Week 7 Assignment Course Project: Final Paper

MGT301PresentationPearson17eChapter9.pdf

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Foundations

of Group Behavior

Learning Objectives Distinguish between the different types of groups.

Describe the punctuated-equilibrium model of group

development.

Show how role requirements change in different

situations.

Demonstrate how norms exert influence on an

individual’s behavior.

Show how status and size differences affect group

performance.

Describe how issues of cohesiveness and diversity can

be integrated for group effectiveness.

Contrast the strengths and weaknesses of group

decision making. 9-3

Distinguish Between

Different Types of Groups

A group is defined as two or more individuals,

interacting and interdependent, who have

come together to achieve particular objectives.

Groups can be either formal or informal.

 Formal groups: those defined by the

organization’s structure.

 Informal groups: alliances that are neither

formally structured nor organizationally

determined.

9-4

LO 1

Distinguish Between

Different Types of Groups

Social identity theory: considers when and

why individuals consider themselves members

of groups.

 People have emotional reactions to the

failure or success of their group because

their self-esteem gets tied into the

performance of the group.

 Social identities help us understand who we

are and where we fit in with people.

9-5

LO 1

Distinguish Between

Different Types of Groups

9-6

LO 1

Distinguish Between

Different Types of Groups

Ingroups and Outgroups

 Ingroup favoritism occurs when we see

members of our group as better than other

people, and people not in our group as all

the same.

 Whenever there is an ingroup, there is by

necessity an outgroup, which is sometimes

everyone else, but is usually an identified

group known by the ingroup’s members.

9-7

LO 1

Distinguish Between

Different Types of Groups

Social Identity Threat

 Ingroups and outgroups pave the way for

social identity threat, which is akin to

stereotype threat.

 Individuals believe they will be personally

negatively evaluated due to their association

with a devalued group, and they may lose

confidence and performance effectiveness.

9-8

LO 1

Describe the Punctuated

Equilibrium Model

9-9

LO 2

Show How Role

Requirements Change Role: a set of expected behavior patterns

attributed to someone occupying a given

position in a social unit.

 Role perception: one’s perception of how to

act in a given situation.

 Role expectations: how others believe one

should act in a given situation.

Psychological contract

9-10

LO 3

Show How Role

Requirements Change

Role conflict: situation in which an

individual faces divergent role expectations.

 We can experience interrole conflict

when the expectations of our different,

separate groups are in opposition.

9-11

LO 3

Show How Role

Requirements Change

Role Play and Assimilation

 Philip Zimbardo’s prison experiment.

Participants easily and rapidly

assumed roles that were very different

from their inherent personalities.

9-12

LO 3

Show How Norms Exert Influence

On An Individual’s Behavior

Norms:

 Acceptable standards of behavior

within a group that are shared by the

group’s members.

9-13

LO 4

Show How Norms Exert Influence

On An Individual’s Behavior

Norms and Emotions

 A recent study found that, in a task group,

individuals’ emotions influenced the group’s

emotions and vice versa.

 Researchers have also found that norms

dictated the experience of emotions for the

individuals and for the groups – in other

words, people grew to interpret their shared

emotions in the same way.

9-14

LO 4

Show How Norms Exert Influence

On An Individual’s Behavior

9-15

LO 4

Show How Norms Exert Influence

On An Individual’s Behavior

Norms and Emotions

 A recent study found that, in a task group,

individuals’ emotions influenced the group’s

emotions and vice versa.

 Researchers have also found that norms

dictated the experience of emotions for the

individuals and for the groups – in other

words, people grew to interpret their shared

emotions in the same way.

9-16

LO 4

Show How Norms Exert Influence

On An Individual’s Behavior

Positive Norms and Group Outcomes

 One goal of every organization with corporate

social responsibility (CSR) initiatives is for its

values to hold normative sway over employees.

 If employees aligned their thinking with positive

norms, these norms would become stronger and

the probability of positive impact would grow

exponentially.

 Positive group norms may well beget positive

outcomes, but only if other factors are present.

9-17

LO 4

Show How Norms Exert Influence

On An Individual’s Behavior

9-18

LO 4

Show How Norms Exert Influence

On An Individual’s Behavior

Norms and Culture

 Do people in collectivist cultures have

different norms than people in individualist

cultures? Of course they do.

 But did you know that our orientation may be

changed, even after years of living in one

society.

9-19

LO 4

Show How Status and Size

Differences Affect Performance

Status: a socially defined position or rank

given to groups or group members by others.

 Status characteristics theory: status is

derived from one of three sources:

The power a person wields over others.

A person’s ability to contribute to a group’s

goals.

An individual’s personal characteristics.

9-20

LO 5

Show How Status and Size

Differences Affect Performance Status and Norms: high status individuals

often have more freedom to deviate from

norms.

Status and Group Interaction: high status

people are often more assertive.

Status Inequity: perceived inequity creates

disequilibrium and can lead to resentment and

corrective behavior.

Status and Stigmatization: stigma by

association.

9-21

LO 5

Show How Status and Size

Differences Affect Performance

Group size affects the group’s overall

behavior.

 Large groups are good for gaining diverse

input.

 Smaller groups are better doing something

with input.

Social loafing: the tendency for individuals

to expend less effort when working

collectively than alone.

9-22

LO 5

Integrating Cohesiveness and

Diversity for Group Effectiveness

9-23

LO 6

Integrating Cohesiveness and

Diversity for Group Effectiveness

Diversity: degree to which members of the

group are similar to, or different from, one

another.

 Increases group conflict, especially in the

short term.

Culturally and demographically diverse groups

may perform better over time.

 May help them be more open-minded and

creative.

Faultlines

9-24

LO 6

Group Decision Making

Strengths of group decision making:

 More complete information and knowledge

 Increased diversity of views

 Increased acceptance of solutions

Weaknesses of group decision making:

 Time consuming

 Conformity pressures

 Dominance of a few members

 Ambiguous responsibility

9-25

LO 7

Group Decision Making

Effectiveness and efficiency of group

decisions:

 Accuracy

 Speed

 Creativity

 Acceptance

9-26

LO 7

Group Decision Making

Groupthink: situations in which group

pressures for conformity deter the group

from critically appraising unusual, minority, or

unpopular views.

Groupshift: a change between a group’s

decision and an individual decision that a

member within the group would make.

9-27

LO 7

Group Decision Making

Most group decision making takes place in

interacting groups.

 Members meet face-to-face and rely on both

verbal and nonverbal interaction to

communicate with each other.

Interacting groups often censor themselves

and pressure individual members toward

conformity of opinion.

9-28

LO 7

Group Decision Making

Brainstorming can overcome pressures for

conformity.

 In a brainstorming session:

The group leader states the problem.

Members then “free-wheel” as many

alternatives as they can.

No criticism is allowed.

One idea stimulates others, and group

members are encouraged to “think the

unusual.”

9-29

LO 7

Group Decision Making

The nominal group technique: restricts

discussion or interpersonal communication

during the decision making process.

 Group members are all physically present, but

members operate independently.

 Permits the group to meet formally but does

not restrict independent thinking, as does the

interacting group.

Nominal groups outperform brainstorming

groups.

9-30

LO 7

Group Decision Making

Steps for a nominal group:

 Each member independently writes down

his/her ideas on the problem.

 After this silent period, each member

presents one idea to the group.

 The ideas are discussed for clarity.

 Each group member rank-orders the ideas.

 The idea with the highest aggregate ranking

determines the final decision.

9-31

LO 7

Group Decision Making

9-32

LO 7

Implications for Managers

Recognize that groups can dramatically affect

individual behavior in organizations, to either

positive or negative effect. Therefore, pay

special attention to roles, norms, and

cohesion—to understand how these are

operating within a group is to understand how

the group is likely to behave.

To decrease the possibility of deviant

workplace activities, ensure that group norms

do not support antisocial behavior.

9-33

Implications for Managers

Pay attention to the status aspect of groups.

Because lower-status people tend to participate

less in group discussions, groups with high

status differences are likely to inhibit input from

lower-status members and reduce their potential.

Use larger groups for fact-finding activities and

smaller groups for action-taking tasks. With

larger groups, provide measures of individual

performance.

To increase employee satisfaction, make certain

people perceive their job roles accurately. 9-34