• Chapter 8

•Foundations of
Group Behavior

• ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
• S T E P H E N P. R O B B I N S
• E L E V E N T H E D I T I O N
• WWW.PRENHALL.COM/ROBBINS
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. PowerPoint Presentation
• All rights reserved. • by Charlie Cook
• Defining and Classifying Groups

• Group(s)
• Two or more individuals interacting and
interdependent, who have come together to achieve
particular objectives.

• Formal Group • Informal Group

• A designated work group • A group that is neither formally
defined by the organization’s structured now organizationally
structure. determined; appears in response to
the need for social contact.
• Defining and Classifying Groups (cont’d)

• Command Group • Task Group

• A group composed of the • Those working together to
individuals who report directly complete a job or task.
to a given manager.

• Interest Group • Friendship Group

• Those working together to • Those brought together
attain a specific objective because they share one or
with which each is concerned. more common characteristics.
• Why People Join Groups

• Security
• Status
• Self-esteem
• Affiliation
• Power
• Goal Achievement
• The Five-Stage Model of Group Development

Forming Stage
• The first stage in group development, characterized by much
uncertainty.

Storming Stage
• The second stage in group development, characterized by
intragroup conflict.

Norming Stage
• The third stage in group development, characterized by close
relationships and cohesiveness.
• …Group Development (cont’d)

• Performing Stage
• The fourth stage in group development, when the group is fully
functional.

• Adjourning Stage
• The final stage in group development for temporary groups,
characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than
performance.
• An Alternative Model: Temporary Groups with Deadlines

• Punctuated-Equilibrium
Model
• Temporary groups go
through transitions between
inertia and activity.

• Sequence of actions:
1.Setting group direction
2.First phase of inertia
3.Half-way point transition
4.Major changes
5.Second phase of inertia
6.Accelerated activity
• Group Structure - Roles (cont’d)

• Role(s)
• A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone
occupying a given position in a social unit.

• Role Identity
• Certain attitudes and behaviors consistent with a role.

• Role Perception
• An individual’s view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given
situation.
 • Group Structure - Norms

• Norms
• Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the
group’s members.

• Classes of Norms:
• Performance norms
• Appearance norms
• Social arrangement norms
• Allocation of resources norms
 • The Hawthorne Studies

 A series of studies undertaken by Elton Mayo at Western Electric Company’s

Hawthorne Works in Chicago between 1924 and 1932.
 Research Conclusions:
– Worker behavior and sentiments were closely related.
– Group influences (norms) were significant in affecting individual behavior.
– Group standards (norms) were highly effective in establishing individual worker
output.
– Money was less a factor in determining worker output than were group standards,
sentiments, and security.
• Group Structure - Norms (cont’d)

• Conformity
• Adjusting one’s behavior to align with the norms of the group.

• Asch's Study

• Reference Groups
• Important groups to which individuals belong or hope to belong and with whose
norms individuals are likely to conform.
• Group Structure - Norms (cont’d)

• Deviant Workplace Behavior

• Antisocial actions by organizational members that intentionally
violate established norms and result in negative consequences for
the organization, its members, or both.
• Group Structure - Status

• Status
• A socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by
others.

• Group Norms

Group Member
• Status Equity
• Status

• Culture
 • What determine status

• According to the status characteristics theory , status tends to derive from one
of the three sources
• 1. the power a person wields over others
• 2. a person's ability to contribute to a group's goals
• 3. an individual's personal characteristics

• Status and norms

• Status and group interaction

• Status inequity
 • Group Structure - Size

• Does the size of the group affect the group's overall behavior. ?

• YES

• Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks than the larger ones

• Individual performs better in small groups than the larger one.

• Problem solving done at a better way in larger group.

• WE NEED TO FIND OUT THE REASON FOR FORMING GROUP

• Group Structure - Size

Social Loafing
• The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working
collectively than when working individually.

• Performanc
e

• Other conclusions:
• Odd number groups do
ct
ed pe

t o better than even.

Ex

e • Groups of 7 or 9 perform
(du
•

better overall than larger

u al ) or smaller groups.
c t g
A if n
• oa
l

• Group Size
• There are several methods to prevent social loafing

• 1. Develop rules of conduct:

• 2.Create appropriate group sizes
• 3.Establish individual accountability
• 4. Encourage group loyalty
• 5. Implement peer evaluation
• 6. Write a team contract
• 7. Choose complementary team members
• 8. Minimize group size
• 9. Establish ground rules
• 10. Specifically define the task
• 11. Create personal relationships
• 12. Highlight achievement
• 13.Establish task importance
• 14.Evaluate progress
• Group Structure - Composition

• Group Demography
• The degree to which members of a group share a common
demographic attribute, such as age, sex, race, educational level, or
length of service in the organization, and the impact of this attribute
on turnover.

• Cohorts
• Individuals who, as part of a group, hold a common attribute.
• Group Structure - Cohesiveness

• Cohesiveness
• Degree to which group members are attracted to each other and
are motivated to stay in the group.

• Increasing group cohesiveness:

1. Make the group smaller.
2. Encourage agreement with group goals.
3. Increase time members spend together.
4. Increase group status and admission difficultly.
5. Stimulate competition with other groups.
6. Give rewards to the group, not individuals.
7. Physically isolate the group.
• Relationship between group cohesiveness , performance norms and
productivity
• Group Tasks

 Decision-making
– Large groups facilitate the pooling of information about complex tasks.
– Smaller groups are better suited to coordinating and facilitating the
implementation of complex tasks.
– Simple, routine standardized tasks reduce the requirement that group
processes be effective in order for the group to perform well.
• Group Decision Making

Strengths Weaknesses
– More complete – More time consuming
information (slower)
– Increased diversity of – Increased pressure to
views conform
– Higher quality of – Domination by one or a
decisions (more few members
accuracy) – Ambiguous
– Increased acceptance responsibility
of solutions
 • Group Decision Making (cont’d)

• Groupthink
• Phenomenon in which the norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of
alternative course of action.
• Symptoms Of The Group think Phenomenon

 Group members rationalize any resistance to the assumptions they have

made.
 Members apply direct pressures on those who express doubts about
shared views or who question the alternative favored by the majority.
 Members who have doubts or differing points of view keep silent about
misgivings.
 There appears to be an illusion of unanimity.
 • Group Decision Making (cont’d)

• Groupshift
• A change in decision risk between the group’s decision and the
individual decision that member within the group would make; can
be either toward conservatism or greater risk.
 • Group Decision-Making Techniques

• 1. Interacting Groups
• Typical groups, in which the members interact with each other face-to-face.

• 2. Nominal Group Technique

• A group decision-making method in which individual members meet face-to-face
to pool their judgments in a systematic but independent fashion.

• 3. Brainstorming
• 4. Electronic Meeting
• Group Decision-Making Techniques

• Brainstorming
• An idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all
alternatives, while withholding any criticism of those alternatives.

• Electronic Meeting
• A meeting in which members interact on computers, allowing for
anonymity of comments and aggregation of votes.