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Interpersonal Nature of Organizations

The Nature of Groups

Intergroup Dynamics

Group DecisionMaking in Organizations

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* The nature of interpersonal relations in an organization is as
varied as the individual members themselves.

* Personal and positive- occurs when two parties know each

other, have mutual respect and affection, and enjoy interacting with one another.

* Personal but negative- occurs when the parties dislike one, do

not have mutual respect and do not enjoy interacting with one another.

* Professional way- interaction deals with the job at hand,

formal, structured and task-directed.

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* Interpersonal relations in organizations can be a primary
source of need satisfaction for many people.
support.

* Interpersonal relations also serve as a solid basis for social * Good interpersonal relations throughout an organization can
also be a source of synergy. angry or hostile.

* Conflict- people may leave an interpersonal exchange feeling

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* Group- two or more persons who interact with one
another such that each person is either influencing or is influenced by each other.

* Understanding the behavior of people in organizations

requires that we understand the forces that affect individuals as well as how individuals affect the organization. The accomplishments of groups are strongly influenced by the behavior of their individual members.

* Work Group- primary means by which managers

coordinate individuals behavior to achieve organizational goals.

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* FORMAL GROUPS- are established by the organization to do
its work.

* Command group- is relatively permanent and is

characterized by functional reporting relationships such as having a group manager and those who report to the manager. Command groups are usually included in the organizational chart. solving a particular quality problem, and is relatively temporary.

* Task group- is created to perform a specific task, such as

* Affinity group- are relatively permanent collections of

employees from the same level in the organization who meet on a regular basis to share information, capture emerging opportunities, and solve problems.

* INFORMAL GROUPS- are formed by their members and

consist of friendship groups which are relatively permanent and interest groups which may be shorter lived.

* Friendship group- arise out of the cordial relationships

among members and the enjoyment they get from being together. or interest.

* Identity group- are organized around a common activity

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*The four basic group performance factors are
composition, size, norms and cohesiveness.

*GROUP COMPOSITION- is most often described

in terms of the homogeneity or heterogeneity of the members. The composition of a group plays an important role in determining group productivity.

*HOMOGENEOUS GROUP *HETEROGENEOUS GROUP

*GROUP SIZE- can have an important effect on

performance. A group with many members has more resources available and may be able to complete a large number of relatively independent tasks. In groups established to generate ideas, those with more members tend to produce more ideas. Beyond a certain point, the greater complexity of interactions and communication may make it more difficult for a large group to achieve agreement.

*Social loafing- is the tendency of some members of

groups to put less effort in a group situation as they would working alone.

* GROUP NORMS- A norm is a standard against

which the appropriateness of a behavior is judged. Norms result from the combination of members personality characteristics, the situation, the task and historical traditions of the group.

*Four purposes in organization: *Help the group survive. *Simplify and make it easier to predict the behaviors
expected of group members.

*Help the group avoid embarrassing situations. *It express the central values of the group and gives
identity to the group.

* GROUP COHESIVENESS- is the extent to which the

group is committed to remaining together.

* The factors that increase and decrease cohesiveness

and its consequences indicate that although it is often preferable to have a highly cohesive group, in some situations the effects of a highly cohesive group can be negative for the organization.

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* A groups contribution to an organization depends in
it interactions with other groups as well as on its own productivity. Groups that interact actively with others are usually the most productive.

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* The three primary factors that influence intergroup
interactions are: group characteristics, organizational setting and the task and situational bases of interaction

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* People
in organizations work in a variety of group and these groups make decisions that affect the welfare of the organization and the people in it.

GROUP POLARIZATION This occurs when the average of the group members post-discussion attitude tends to be more extreme than the average pre-discussion attitudes. Polarization can profoundly affect group decision making. If members are known to lean toward a particular decision before a discussion, it may be expected that their post-decision position will be even more extreme.

 GROUPTHINK
According to Irving L. Janis, groupthink is a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action.

* Symptoms of Groupthink
The three primary conditions that foster the development of groupthink are:

* Cohesiveness * The leaders promotion of his or her preferred solution * Insulation of the group from experts opinion

*A group in which groupthink has taken hold exhibits

eight well-defined symptoms:

*Illusion of invulnerability *Collective rationalization *Belief in inherent morality *Stereotyped views of out-groups *Direct pressure on dissenters *Self-censorship *Illusion of unanimity *Self-appointed mindguards

*Decision-Making Defects and Decision Quality

When groupthink dominates the group deliberations, there is an increase likelihood that decision-making defects will occur. The group is less likely to survey a full range of alternatives and may focus on only a few. The group may also reject expert opinions that run counter to its own views and may choose to consider only information that supports its preferred solution. Finally, the group may not consider any potential setbacks or countermoves by competing groups and therefore may fail to develop contingency plans.

*PRESCRIPTIONS FOR PREVENTING GROUPTHINK

*Leader prescriptions
* Assign everyone the role of critical evaluator. * Be impartial; do not state preferences. * Assign the devils advocate role to at least one group member. * Use outside experts to challenge the group. * Be open to dissenting points of view.

*Organizational prescriptions
* Set up several independent groups to study the same issue. * Train managers and group leaders in groupthink prevention
techniques.

*PRESCRIPTIONS FOR PREVENTING GROUPTHINK

*Individual prescriptions *Be a critical thinker. *Discuss group deliberations with a trusted outsider,
report back to the group.

*Process prescriptions *Periodically break the group into subgroups to

discuss the issues.

*Take time to study external factors. *Hold second-chance meetings to rethink issues
before making a commitment.

*GROUP PROBLEM SOLVING *Making decisions within

a group can often be challenging. When things go well, they can go very well. However, when things go wrong, you can end up stuck in conflict. Some people may fight for recognition and position; others may be overcritical or disruptive, while others may sit quietly and not contribute anything to the overall effort. improve the generation of alternatives, managers may employ any of the three techniques to stimulate the groups problem solving capabilities: brainstorming, the nominal group technique or the Delphi technique.

*To

* Brainstorming is most often used in the idea-

generation phase of decision making and is intended to solve problems that are new to the organization and have major consequences.

*It

combines a relaxed, informal approach to problem-solving with lateral thinking. It asks that people come up with ideas and thoughts that can at first seem to be a bit crazy. The idea here is that some of these ideas can be crafted into original, creative solutions to the problem you're trying to solve, while others can spark still more ideas. This approach aims to get people unstuck, by "jolting" them out of their normal ways of thinking.

*The nominal group technique is another means of

improving group decision making. This technique may be used in other phases of decision making, such as identification of the problem and of appropriate criteria for evaluating alternatives.

*It is a face-to-face process for gaining consensus. A

typical application is in organizational planning, when a group needs to agree priorities in order to assign resources and funds.

*The

Delphi technique is an intensive and fairly specialized group problem-solving method used to harness and reconcile the knowledge and judgment of several experts.

*Delphi method, refers to a general process of having

experts formulate solutions to problems through several cycles of revision based on each other's feedback. Ideally, the end result is a better solution than any of the experts could have arrived at individually.