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MGT501Lessons9and10Presentation.pptxMGT 501 Lesson 9/10
Groups and Group Norms, Teams, and MBO
Objectives of This Presentation
Groups and Group Norms
Safety Zone revisited
The “Hawthorne Effect”
Distinction Between “Groups” and “Teams”
The distinction is artificial
The real difference is what norms the group is oriented to
Using MBO to transform a “group” into a “team”
Groups and Group Norms
Norms exist when
A group of people agree (without necessarily doing so explicitly) as to
What actions are permissible
How those actions may be performed
What constitutes a violation
...And that when a member violates one of these norms, it has to be recognized and some penalty must be applied (also known in social science as “negative sanctions”)
All negative sanctions involve a restriction of the perpetrator’s “right to speak”
Some involve only this consequence, which may be temporary or permanent, depending on the severity of the “crime”
Groups and Group Norms
Peer Group Standards are sets of norms, enforced by members of a formal or informal group.
The Safety Zone—which was introduced in Lesson 2—is just our name for a Peer Group Standard.
(See next slide...)
Groups and Group Norms
The Safety Zone
Groups and Group Norms
In one of the Hawthorne* experiments, an incentive plan was set up. The results are described by Robbins and Judge as follows:
“...[E]mployees did not individually maximize their output. Rather, their role performance became controlled by a group norm. Members were afraid that if they significantly increased their output, the unit incentive rate might be cut, the expected daily output might be increased, layoffs might occur, or slower workers might be reprimanded. So the group established its idea of a fair output—neither too much nor too little. Members helped each other ensure their reports were nearly level, and the norms the group established included a number of behavioral “don’ts.” Don’t be a rate-buster—turning out too much work. Don’t be a chiseler—turning out too little work. Don’t squeal on any of your peers. The group enforced its norms with name-calling, ridicule, and even punches to the upper arms of violators. The group thus operated well below its capability, using norms that were tightly established and strongly enforced.” (Robbins and Judge [2018] Ch. 9 Section 4.3)
*Note: The Hawthorne Studies were foundational to all modern studies of organization. More will be said about them in the next slide.
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Groups and Group Norms
The Hawthorne Studies* showed that
People doing ordinary assembly work consistently improved their performance, even under varying physical working conditions, just because they knew they were being watched.
This was because, as Robbins and Judge noted, “The members thought they were in an elite group, and that management showed concern about their interests by engaging in experimentation.” (Also famously known as the “Hawthorne effect”)
Clearly, this is evidence that, regardless of pay, people will exert increased effort if in so doing they “look good” to others (and thus, presumably, to themselves), as argued in Lesson 3, when we considered the theory of George Herbert Mead.
So, when you get a Hawthorne effect, don’t just write it off as an anomaly. Do as Tom Peters recommended—see your job as producing an unending series of “Hawthorne effects.”
*Note: See 9.4.3 in Robbins and Judge (2018).
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Distinction between “Groups” and “Teams”
Definition of “Team”: A team is a group of people in which
All members share a common, explicit purpose
Each member understands the impact of his/her actions on the accomplishment of that purpose
Each member understands how his/her actions affect those of other people who work for the organization
Each is committed to doing the “right things,” relative to the common purpose
Members regulate one another’s actions, relative to this set of “right things,” which are by definition, “norms.”
Distinction between “Groups” and “Teams”
Both teams and groups are committed to a set of norms.
So, what really differentiates them?
Group norms evolve, usually without an explicit purpose or plan.
Team norms are either designed intentionally, or evolve, but have an explicit purpose or plan (or goal, if you prefer that term).
As you can see, teams are very efficient at accomplishing their goals.
Thus, from a managerial perspective, the objective is to get them committed to the organization’s goals.
Using MBO to Transform a “Group” into a “Team”
This is really the most important lesson of the whole course...
In Lesson 4, we learned the difference between “surface acting” and “deep acting”*
Because of the difference in commitment—and the impact of real commitment on productive effort supply—we prefer our people to be “deep actors.”
We should also know by now that they cannot be manipulated for long.
Thus, we have to appeal to their reason—expand the boundaries of their rationality (Lesson 6).
*Note: “Surface acting” is doing it because the boss said so. There may not be, and most often there is not, real commitment associated with this. “Deep acting” isn’t really acting at all. In this case, the agents (or workers) are doing what they do because they believe it’s the right thing to do.
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Using MBO to Transform a “Group” into a “Team”
Once a group has an explicit common purpose and a set of norms that support that purpose, they will enforce those norms. They will be a “team” in the ordinary business sense of “team.”
And if they enforce those norms, they will identify slackers and sanction them even when management isn’t around.
So, how do we create these conditions?
Using MBO to Transform a “Group” into a “Team”
The answer is a combination of MBO and the Fundamental Principle of Engagement (Lessons 3, 7, and 8), which can be stated as:
Each member of the team gets to participate, up to his/her level of competence, in the creation of his/her work instructions.
The MBO model, introduced in Lesson 1, is presented again on the next slide...
Using MBO to Transform a “Group” into a “Team”
Functional/Divisional Performance Objectives—Operations, Sales and Marketing, Administrative Support, Etc.
Business Strategic Objectives—Top Management
Unit Objectives—Local Management Identifies Key Performance Targets
Individual and Team Work Objectives at the “Operative” Level
Divisions, Corporate Staff
Using MBO to Transform a “Group” into a “Team”
In summary, to create a team whose norms are aligned with the goals of the organization, take the following steps:
Share the non-negotiable goals (typically, what is required of your unit as part of the organization’s strategic plan).
Convince your team that these goals are good for the business and good for them.
Give them room to fill in the details about how to accomplish that in your unit.
Ask them to define what constitutes excellent, adequate, and inadequate work*.
Encourage the expression of diverse opinions, as long it is about the “good of the business”.
*Note: The Power of Words, Lesson 8.
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Using MBO to Transform a “Group” into a “Team”
As an exercise, put yourself in the place of a worker...would you rather be managed in this way, or simply told what to do?
Remember, any universal truth in the social sciences must also be true of you and me.
Don’t speak of workers as “them,” or say things like “Make them feel involved.” That is demeaning, and “they” will quickly see through you, and make a point of giving you less than “they” are capable of.
Consider this...
End of Lesson 9—
Thank You!
References
Drucker, Peter F. (1955). The Practice of Management. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.
Lewin, Kurt. Formalization and progress in psychology. University of Iowa Studies in Child Welfare 16.3 (1940): 9-42. Reproduced in Lewin (1951 1-29).
Lewin, Kurt. (1951). Field theory in the social sciences (ed. Dorwin Cartwright). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mead, George Herbert (1934). Mind, self, and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2018). Essentials of organizational behavior. New York, NY : Pearson
Production Graph
Time
Output
