Management final paper

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Groups What are groups? Definition: Groups are 2 or more people who 1) interact with one another, 2) are psychologically aware of one another, 3) perceive themselves to be members of the group, 4) work toward a common goal. Note: concept of interaction is essential to the definition of a group Why are groups important?

A. They can be good for people – satisfy important needs. B. They help in solving problems and reaching decisions. C. They can control and discipline members. D. They serve as buffers to protect individuals from outside pressures. E. They can accomplish some things more effectively than individuals. F. They occur spontaneously and are often required by technology of the firm so we

need to understand them.

x Primary means by which managers coordinate individual behavior to achieve organizational goals. So must be aware of individual needs and interpersonal dynamics to manage efficiently and effectively.

The impact of groups on individual effectiveness

A. Aiding in learning about the organization and its environment (stimuli, what to value, outcomes).

B. Aiding in learning about one’s self – they offer feedback. C. Providing help in gaining new skills, can model correct behaviors or provide

instruction and assistance. D. Obtaining valued rewards that are not accessible by one’s self. E. Satisfying important personal needs, especially needs for social acceptance and

affiliation. F. Control information boundaries. G. Norms H. Help potentially with stress.

The impact of groups on organizational effectiveness

A. Accomplishing tasks that could not be done by individual employees. B. Bringing a number of skills and talents to bear on complex, and difficult tasks. C. Providing a vehicle for decision-making that permits multiple and conflicting

views to be aired and considered. D. Providing an efficient means for organizational control of employee behavior. E. Increasing organizational stability by transmitting shared beliefs and values to

new employees.

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Why do people join groups? A. To satisfy individual needs. A1. e.g. security needs, A2. e.g. social needs, A3.

esteem needs. B. Proximity and attraction – more change to get to know each other and attractive

traits. Physical attraction, perceived ability and similarities in attitudes, beliefs, sex, race and personality.

C. Group goals – identify with D. Economic – to result in economic betterment (e.g. a labor union with a record of

securing members’ higher wages). E. Power – to get from group or to gain by representing group. F. To gain access to certain people – e.g. join fraternity to meet certain society. G. Goals outside group – looks good on resume.

Guidelines for management practice

1. People join groups to meet their own needs. 2. An individuals needs may or may not be consistent with the goals of the

groups and they may or may not be consistent with needs of other group members.

Implications So: Groups are likely to be stable and productive if:

1. It can help members achieve their goals while achieving group goals. 2. Groups can help or hinder the manager in creating a motivating

environment. In order to create super ordinate goals and reduce conflict – need to be award of needs of group members, which they attempt to fulfill through their group memberships.

Role conflict

1. Person-role conflict. Occurs when role requirements violate the role holder’s basic values, attitudes and needs.

2. Intrarole conflict. Occurs when different individuals define a role according to different sets of expectations. The role holder can’t satisfy all expectations.

3. Interrole conflict. Occurs when conflicts exists among an individual’s multiple roles, preventing the roles from simultaneously being performed.

In general role conflict = increase in stress and decrease in performance. Not role ambiguity most likely to be associated with intrarole conflict but it is not quite the same. More on roles: Want task-oriented (e.g. initiators, information seeker, information giver, coordinator, evaluator) and group maintenance roles (e.g. encourager, harmonizer, gatekeeper, standard setter, follower) for effective group performance. Don’t want self- oriented roles (e.g. blocker, recognition seeker, dominator, avoiders).

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Norms – generalized expectations or standards of behavior for all role incumbents. Shared by group members. Note: 1) only pertain to behaviors considered important by the group. 2) are accepted in differing degrees by different members. 3) don’t always apply to all members of the group just all people in a particular role in the group. How group norms develop

1. Explicit statements by supervisor or co-workers. 2. Critical events in the group’s history.

A. For example, a member discusses hiring plans with the member of another group in the company, which results in the communicating members’ group’s loss of new positions. The group subsequently develops norms about secrecy.

B. Sometimes the group consciously decides to set a norm after particularly good or bad experiences.

C. Critical events can: c1. – Identify awkward interpersonal situations that should be avoided in the future, c2. Give rise to norms that express the central or distinctive values of the group.

3. Primacy.

A. The first behavior pattern that emerges in a group often sets group expectations and is established as a norm.

B. Individuals often develop their own norms via primacy – students often sit in the same seat they assumed in the first class session of the semester and assume a sort of ownership of the seat.

C. Primacy norms simplify and make predictable expected member behavior.

4. Carry-over behaviors from past situations.

A. Members bring behavior patterns into a group that they learned from past group memberships. For example, a lawyer’s behaviors are learned from his/her professional training.

B. Carry-over norms: 1. Increase the predictability of group members’ behaviors in new setting and facilitates task accomplishment. 2. Help avoid embarrassing interpersonal situations. 3. Often clarify what is distinctive about the member’s occupational or professional role.

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How can a manager change a group’s norms?

x The group can be disbanded so that the manager can work on influencing the development of a new group.

x The manager can use coercion and fear to change the group norms.

x A more realistic means is the use of participation, allowing the group to participate in structuring group activities and in decision-making, emphasizing the need for high levels of task accomplishment.

Why norms are enforced

Most likely to be enforced: x If the norms facilitate group survival and protect the group from

interference/harassment from members of other groups. x If the norms simplify, or make predictable, what behavior is expected of group

members. x If the norms help the group avoid embarrassing interpersonal problems. x If the norms express the group’s central values and clarify what’s distinctive

about the group’s identity. STUDIES INDICATE

1. Older individuals conform less than younger. 2. More intelligent individuals conform less than those less intelligent. 3. Those who are more authoritarian conform ore than those less authoritarian 4. Individuals who perceive themselves as more competent tend to conform less those who view themselves as less competent. 5. High status individuals conform less than low status individuals because they

have accumulated more “idiosyncratic credits” than low-status members. However, some researchers believe that the group is more hostile to non- conforming high-status members if their nonconformity hurts the group.

6. Groups with decentralized communication networks tend to have a higher level or norm conformity because all group members via communication can exert pressure on each group member.

7. The larger the majority of members who support a norm, the greater the conformity, up to a point. Once the majority, over minority differential exceeds three, the influence of increasing majority size on a member’s conformity levels off.

8. A group member may dislike and strongly oppose a norm; but if the rewards he receives from group membership are highly valued, he’ll conform.

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Cohesiveness – results from “all forces acting on the members to remain in the group”. Factors that increase cohesiveness – homogenous group composition, mature development, relatively small size, frequent interactions, clear goals, competition or threat, success, friendly/positive group environment, enjoyable group activities, high consensus on how to reach goals and what goals should be, cooperative interdependence among group members. Effect of group cohesiveness on performance. Condition: 1. High cohesiveness, congruent goals, highest level of performance 2. High cohesiveness, incongruent goals, lowest level of performance 3. Low cohesiveness, congruent goals, positive performance, individually based. Not as good as condition one. 4. Low cohesiveness, incongruent goals, negative performance, not as bad as condition 2. Cohesive groups also show: greater interaction, greater quality of interaction where members are more motivation to reach agreement with each other; a greater sense of personal security and less anxiety among the members; increased use of special task relevant talents of group; and at times a lowered focus on the task. Benefits and costs to large group size A. Benefits – increased resources like: more amount and variety of abilities, viewpoints, information, experience, cross checks for judgmental errors, quantity of ideas, quality of ideas, quality of ideas, economies of scale. B. Costs – rate of new ideas diminishes rapidly as the group grows. Beyond a certain point, the greater the complexity of interactions and communication make it more difficult for a large group to achieve agreement. Main potential problems: 1. An increased coordination requirement prevents use of resources, 2. Greater disparity in participation across members as size increases – some dominate, 3. Instead of to and between individuals, 4. Social loafing or free rider tendency. Social loafing is stopped by: fairness norms, when the contribution is visible. Social loafing is more likely to happen when a person’s contribution is less noticeable; there is less motivation in the group to monitor individuals performance in the group because the impact of a single member seems smaller; and, a member is less likely to see that his contribution makes a real difference to a group. On what does optimal group size depend? 1. Degree of task interdependence 2. Degree of task complexity 3. Type of coordination mechanisms employed

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In case of: 1. Low interdependence, low complexity = large size, standardize processes. 2. Lowe interdependence, high complexity = standardize skills and outputs (what is considered acceptable or fitting with prototype), medium size. 3. High interdependence, low complexity = direct supervision, small-medium size 4. High interdependence, high complexity = mutual adjustment, small size. Composition of group Homogenous – If the members are similar in one or several ways that are critical to the work of the group, such as age, work experience, education, technical specialty, or cultural background. Heterogeneous – If different on the above dimensions. When are heterogeneous groups better? – When dealing with complex, non-routine tasks; collective tasks; creativity is required; and, speed is not important. Best when need diversity of talents and viewpoints. Need to watch out for dysfunctional conflict. Types of groups Two dimensions you can use to analyze groups are: 1. Lifespan – how long group will stay together

- Some are long-term, lasting indefinitely - Others established to accomplish a particular goal and then are

disbanded. Usually in this type –members have similar reasons for being part of the group – task related.

- 2. Formality – whether membership and goals are mandated by the organization or are chosen by group members. Types of groups 1. Command groups – relatively permanent, formal 2. Friendship groups – informal, relatively permanent 3. Task groups – relatively impermanent, formal 4. Interest groups – relatively impermanent, informal

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Formal groups: Command groups – 1. Consist of managers and subordinates, 2. Represented in formal structure of the organization Task groups – 1. Less likely to follow the structure of the organizational chart, can include people from several command groups, allow for flexibility to changing environment. Despite an external reason for membership, the extent to which personal needs are met in formal groups can affect the group’s functioning. Informal groups: Develop within and across the boundaries of formal groups. Affected by people’s attraction for one another and perceptions that they share common interests and/or goals. Other factors, which contribute are organizational design factors like physical proximity. Several factors make one more central in an informal group, including: 1. Informal access to influential members of the formal group. 2. Integration in workgroup 3. Physical location that places one in frequent interaction with people inside and outside one’s workgroup 4. A job that is non-routine and provides access to information for dealing with conditions of uncertainty While informal groups may seem threatening to some managers because they develop and change outside the manager’s direct control, they have a number of distinct benefits which outweigh their negative qualities. Potential benefits. Assists in accomplishing work, helps to remove gaps in formal structure, lengthens the effective span of management, compensates for violations of formal organization principles, provides an additional channel of communication, provides emotional support for employees, encourages better management.