Case Study Design and Analysis

Group and Organizational Behavior

Myers (2008) defines a group as "two or more people, for longer than a few moments, who interact with one another, influence one another, and perceive one another as ‘us'" (p. 262). Therefore, a group is considered to comprise of more than two individuals. The interaction between two members of a group is commonly known as a dyad (couple). Group dynamics is an interesting topic of study with its wide variations and purposes. Several different phenomena such as social loafing occur within groups.

Social loafing occurs when all individuals in a group do not “pull their own weight” or perform their share of work. Why does this occur? It does not necessarily occur only because someone in the group is less motivated to participate in the group tasks. One of the ways to explain group dynamics and issues like social loafing is in understanding group development or, in this case, team development.

The Tuckman model (1965) of group development demonstrated a sequence of stages that helps explain the dynamics of groups. This was especially valuable when examining the problems arising in work group development. 

Next, let's discuss the process of group development. 

Myers, D. (2008). Social psychology (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Tuckman, B. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384–399.