Essentials of Organizational Behavior

Chapter 7

Foundations of Group Behavior

NOTE:        Stick to pages 91 – 102

 

Group

Two or more individuals

interacting and interdependent

who have come together

to achieve particular objectives

 

Classifying Groups

   Formal Group

    Informal group

    Command group

   Task group

    Interest group

    Friendship group

External Conditions

    Organization Strategy

    Authority Structures

    Formal Regulations

    Organizational Resources

    Personnel Selection Process

    Performance Evaluation and Reward System

    Organizational Culture

    Physical Work Setting

  Group Structure

   Formal Leadership

   Roles

   Norms

   Status

   Size

   Composition

Roles

   Role Identity

   Role Perception

   Role Expectations

   Psychological Contract

   Role Conflict  

Norms

   Set acceptable standards of behavior

   Describe what should and should not be done within a group

   Shared by the group's members

   Suggest that certain behaviors are "better" than others.

 

Classes of Norms

   Performance-related processes

   Appearance factors

   Informal social arrangements

   Allocation of resources

 

What did we learn about norms from the Hawthorne experiments?

People were called RATE BUSTERS, FARLAP  when they exceeded normative rates of production in factory environments.

Coined the term, “Hawthorne Effect”

 

Conformity

"Norms are often taken for granted so fully that members fail to realize their existence until a norm has been violated."

 Forsyth, D.R. (1983) An Introduction to Group Dynamics.  Monterey, CA:  Brooks/Cole Publishing, p. 120

 

Solomon Asch Studies

    NSS = non-suspecting subjects were “set up” by other subjects

    Asked to look at (2) cards, and compare length of lines on each

    35% of all subjects conformed to WRONG judgements  due to group conformity

 

Status

A socially defined position or rank

given to groups or group members

by others

 

Aspects of Status

    Formal status: 

–  organizationally imposed through titles or amenities

     

    Informal status: 

–  acquired by education, age, gender, skill, or experience

    High status people can resist pressure to conform

    Group members may find the  status hierarchy inequitable

 Example of Status and Performance

When a teenage gang members bowled together, the group leaders nearly always won the game. 

When individual members bowled without the leaders present they often scored higher than in the group. 

Whyte attributed the change to status differences within the group.

 

Source: Whyte, W.F.. (1955) Street Corner Society. 2nd Ed.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press.

 

Size

   Large groups better for gaining diverse input to solve problems

   Small groups better at productive output

   Five or seven members is an optimal team size.

 

Social Loafing

Tendency for individuals to expend less effort

when working collectively

than when working individually

 

Composition

   Demography: age, gender, race, education, tenure.

   Cohorts: individuals who hold a common attribute.

 

Advantages of Group Decision Making

    More complete information and knowledge

    Increased diversity of views

    Increased acceptance of solution

    Increased legitimacy

    More accurate

    More creativity

    Better QUALITY decisions

 

Disadvantages of Groups

   Time consuming

   Pressures to conform

   Domination by the few

   Ambiguous responsibility

   Slower than individuals

   Less efficient

 

Factors Affecting High Satisfaction

    Keep roles clearly defined

    Minimize interactions with lower status individuals

    Keep groups small