Management
Organizational
Behavior
An Integrated Perspective
Jon L. Pierce &
Donald G. Gardner with Randall B. Dunham
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
C H A P T E R 1 5
PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook
15 –1

Learning Objectives
1. Discuss the assets and liabilities associated with group decision making.
2. Comment on how group characteristics and dynamics affect group decision making.
3. Discuss when groups should and should not be employed in the decision-making process.
4. Describe how leaders can capture the advantages of group decision making while controlling for its liabilities.
5. Define the meaning of conflict and explain how and why it occurs.
6. Describe organizational politics and what you can do about them.
7. Explain the importance of organizational communication and the nature of communication in borderless organizations.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –2

Group Decision Making—Assets and
Liabilities
Assets Liabilities
Assets or
Liabilities
A greater wealth of knowledge or information
More individual styles
A greater number of alternatives discovered and considered
Increased acceptance of a decision
A better comprehension of a problem and decision
Social pressure to go along with group
Premature decisions in choosing first alternative with a positive outcome
Domination of the group by an individual
Secondary goals of subgroups or factions conflicting with group goals
Disagreement among group members
Diverse and conflicting interests of group members
Riskier decisions taken by groups than individuals
Groups often take more time to decide than individuals
Groups Do It Better —Sometimes!
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –3

Group Conflict and Decision Making
• Types of conflict
 Cognitive conflict—task-oriented differences in information held, in judgment, and in perspective that facilitate the exchange of information.
 Affective conflict—emotion-based behaviors such as personality clashes, incompatibilities, and disputes that inhibit effective decision making.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –4

When Should Groups Make Decisions
• Using a group to make a decision is best if:
 The problem is of moderate difficulty.
 The problem can be subdivided (decomposed).
 The group is limited to five to seven members.
 The group members have diverse backgrounds.
 Interaction is structured to encourage free expression of ideas and prevent premature evaluation of ideas
 There are no extreme status differences between group members.
 The group is moderately cohesive and has developed a good communication system and appropriate norms.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –5

Managing Group Decision Making
• Stepladder technique
 Enhances decisions by structuring the addition of group members and their ideas into the process.
 Process steps:
 Assignment of tasks to decisionmaking participants who will join core group
 Presentation of preliminary solutions to the core group
 Problem reconsidered at each presentation to the core group
 Final decision based on the blending of core group member contributions
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Managing Group Decision Making (cont’d)
• Brainstorming
 The sharing of ideas in a setting free of the interruptions and risks that accompany immediate evaluation and discussion.
•
Advantages


Reduces dependence on a single authority figure
Encourages the open sharing of ideas




Stimulates participation
Provides individual safety in a competitive group
Maximizes output for a short period
Is enjoyable and stimulating
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Managing Group Decision Making (cont’d)
• Delphi technique
 A group process that brings information and the judgments of people together without physically assembling the contributors.
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Managing Group Decision Making (cont’d)
•
Stages in the Delphi technique:
 Development of the Delphi question and the first inquiry
 The first response from the contributors
 Analysis of the first response, feedback, and the second inquiry
 The second response from the contributors
 Continuation of the process until a clear solution emerges
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –9

Managing Group Decision Making (cont’d)
• Nominal group technique (NGT)
 A process that generates many creative potential decisions to a problem, evaluates them, and ranks them from best to worst.
 Useful when individual members have some expert knowledge, but no one member has the knowledge to solve the problem completely.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –10

Managing Group Decision Making (cont’d)
Steps in the NGT:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Silent idea generation by group members
“Round-robin” combination of ideas into a master list
Ideas discussed and evaluated sequentially by the group
Confidential vote on the relative importance of the ideas
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –11

Managing Group Decision Making (cont’d)
• Synectics
 A technique that develops creative ideas and attempts to integrate diverse individuals into a problem-stating, problem-solving group.
 Based on the assumption that individuals are divided into two parts:
 An inhibiting self-censoring concern with safety— analytical, suspicious, logical, and cautious
 A striving for learning—sensation-seeking, impulsive, and creative
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –12

Other Work Group and Team Processes
• Interpersonal Conflict
 Conflict—a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has frustrated, or is about to frustrate, one or more of their concerns.
 Sources of conflict:
 Incompatibility of goals
 Scarcity of desired resources
 Incompatible behavioral preferences
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –13

Other Work Group and Team Processes
• Interpersonal Conflict (cont’d)
 Dysfunctional conflict—produces negative effects
 decreased performance, lowered satisfaction, aggression, and anxiety
 Functional conflict—creates positive results
 resolution of underlying problems
 movement of the group forward to a more effective stage of development
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –14

The Conflict Process
Other Person’s
Behavior
Person
Experienced
Frustration
Person’s
Conceptualization of Conflict
Conflict
Style
Conflict
Resolution
Conflict
Aftermath
FIGURE 15
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15 –15 Copyright © 2002 by South-Western

Conflict Behavior Styles
Assertive
Competing Collaborating
Uncooperative Compromising Cooperative
Avoiding
Unassertive
Accommodating
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FIGURE 15
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15 –16

Other Work Group and Team Processes
(cont’d)
• Organizational politics
 Informal behaviors that protect or enhance the selfinterests of an individual or group:
 “the management of influence to obtain sanctioned ends through non-sanctioned means”
 The intensity of politics changes:
 During periods of uncertainty
 Prior to resource allocation decisions
 When there are strong resource interdependencies between individuals and groups
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –17

Other Work Group and Team Processes
(cont’d)
• Managing organizational politics:
 Do not ignore organizational politics.
 Take advantage of organizational politics by “playing the game” astutely and when necessary.
 Be aware of the possible (likely) consequences of
“playing the game.”
 Avoid using power as a show of force.
 Create an atmosphere of shared responsibility to reduce the role and effects of politics in the organization.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –18

Organizational Communications
• The Communication Process
 The process of transferring information from one person or group to another.
Ideation
(Intended
Message)
Message
Encoding
Channels/
Networks
Message
Decoding
Received
Message
Sender Receiver
FIGURE 15
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15 –19 Copyright © 2002 by South-Western

Organizational Communications (cont’d)
• Communications and organizational borders
 Barriers to effective communication:
 Status differentials between individuals
 Occupying different levels in the organizational hierarchy
 Tight and narrowly defined job descriptions
 Departmentalization by functional lines
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –20

Organizational Communications (cont’d)
• Communications and organizational borders
(cont’d)
 Overcoming communication barriers:
 Reduce the number of levels in the organizational hierarchy to bring employees closer together.
 Use MBWA (management by walking around) to increase face-to-face contact.
 Hold “work-out” sessions to enable managers to work on pressing issues.
 Eliminate status barriers that inhibit communications.
 Use self-managed work teams to create a system where people must talk to one another.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –21

Organizational Communications (cont’d)
• The Importance of Organizational
Communication
 To make employees aware and help socialize them into the organization’s culture.
 To help employees know how their jobs (roles) contribute to the larger organizational picture.
 To provide information that assists in maintaining an effective employee involvement program.
 To provide performance feedback information to motivate employees.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western 15 –22