Group Dynamics MBA

Foundations of Group Behavior
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 A group that is neither
group defined by the formally structured now
organization’s structure. organizationally determined;
appears in response to the
need for social contact.
Defining and Classifying Groups (cont’d)
Command Group Task Group
A group composed of Those working together
the individuals who to complete a job or task.
report directly to a
given manager.
Interest Group Friendship Group

Those working together Those brought together
to attain a specific because they share one
objective with which or more common
each is concerned. characteristics.
Reasons for Joining 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.
Group Structure - Roles
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 - Roles
Role Expectations
How others believe a person should act in a given
situation.
Psychological Contract
An unwritten agreement that sets out what
management expects from the employee and vice
versa.
Role Conflict
A situation in which an individual is confronted by
divergent role expectations.
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
Group Structure - Norms (cont’d)
Conformity
Adjusting one’s behavior to align with the norms of
the group.
Reference Groups
Important groups to which individuals belong or
hope to belong and with whose norms individuals
are likely to conform.
Group Structure - Norms
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 - Size
Social Loafing
The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when
working collectively than when working individually.
Performance
Other conclusions:
• Odd number groups do
better than even.
• Groups of 7 or 9 perform
better overall than larger
or smaller groups.
Group Size
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.
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 information • More time consuming (slower)
• Increased diversity of views • Increased pressure to conform
• Higher quality of decisions (more • Domination by one or a few
accuracy) members
• Increased acceptance of solutions • Ambiguous responsibility
Group Decision Making (cont’d)
Groupthink
Phenomenon in which the norm for consensus
overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative course
of action.
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.
Symptoms Of The Groupthink 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 Techniques
Interacting Groups
Typical groups, in which the members interact with
each other face-to-face.
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.
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.
MCQs
A formal group is a designated work group defined by the organization’s structure
True
False
The first stage of Group formation is
Performing
Norming
Storming
Forming
Groups vs. Teams
• Group – interacts to share information and

make decisions to help each group member
perform his or her area of responsibility.
◼ Team – a group whose individual

efforts result in a performance that is
greater than the sum of the individual
inputs
Groups vs. Teams
• Groups • Teams
• Strong leader • Shared leadership
• Individual accountability • Individual and mutual accountability
• Specific team purpose
• Organizational purpose • Collective work products
• Individual work products • Open-ended meetings
• Efficient meetings • Does real work together
• Delegates work • Complementary skills
• Random and varied skills
Team Players
• Recruiting
• Involves selling players on what the
program can do for them
(scholarships, professional contracts,
etc).
• Is an individual focus on personal
development (telling players to be
selfish).
• Tends to de-emphasize “TEAM” and
their obligations to the program
(sacrifice, patience, and winning)
Team Players
• The “Challenge”
• Convincing players that their individual sacrifices are
good for the program and WILL pay off individually at
the end
(for everyone).
Virtual Teams
• Virtual team characterized by members:
• Physically dispersed
• Culturally differentiated
• Organizationally differentiated
• Communication must transcend:
• Space
• Time
• Culture
Virtual Teams
• Characteristics of virtual teams
• Context = little history, novel tasks, physically distributed
• Composition = heterogeneous culture and organizational backgrounds
• Structure = relationships are lateral but weak

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Foundations of Group Behavior

Formal Group Informal Group

Interest Group Friendship Group

Increasing group cohesiveness:

Nominal Group Technique

The first stage of Group formation is

• Group – interacts to share information and

◼ Team – a group whose individual

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