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CH8Part1informalgroups-1.pptxChapter Eight
Part one : Informal Groups
Emerges on the basis of common interests , proximity and friendship.
Groups dynamics: The social process by which people interact face to face in small groups is called group dynamics.
Established by the organization and have a public identity and goal to achieve.
Comparison between formal and informal organizations
The informal organization is a network of personal and social relations not established or required by the formal organizations but arising spontaneously as people associated with each other.
The emphasis within the informal organization is on people and their relations, whereas the formal organization emphasizes the official positions in terms of authority and responsibility.
The informal power therefore attaches to a person, whereas , the formal authority attaches to a position and a person has it only when occupying that position.
Power in an informal organization is given by group members rather than delegated by managers.
Comparison between formal and informal organizations
| Basis of comparison | informal organization | Formal organization |
| General nature | Unofficial | Official |
| Major concepts | Power and politics | Authority and responsibility |
| Primary focus | Person | Position |
| Source of leader power | Given by groups | Delegated by management |
| Guidelines for behavior | Norms | Rules and politics |
| Sources of control | Sanctions | Rewards and penalties |
Effects of the informal organizations
Employees act differently than required . They may work faster or slower than predicted.
Employees often interact with different people than their jobs require.
Employees may embrace a set of attitudes, beliefs and sometimes different from those the organization expects of them.
Formal and informal organizations and their effects
COMBINATION BETWEEN REQUIRED ANDEMEREGENT BEHAVIORS
Q1 .What sort of difficulty resulted from the combination between emerging and required behaviors in respect to managers? See above chart
Informal leader:
This person emerges from within the group, often acquiring considerable informal power. he plays several useful roles for a work unit.
The informal leader will likely play a dominant role in applying various forms and degrees of punishments.
Also the leader may assume responsibility for recognizing the daily achievements of workers and for organizing after hours social events.
| Benefits | Problems |
| Makes a more effective total system | Develops undesirable rumor |
| Lightens workload on management | Encourages negative attitudes |
| Helps get the work done | Resists change |
| Tends to encourage cooperation | Leads to interpersonal and intergroup conflicts |
| Fills in gaps in a manager’s abilities | Rejects some employees |
| Gives satisfaction and stability to work groups | Weakens motivation and satisfaction |
| Improves communication | Operates outside of management control |
| Provides a safety valve for employees emotions | Supports conformity |
| Encourages manages to plan and act more carefully | Develops role conflicts |
| Contributes to higher cohesiveness |
Potential benefits and problems associated with the informal organization
Monitoring informal organization
Network charts: one way to gain a better understanding of an informal system is to prepare a visual portrait of it. These diagrams are called network charts or informal organization charts.
Focus on either feeling expressed or behavioral exhibits.
Q2 : How identifying the feeling within the group shown by network charts can be useful for managers? E.g. central individuals isolated individuals etc.
Influencing informal organization
Management guidelines for action include the following:
accept and understand informal organizations
identify various levels of attitudes and behavior within them.
consider possible effects on informal systems when taking any kind of action
integrate as far as possible the interests of informal groups with those of the formal organization
keep formal activities from unnecessarily threatening informal organizations.
Q3. What is the best desirable combinations of formal and informal groups?
To be continued with part 2 (formal groups)
