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Chapter 10 Groups and Intergroup Processes

Chapter 10 Groups and Intergroup Processes. Learning Goals. Distinguish between formal and informal groups Define the basic conceptual tools for understanding groups Describe how and why cohesive groups form in organizations Discuss the factors that affect group effectiveness

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Chapter 10 Groups and Intergroup Processes

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  1. Chapter 10Groups and Intergroup Processes

  2. Learning Goals • Distinguish between formal and informal groups • Define the basic conceptual tools for understanding groups • Describe how and why cohesive groups form in organizations • Discuss the factors that affect group effectiveness • Understand the emergence and use of self-managing teams in organizations

  3. Chapter Overview • Introduction • Formal and Informal Groups • Basic Concepts for Understanding Groups in Organizations • Functions of Groups in Organizations • A Model of Cohesive Group Formation • Stages of Group Development • Effects of Workforce Diversity

  4. Chapter Overview (Cont.) • Social Structure of Groups • Factors That Affect Group Effectiveness • Self-Managing Teams • Dysfunctional Consequences of Groups • Intergroup Processes in Organizations • International Aspects of Groups in Organizations • Ethical Issues About Groups in Organizations

  5. Introduction • A collection of people trying to do a task or reach a goal • Features • Repeated social interaction • Mutual dependence to do a task or reach a goal • Found throughout an organization • Have both good and bad effects • Can powerfully affect people’s behavior

  6. Formal andInformal Groups • Formal groups • Functional groups • Clusters of people formed by an organization’s design • Often permanent • Examples: divisions, departments, work units • Task groups • Carry out specific tasks • Often temporary • Examples: process action teams, concurrent engineering teams, task forces

  7. Formal andInformal Groups (Cont.) • Informal groups • Found within and across formal groups • Social interaction patterns affect their formation • Form along interest lines, task requirements, friendship patterns, and the like • A “shadow organization”

  8. Basic Concepts forUnderstanding Groupsin Organizations Cohesiveness Norms Understandinggroups Requiredand emergent behavior Conformity

  9. Basic Concepts forUnderstanding Groupsin Organizations (Cont.) • Cohesiveness • Members are attracted to the group’s task and it’s members • Members of a cohesive group like to be together and care about each other • Cohesive groups tend to perform better than noncohesive groups especially if they are small

  10. Basic Concepts forUnderstanding Groupsin Organizations (Cont.) • Norms • Rules of behavior for a group’s members • Found in cohesive groups • Typically unwritten rules • Performance levels, social relationships, relationships within the organization • New members learn the group’s norms during early stages of socialization

  11. Basic Concepts forUnderstanding Groupsin Organizations (Cont.) • Conformity to group norms • Compliance: person goes along with the norms but does not accept them • Personal acceptance: internalized by the person • Person’s beliefs and attitudes are congruent with the norms • Has more powerful effect on behavior than compliance

  12. Basic Concepts forUnderstanding Groupsin Organizations (Cont.) • Required behavior • What a person must do because of membership in an organization • Also part of a person’s role in the formal group • Examples • At work on time • Performing job duties a certain way • Interacting with specific people in another work unit

  13. Basic Concepts forUnderstanding Groupsin Organizations (Cont.) • Emergent behavior • Grows from social interaction among group members • Often defined by a group’s norms • Newcomer learns these behaviors over time

  14. Functions of Groupsin Organizations • Socialization of organization members • Source of rewards for members • Support members while they work: especially important in hazardous work

  15. Functions of Groupsin Organizations (Cont.) • Cohesive group norms supportive of management • Interdependent tasks: cooperative behavior helps task accomplishment • Produce innovative work behavior • Self-policing: behavioral control is more immediate than controls used by managers

  16. A Model of CohesiveGroup Formation • Use to understand how and why groups form in organizations • Applies to all types of groups • Key parts of model • Activities: job duties and responsibilities • Interactions: social interaction between two or more people • Sentiments: attitudes, beliefs, and feelings about the person or persons in the interaction

  17. A Model of CohesiveGroup Formation (Cont.) Sentiments Activities Interactions

  18. A Model of CohesiveGroup Formation (Cont.) • Factors affecting cohesive group formation • Allow social interaction • Proximity (closeness) of people • No physical isolation • Low noise level • Required interaction • Incomplete job descriptions

  19. A Model of CohesiveGroup Formation (Cont.) • Factors affecting cohesive group formation (cont.) • Allow social interaction (cont.) • Free time at work • Not tied to work area • Work requires little attention • Low absenteeism and turnover

  20. A Model of CohesiveGroup Formation (Cont.) • Factors affecting cohesive group formation (cont.) • Restrict social interaction • Large distance between people • Physical barriers • High noise level • Low required interaction • Thorough job description

  21. A Model of CohesiveGroup Formation (Cont.) • Factors affecting cohesive group formation (cont.) • Restrict social interaction (cont.) • Little free time • Tied to work area • Work requires attention • High absenteeism and turnover

  22. A Model of CohesiveGroup Formation (Cont.) • Bases of attraction • Attracted to each other to form a cohesive group • Similarities: attitudes, beliefs, gender, ethnic background, age, social status, education • Share common experiences

  23. A Model of CohesiveGroup Formation (Cont.) • Bases of attraction (cont.) • Membership can satisfy a person's desire for social interaction • Group is instrumental for reaching a goal Join a college sorority or fraternity because of beliefthat companies like to hire college graduates who havehad such involvement.

  24. A Model of Group Formation Activities Factors allowingsocial interaction Factors restrictingsocial interaction Interactions Bases ofattraction Sentiments Cohesive group Group norms

  25. When Should CohesiveGroups Form? Cohesive groups should form when Factors restrictingsocial interaction are more than Factors allowingsocial interaction

  26. When Should CohesiveGroups Form? (Cont.) Cohesive groups should not form when Factors allowingsocial interaction are less than Factors restrictingsocial interaction

  27. Stages ofGroup Development • Groups can develop in a series of stages • Each stage emphasizes something different • Early aspects focus on the group’s social structure: norms, roles, social status, and role relationships • Stages have different implications for member behavior and group performance

  28. Stages ofGroup Development (Cont.) • Not discrete and clearly identifiable states; plateaus in the group's evolution • Newly formed groups of strangers: likely experience all stages of development

  29. Stages ofGroup Development (Cont.) • Group formation stage (forming) • Learn about each other and task • Define social and task boundaries • Intragroup conflict stage (storming) • Discuss social roles • Emergence of leadership

  30. Stages ofGroup Development (Cont.) • Group cohesion stage (norming) • Define roles and relationships among them • Has an identifiable culture • Conflict focuses on task • Task orientation stage (performing) • Members accept group norms • Energy focuses on doing the task

  31. Stages ofGroup Development (Cont.) • Termination stage • Disband • Redefine the group's goals • Stages repeat • New members • Redistribution of members • Reorganization • Organizational redesign

  32. Effects ofWorkforce Diversity • Workforce diversity: both positive and negative effects on group development and functioning • Positive effects • Diverse outlooks can potentially help create more solutions to problems • Find better ways of doing group’s work

  33. Effects ofWorkforce Diversity (Cont.) • Positive effects (cont.) • Especially useful to organizations that use teams to analyze work • Successful management • Knowledge of group dynamics • Understand and accept differences

  34. Effects ofWorkforce Diversity (Cont.) • Negative effects • Misinterpretation of group members' intentions because of different ways of viewing the world • Especially likely to happen when members hold stereotypes about other members • Communication difficulties if group members do not have a common first language • Distrust may exist because group members fear the new and unknown • High conflict potential

  35. Effects ofWorkforce Diversity (Cont.) • Other effects • Takes longer to pass through the early stages of group formation and become cohesive • Introduces wide variation in bases of attraction • Makes the process of becoming cohesive longer, more complex, more difficult • Although the empirical research is mixed, results support the above statements

  36. Social Structureof Groups • Role • Task roles: aspects of group’s task • Maintenance roles: behavioral processes within the group • Individual roles: behavior that often focuses on individual needs • Status structure: relative position of roles and relationships among roles

  37. Social Structureof Groups (Cont.) • Communication network • Central role • Peripheral role • Connecting role • Power and influence patterns • Formal appointed group leader • Informal leaders

  38. Factors That AffectGroup Effectiveness • Group effectiveness • Member satisfaction • Reaching the goals of both group and organization • Physical environment • Affects interaction • Table layout • Physical boundary defining group • Group size and size of work area

  39. Factors That AffectGroup Effectiveness (Cont.) • Member characteristics • Compatibility of needs • Compatibility of personality • Decreased conflict Caution: group tasks requiring variations in performancecall for differences in member characteristics

  40. Factors That AffectGroup Effectiveness (Cont.) • Group characteristics • Group goals: specific, clear • Performance feedback, especially on difficult tasks • Interdependent groups should receive group not individual rewards

  41. Factors That AffectGroup Effectiveness (Cont.) • Group size effects • Productivity lower in large groups than in small ones • Small groups better for tasks with high cooperation requirements • Small enough to let people know performance of other group members

  42. Self-Managing Teams • Specific task • Autonomous • Decision authority

  43. Dysfunctional Consequencesof Groups • More time than individuals • To do some tasks • Development of group structure • Managing conflict in during group development • Loss of individual identity • Diffusion of responsibility

  44. Dysfunctional Consequencesof Groups (Cont.) • Social loafing (free rider) and sucker effects can reduce group performance • Social loafing (free-rider effect) • Perceive one's effort as unimportant, or • Not easily noticed by other group members • Sucker effects: reduce one's effort as response to feeling of inequity from social loafing

  45. Dysfunctional Consequencesof Groups (Cont.) • Groupthink • Try to get consensus • Consider few alternatives • Do not regularly reexamine assumptions

  46. Intergroup Processesin Organizations • Happens at point of interaction between members of two groups • Examples: marketing, manufacturing, design engineering • Task interdependence from work process design and organizational design • Groups with different orientations to tasks, time, and goals: high conflict potential

  47. Intergroup Processesin Organizations (Cont.) • Forces affecting intergroup interactions • View their group as composed of members with differing characteristics • View other groups as having homogeneous members • Tend to favor people from their group

  48. Intergroup Processesin Organizations (Cont.) • Forces affecting intergroup interactions (cont.) • Positively value its purpose • Diversity in group membership • Conflict in intergroup processes needs attention Such social psychological responses can lead tocategorization, stereotyping, and perceptual distortionof members from other groups.

  49. Intergroup Processesin Organizations (Cont.) • Workforce diversity and informal groups • Gender • Race • Country of origin • Age • Stereotyping and perceptual distortion of such informal groups • Affects quality of intergroup behavior

  50. International Aspects ofGroups in Organizations • Cross-cultural variations in tendency to accept group pressure for conformity to group norms • Japanese encourage high conformity to norms of a group that has the person's primary loyalty • German students in some experimental research showed a low tendency to conform • Moderate conformity among people in Hong Kong, Brazil, Lebanon, and the United States

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