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This Document Contains Chapters 7 to 8 Instructor’s Manual to Accompany Organizational Behavior 7/e by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity Prepared by: Steven L. McShane, The University of Western Australia Decision Making and Creativity LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: 1. Describe the rational choice paradigm of decision making. 2. Explain why people differ from the rational choice paradigm when identifying problems/ opportunities, evaluating/choosing alternatives, and evaluating decision outcomes. 3. Discuss the roles of emotions and intuition in decision making. 4. Describe employee characteristics, workplace conditions, and specific activities that support creativity. 5. Describe the benefits of employee involvement and identify four contingencies that affect the optimal level of employee involvement. CHAPTER GLOSSARY anchoring and adjustment heuristic -- A natural tendency for people to be influenced by an initial anchor point, such that they do not sufficiently move away from that point as new information is provided. availability heuristic -- A natural tendency to assign higher probabilities to objects or events that are easier to recall from memory, even though ease of recall is also affected by nonprobability factors (e.g., emotional response, recent events). bounded rationality -- The view that people are bounded in their decision-making capabilities, including access to limited information, limited information processing, and tendency toward satisficing rather than maximizing when making choices. creativity -- The development of original ideas that make a socially recognized contribution. decision making -- The conscious process of making choices among alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs. divergent thinking -- Reframing a problem in a unique way and generating different approaches to the issue. employee involvement -- The degree to which employees influence how their work is organized and carried out. escalation of commitment -- The tendency to repeat an apparently bad decision or allocate more resources to a failing course of action. implicit favorite -- A preferred alternative that the decision maker uses repeatedly as a comparison with other choices. intuition -- The ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to select the best course of action without conscious reasoning. prospect theory effect -- A natural tendency to feel more dissatisfaction from losing a particular amount than satisfaction from gaining an equal amount. rational choice paradigm -- The view in decision making that people should—and typically do—use logic and all available information to choose the alternative with the highest value. representativeness heuristic -- A natural tendency to evaluate probabilities of events or objects by the degree to which they resemble (are representative of) other events or objects rather than on objective probability information. satisficing -- Selecting an alternative that is satisfactory or “good enough,” rather than the alternative with the highest value (maximization). scenario planning -- A systematic process of thinking about alternative futures and what the organization should do to anticipate and react to those environments. subjective expected utility -- The probability (expectancy) of satisfaction (utility) resulting from choosing a specific alternative in a decision. CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 7-1 Describe the rational choice paradigm in decision making. Decision making is a conscious process of making choices among one or more alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs. The rational choice paradigm relies on subjective expected utility to identify the best choice. It also follows the logical process of identifying problems and opportunities, choosing the best decision style, developing alternative solutions, choosing the best solution, implementing the selected alternative, and evaluating decision outcomes. 7-2 Explain why people differ from the rational choice paradigm when identifying problems/opportunities, evaluating/choosing alternatives, and evaluating decision outcomes. Stakeholder framing, perceptual defense, mental models, decisive leadership, and solution-oriented focus affect our ability to objectively identify problems and opportunities. We can minimize these challenges by being aware of the human limitations and discussing the situation with colleagues. Evaluating and choosing alternatives is often challenging because organizational goals are ambiguous or in conflict, human information processing is incomplete and subjective, and people tend to satisfice rather than maximize. Decision makers also short-circuit the evaluation process when faced with an opportunity rather than a problem. People generally make better choices by systematically evaluating alternatives. Scenario planning can help make future decisions without the pressure and emotions that occur during real emergencies. Confirmation bias and escalation of commitment make it difficult to evaluate decision outcomes accurately. Escalation is mainly caused by the self-justification effect, self-enhancement effect, the prospect theory effect, and sunk costs effect. These problems are minimized by separating decision choosers from decision evaluators, establishing a preset level at which the decision is abandoned or re-evaluated, relying on more systematic and clear feedback about the project’s success, and involving several people in decision making. 7-3 Discuss the roles of emotions and intuition in deci- sion making. Emotions shape our preferences for alternatives and the process we follow to evaluate alternatives. We also listen in to our emotions for guidance when making decisions. This latter activity relates to intuition—the ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to select the best course of action without conscious reasoning. Intuition is both an emotional experience and a rapid, nonconscious, analytic process that involves pattern matching and action scripts. 7-4 Describe employee characteristics, workplace conditions, and specific activities that support creativity. Creativity is the development of original ideas that make a socially recognized contribution. The four creativity stages are preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. Incubation assists divergent thinking, which involves reframing the problem in a unique way and generating different approaches to the issue. Four of the main features of creative people are intelligence, persistence, expertise, and independent imagination. Creativity is also strengthened for everyone when the work environment supports a learning orientation, the job has high intrinsic motivation, the organization provides a reasonable level of job security, and project leaders provide appropriate goals, time pressure, and resources. Three types of activities that encourage creativity are redefining the problem, associative play, and cross-pollination. 7-5 Describe the benefits of employee involvement and identify four contingencies that affect the optimal level of employee involvement. Employee involvement refers to the degree that employees influence how their work is organized and carried out. The level of participation may range from an employee providing specific information to management without knowing the problem or issue, to complete involvement in all phases of the decision process. Employee involvement may lead to higher decision quality and commitment, but several contingencies need to be considered, including the decision structure, source of decision knowledge, decision commitment, and risk of conflict. LECTURE OUTLINE (WITH POWERPOINT® SLIDES) Decision Making and Creativity Decision Making and Creativity Slide 1 Decision Making Blunders at JCPenney Ron Johnson and his executive team at JCPenney made a series of decision blunders due to their overconfident diagnosis of the retailer’s problems and preconceived (Apple-centric) solutions to Decision Making Blunders at JCPenney Slide 2 those problems. Rational Choice Paradigm Rational choice paradigm – the view that people should, and typically do, use logic and all available information to choose the alternative with the highest value Rational Choice Paradigm Slide 3 Key elements: • Subjective expected utility – the probability (expectation) of satisfaction (utility) resulting from choosing a specific alternative in a decision – used to determine choice that maximizes • Decision making process – follows the systematic process and application of stages of decision making Rational Choice Decision Making Process The rational choice paradigm assumes that decision makers follow the systematic process illustrated 1. Identify problem/opportunity (symptom vs. problem) Rational Choice Decision Process Slide 4 • Problem – gap between “what is” and “what ought to be” • Opportunity-- deviation between current expectations and potentially better situation(s) not previously expected • Symptom – indicators and outcomes of fundamental root causes 2. Choose the best decision process • Programmed decisions – follow standard operating procedures i.e. they have been resolved in the past • Nonprogrammed decisions – require all steps in the decision model because the problems are new, complex, or ill-defined 3. Develop alternative solutions – search for ready-made solutions first, then develop/modify custom-made solution 4. Choose the best alternative – alternative with the highest subjective expected utility 5. Implement the selected alternative – assumed to occur easily 6. Evaluate decision outcomes – determines whether the gap between “what is” and “what ought to be” has narrowed Problem Identification Challenges Problems and opportunities are not “given” -- they are conclusions formed from ambiguous and conflicting information Problem Identification Challenges Slide 5 Five Problem Identification Challenges: • Stakeholder framing – stakeholders frame information so decision makers perceive a problem opportunity, or no issue • Decisive leadership – leaders rewarded for decisiveness, so they conclude problems or opportunities without careful assessment • Solution-focused problems – solutions are defined as problems (e.g. “the problem poor training”) -- feels comfortable having a solution • Perceptual defense – blocking out bad news as a coping mechanism (fail to see information that threatens self-concept) • Mental models – existing mental models blind us from seeing unique problems or opportunities Identifying Problems Effectively 1. Be aware of perceptual and diagnostic limitations 2. Resist temptation of looking decisive when more thoughtful examination of the situation should occur Identifying Problems Effectively Slide 6 3. Create a norm of “divine discontent” – avoid being complacent with the status quo and adopt an aversion to complacency 4. Discuss the situation with colleagues to discover blind spots and see different perspectives Making Choices: Rational vs OB Views Bounded rationality (Herb Simon) – people process limited and imperfect information, rarely select the best choice Making Choices: Rational vs OB Views Slide 7 Problems with goals • Rational – goals are clear, compatible, and agreed-upon • OB – goals are ambiguous, conflicting, lack full support Problems with information processing • Rational – people can process all information about all alternatives and their outcomes • OB – people have limited information processing abilities Problems with evaluation timing • Rational – choices evaluated simultaneously • OB – choices evaluated sequentially Making Choices: Rational vs OB (con’t) Problems with evaluation standards • Rational – people use absolute standards to evaluate alternatives • OB – people evaluate against an implicit favorite Making Choices: Rational vs OB Views Slide 8 Problems with information quality • Rational – choices are made using factual information • OB – choices are made using distorted information Problems with decision objective • Rational – people maximize i.e. choose alternative with the highest payoff (subjective expected utility) • OB – people satisfice i.e. select “good enough” alternative Biased Decision Heuristics People have built-in decision heuristics that bias evaluation of alternatives Biased Decision Anchoring and adjustment heuristic Heuristics • We are influenced by an initial anchor point, and don’t move Slide 9 away from that point much as new information is provided ➡ e.g. high price of an initial contract tender causes negotiations to focus around that price even though excessive Availability heuristic • Tendency to estimate the probability of something occurring by how easily we can recall those events ➡ e.g. we easily remember emotional events (e.g. shark attack) so we overestimate how often these emotional events occur Representative heuristic • Tendency to estimate probability of something based on its similarity to something known than by more precise statistics ➡ e.g. 20% of students are in engineering and 80% are business majors, yet we believe one student is in engineering because s/he resembles a typical engineering student Problems with Maximization Slide 10 Problems with Maximization People don’t choose the best alternative (maximization) because: 1. Alternatives appear over time and may not be available later ➡ we need to decide now, not when future choices are available 2. People lack motivation and ability to process huge amounts of information required for maximization ➡ people are cognitive misers How decision makers respond to problems with maximization 1. Satisficing ➡ choose the first alternative that exceeds a “good enough” standard ➡ much less cognitive taxing than maximization ➡ we rely on implicit favorite to determine if alternatives exceed our current preference 2. Oversimplify decision calculations ➡ use easily identifiable factors (color, size) to remove several alternatives from further consideration ➡ use few evaluation criteria rather than full list of factors 3. Avoid making the decision ➡ When presented with many choices, people often choose the least cognitively challenging alternative – no decision at all ➡ Occurs even when there are clear benefits of selecting any alternative (such as joining a company retirement plan) Emotions and Making Choices Slide 11 Emotions and Making Choices How emotions affect the evaluation of alternatives: 1. Emotions form preferences before cognition inferences • Emotional marker process determines our preferences for each alternative before we consciously evaluate those alternatives 2. Emotions affect the decision evaluation process • moods and emotions affect how carefully we evaluate alternatives • e.g. we may pay more attention to details when in a negative mood, tend to skim over evaluating when in a good mood 3. Emotions serve as information • We ‘listen in’ on our emotions for guidance when making choices • e.g. visualize using product, pay attention to resulting emotion Intuitive Decision Making Slide 12 Intuitive Decision Making Intuition – ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to select the best course of action without conscious reasoning Intuition is an emotional experience • Gut feelings are emotional signals • Not all emotional signals are intuition Intuition as rapid unconscious analysis • Uses action scripts – programmed decision routines that shorten the decision making process Choosing Alternatives Better Slide 13 Choosing Alternatives Better 1. Systematically evaluate alternatives against relevant factors 2. Revisit decisions later, when in a different mood state 3. Use scenario planning – a disciplined method for imagining possible futures Decision Evaluation Problems Slide 14 Decision Evaluation Problems Confirmation bias -- unwitting selectivity in the acquisition and use of evidence • Tendency to inflate quality of the selected option; forget or downplay rejected alternatives • Gives people an excessively optimistic evaluation of their decisions Escalation of commitment -- tendency to repeat or further invest in an apparently bad decision Four causes of escalation of commitment: 1. Self-justification effect ➡ continue to invest in a failing project to maintain impression that the project is still worthy -- ending project implies incompetence 2. Self-enhancement effect ➡ natural tendency to think we are above average (lucky, competent) ➡ results in (a) ignoring bad news about the decision and (b) overestimating chance that investing more will correct the problem 3. Prospect theory effect ➡ we experience stronger negative emotions when losing something of value than positive emotions when gaining something of equal value ➡ stopping a project hurts more than spending more on it 4. Sunk costs effect ➡ people motivated to invest more in projects with large resources already invested ➡ but future investments should NOT consider size of previous investment in the project, only the expected future gains ➡ past investment includes time -- people motivated to spend more time when much time has been devoted to the project already Evaluating Decisions Better Slide 15 Evaluating Decisions Better 1. Separate decision choosers from decision evaluators – minimizes self-justification effect 2. Stop loss – publicly establish a preset level at which the decision is abandoned or re-evaluated 3. Find sources of systematic and clear feedback 4. Involve several people in the decision – may notice problems sooner than when someone is working alone Tangible Creativity Slide 16 Tangible Creativity Alex Beim, founder and chief creative technologist of Tangible Interaction Design in Vancouver, relies on creative thinking to invent enticing interactive displays, such as the zygotes at the Vancouver Olympics. Creative Process Model Slide 17 Creative Process Model 1. Preparation • Investigating the problem or opportunity in many ways -- learning about the issue 2. Incubation • Period of reflective thought -- put the problem aside, maintain low level of awareness • Assists divergent thinking – reframing a problem in a unique way and generating different approaches to the issue • Contrasts with convergent thinking – calculating the conventionally accepted “right answer” to a logical problem 3. Illumination • The experience of suddenly becoming aware of a unique idea • begins with “fringe” awareness (barely perceptible) • short-term memory -- easily forgotten, so need to document 4. Verification • Logical evaluation, experimentation, and further creative insight Characteristics of Creative People Cognitive and practical intelligence • Cognitive intelligence to synthesize/analyze information • Practical intelligence – assess potential usefulness of ideas Characteristics of Creative People Slide 18 Persistence • Based on: (a) higher need for achievement, (b) strong motivation from the task itself, and (c) moderate or high degree of self-esteem Knowledge and experience • Expertise/subject matter knowledge – but strong knowledge may form strong mental models that reduce divergent thinking Independent imagination (cluster of personality traits and values) • Cluster of personality traits and values • Consists of: (a) high openness to experience (personality), moderately low need for affiliation (drive/motive), higher selfdirection and stimulation (values) • Tolerate mistakes as part of the creative process Creative Work Environments Intrinsically motivating work Slide 19 • Motivation from the job itself -- task significance, autonomy, challenging but within employee’s competencies Open communication and sufficient resources • Includes degree of job security • Providing nontraditional workspaces e.g. unique building design Note: It isn’t clear how much pressure should be exerted on employees to produce creative ideas or the effect of co-worker support/co-worker competition Creativity Activities Redefine the problem • Revisit abandoned projects—might be seen in new ways • People unfamiliar with issue explore the problem (fresh eyes) Creative Activities Slide 20 Associative play Brasilata, The Ideas Company Slide 21 • Impromptu storytelling and acting • Artistic activities • Morphological analysis – listing different dimensions of a system and the elements of each dimension and then looking at each combination Cross-Pollination • People from different parts of the organization exchange ideas or are brought into the team • Informal social interaction Brasilata, The Ideas Company Brasilata has become one of the most innovative and productive manufacturing businesses in Brazil by involving employees in company decisions. Levels of Employee Involvement The degree to which employees influence how their work is organized and carried out Levels of Employee Different levels of involvement (lowest to highest) Involvement 1. Employees individually asked for specific information but the Slide 22 problem is not described to them. 2. Problem is described and employees are asked individually or collectively for information relating to that problem. 3. Problem is described to employees, who are collectively given responsibility for developing recommendations 4. Employees responsible for entire decision-making process -- identify the problem, discover alternative solutions, choose the best alternative, implement choice Employee Involvement Model Slide 23 Employee Involvement Model Several potential benefits of involvement, but only under specific circumstances. 1. Better problem identification • Recognizing problems more quickly and defining them more accurately 2. Synergy produces more/better solutions • Team members create synergy by pooling their knowledge to form new alternatives 3. Better at picking the best choice • Decision is reviewed by people with diverse perspectives and a broader representation of values 4. Higher decision commitment • Increases sense of personal responsibility for decision’s success and representation of interests Contingencies of Involvement Slide 24 Contingencies of Involvement Higher employee involvement is better when: 1. Decision structure • Problem is new and/or complex i.e. nonprogrammed decision 2. Source of decision knowledge • The leader lacks knowledge and employees have information 3. Decision commitment • Employees unlikely to accept decision without their involvement 4. Risk of conflict (two conflict risks) (a)Employee norms support the organization’s goals (b)Employees are likely to agree on the solution Decision Making and Creativity Slide 25 Decision Making and Creativity Subjective Expected Utility Slide 26 Subjective Expected Utility Subjective expected utility: estimating the best possible alternative (maximization) • Depends on probabilities of outcomes and value (valence) of those outcomes Expected – probability of an outcome occurring • As illustrated: Chance that outcome 3 will occur is 90% if choice ‘A’ is chosen, 30% if choice ‘B’ is chosen • e.g., 90% probability that applicant ‘A’ will quit within one year; only 30% chance that applicant ‘B’ will quit within one year Utility – value or happiness produced by each option from value of expected outcomes • As illustrated: you believe Choice ‘B’ has higher utility (i.e., will produce greater happiness) than will Choice ‘A’ Choice ‘B’ expected utility is (.8x7)+(.2 x -2)+(.3x1)= 6.4 Choice ‘A’ expected utility is (.2x7)+(.5 x -2)+(.9x1)= 1.3 Note: Value (valence) of outcomes remain the same for both choices e.g. you value good wireless reception (positive outcome) to the same degree no matter which tablet (iPad, etc.) you are considering buying Solutions to Creativity Brainbusters Slides 27-32 Solutions to Creativity Brainbusters This PowerPoint file includes a set of slides showing solutions to the creativity brainbusters activity Instructor’s Manual to Accompany Organizational Behavior 7/e by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow Chapter 8: Team Dynamics Prepared by: Steven L. McShane, The University of Western Australia Team Dynamics LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: 1. Discuss the benefits and limitations of teams, and explain why employees join informal groups. 2. Outline the team effectiveness model and discuss how task characteristics, team size, and team composition influence team effectiveness. 3. Discuss how the four team processes—team development, norms, cohesion, and trust— influence team effectiveness. 4. Discuss the characteristics and factors required for the success of self-directed teams and virtual teams. 5. Identify four constraints on team decision making and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of four structures aimed at improving team decision making. CHAPTER GLOSSARY brainstorming -- A freewheeling, face-to-face meeting where team members aren’t allowed to criticize but are encouraged to speak freely, generate as many ideas as possible, and build on the ideas of others. brainwriting -- A variation of brainstorming whereby participants write (rather than speak about) and share their ideas. Brooks’s law -- The principle that adding more people to a late software project only makes it later. electronic brainstorming -- A form of brainwriting that relies on networked computers for submitting and sharing creative ideas. evaluation apprehension -- A decision-making problem that occurs when individuals are reluctant to mention ideas that seem silly because they believe (often correctly) that other team members are silently evaluating them nominal group technique -- A variation of brainwriting consisting of three stages: Participants (1) silently and independently document their ideas, (2) collectively describe these ideas to the other team members without critique, and then (3) silently and independently evaluate the ideas presented. norms -- The informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the behavior of their members. process losses -- Resources (including time and energy) expended toward team development and maintenance rather than the task. production blocking -- A time constraint in team decision making due to the procedural requirement that only one person may speak at a time. role -- A set of behaviors that people are expected to perform because they hold certain positions in a team and organization. self-directed teams (SDTs) -- Cross-functional work groups that are organized around work processes, complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, and have substantial autonomy over the execution of those tasks. social loafing -- The problem that occurs when people exert less effort (and usually perform at a lower level) when working in teams than when working alone. task interdependence -- The extent to which team members must share materials, information, or expertise to perform their jobs. team building -- A process that consists of formal activities intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team. team cohesion -- The degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members. team efficacy -- The collective belief among team members of the team’s capability to successfully complete a task. teams -- Groups of two or more people who interact and influence one another, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization. virtual teams -- Teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks. CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 8-1 Discuss the benefits and limitations of teams, and explain why employees join informal groups. Teams are groups of two or more people who interact and influence one another, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization. All teams are groups, because they consist of people with a unifying relationship; not all groups are teams, because some groups do not exist to serve organizational objectives. People join informal groups (and are motivated to be on formal teams) for four reasons: (1) They have an innate drive to bond, (2) group membership is an inherent ingredient in a person’s self-concept, (3) some personal goals are accomplished better in groups, and (4) individuals are comforted in stressful situations by the mere presence of other people. Teams have become popular because they tend to make better decisions, support the knowledge management process, and provide superior customer service. Teams are not always as effective as individuals working alone. Process losses and social loafing drag down team performance. 8-2 Outline the team effectiveness model and discuss how task characteristics, team size, and team composition influence team effectiveness. Team effectiveness includes the team’s ability to achieve its objectives, fulfill the needs of its members, and maintain its survival. The model of team effectiveness considers the team and organizational environment, team design, and team processes. Three team design elements are task characteristics, team size, and team composition. Teams tend to be better suited for situations in which the work is complex yet tasks are well-structured and have high task interdependence. Teams should be large enough to perform the work yet small enough for efficient coordination and meaningful involvement. Effective teams are composed of people with the competencies and motivation to perform tasks in a team environment. Team member diversity has advantages and disadvantages for team performance. 8-3 Discuss how the four team processes—team development, norms, cohesion, and trust—influence team effectiveness. Teams develop through the stages of forming, storming, norming, performing, and eventually adjourning. Within these stages are two distinct team development processes: developing team identity and developing team mental models and coordinating routines. Team development can be accelerated through team building—any formal activity intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team. Teams develop norms to regulate and guide member behavior. These norms may be influenced by initial experiences, critical events, and the values and experiences that team members bring to the group. Team cohesion—the degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members— increases with member similarity, smaller team size, higher degree of interaction, somewhat difficult entry, team success, and external challenges. Cohesion increases team performance when the team has high interdependence and its norms are congruent with organizational goals. Trust refers to positive expectations one person has toward another person in situations involving risk. People trust others on the basis of three foundations: calculus, knowledge, and identification. 8-4 Discuss the characteristics and factors required for the success of self-directed teams and virtual teams. Self-directed teams (SDTs) complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, and they have substantial autonomy over the execution of their tasks. Members of virtual teams operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks. Virtual teams are more effective when the team members have certain competencies, the team has the freedom to choose the preferred communication channels, and the members meet face-to-face fairly early in the team development process. 8-5 Identify four constraints on team decision making and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of four structures aimed at improving team decision making. Team decisions are impeded by time constraints, evaluation apprehension, conformity to peer pressure, and overconfidence. Four structures potentially improve decision making in team settings: brainstorming, brainwriting, electronic brainstorming, and nominal group technique. LECTURE OUTLINE (WITH POWERPOINT® SLIDES) Slide 2 What are Teams? Groups of two or more people who interact and influence each other, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity What are Teams?Slide 3 within an organization 1. Groups of two or more people 2. Exist to fulfill a purpose 3. Interdependent – interact and collaborate 4. Mutually accountable for achieving common goals – influence each other 5. Perceive themselves to be a team Many Types of Teams low permanence Slide 4 2. Skill differentiation • Degree to which individuals bring diverse skills and knowledge to the team • e.g. fairly low differentiation in communities of practice (common interests and backgrounds), whereas self-directed teams tend to have fairly high skill differentiation 3. Authority differentiation • Degree that decision-making responsibility is distributed throughout the team (low differentiation) or is vested in one/few team members • Low differentiation in self-directed teams, whereas usually fairly high in departmental teams (dept manager) Many Types of Teams 1. Permanence • How long that type of team usually exists • e.g. departmental teams have high permanence, task forces usually have Informal Groups • All teams are groups • Groups include people assembled together, whether or not they have any interdependence or organizationally-focused objective Informal Groups • Exist primarily for the benefit of their members Slide 5 Reasons why informal groups exist: • Innate drive to bond • Social identity – we define ourselves by our group affiliations • Goal accomplishment – achieve things individuals working alone could not accomplish • Emotional support – comforted by presence of others Team Advantages/Challenges Advantages 1. Make better decisions and develop better products/services 2. Can quickly share information and coordinate tasks Team Advantages/ Challenges 3. Increase employee motivation/engagement – fulfills drive to bond; Slide 6 accountable to team members who monitor performance; performance improves when co-workers become benchmarks of performance comparison Challenges 1. Process losses • resources expended toward team development and maintenance rather than the task • Disagreements, misunderstandings, divergent viewpoints, or coordination problems • Brooks’ Law – adding people to a late software project makes it later 2. Social loafing • problem that occurs when people exert less effort when working in groups than when working alone • higher when individual performance is hidden or difficult to distinguish from others • less prevalent when the task is interesting • less prevalent when members value team membership Team Effectiveness Model Team effectiveness defined -- extent that the group: • Fulfills organizational (or other system) purpose • Fulfills needs of individual members Team Effectiveness Model • Is able to survive (i.e. maintain member commitment) Slide 7 Elements of team effectiveness model • Organizational and Team Environment • Team design • Team processes • Team outcomes (effectiveness) PSA Peugeot Citroen’s Team Space PSA Peugeot Citroën, Europe’s second largest automaker, set up an “obeya room” (shown here) to speed up team decision making. The room, which is plastered with charts and notes on key issues, creates a PSA Peugeot Citroen’s Team Space Slide 8 unique team environment that encourages face-to-face interaction to quickly resolve those issues. Organizational and Team Environment • Reward systems – at least partly rewarded for team performance • Communication systems – need right amount of information and feedback Organization/Team • Organizational structure – teams flourish when organized around work Environment Slide 9 processes because this increases interaction and interdependence • Organizational leadership – provide support and strategic direction • Physical space – physical layout makes a difference Environment also generates drivers for change within teams -- e.g., external competition Best Task Characteristics for Teams 1. Complex tasks divisible into specialized roles ➡ requires skills/knowledge beyond one person, and possible to allocate parts of work to people with those different skill sets Best Tasks for Teams 2. Well-structured tasks -- easier to coordinate work among people Slide 10 3. Higher task interdependence • Extent to which team members must share materials, information, or expertise to perform their jobs • Three levels -- pooled, sequential, reciprocal (see next slide) • Teams usually better for high interdependence because (a) provides better communication/coordination and (b) stronger motivation for team membership • But if task goals differ (e.g. serving different clients), a team structure may create more conflict than other coordinating mechanisms among people with high task interdependence Levels of Task Interdependence Pooled interdependence (lowest level) • Sharing a common resource (equipment, budget, etc) Levels of Task Sequential interdependence Interdependence • Output of one person becomes the direct input for another person Slide 11 e.g. assembly line Reciprocal interdependence (highest level) • Work output is exchanged back and forth among individuals – interwoven relationship (e.g. medical team) Team Size Smaller teams are better because: • Less process loss (better coordination and resolving conflicts) • More engaged in the team -- more influence, feel more responsible Team Size Slide 12 • Faster team development -- know each other faster/better, more trust But…team must be large enough to accomplish task Team Player Selection at Menlo Innovations Ann Arbor, Michigan software company Menlo Innovations identifies job applicants with the best team skills through a group selection process in which applicants are paired with each other to complete software tasks. Team Player Selection at Menlo Innovations Slide 13 Team Composition Competencies of effective team members (5 Cs): Slide 14 • Cooperating – willing and able to work together i.e. sharing resources and being flexible to accommodate others • Coordinating – actively manage the team’s work i.e. keep the team on track and align work with others • Communicating – transmit information freely (vs. hoarding), efficiently, and respectfully; listen actively to co-workers • Comforting – help co-workers maintain a positive and healthy psychological state i.e. show empathy, provide psychological comfort, and build co-worker feelings of confidence and self-worth • Conflict resolving – have skills and motivation to resolve dysfunctional disagreements i.e. effective diagnostic skills and use various conflicthandling skills effectively Team Composition Effective team members must be willing and able to perform their work in a team environment Team Composition: Team Diversity Extent to which team composition includes people with diverse knowledge, skills, values, mental models, perspectives Team Composition: Advantages of team diversity Diversity • View problems/alternatives from different perspectives Slide 15 • Broader pool of technical competencies • Provide a better representation of constituents e.g. other departments Disadvantages of team diversity • Take longer to develop • Susceptible to “fault lines” ➡ split team into subgroups by surface or deep level features ➡ reduces motivation to communicate and coordinate across faultlines Stages of Team • Expectations learned, and how members fit into the team Development Slide 16 2. Storming • More conflict as members compete for roles • Members try to establish norms 3. Norming • Cohesion develops • Roles established, consensus forms around group objectives • Similar mental models/expectations about how to accomplish goals 4. Performing • Team becomes more task-oriented • Efficient work coordination, conflict resolution • Highly cooperative, high trust, committed to goals, identify with the team 5. Adjourning • Team is about to disband • Members shift from task to relationship focus Stages of Team Development 1. Forming • Period of testing and orientation • Members defer to the existing authority Team Development: Forming Identities and Mental Models Two central processes in team development: 1. Developing team identity Team Development: • Transition where members view team as “us” rather than “them” forming Identities and • Team becomes part of the person’s social identity Mental Models Slide 17 2. Developing team mental models and coordinating routines • Forming habitual routines with team members • Forming shared/complementary mental models -- shared images of team goals and processes Chapter 8: Team Dynamics Team Roles Team development includes forming, assigning, reinforcing roles A role is a set of behaviors people are expected to perform because of the positions they hold in a team and organization • Some roles are formally assigned e.g. team leaders are usually expected to initiate discussion • Informal roles which are negotiated through the team development process and are related to personal characteristics e.g. supporting others; initiating new ideas Team Building Formal activities intended to improve the development and functioning of a work team • More common for existing teams that have regressed to earlier stages Team Building of team development due to turnover or loss of focus Slide 18 Types of Team Building: • Clarifying team’s goals and build motivation to achieve goals • Improve the team’s problem-solving skills • Improve role definitions – helps team develop shared mental models • Improve relationships – team members learn more about each other, build trust, and manage conflict within the team Team building activities can be effective, but they: • need to target specific team problems • need to be a continuous process, not a one-shot inoculation • need to occur on-the-job, not just away from the workplace Team Norms Informal rules and shared expectations to regulate member behaviors • Apply only to behavior, not private thoughts or feelings Team Norms Norms develop through: Slide 19 1. Initial team experiences 2. Critical events in team’s history 3. Experiences/values members bring to the team Preventing/Changing Dysfunctional Team Norms • State/establish desired norms when forming teams • Select members with preferred values • Discuss/coach counter-productive norms, develop productive norms • Introduce team-based rewards that counter dysfunctional norms • Disband teams with dysfunctional norms Team Cohesion The degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members Team Cohesion Factors that strengthen or speed up team cohesion: Slide 20 1. Member similarity • More/faster cohesion when members are similar to each other • Generally takes longer/more difficult for diverse teams to become cohesive, but this depends on the form of diversity 2. Team size • Smaller teams usually more cohesive – easier for a few people to agree on goals and coordinate work activities 3. Member interaction • Regular interaction increases cohesiveness • More interaction through higher task interdependence 4. Somewhat difficult entry • Cohesion increased when entry to team is restricted—the more elite the team, the more prestige it confers • Caution: severe initiation can weaken cohesion 5. Team success • Successful teams fulfill member needs and goals • Success increases social identity with the team • Note: cohesion also affects team success (see below), but less than success affects cohesion 6. External competition and challenges • External competition/challenges increase cohesion • Cohesion can dissipate if external threats are severe/overwhelming Team Cohesion and Performance High cohesion teams usually perform better because: • Motivated to maintain membership and achieve team objectives • Share information more frequently Team Cohesiveness and Performance • Higher coworker satisfaction Slide 21 • Better social support (minimizes stress) • Resolve conflict more swiftly and effectively Contingencies of cohesion and performance 1. Task interdependence • Cohesion has less effect on team performance when members have low task interdependence • Cohesion motivates cooperation, so less important when people have minimal interdependence 2. Team norms consistent with organizational objectives • Cohesion motivates conformity to team norms • If team norms are aligned with firms goals, then cohesion motivates higher team performance • If team norms oppose firms goals, then cohesion motivates lower team performance Trust in Teams Positive expectations one person has toward another person or group in situations involving risk Three Levels of Trust Swift trust Slide 22 • New team members tend to have a moderate or high level—not a low level of trust in their new co-workers • Swift trust is fragile in new relationships because it is based on assumptions rather than experience i.e. easily broken Three Levels of Trust Calculus-based trust • Logical calculation that other team members will act appropriately because of sanctions i.e. based on deterrence • Lowest potential trust and is easily broken – not enough to sustain a team’s relationship Knowledge-based trust • Based on the predictability of another team member’s behavior and/or confidence in the person’s competence • More stable because it develops over time Identification-based trust • Based on mutual understanding and emotional bonds • Potentially the strongest of the three types of trust • Transgressions quickly forgiven because the individual’s self-concept is based partly on team membership Self-Directed Teams Slide 23 • Complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, • Have substantial autonomy over task decisions Self-Directed Team Success Factors • Responsible for an entire work process e.g. making an entire product or providing a service • High interdependence within the team • Low interdependence with other teams • Sufficient autonomy to organize and coordinate work • Work site and technology support team communication/coordination Self-Directed Teams Self-directed teams defined • Cross-functional groups • Organized around work processes Virtual Teams Teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks Virtual Teams Slide 24 Increasingly possible because of (a) information technologies, (b) knowledge-based work Increasingly necessary because of: • Organizational learning – encourage employees to share and use knowledge where geography limits direct collaboration • Globalization – employees are spread around the planet rather than in one building or city Virtual Team Success Factors • Virtual team member characteristics e.g. good communication technology skills; strong self-leadership; and higher emotional intelligence • Toolkit of communication technologies/channels and freedom to choose channels that work best for them • Fairly high task structure e.g. clear operational objectives • Opportunities to meet face-to-face especially early in the team development process Team Decision Making Constraints Time constraints • Teams take longer than individuals to make decisions • Time to organize/coordinate/maintain relationships Team Decision Making Constraints • Production blocking – procedural requirement that only one person Slide 25 may speak at a time Evaluation apprehension • Reluctance to mention ideas that seem silly because of belief (often true) that other team members are silently evaluating them • Based on desire for a favorable self-presentation -- creative ideas often sound bizarre • Most common when higher status person attends meeting, or members formally evaluate each other Peer Pressure to conform • Suppressing opinions that oppose team norms • Members might punish the violator or try to persuade him or her that the opinion is incorrect • Conformity is subtle – we question our ideas when team members disagree Overconfidence (inflated team efficacy) • High team efficacy is usually beneficial -- set more challenging goals, more motivated to achieve goals • Inflated team efficacy has negative outcomes ➡ false sense of invulnerability ➡ less vigilant making decisions ➡ less task-oriented conflict (active discussion, respectful disagreement) • Inflated team efficacy caused by: ➡ collective self-enhancement effect ➡ high team cohesion -- mutual reinforcement ➡ external threats/competition -- further motivates self-enhancement General Guidelines for Team Decisions 1. Team norms should encourage critical thinking 2. Sufficient team diversity 3. checks/balances to avoid dominant participants General Guidelines for 4. Maintain optimal team size Team Decisions Slide 26 5. Introduce effective team structures Team Structures to Encourage Creativity Brainstorming Team structure in which participants try to think up as many ideas as Brainstorming possible Slide 27 Four brainstorming rules: 1. Speak freely – describe even the craziest ideas 2. Don’t criticize others or their ideas 3. Provide as many ideas as possible – quality increases with quantity 4. Build on others’ ideas Brainstorming lab research is likely flawed (wrong participants and outcome measures), whereas positive results in field studies and in many successful creative firms But brainstorming has known limitations: 1. Production blocking -- ideas forgotten while listening to others 2. Conformity effect (fixation) -- first ideas frame/limit thinking of later ideas Other Team Structures for Creative Decision Making Brainwriting Brainstorming without conversation (in a face-to-face setting) Other Team Structures • Individuals write down and distribute their ideas to others, who for Creative Decision develop further ideas Making • Less production blocking than brainstorming Slide 28 Electronic Brainstorming Brainwriting using computer technology (participants often in same room, but may be dispersed) • Computer documents and distributes ideas anonymously to other participants • Anonymously vote electronically on the ideas presented • Face-to-face discussion usually follows • Strengths: less production blocking, evaluation apprehension, and conformity problems than brainstorming or brainwriting • Limitations: considered too structured and technology-bound Nominal Group Technique Variation of face-to-face brainwriting, but includes a verbal stage for description of ideas. Process includes: 1. Individuals silently write and independently document their ideas (possible solutions) 2. Participants collectively describe these ideas to the other team members (usually round-robin format) – no criticism or debate, however clarification of ideas is encouraged 3. Participants silently and independently evaluate the ideas presented Effectiveness of Nominal Group Technique • High task orientation, low potential for conflict • Production blocking and evaluation apprehension still occur Instructor Manual for Organizational Behavior: Emerging Knowledge, Global Reality Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow 9780077862589, 9781259280634, 9781259562792, 9780071077989
