of his or her position in the formal hierarchy of an organization(acceptance of authority)

  • Associated with having status or formal job authority

  • The person has the right to make demands, and expect obedience from others

  • Example: project director, CEO, politician

Expert Power - Person Power

• power that accrues to someone based on the information or expertise they possess

  • Example: doctors, tax accountants

Referent Power - Person Power

influence based on followers personally identifying with the leader. Followers tend to like, admire, and want to emulate their leader

• Leaders who have admirable personal characteristics, charisma, and an excellent reputation often possess referent power.

• Referent power sometimes used by people with no positional power in organizations - using requests rather an orders

• Can be gained by developing interpersonal skills and confidence others have in you

Behavioral Theory - Classical Theories of Leadership

• The relationship between a leader’s actions and the follower’s satisfaction and productivity

• Leadership = leader’s certain actions(behaviors)

  • Trait theories of leadership → focus: leader selection

  • Behavioral studies of leadership → leader training

Ohio State Studies of Leadership - Behavioral Theory

• key assumption

• Leaders are made not born

• Focuses on two types of leader behaviors described by employees - initiating structure and consideration

Initiating Structure - Behavioral Theory

The extent in which leaders organize and define the roles of individuals in the pursuit of goal attainment

• Initiation: creating, facilitating and sometimes resisting new ideas or practices

• Organization: defining and structuring work, clarifying roles and coordinating employees

• Production: setting goals and providing incentives to meet those goals and providing incentives to meet those goals

Consideration - Behavioral Theory

The extent to which leaders actively create job relationships based on mutual trust, respect for employees, and consideration of co-worker’s feelings

• Membership: mixing with employees, informal interactions

• Integration: encouraging a pleasant atmosphere, reducing conflict

• Communication: providing information to employees, seeking information for them

• Recognition: expressing approval or disapproval of the behaviors of employees

• Representation: acting on behalf of the group

Situational Theory - Classical Theories of Leadership

Leaders did more than simply “act” - they often had to “react” to specific situations

• Situational model of leadership

  • Aka life cycle theory 

  • Optimal combination of initiating structure and consideration is reliant on the readiness of the employees within the work unit

Readiness - Situational Theory

• R1 - Telling: leader focuses on providing structure(specific instructions) to establish clear goals for the team. Leader also closely monitors teams performance

• R2 - Selling: Employees find tasks more difficult than expected resulting in dissatisfaction. Leader provides support and encouragement to protect employee confidence levels

• R3 - Participating: Employees gain more ability so guidance and direction become less necessary. Leaders provide support to help members adjust their more self-managed state of affairs

• R4 - Delegating: Leader delegates responsibility for key behaviors to employees. Minimal observation and monitoring is required to make sure the group’s efforts stay on track/

Conflict

the perception that one party has negatively affected(or is about to negatively affect) something the first party cares about

Examples of why conflict occurs

• Incompatibility of goals

• Differences over interpretations of facts

• Disagreements based on behavioral expectations

Functional Conflict (Positive)

Conflict that supports the goals of the group and improves its performance

• Increased group performance

• Improved quality of decisions

• Stimulation of creativity and innovation 

• Encouragement of interest and curiosity 

• Provision of a medium for problem solving 

• Creation of an environment for self-evaluation and change

• Groupthink prevention

Dysfunctional Conflict (Negative)

Conflict that hinders group performance

• Development of discontent 

• Reduced groupthink effectiveness 

• Retarded communication

• Reduced group cohesiveness 

• Infighting among group members overcomes group goals

Thomas/Kilmann Model - Conflict Resolution Styles

• Assertiveness - concerned about your outcomes

• Cooperativeness - concerned about other’s outcomes

Competing - Conflict Resolution Styles

High assertive, low cooperation, Quick decisive action

• When does it occur?

  • Often high power distance

  • Important but unpopular issues

  • Vital issues (know you’re right) 

  • Against people who will take advantage of you

• Results 

  • Win - lose

  • Good short term

  • Bad long term

Avoiding - Conflict Resolution Styles

Low assertiveness, low cooperation

• When does it occur?

  • Trivial Issues, with more pressing issues present

  • When issues are tangential/symptomatic

  • No chance of satisfying your concerns

  • When others can resolve better

• Results

  • Lose - lose

  • Bad short term

  • Bad long term

  • Does not resolve conflict

  • Good strategy to let people cool down and then use a different conflict resolution strategy

Accomodating - Conflict Resolution Styles

Low assertiveness, high cooperativeness

• When does it occur?

  • Useful when issue not important to you, very important to others

  • Important in low power situations 

• Results

  • Lose - win

  • Maintain cooperation

  • Build up social capital

  • Minimize loss when outmatched

  • Harmony/stability matter 

Collaborating - Conflict Resolution Styles

• high assertiveness, high cooperativeness

  • Why does it occur

    • Task-oriented > personal conflict

    • Issues are too important to compromise

    • Objective is to learn

  • Results

    • Win - win

    • Non-zero-sum game

    • Generally best, most difficult

    • Full information sharing

    • Discussion of concerns 

    • Relatively equal power

    • Lots of time

    • Merge insights and perspectives

    • Gain commitment through consensus

Compromising - Conflict Resolution Styles

medium assertiveness, medium cooperativeness

• When does it occur

  • Most common, easiest

  • Give-and-take 

  • Not worth the disruption

  • Temporary settlements

• Results 

  • Maintains relationships - both parties win and lose 

  • Favorable evaluations

  • Opponent committed to mutually exclusive goal

  • Expedient under time pressure

  • Backup after collaboration/competition fails

Negotiations

A process in which two or more interdependent individuals discuss and attempt to come to an agreement about their different preferences

Distributive Bargaining - Negotiation Strategies

• Win-lose negotiating over a “fixed pie” of resources

• Either fixed sum or zero sum

• Example: purchasing a car

Integrative Bargaining - Negotiation Strategies

• Use of problem solving and mutual respect to achieve to a satisfying outcome for both parties 

• Example: deciding on a honeymoon location

Consensus - Negotiation Strategies

• When both parties agree

• What’s good for one party is sometimes good for the other party as well

1. Preparation - Negotiation Stages

each party determines its goals and whether or not the other party has anything to offer

• BATNA(Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement)

  • Next best offer you have received

  • If you’re interviewing jobs , BATNA is the best offer you have received so far

• Describes a negotiators bottom line or walk away point 

2. Exchanging Info - Bargaining Stages

• Each party makes a case for its position and attempts to put all favorable information on the table

• Each party also informs the other party how it arrived at the conclusions it has and which issues it believes are important

• Studies show that successful negotiators ask many questions and gather much information at this stage

3. Bargaining - Bargaining Stages

• Both parties likely make concessions and give up something to gain something in return

• The goal is for each party to walk away feeling like it has gained something of value (regardless of the actual bargaining strategy)