MINI CASE ANALYSIS 1000 WORDS

Chapter 11

This chapter approaches organizational behavior dynamics from the perspective of the group—both informal and formal—and the popular team concept and practice. The first section examines the way groups are formed, the various types of groups, some of the dynamics and functions of groups, and the findings of research on groups. The next section explores the dynamics of informal roles and organization. This discussion is followed by an analysis of the impact of groupthink. The balance of the chapter is devoted specifically to teams. The distinction is made between work groups and teams, and specific attention is devoted to self-managed and cross-functional teams. The way to make these teams more effective through training and evaluation is discussed.

SUMMARY

Groups and teams represent an important dynamic in the study and application of organizational behavior. Group formation, types, and processes; the dynamics of informal roles and organization; and the dysfunctions of work groups and teams are all relevance to the study of organizational behavior. Group formation is explained theoretically in classic social psychology by propinquity; as a relationship among activities, interactions, and sentiments; as a symmetrical balance between attraction and common attitudes; and as a reward–cost exchange. Participants in an organization also form into groups for very practical economic, security, and social reasons. Many different types of groups are found in today’s organizations. Conceptually, there are primary groups, coalitions, and others such as membership and reference groups. Groups have been researched over the years, and findings from classic social psychology studies and increasingly from organizational behavior scholars have implications for organizational behavior. The last half of the chapter discusses and analyzes the dynamics of informal groups and work teams. Informal norms and roles and the informal organization are very relevant to and often represent the real organization. Informal structure coexists with every formal structure. Traditionally, only the dysfunctional aspects of informal organization have been emphasized. More recently, the functional aspects have also been recognized. The dynamics of the dysfunctions of groups and teams were examined in terms of norm violation resulting in antisocial behaviors, role ambiguity/conflict, group think conformity, the risky shift phenomenon, and social loafing. The remainder of the chapter focused on work teams per se. Initially, most publicity was given to quality circles, but now self-managed teams are in the spotlight. Self-managed teams have become an established form of doing work to meet the high-tech, quality challenges facing all modern organizations. To date, self-managed teams have a quite successful track record. In addition to self-managed teams, cross-functional and virtual teams are examples of more recent team forms that have also achieved success. Global teams in a multicultural environment have experienced some problems, but helpful solutions are forthcoming. Whether global or domestic, building effective teams requires long-standing principles regarding the creation of the proper environment in which support, commitment, rewards, communication, physical space, group size, membership, and cohesion are emphasized. Then, team effectiveness may be enhanced using team-building programs, collaboration, and effective leadership and by accounting for functional, demographic, or cultural diversity and global issues when teams are formed.

Chapter 12

In a sense, this whole text on organizational behavior is concerned with the what and how of managing and leading people for high performance in today’s organizations. Certainly many of the chapters (e.g., Chapter 4 on reward systems, Chapter 6 on motivation, Chapter 7 on positive organizational behavior, and all of the chapters in Part Three) are directly, or at least indirectly, concerned with how to manage oneself and human resources more effectively. The same could be said of popular techniques that have strong consulting advocates such as the late Edwards Deming’s “Total Quality Management,” Steven Covey’s “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” or Peter Senge’s “Learning Organizations.” As was pointed out in the Chapter 1 discussion of the evidenced-based approach taken by this text, purely academic approaches may not be directly applied enough, and the popular writers’ techniques tend to be “quick fixes” and “fads” without research backup that come with a splash and then, unfortunately, go. In contrast, this last part of the text again takes an evidenced based (theoretical foundation, research supported and sustainable, effective application techniques) approach to managing and leading for high performance. This chapter on behavioral management meets the evidence-based criteria. As one behavioral management advocate strongly points out: Behavior Performance Management is not a good idea to be tried for a while and then cast aside for some other good idea. It is a science that explains how people behave. It cannot go away any more than gravity can go away. In a changing world, the science of behavior must remain the bedrock, the starting place for every decision we make, every new technology we apply, and every initiative we employ in our efforts to bring out the best in people.1 The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of learning theory and evidence based principles and guidelines that serve as a foundation and point of departure for presenting the behavioral management approach. The first section summarizes the widely recognized theories of learning: behavioristic, cognitive, and social/social cognitive. Next, the principles of reinforcement and punishment are given attention, followed by a discussion of both monetary and nonfinancial rewards. The last part of the chapter is devoted specifically to behavioral management. Both the steps of organizational behavior modification, or O.B. Mod., and the results of its basic research and application are given attention.

SUMMARY

Learning is a major psychological process, but it has not been as popular in the study of organizational behavior as constructs such as personality, attitudes, or motivation. Also, it has not been generally recognized that there are different types of learning and different theoretical explanations of learning (behavioristic, cognitive, and social). Despite the controversy surrounding learning theory, there are many evidence-based principles of learning that are derived largely from experimentation and the analysis of operant conditioning. Reinforcement is generally recognized as the single most important principle in the learning process and is most relevant to behavioral performance management. On the basis of the classic law of effect, or “Laws of Behavior,” reinforcement can be operationally defined as anything that increases the strength of a behavior and that tends to induce repetitions of the behavior that preceded the reinforcement. Reinforcers may be positive (the application of a desirable consequence) or negative (prevention, termination, or withdrawal of an undesirable consequence), but both have the impact of strengthening the behavior and increasing its frequency. Punishment, on the other hand, decreases the strength and frequency of the behavior. There is also the special case of extinction (no consequence) that also will decrease the behavior over time. The major direct application of learning theories and the reinforcement principle is behavioral performance management. Both financial and nonfinancial (social attention/recognition and performance feedback) are important but somewhat complex reinforcers that must be carefully applied in behavioral performance management. Behavioral management can be effectively applied through the O.B. Mod. steps: identify the performance-related behavior; measure it to determine the baseline frequency; functionally analyze both the antecedents and the consequences of the behavior (A-B-C); intervene through a positive reinforcement strategy to accelerate the critical performance behaviors; and evaluate to make sure the intervention is, in fact, increasing performance. The behavioral management approach in general and O.B. Mod. have been demonstrated to have a significant positive impact on employee performance in both manufacturing and nonmanufacturing service-oriented organizations.