Chapter 9 - Foundations of group behavior

Defining and classifying groups

• @@Group@@: two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives.
• @@Formal group@@: designated work group defined by an organization’s structure.
• @@Informal group@@: group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined, such a group appears in response to the need for social contact.
• Why do people form groups?
  • @@Social identity theory@@: perspective that considers when and why individuals consider themselves members of groups.
  • @@In-group favoritism@@: perspective in which we see members of our in-group as better than other people and not people in our group as all the same.

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Stages of group development

• @@Five-stage group-development model@@: five distinct stages groups go through; forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.

  • Forming stage: first stage in group development characterized by much uncertainty.
  • Storming stage: second stage in group development characterized by intra-group conflict.
  • Norming stage: third stage in group development characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness.
  • Performing stage: fourth stage in group development, during which the group is fully functional.
  • Adjourning stage: final stage in group development for temporary groups, characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than task performance.

• Alternative model for temporary groups with deadlines

  • @@Punctuated-equilibrium model@@: set of phases that temporary groups go through that involves transitions between inertia and activity.

  

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Group properties: roles, norms, status, size, cohesiveness and diversity

• Group property 1: roles
  • @@Role@@: set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit.
  • @@Role perception@@: individual’s view of how he/she is supposed to act in a given situation.
  • @@Role expectations@@: how other believe a person should act in a given situation.
  • @@Psychological contract@@: unwritten agreement that sets out what management expects from an employee and vice versa.
  • @@Role conflict@@: situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations.
• Group property 2: norms
  • @@Norms@@: acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the groups members.
  • @@Performance norms@@: level of output, time constraints.
  • @@Appearance norms@@: dress code.
  • @@Social arrangement norms@@: ability to form friendships within the workplace.
  • @@Resource allocation norms@@: assignment of challenging jobs.
  • The Hawthorne Studies concluded that the performance of individuals within the workplace is strongly influenced by work norms.
  • @@Conformity@@: phenomenon of adjusting the behavior of an individual to align with the norms of the group.
  • @@Reference groups@@: significant groups to which individuals belong or wish to belong and with whose work norms individuals are willing to conform.
  • @@Deviant workplace behavior@@: voluntary behavior that violates significantly organizational norms.
• Group property 3: status
  • @@Status characteristics theory@@: theory which states that differences in status characteristics create status hierarchies within groups.
• Group property 4: size
  • @@Social loafing@@: tendency of individuals to extend less effort when they work collectively, then when they work individually.
• Group property 5: cohesiveness
  • @@Cohesiveness@@: degree to which group members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group.
• Group property 6: diversity
  • @@Diversity@@: extent to which members of a group are similar to, or different from another.

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Group decision-making

• @@Groupthink@@: phenomenon in which norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.
• @@Group-shift@@: phenomenon of changing the level of risk of a decision towards greater risk/conservatism.
• Group decision making techniques
  • @@Interacting groups@@: typical groups in which members interact with each other face-to-face.
  • @@Brainstorming@@: idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives while withholding any criticism of those alternatives.
  • @@Nominal group technique@@: group decision-making method in which individual members meet face-to-face to pool their judgements in a systematic but independent fashion.

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