Preview Extract
This Document Contains Chapters 11 to 12 Chapter 11 Conflict, Power and, Organizational Politics Chapter Overview This chapter discusses how conflict can arise in interpersonal interaction, and how it can be managed. The nature of conflict, conflict outcomes, and assertive behavior are covered. The five bases of power are presented, followed by a discussion of organizational politics, and tactics. Chapter Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, students should understand: 1. The nature and types of conflict 2. Conflict outcomes and resolution strategies 3. Different personality types 4. Assertive behavior and trust-building 5. Interpersonal facilitation and stroking 6. Types of power 7. Organizational politics and influence Discussion and Project Ideas • The keys to this chapter are how interpersonal and intergroup conflicts arise, and what methods exist for resolving conflict. Using the topics in the chapters what issues can be identified in the following scenarios: Pick two students to role-play the situation which follows. Have the rest of the class serve as observers and identify specific topics covered in the chapter: Person A: You are the manager for Road speed Trucking Co. Lately, one of your dispatchers has been coming in late, up to forty-five minutes on some occasions. This means that the other dispatcher has to stay late (and be paid time-and-a-half for overtime) or that you have to do the dispatching yourself. This morning you had to interrupt negotiations with a potentially large customer because your dispatcher was late again. You are totally fed up. At this very moment, the dispatcher is coming in the door. Instructions: Develop and carry on whatever dialogue you think is appropriate. Person B: You are a dispatcher for Road speed Trucking Co. You have been with the company seven years and are generally considered the company’s best dispatcher. Lately, you have had a lot of family problems. Both your father and mother have had to be hospitalized in the last two weeks and one of your three children broke her leg. Your spouse, who is a salesperson, has been out of town for the last couple of weeks. This morning you are late for work because your father has respiratory problems and had to be taken to the hospital. Because of all of these problems, you have been late several times in the last couple of weeks. Also, because you work the late shift, you have not really discussed these problems with anyone. The exercise begins with you coming to work late. Your supervisor will have a discussion with you. Respond in any way you feel is appropriate. • Pick two students to role-play the exercise below. Have the class serve as observers and discuss the interaction in terms of guidelines for conflict resolution through confrontation. You may assign persons to individually monitor eye contact, voice modulation, and facial expressions. Person A: You work in the advertising department of a large computer manufacturing company. Every Friday there is a staff meeting with your boss and four other co-workers where you are all asked to brainstorm marketing strategies and proposals. Lately you have hit on several excellent ideas, particularly the proposal for marketing the Peach Mini-Computer. Yet, every time, your manager takes your idea and assigns it to another member of the group. Because the projects are usually very successful, the group members and the boss get a lot of recognition for your ideas. You can think of at least two people who were promoted because of their success with projects you originally proposed. You are fed up with this state of affairs and are going to meet with your boss right now. You may approach the situation and say whatever you wish to generate an appropriate response from your boss. Person B: Mary (or Frank), one of your best idea people, has just requested a meeting with you. You know she is very upset because, lately, she feels that some of the ideas she contributes in Friday staff meetings are given to other employees. It’s true, but not for the reasons she thinks. The facts behind the situation are that although Mary is very creative, she is poor on follow-through. You have tried to let her run with her ideas in the past, but she always drops them in midstream to start on something else. This is not a problem for you because there are enough people to take up where Mary leaves off. Mary’s real value is as an idea person. She is going to see you in just a second. Respond in any way you see appropriate. • The best leaders or managers understand bases of power and use of power in organizations. Examples abound of the different sources of power exhibited by leaders and managers. Assign students the task of researching the career of a well-known figure, such as John F. Kennedy or Lee Iacocca. Ask them to concentrate on examples of the five bases of power that they found in researching the person they chose or were assigned. Have them discuss in class the extent to which all of the bases of power tend to be available to the very best leaders, and why. Lecture Outline Introduction • Almost every working relationship will produce some degree of conflict across time. o Whether the conflicts will be destructive or constructive depends on the attitudes and skills of the participants. • Employees may need to develop assertiveness and trust-building skills in order to be heard and respected by their peers. o Interpersonal behavior in complex organizations inevitably produces power differences. Conflict in Organizations The Nature of Conflict • Conflict can occur in any situation in which two or more parties feel themselves in opposition. • Conflict is an interpersonal process that arises from disagreements over the goals to attain, the methods to be used to accomplish those goals, or even the tone of voice used as people express their positions. o In addition to conflicts over goals or methods, conflicts also arise due to: Task interdependence Ambiguity of roles Policies and rules Personality differences Ineffective communications Competition over scarce resources Personal stress Underlying differences in attitudes, beliefs, and experiences • In organizations everywhere, conflict among different interests is inevitable, and sometimes the amount of conflict is substantial and destructive. o Managers estimate that they spend about 20 percent of their time dealing with conflict. o They may be either direct participants or mediators trying to resolve a conflict. • Knowledge and understanding of conflict and the methods for resolving it are important. Levels of Conflict • Conflict can occur within an employee, between individuals or groups, and across organizations as they compete. • Intrapersonal Conflict o Most role conflict occurs when an employee’s supervisor or peers send conflicting expectations to an employee. o Intrapersonal role conflict can also emerge from within an individual, as a result of competing roles taken. • Interpersonal Conflict o Interpersonal conflicts are a serious problem to many people because they deeply affect a person’s emotions. o People have a need to protect their self-image and self-esteem from damage by others. o When a person’s self-concept is threatened, serious upset occurs and relationships deteriorate. o Sometimes the temperaments of two persons are incompatible and their personalities clash. o In other cases, conflict develops from failures of communication or differences in perception. • Intergroup Conflict o On a major scale, intergroup conflict is similar to the wars between juvenile gangs. Each group sets out to undermine the other, gain power, harness available resources, and improve its image. o Conflict also arises from: Different viewpoints Group loyalties Poor communication o Some conflict can be constructive, especially at the intergroup level. The conflict may indicate that a critical problem between two departments needs to be resolved rather than allowed to smolder. It can create a motivating force, encouraging groups to resolve conflict so as to move the relationship to a new equilibrium. o Conflict is sometimes escalated—intentionally stimulated in organizations because of its constructive consequences. o At other times it may be desirable to de-escalate it—intentionally decrease it because of its potentially destructive consequences. o The challenge for management is to keep conflict at a moderate level where it is most likely to stimulate creative thought, but not interfere with performance. o Conflict should not become so intense that individual parties either hide it or escalate it to destructive levels. Sources of Conflict • Interpersonal conflict arises from a variety of sources. o Organizational change—people hold differing views over the direction to go, the route to take, the likelihood of success, the resources to be used, and the probable outcomes. With the pace of technological, political, and social change increasing and the marketplace having become a global economy, organizational changes will be ever present. o Different sets of values—people hold different beliefs and adhere to different value systems. The resulting disputes can be difficult to resolve because they are less objective than disagreements over alternative products, inventory levels, or promotional campaigns. o Threats to status—when one’s status is threatened, face-saving becomes a powerful driving force as a person struggles to maintain a desired image. Conflict may arise between the defensive person and whoever created a threat to status. o Contrasting perceptions—perceptions vary as a result of prior experiences and expectations. Since their perceptions are very real to them, and they assume these perceptions must be equally apparent to others, they sometimes fail to realize that others hold contrasting perceptions of the same object or event. o Lack of trust—every continuing relationship requires some degree of trust—the capacity to voluntarily depend on each other’s word and actions. When someone has a real or perceived reason not to trust another, the potential for conflict rises. o Incivility—mutual respect, empathy, and caring are the glues that hold work groups together. Many organizations are torn apart by rudeness and a lack of “common” courtesy. Workplace incivility occurs when employees fail to exhibit concern and regard for others, or disrespect each other on the job. Simple solutions to the incivility problem include: Paying attention to others Listening to their points of view Inclusively welcoming others Showing respect for others’ time, space, and opinions Apologizing earnestly when appropriate Speaking kindly of others Refraining from gossiping or making idle complaints Avoiding blaming others Giving constructive criticism objectively • Difficult tasks—occasionally managers are charged with performing distasteful tasks that predictably result in conflict. These tasks—referred to by some as “necessary evils” include. mass layoffs, personal firing for underperformance, negative performance reviews, and disciplinary actions. Employees can strike back at their manager—either orally or physically. • Personality clashes—the concept of individual differences is fundamental to organizational behavior. Personality differences can cause conflict, but they are also a rich resource for creative problem solving. • Many personality traits have been identified to find how do personality traits differ, but they seem to cluster around five major factors: o Agreeableness o Conscientiousness o Openness to experience o Emotional stability o Extroversion • Conscientious employees: o Have lower absenteeism rates o Are careful about the quality of their work o Set challenging performance goals for themselves o Demonstrate more frequent organizational citizenship behaviors • Emotionally stable individuals seem to handle stress better than others. o Employees high on the openness to experience trait are less resistant to rapid organizational change. o Extroverted individuals are outgoing and often interact well with customers. o Agreeable people tend to be patient, cooperative, and empathetic. • Emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness imply a lower likelihood of interpersonal conflict. o These individuals are courteous, self-disciplined, and sensitive to the feelings and positions of others. • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a highly popular personality test used in a wide array of organizations. o The MBTI draws upon the work of Carl Jung, a psychiatrist, and differentiates people into 16 major categories bases upon their preferences for: Thinking (using rational logic) versus feeling (considering the impact on others) Judging (rapidly solving ordered problems) versus perceiving (preferring spontaneity) Extroversion (asserting themselves confidently) versus introversion (preferring to work alone) Sensing (organizing details in a structured fashion) versus intuition (relying on subjective evidence and gut feelings) Effects of Conflict • Conflict may result in either productive or nonproductive outcomes. o A more positive view, then, is to see that conflict is nearly inevitable and to search for ways in which it can result in constructive outcomes. • Benefits of conflict include: o Parties learn useful information about each other’s preferences and views o Provides stimulus to find improved approaches that lead to better results o Energizes creativity o Promotes experimentation o Hidden problems are brought to the surface, where they may be confronted and solved o Deeper understanding among the parties involved in the conflict o Once the conflict is resolved, individuals may be more committed to the outcome • Disadvantages of conflict include: o Cooperation and teamwork may deteriorate o Distrust may grow o Individuals may feel distracted and defeated o Self-image may decline o Personal anxiety and stress levels may rise o Reduced motivation o Erosion of employee satisfaction and commitment. A Model of Conflict • Conflict arises from many sources and directions. o It varies in the speed of its emergence and the degree of its predictability. o It can be constructive or destructive. • Managers must know when to stimulate conflict and when to resolve it. • Figure 11.1 portrays the conflict resolution process. • If conflict will be harmful, managers must apply a conflict resolution strategy to prevent, diminish, or remove it. • Conflict Outcomes o Conflict may produce four distinct outcomes; depending on the approaches taken by the people involved. Figure 11.3 illustrates these outcomes. Lose-Lose Lose-Win Win-Lose Win-Win o The fourth quadrant is the win–win outcome of conflict, in which both parties perceive they are in a better position than they were before the conflict began. This is the preferred outcome to try to achieve in ongoing relationships, such as with suppliers, customers, and employees. • Participant Intentions o Conflict outcomes are a product of the participants’ intentions as well as their strategies. o An individual may seek a lose-win outcome with another individual because of the perceived benefits of being defeated on a particular issue. He or she may fear the consequences of retribution from too many earlier victories over the same individual. He or she may try to lose so the other individual will reciprocate on another issue in the future. • Resolution Strategies o Intentions help participants select their strategies. o Once chosen, the strategies implemented will have a substantial impact on the outcomes reached. o There are at least four clearly different strategies, plus a combination one, called compromising. Each strategy represents different degrees of concern for one’s own and another’s results, and each has a predictable outcome: Avoiding—physical or mental withdrawal from the conflict; low concern for either party’s outcomes; often results in a lose-lose situation. Smoothing—accommodating the other party’s interests; emphasis on concern for others, usually to one’s own detriment, resulting in a lose-win outcome. Forcing—using power tactics to win; relies on aggressiveness and dominance to achieve personal goals at the expense of concern for the other party; likely result is win-lose situation. Compromising—searching for middle ground or being willing to give up something to gain another; moderate degree of concern for self and others, with no clear-cut outcome. Confronting—facing the conflict directly and working it through to a mutually satisfactory resolution; known as problem solving or integrating; this tactic seeks to maximize the achievement of both party’s goals; results in a win-win outcome. o The avoiding and smoothing approaches are useful for hiding or diminishing the conflict process: These approaches control the degree of conflict and reduce its harmful side effects, but the source of conflict still exists. The same is true when two parties compromise their positions for the sake of reaching a solution. The idea of compromise is seductive if the objective is to escape conflict at minimal cost, but it often stifles creativity. A forcing approach may achieve a short-term goal, but often irreparably harms the long-term relationship between the parties. o Only the confronting strategy can truly be viewed as a resolution approach since this method addresses the basic differences involved and eventually removes them through creative problem solving. Both parties are likely to see the recent conflict as productive, since both received gains. o A wide variety of other tools and ideas have been successfully used to resolve conflicts: Sometimes the simple application of a relevant rule or policy can solve a dispute. Other times, the parties can be separated by reassigning work spaces, removing one person from a committee, or placing workers on different shifts. Another alternative is to insert a third party into the interaction—a consultant, mediator, or other neutral person who can ignore personal issues and facilitate resolution. A constructive approach is to challenge the parties to work together toward a unifying goal, such as higher revenues or better customer satisfaction. • Relationship-Restoring Approaches o Stable working relationships sometimes get damaged through actions or statements by another. o Goffman and other suggest this rebuilding is best viewed as requiring four stages: Signaling the offense Acknowledgment of error Acceptance Appreciation • Negotiating Tactics o Guidelines for resolving conflicts in a win-win fashion Select a neutral site Arrange the seating in a comfortable fashion Don’t permit observers to be present Set deadlines to force a resolution o Individual negotiators are advised to Set minimum and optimum goals in advance Engage in a thorough data gathering process Listen carefully to what the other party says and how it is said Avoid blaming and name-calling Focus on issues, not personalities Separate facts from feelings Search for areas where concessions on important topics can be obtained, while making matching concessions in areas of lesser interest • Trust-Building o The absence of trust increases the chance of conflict. o Trust, the capacity to depend voluntarily on each other’s words and actions, implies a willingness to take interpersonal risks and to be vulnerable. o Trust is an essential ingredient in enduring relations between two or more people working together. o Trust toward another person can be expressed by showing respect, exhibiting sincere caring and concern, by being honest and true to one’s word, and by demonstrating dependability and reliability. o By contrast, trust can be rapidly dissolved by: Telling half-truths and lies, Showing inconsistencies between promises and actions Threatening the goal achievement or self-image of others Withholding needed information from others o The benefits of trust are manifold. Its presence encourages risk-taking, facilitates free flows of information, and contributes to cooperative relationships. It eliminates much of the perceived need to monitor someone else’s behavior in a tightly controlling way. Overall, trust leads to a more satisfying relationship with others—supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates. Assertive Behavior • Confronting conflict is not easy for some people. o Some managers may feel inferior, lack necessary skills, or be awed by the other person’s power. Under these conditions, they are likely to suppress their feelings or strike out in unintended anger. Neither response is productive. • A constructive alternative to confronting conflict is to practice assertive behaviors. o Assertiveness is the process of expressing feelings, asking for legitimate changes, giving and receiving honest feedback. • An assertive individual is not afraid to request another person to change an offensive behavior and is willing to refuse unreasonable requests from someone else. o Assertiveness training involves teaching people to develop effective ways of dealing with a variety of anxiety-producing situations. o Assertive people are direct, honest, and expressive • Assertive people feel confident, gain self-respect, and make others feel valued. • Aggressiveness is a poor alternative to confronting conflict in which people may humiliate others, and passive (unassertive) people who elicit either pity or scorn from others and seldom have much positive impact. o Both alternatives to assertiveness typically are less effective for achieving a desired goal during a conflict. • Being assertive in a situation involves five stages, as shown in Figure 11.5. • Assertive behavior generally is most effective when it integrates a number of verbal and nonverbal components: o Eye contact is a means of expressing sincerity and self-confidence in many cultures, and an erect body posture and direct body positioning (close proximity and leaning forward) may increase the impact of a message. o Appropriate gestures may be used, congruent facial expressions are essential, and a strong but modulated voice tone and volume will be convincing. o Spontaneous and forceful expression of an honest reaction is perhaps most important. Facilitating Smooth Relations • Good interpersonal relationships among co-workers and across organizational levels take time, effort, knowledge, and skill. o A key skill involves interpersonal facilitation—the capacity to focus on others’ personal needs, sensitivities, and idiosyncrasies and then work to keep conflict under control and collaboration high among team members. This requires awareness of which personality traits create synergy within a team, which employees have “hot buttons” that might set off emotional explosions and when to intervene behind the scenes. • Caring underlies compassion for others, which is a four-step action oriented process: o Noticing that someone else is suffering or distressed. o Appraising that the other person is self-relevant (has compatible values, preferences, and beliefs). o Feeling that the person is worried or hurt (empathizing with them). o Compassionate responding is the process of taking actions that will diminish or eliminate the other person’s discomfort or anguish. • Managers with well-developed interpersonal facilitation skills often engage in one or more of the following behaviors: o Build on their emotional intelligence o Learn about co-workers’ personal lives o Make mental notes about employee likes and dislikes, values, interests, and preferences o Monitor others’ degree of job involvement, mood level, commitment, and satisfaction o Develop and apply their facilitative skills in a variety of social settings Stroking • People seek stroking in their interactions with others, and this provides a prime opportunity for interpersonal facilitation. o Stroking is any act of recognition for another, whether physical, verbal, or nonverbal contact between people. • Strokes may be positive, negative, or mixed. o Positive strokes feel good when they are received, and they contribute to the recipient’s sense of well-being and self-esteem. o Negative strokes hurt physically or emotionally and make recipients feel less proud of themselves. o Example of a mixed stroke would be, “Oscar, that’s a good advertising layout, considering the small amount of experience you have in this field.” • There also is a difference between conditional and unconditional strokes. o Conditional strokes are offered to employees if they perform correctly or avoid problems. o Unconditional strokes are presented without any connection to behavior. • Applications to Conflict Resolution o There are several natural connections between assertiveness and the approaches to resolving conflict. o Probable connections are shown in Figure 11.6. o Assertiveness training and stroking when used in combination can be powerful tools for increasing one’s interpersonal effectiveness. They share the goal of helping employees feel good about themselves and others. The result is improved communication and interpersonal cooperation. These tools will be most effective when they are widely used throughout the organization and supported by top management. Together, they form an important foundation for the more complex challenges that confront people who work in small groups and committees. Power and Politics • Power is the ability to influence other people and events. o It is somewhat different from authority, in that authority is delegated by higher management. o Power is earned by leaders on the basis of their personalities, activities, resources, and the situations in which they operate. Types of Power • There are five bases of power, and each has a unique source: • Personal Power o Personal power, also called referent power or charismatic power comes from each leader individually. o It is the ability of leaders to develop followers from the strength of their own personalities. o They have personal magnetism, an air of confidence, and a passionate belief in objectives that attract and hold followers. o The leader senses the needs of people and promises success in reaching them. o Well known examples are Joan of Arc, Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. • Legitimate Power o Legitimate power is also known as position power and official power; it comes from a higher authority. o It gives leaders the power to control resources and to reward and punish others. o People accept this power because they believe it is desirable and necessary to maintain order and discourage anarchy in the society. o In work organizations, there is social pressure from peers and friends who accept legitimate power and then expect others to accept it. • Expert Power o Expert power, also known as the authority of knowledge, comes from specialized learning. o This power arises from a person’s knowledge of, and information about, a complex situation. o It depends on education, training, and experience, so it is an important type of power in a modern, technological society. • Reward Power o Reward power is the capacity to control and administer items that are valued by another. o It arises from one’s ability to give pay raises, recommend promotions or transfers, or make favorable work assignments. o Rewards are not limited to material items; they can stem from providing organizational recognition, including an employee in a social group, or giving positive feedback. o Reward power serves as the basis for reinforcing desirable behavior. • Coercive Power o Coercive power is the capacity to punish another, or at least to create a perceived threat to do so. o Managers with coercive power can threaten an employee’s job security, make punitive changes in work schedules, or, at extreme, administer physical force. o Coercive power uses fear as a motivator, which can be a powerful force in inducing short-term action. o Overall, coercive power has a negative impact on the receiver and therefore its use should be limited. Effects of Power Bases • The five types of power are developed from different sources, but they are interrelated in practice. o Reward, coercive, and legitimate power are derived from one’s position in the organization. o Expert and personal power reside within the person. • When one power base is removed from a supervisor, employees may perceive that other bases of influence will decline as well. • The use of a power base must fit its organizational context in order to be effective. • Employees can respond to the use of power in one of three ways as shown in Figure 11.7. o They may resist the leader’s initiative, especially if coercive power is used consistently, without apparent cause, or in an arrogant manner. o They may comply with the leader’s wishes by meeting minimal expectations while withholding extra effort. o The most desirable outcome from wielding power is commitment, which is the enthusiastic release of energy and talent to satisfy the leader’s requests. • Referent and expert power are most likely to produce commitment, but legitimate and reward power can also work well under certain conditions. Organizational Politics • Organizational politics refers to intentional behaviors that are used to enhance or protect a person’s influence and self-interest while also inspiring confidence and trust by others. • Political skill consists of four key dimensions: o Being socially astute (accurately perceiving and understanding what is taking place in social interactions—although it is often beneath the surface) o Having interpersonal influence (adapting one’s behaviors to most effectively elicit a desired response from others) o Creating useful networks (developing personal contacts into useful allies and supporters) o Expressing sincerity (exhibiting honest and authentic intentions in one’s interactions with others such that they trust you) • One survey of more than 400 managers provided insight into their views toward organizational politics. To a large extent, the managers agree that: o Politics is common in most organizations. o Managers must be good at politics to expedite their own career advancement. o Politics is practiced more frequently at higher organizational levels, and in larger firms. o Too much politics can detract from organizational efficiency and goal attainment. Influence and Political Power • Managers, and all employees, in contemporary organizations must learn to produce results, elicit cooperation, and make things happen without reliance on traditional forms of power. o As difficult as this goal sounds, it is still possible if managers begin with the premise that everyone is motivated primarily by her or his own self-interest. o Knowing this, a person can influence others by making mutually beneficial exchanges with them to gain their cooperation. • The following are eight steps to follow for increasing one’s influence: o Treat the other party as a potential ally; avoid making enemies. o Clearly identify your own objectives, and pick your battles to fight. o Learn about other party’s needs, interests, expectations, and goals. o Inventory your own resources to identify something of value you can offer. o Assess your current relationship with the other person. o Decide what to ask for and what to offer. o Make the actual exchange that produces a gain for both parties. o Even if you ‘win’, don’t gloat; be gracious and avoid boasting. • Leaders can use a number of tactics to gain political power. o Several examples are given in Figure 11.8. • Networking—developing and maintaining contacts among a group of people with shared interests—is a source of influence. • Social exchange implies that “if you’ll do something for me, I’ll do something for you.” o It relies on the powerful norm of reciprocity in society, where two people in a continuing relationship feel a strong obligation to repay their social “debts” to each other. • Continuing exchanges of “IOUs” and favors over a period of time usually lead to an alliance in which two or more persons join in a temporary or longer-term relationship to get benefits that they mutually desire. • One popular path toward political power is to become identified with a higher authority or a powerful figure in an organization. • Closely related to the previous technique is the traditional method of simply doing favors for others. o In a relationship with a higher authority, this practice of ingratiation is commonly called “apple-polishing” or “kissing up” to a supervisor. • Another oft-used way to acquire political power is to give service selectively to your supporters. • Another tactic is to acquire power and status symbols that imply you are an important person in the firm, although this tactic can backfire if you do not have power equal to your symbols. • Some managers use the more aggressive tactic of applying power plays to grab power from others. o This approach is risky because others may retaliate in ways that weaken the power-grabbing manager’s power. • A common tactic for increasing power is to join or form interest groups that have a common objective. o These networks operate on the basis of friendships and personal contacts, and may provide a meeting place for influential people. • Posturing is also used to gain influence. o Posturing consists of positioning oneself for visibility, making sure that others know about your successes, and practicing skills of “one-upmanship” over others. • Managers realize that their political power comes from the support of key individuals or the group around them. o It arises from a leader’s ability to work with people and social systems to gain their allegiance and support. • Research suggests that some people (self-monitors) are more effective at using organizational politics than others. o In particular, high self-monitors are more adept at regulating themselves and adapting to situational and interpersonal cues. o Low self-monitors are more insulated from social cues, behave as they wish, and show less concern for making positive impressions on others. • Because many employees are vitally interested in their own career success, modern organizations are fertile places for politics to thrive. o Leaders who are otherwise capable but who lack self-monitoring capacity and basic political skills will have trouble rising to the top in modern organizations. o What they need is some emphasis on impression management—the ability to protect and enhance their self-image while intentionally affecting another’s assessment of them. o Some impression management strategies include sending positive nonverbal cues, using flattery, and doing favors for others. o A variety of other approaches are listed in Figure 11.9. Chapter 12 Informal and Formal Groups Chapter Overview This chapter calls attention to the importance of informal and formal groups. The chapter begins with a discussion of group dynamics, followed by the nature of informal organizations and an exploration of formal groups. Task and social leadership roles, group meetings, and their weaknesses are discussed. Four alternative structured approaches to committee meetings are presented, along with the potential outcomes and weaknesses of group meetings. Chapter Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, students should understand: 1. Group dynamics 2. The nature and effects of informal groups 3. Informal leaders 4. Differences between task and social leadership roles 5. Brainstorming, nominal, Delphi, and dialectic techniques 6. Weaknesses of group meetings Discussion and Project Ideas This chapter discusses how people interact when they get together in formal and informal groups. From a formal groups’ perspective, special emphasis is given to meetings and teamwork, because these are major areas of an employee’s work life and they also represent different kinds of interaction. In a logical sense, informal organization is one-half of the organization structure in an institution. In a practical sense, informal organization can sometimes carry even more weight. Informal organization is discussed throughout the book, but this chapter gives an overview of its main ideas. Perhaps a good place to begin talking about informal organization is to ask the class to consider its own informal organization. For example, have any thought leaders developed in the class? What kinds of informal rules and procedures have developed? Have informal study groups arisen? Have informal recreational groups developed, such as a coffee group after class? In addition, the following exercises will help to convey the key points in the chapter. • Bring a road atlas to class with you. Divide the class into three parts. Assign one-third of the group to the Delphi technique and appoint a coordinator and two persons to help summarize information. Assign the nominal group technique to the second group and appoint a facilitator to moderate its activities. Divide the other one-third of the class into groups of four or five and ask them to interact in traditional consensus groups. Then, ask all groups to estimate the population of a reasonably large city such as San Diego, Portland, or Toronto. Use the figure in the atlas as the standard. Compare the relative effectiveness of the Delphi, consensus, and nominal groups. • During the first exercise above, or any other group decision task, assign two persons (or more) the responsibility to observe the group and identify statements and behaviors which exemplify the existence of task and social roles within group meetings. Have the observers feed this information back to the members of the groups. Discuss its implications. Could the effectiveness of the meetings have been improved by a different emphasis on either task or social roles? • Discuss with the class how groupthink can arise and what its terribly negative consequences can be. Then ask the class to analyze the events (some research outside class may be required first) surrounding the riots that arose in Los Angeles and other cities in the spring of 1992, after the Rodney King decision was rendered. What symptoms of groupthink did the rioters exhibit? Is it necessary for there to be a predetermined formal group for groupthink to happen? Lecture Outline Group Dynamics • Small groups have functioned since the time of the first human family. • In recent years, researchers have studied scientifically the processes by which small groups evolve and work. • The social process by which people interact face-to-face in small groups is called group dynamics. o The word “dynamics” comes from the Greek word meaning “force”,; hence group dynamics refers to the study of forces operating within a group. • Two important historical landmarks in the study of group dynamics are the research of: o Elton Mayo and associates in the 1920s and 1930s—their research showed that workers tend to establish informal groups that affect job satisfaction and effectiveness. o Kurt Lewin, the founder of the group dynamics movement in the 1930s—he observed that different kinds of leadership produce different responses in groups. • Groups have properties of their own that differ from the properties of the individuals who make up the group. • In the world of group dynamics, it is entirely rational to say that “one plus one equals three”. o In a group there is no such thing as only two people, for no two people can be understood without examining their relationship. Types of Groups • A key difference exists between formal and informal groups. o Formal groups are established by the organization and have a public identity and goal to achieve. o Informal groups emerge on the basis of common interests, proximity, and friendships. • Another fundamental distinction is between two types of formal groups. o Some have a relatively temporary life; they are created to accomplish a short-term task and then disband. An example of a temporary group is a task force. o The other type of formal group is a more natural and enduring work group. This type of group is formed when people regularly perform tasks together as part of their job assignments and is called a team. • Beneath the cloak of formal relationships in every organization is a more complex system of social relationships consisting of many small informal groups. o These informal groups are a powerful influence on productivity and job satisfaction. The Nature of Informal Organizations Comparison of Informal and Formal Organizations • Widespread interest in the informal organization developed as a result of the Western Electric studies in the 1930s, which concluded that it was an important part of the total work situation. • These studies showed that the informal organization is a network of personal and social relations not established or required by the formal organization but arising spontaneously as people associate with one another. • The emphasis within the informal organization is on people and their relationships, whereas the formal organization emphasizes official positions in terms of authority and responsibility. • The differences between informal and formal organizations are summarized in Figure 12.1. • Power in an informal organization is given by group members, rather than being delegated by managers; therefore, it does not follow the official chain of command. o It is more likely to come from peers than from superiors in the formal hierarchy; and it may cut across organizational lines into other departments. o It is usually more unstable than formal authority, since it is subject to the sentiments of people. • Because of its subjective nature, the informal organization cannot be controlled by management in the way that the formal organization can. • A manager typically holds some informal (personal) power along with formal (positional) power, but usually a manager does not have more informal power than anyone else in the group. o This means that the manager and the informal leader are usually two different persons in work groups. • As a result of differences between formal and informal sources of power, formal organizations may grow to immense size, but informal organizations tend to remain small in order to keep within the limits of personal relationships. o The result is that a large organization tends to have hundreds of informal organizations operating throughout it. Some of them are wholly within the institution; others are partially external to it. • Because of their naturally small size and instability, informal organizations are not a suitable substitute for the large formal aggregates of people and resources needed for modern institutions. o Instead, informal organizations complement (and often enhance) the formal one. How Does the Informal Organization Emerge? • The organization’s structure is designed by management to be consistent with its environment, technology, and strategy. o This structure, with its rules, procedures, and job descriptions, creates a set of broad policy guidelines and narrower prescriptions for employees to follow. o If individuals and groups perform their tasks as prescribed, the organization is efficient. • The informal organization emerges from within the formal structure. o The result of this combination is different from what managers may have expected in at least three ways: Employees act differently than required. Employees often interact with different people, or with different frequencies, than their jobs require. Workers may embrace a set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments different from those the organization expects of them. • The combination of required and emergent behaviors makes it difficult to predict levels of employee performance and satisfaction (Figure 12.2). Informal Leaders • The employee with the largest amount of status in the informal organization usually becomes its informal leader. o This person emerges from within the group, often acquiring considerable informal power. • The informal leader plays several useful roles for a work unit. o The informal leader is expected to model and explain the key norms (informal standards of behavior) of the informal group for new members. o If someone fails to comply with the group’s norms, the informal leader will likely play a dominant role in applying various forms and degrees of pressure or punishment to the individual to induce the desired behavior in the future. • In return for their services, informal leaders usually enjoy certain informal rewards and privileges. o A predictable reward is the high esteem in which the informal leader is held, and this is significant enough to balance the responsibilities the person shoulders. • Informal groups overlap to the extent that one person may be a member of several different groups, which means there is not just one leader but several of varying importance. o The group may look to one employee on matters pertaining to wages and to another to lead recreational plans. • Identifying and Rewarding Informal Leaders o Informal leaders often exhibit distinct behaviors that allow them to be identified. Acting as a spokesperson, being the center of social attention, and offering well-received wisdom and guidance all provide useful clues regarding informal leadership. o To some workers, informal leadership is a form of job enrichment, providing them with variety in their workday and a feeling of greater significance. Others find that it helps satisfy their social needs by dramatically increasing their interpersonal contacts during the day. o Although several persons in a group may be informal leaders of various types, usually one primary leader has more influence than the others. Each manager needs to learn who the key informal leader is in any group and to work with that leader to encourage behavior that furthers rather than hinders organizational objectives. When an informal leader is working against an employer, the leader’s widespread influence can undermine motivation and job satisfaction. • Some Cautions o The informal organization is a desirable source of potential formal leaders, but an informal leader doesn’t always make the best formal manager. o History is filled with examples of successful informal leaders who became arrogant bosses once they received formal authority. Some informal leaders fail as formal ones because they fear official responsibility. Some informal leaders become conservative because they are afraid to make a mistake. Other informal leaders fail because their area of official managerial authority is broader and more complex than the tiny area in which they had informal power. Benefits of Informal Organizations • Although informal systems may lead to problems, they also bring a number of benefits to both employers and employees (Figure 12.3). o Most important is that they blend with formal systems to make an effective total system. o Another benefit of the informal organization is to lighten the workload on management. When managers know that the informal organization is working with them, they feel less compelled to check on the workers to be sure everything is working well. o The informal organization also may act to compensate for gaps in a manager’s abilities. If a manager is weak in planning, an employee may informally help with goal-setting. o A significant benefit of the informal organization is that it gives satisfaction and stability to work groups. It is the means by which workers feel a sense of belonging and security, so satisfaction is increased and turnover reduced. o An additional benefit is that the informal organization can be a useful channel of employee communication. It provides the means for people to keep in touch, to learn more about their work, and to understand what is happening in their environment. o Another benefit, often overlooked, is that the informal organization is a safety valve for employee frustrations and other emotional problems. Employees may relieve emotional pressures by discussing them with someone else in an open and friendly way, and one’s associates in the informal group provide this type of environment. o A benefit of the informal organization that is seldom recognized is that its presence encourages managers to plan and act more carefully than they would otherwise. Managers who understand its power know that the informal organization provides a check on their unlimited use of authority • The benefits of the informal organization are more likely to appear if the group is cohesive and its members have favorable attitudes toward the firm. o Cohesiveness is indicated by how strongly the employees stick together, rely on each other, and desire to remain members of the group. • Cohesiveness can be increased by several factors, such as: o Creating competitions (such as sales or safety competitions) against other groups o Providing opportunities for frequent interactions among members o Selecting members with similar attitudes, backgrounds, and values o Identifying a challenging group goal that unifies member efforts o Recognizing a major threat or common enemy to the group Problems Associated with Informal Organizations • Many of the benefits of informal systems can be reversed to show potential problems. o Both positive and negative effects exist side by side in most informal systems. • One major problem with informal organizations is resistance to change. o The group tends to become overly protective of its way of life and to stand like a rock in the face of change. • A related problem is that the informal organization can be a significant cause of employee conformity. o The informal side of organizations is so much a part of the everyday life of workers that they hardly realize it is there, so they usually are unaware of the powerful pressures it applies to persuade them to conform to its way of life. o Conformity is encouraged by norms, which are informal group requirements for the behavior of members. o The norms may be strong or weak (depending on the importance of the behavior to the group) and positive or negative (depending on their impact on the organization). o An example of the impact of norms at the societal level lies in the term social norms. o The group whose norms a person accepts is a reference group. Employees may have one or more reference groups. • Another problem that may develop is role conflict. o Workers may want to meet the requirements of both their group and their employer, but frequently those requirements are somewhat in conflict. • A major difficulty with any informal organization is that it is not subject to management’s direct control. o The authority it depends on is the social system rather than management. • Informal organizations also develop interpersonal and intergroup conflicts that can be damaging to their organization. o When employees give more of their thoughts and energies to opposing one another, they are likely to give less to their employer. Monitoring Informal Organizations • One way to gain a better understanding of an informal system is to prepare a visual portrait of it. o These diagrams are called network charts, or informal organization charts. o They usually focus on either interpersonal feelings expressed among individuals or actual behaviors exhibited. • Identifying the feelings within a group can be useful for determining who trusts whom, or for selecting an individual to negotiate a compromise on a sticky issue. • Determining patterns of behaviors can be done either through personal observation of interactions, through collecting data on communication patterns, or by directly asking individuals involved. • Network charts can reveal central individuals (stars), isolated persons who are likely to feel overlooked, and dramatic differences between what outsiders think is happening and what is actually occurring (Figure 12.4). Influencing Informal Organizations • Management does not establish informal organizations, and it cannot abolish them. • But management can learn to live with them and have some measure of influence on them. • Management guidelines for action include the following: o Accept and understand informal organizations. o Identify various levels of attitudes and behaviors within them. o Consider possible effects on informal systems when taking any kind of action. o Integrate as far as possible the interests of informal groups with those of the formal organization. o Keep formal activities from unnecessarily threatening informal organizations. • The informal organization needs to be strong enough to be supportive, but not strong enough to dominate. Formal Groups • Whether called meetings, conferences, task forces, or committees, the time spent in formal groups has variously been criticized as a total waste of time, a source of confusion and misinformation, and an excuse for indecision on the part of an individual decision maker. • The following are some factors that contribute to the often-pervasive negative attitudes about time spent on committee meetings: o A lack of trust causes participants to withhold their true feelings. o A negative mind-set exists that “meetings aren’t real work” and hence people don’t take them seriously. o Missing or incomplete information prevents participants from making important decisions when appropriate. o Meetings are poorly run. o Meetings are viewed as the end result, not the means to an end. • Meetings are necessary, but they do introduce more complexity and more chances for problems to arise when improperly used. o Some committees are used not to reach decisions but to put them off, not to obtain employee input but to sell a previously reached conclusion, and not to develop subordinates but to hide incompetence. o On occasion, emotional issues overshadow the factual aspects of the decisions to be made, and the sensitive interpersonal relations that emerge require understanding and delicate handling. Committees • A committee is a specific type of group in which members who have been delegated the authority to handle the problem at hand meet one or more times to address and resolve it. o The group’s authority usually is expressed in terms of one vote for each member. o If a supervisor and a worker serve as members of the same committee, both usually have equal committee roles. o Committees often create special human problems because people are unable to make adjustments from their normal work roles and relationships. Systems Factors to Consider • A useful way to approach the management of committees is to apply the systems idea. • As shown in figure 12.5, effective committees require: o Careful consideration of their inputs (size, composition, and agendas) o The group process (leadership roles and alternative group structures) o Outcomes (quality of the decision and the group’s support for it). • Size o The size of a group tends to affect the way it works. If membership rises about seven, communication tends to be focused within a few members, with others feeling like they do not have adequate opportunity to communicate directly with one another. If a larger committee is needed to represent all relevant points of view, special effort and extra time are required to ensure good communication. A group of five people is often preferred for typical situations; a smaller group (e.g., three persons) sometimes has difficulty functioning because conflicts of power develop, and diversity of viewpoints may be absent. • Composition o Leaders of committees, problem-solving groups, and task forces often have the opportunity to select the members. o When doing so, the leaders need to consider various factors, such as the committee’s objective, the members’ expertise, interest level, time available to serve, and the past history of working relationships among the potential members. • Agendas o Meetings work simultaneously at two different levels—surface and hidden. o The official task of the group is known as the surface agenda. Effective surface agendas are critical to the success of a committee meeting. Agendas should make it clear to attendees why the meeting is to be held, and what it should accomplish. o The other level at which meetings operate involves members’ private emotions and motives, which they have brought with them but keep hidden. These are the hidden agendas of the meeting. When a group reaches a crisis in its surface agenda, hidden agendas come to life and complicate the situation. A hidden agenda when resolved, makes it easy to settle the surface agenda. • Leadership Roles o Groups tend to require not one but two types of complementary leadership roles—that of the task leader and that of the social leader. o Figure 12.6 provides illustrations of the contrasting nature of each role. o The task leader’s job in a meeting is to help the group accomplish its objectives and stay on target. The idea is to provide necessary structure by stating the problem, giving and seeking relevant facts, periodically summarizing the progress, and checking for agreement. o One role of the social leader is to restore and maintain group relationships by recognizing contributions, reconciling disagreements, and playing a supportive role to help the group develop. o Although one person can fill both the task and social roles, often they are separate. When they are separate, it is important for the task leader to recognize the social leader and try to form a coalition so the two leaders are working together for improved effectiveness of the group. o Effective meetings are facilitated by the application of a number of commonsense practices: Carefully considering who should be present, and who does not need to be there Selecting a good site for the meeting Using technology to help capture ideas, allow for anonymous inputs, organize and expand upon them, record insights and criticisms, and create and edit documents before the participants leave Giving appropriate credit to those who participated, and drawing out those who didn’t Using open questions to stimulate thought and directed questions to encourage a focus on a particular topic Refusing to accept superficial excuses and inspiring members to overcome obstacles Balancing the serious discussions with time for a bit of lighthearted fun Summarizing progress, identify issues yet unresolved, and making necessary assignments for the future • Individualistic behaviors o Some meeting attendees lose sight of the purpose of a meeting and fail to contribute. Instead, they lapse into self-centered actions that can delay or even sidetrack productive discussions. o Examples of these individualistic behaviors include: Distractions (joke-telling; checking their smartphones) Seeking personal recognition (bragging) Dominating (monopolizing conversations or pushing favored solutions) Attacking (making insulting or dismissive comments) Withdrawing (claiming inadequacy or confusion) Structured Approaches • Brainstorming o Brainstorming is a popular method for encouraging creative thinking in groups of about eight people. o It is built around four basic guidelines for participants: Generate as many ideas as possible Be creative, freewheeling, and imaginative Build upon (piggyback), extend, or combine earlier ideas Withhold criticism of others’ ideas o The success of brainstorming depends on each member’s capacity and willingness to listen to others’ thoughts, to use these thoughts as a stimulus to spark new ideas of their own, and then to feel free to express them. o Two main principles underlie brainstorming: Deferred judgment—its purpose is to separate creation of novel ideas from idea censorship. Quantity is valued most, for it breeds quality. o Group brainstorming typically produces more ideas than provided by a single person. Brainstorming sessions last from 10 minutes to one hour and require very little preparation. o Brainstorming has many advantages over other approaches. In brainstorming sessions, group members are enthusiastic, participation is broader than normal, and the group maintains a strong task orientation. Ideas are built upon and extended, and members feel that the final product is a team solution. o Brainstorming’s major difficulties include the: The residual fear among some members that their creative thoughts will be looked down upon The fact that independent thought and later criticism of one’s ideas do not contribute to group cohesion The failure to set and follow ground rules An organizational history of not taking action to implement ideas The very real fact that only one person can speak at a time o The marriage of computer technology and groupware programs has allowed the development of a modified version of the method, known as electronic brainstorming. In this process, group members sit at personal computer terminals and receive a question, an issue, or a request for establishing priorities. In response, they type in their own ideas as they arise. As multiple inputs are received, a set of the group’s ideas appears on their screens, available for response, editing, or even input of judgment or votes. Research shows that this process results in a higher number of ideas generated than through the traditional brainstorming process. Members feel they have more opportunity for participation and more flexibility. • The Nominal Group Technique o A nominal group exists in name only, with members having minimal interaction prior to producing a decision. o The following are the steps that nominal groups often follow: Individuals are brought together and given a problem. They develop solutions independently, often writing them on cards. Their ideas are shared with others in a structured format. Brief time is allotted so that questions can be asked—but only for clarification. Group members individually designate their preferences for the best alternatives by secret ballot. The group decision is announced. o Advantages of the nominal group technique include the: Opportunity for equal participation by all members Prevention of dominance of discussion by any one member Tight control of time that the process allows. o Disadvantages reported are that group members: Are frustrated by the rigidity of the procedure Gain no feelings of cohesiveness Do not get their social needs satisfied Do not have the opportunity to benefit from cross-fertilization of ideas and build on them • Delphi Decision Making o In Delphi decision groups, a panel of relevant people is chosen to address an issue. A series of questionnaires are sequentially distributed to the respondents, who do not need to meet face-to-face. All responses typically are in writing. Replies are gathered from all participants, summarized, and fed back (anonymously) to the members for their review. Afterward, participants are asked to make another decision on the basis of new information. The process may be repeated several times until the responses converge satisfactorily and a final report is prepared. o Success of the Delphi process depends on adequate time, participant expertise, communication skill, and the motivation of members to immerse themselves in the task. o The major merits of the system include: Elimination of the detraction from interpersonal problems among panelists Efficient use of experts’ time Adequate time for reflection and analysis by respondents Diversity and quantity of ideas generated Accuracy of predictions and forecasts made or scenarios generated o The increasingly wide availability of computers and the electronic transmission of responses have affected the Delphi process. Through their use, the interactive process of collecting input and feeding back group data can be greatly abbreviated. • Dialectic Decision Methods o Some face-to-face decision-making groups converge too quickly on one alternative while overlooking others. o Their incomplete evaluation of options may reflect either the participants’ dislike of meetings or their lack of willingness to raise and confront tough issues. o The dialectic decision method (DDM), which traces its roots to Plato and Aristotle, offers a way of overcoming these problems. o The steps of DDM are portrayed in Figure 12.8. The dialectic process begins with a clear statement of a problem to be solved. Afterward, two or more competing proposals are generated. A key step follows in which participants identify the explicit or implicit assumptions that underlie each proposal. The group then breaks into advocacy subgroups, which examine and argue the relative merits of their positions. Then, the entire group makes a decision based on the competing presentations. This decision may mean embracing one of the alternatives, forging a compromise from several ideas, or generating a new proposal. o The merits of DDM include better understanding of the proposals, their underlying premises, and their pros and cons by the participants. Members are also likely to feel more confident about the choice they made. o Disadvantages include the propensity to forge a weak compromise in order to avoid choosing sides, and the tendency to focus more on who were the better debaters than what the best decision should be. • Crowdsourcing o A contemporary method for obtaining inputs from a wide variety of individuals is (collaboration-based) crowdsourcing. This involves outsourcing a large-scale task to a group of self-selected persons who then work together to produce a single solution. Potential Outcomes of Formal Group Processes • Support for Decisions o Probably the most important by-product of face-to-face group meetings is that people who participate in making a decision feel more strongly motivated to accept it and carry it out. Meetings are one of the best means available of committing people to carry out a course of action. If several group members are involved in carrying out a decision, group discussion helps each understand the part others will play so they can coordinate their efforts. o Group decisions carry more weight with those who are not group members. They feel decisions of this type are more free from individual prejudice because they are based on a combination of many viewpoints. Further, the combined social pressure of the group stands behind the decision. • Quality of Decisions o Groups often are highly effective problem-solving tools. In comparison with an individual, groups typically have greater information available to them, a variety of experiences to draw upon, multiple perspectives from diverse thinkers, and the capacity to examine suggestions and reject the incorrect ones. As a result, groups can frequently produce more and better-quality solutions to some problems than individuals can. • Individual Development o A group benefits most through widespread and fairly even participation by all members. Participation also increases the likelihood of each member’s developing new interactive skills that can be used later in other groups. o Three reasons appear to underlie the social facilitation—group members try harder to contribute on a task just because other people are around—effect: Having other people around simply increases a person’s general level of arousal and awareness, stimulating mental activity. The presence of others makes some people apprehensive about the likelihood of being appraised, formally or informally, by others, and thus they raise their level of performance so as to look good. The presence of others may raise one’s awareness of the discrepancy between the actual and ideal self and thereby stimulate the person to close that gap. o Increased participation may also be a product of implied group pressure to perform, or a natural response to seeing others do so. o Social facilitation is closely related to the idea of role modeling, where a group member sees and hears others perform well and wants to duplicate that behavior because of the social rewards it elicits from them. These explanations cluster around conformity, in which group members are alert to the perceived expectations and norms of the majority, and make conscious or unconscious efforts to adapt to them. Consensus: A Key Issue in Decision-Making Groups • Without total agreement, group members may be expected to carry out decisions they did not support. o Divided votes also may set up disagreements that extend beyond the meeting. o On the other hand, a requirement, or even implicit expectation, of unanimity has its disadvantages. It may become the paramount goal, causing people to suppress their opposition or to tell the group they agree when honestly they do not. In addition, it is frustrating to the majority of members to have to keep discussing a subject long after their minds are made up, simply because they are hoping to convince a few honest dissenters. The situation is a waste of time and an embarrassment to dissenters. At its worst, the search for unanimous agreement can delay worthwhile projects unnecessarily. • Most employers do not expect or require unanimity for committee decisions. o In practice, consensus is often interpreted to mean that the group engaged in widespread input gathering, which resulted in a shared level of understanding. • Specific ideas for reaching consensus include the following: o Conduct periodic and nonbinding straw polls to identify clearly where people stand. o Suggest a supermajority vote. o Ask members to withdraw controversial proposals, temper their concerns, or stand aside to allow the group to proceed without them. o Create a subgroup and empower it to make a decision o Distill the concerns into major groups to pinpoint patterns of problems. o Expedite closing of discussion through use of a “go around” or a “fish bowl.” • Facilitation Skills o Group meetings don’t always run smoothly by themselves; they require a unique and broad range of skills. o Facilitation is the process of helping a group attain resounding success, maximize its efficient use of time, and feel satisfied with its efforts. o Effective facilitators encourage a group to: Separate idea-getting from idea-evaluation Generate multiple solutions to evaluate Avoid personal attacks Attain balanced contributions from its members Piggyback on others’ ideas Identify criteria for judging potential solutions Process its own success or failure o Processing involves setting aside several minutes at the end of a meeting to examine what went well, what went poorly, and how the group’s behavior could be improved in future sessions. Weaknesses of Committees • Meetings are an essential and productive part of work organizations, and must be designed and used effectively. o Part of the trouble is that people expect too much of them, and when they do not meet their expectations, people criticize instead of seeking improvements. • Properly conducted meetings can contribute to organizational progress by: o Providing participation o Integrating interests o Improving decision making o Committing and motivating members to carry out a course of action o Encouraging creative thinking o Broadening perspectives o Changing attitudes • The fundamental decision that must be made with groups is not whether to have them, but how to make the best use of them. • To use meetings, one must know their weaknesses, which fall into five major categories—slowness and expensiveness, groupthink, polarization, escalating commitment, and divided responsibility. • Slowness & Expensiveness o Meetings of all types are sometimes a slow and costly way to get things done. o One study, for example, found that the typical committees were slowed down by spending 60 percent of their time with “input providers” and “advice providers,” and not enough time with critical stakeholders. o However, on occasion, delay can be desirable. There is more time for thinking, for objective review of an idea, and for the suggestion of alternatives. o But when quick decisive action is necessary, an individual approach is more effective. • Groupthink o One of the most convincing criticisms of meetings is that they often lead to conformity and compromise. This tendency of a tightly knit group to bring individual thinking in line with the group’s thinking is called groupthink, or the leveling effect. o The ideas of dominant members are more likely to be accepted whether or not they have value. o Groupthink can be detected by watching for some of its classic symptoms, which include: Self-censorship of critical thoughts Rationalization that what they are doing is acceptable to others Illusion of invulnerability Reliance on self-appointed mind-guards Illusion of unanimity without testing for it Stereotyping others outside the group Illusion of morality Pressure on dissidents to give in and conform to the group o Groupthink is probably present when a group acts as though it is above the law and cannot err, and when it assumes it has total support for its actions. The consequences of groupthink include deterioration in a group’s judgment, failure to engage in reality testing, and lowered quality of its decision making. o One effective method of reducing or preventing groupthink is to legitimize the role of a devil’s advocate for each meeting. This person—a designated contrarian—is expected to question the ideas of others, probe for supporting facts, and challenge their logic. o A broader approach—red teaming—is used by the C.I.A. Red teaming is a form of alternative analysis, in which a subset of a group challenges underlying assumptions, takes an adversary’s viewpoint, and proposes different scenarios that have not been previously considered. o Other methods used by organizations to prevent groupthink include: Rotating in new group members Inviting attendance by outsiders Announcing a temporary delay before final decision making to give members one last chance to identify and voice their reservations • Polarization o In polarization, individuals bring to the group, their strong predispositions, either positive or negative, toward a topic. Their attitudes become rigid and even more extreme if they are aggressively confronted. o Although group members’ attitudes can become polarized in either direction (risky or conservative), research suggests that some groups tend to make a risky shift in their thinking. This tendency means they are more willing to take chances with organizational resources as a group than they would if they were acting individually. Sometimes highly self-confident members can express themselves so persuasively that the rest accept their arguments without much debate. Other members feel that since they are not individually responsible for the decision, they can afford to take greater risks. • Escalating Commitment o Closely related to the problem of groupthink is the idea that group members may persevere in advocating a course of action despite rational evidence that it will result in failure. They may even allocate additional resources to the project, thereby escalating commitment despite overwhelming evidence that it will fail. o Decision makers escalate their commitment for many reasons: Sometimes they may unconsciously fall prey to selective perception and thus use a confirmation bias to actively search for and select only information that supports their arguments. Their ego needs also affect their decisions, since their desire to protect their self-esteem prevents them from admitting failure until the evidence is overwhelming. In many cultures, leaders who are risk takers and persist in the face of adversity are highly admired. • Divided Responsibility o Management literature has always recognized that divided responsibility is a problem whenever group decisions are made: It often is said that actions that are several bodies’ responsibility are nobody’s responsibility. o Group decisions dilute and thin out responsibility. They also give individual members (social loafers) a chance to shirk responsibility. • Related Problems o A number of other behavioral afflictions that can undermine group success. Some of these to watch out for are: Linearity bias—the propensity to make overly simple cause-effect conclusions Egocentrism—the temptation to overemphasize our own importance while forcing a decision Framing bias—the temptation to be overly influenced by how the problem was presented Self-confidence bias—the premature belief that the best solution has already been uncovered Anti-statistical bias—the reluctance to examine relevant statistical information and give weight to it • Overcoming the Weaknesses o Many of the disadvantages of groups meetings can be overcome readily. Proper group structures must be selected, group size should be considered, and various leadership roles must be played. Instructor Manual for Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work John W. Newstrom 9780078112829, 9781259254420
