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Chapter Objectives
 Define the term group.
 Explain the significance of cohesiveness, roles, norms,
and ostracism in regard to the behavior of group
members.
 Identify and briefly describe the six stages of group
development.
 Define organizational politics and summarize relevant
research insights.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Chapter Objectives (cont’d)
 Explain how groupthink can lead to blind conformity.
 Define and discuss the management of virtual teams.
 Discuss the criteria and determinants of team
effectiveness.
 Explain why trust is a key ingredient of teamwork and
discuss what management can do to build trust.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Fundamental Group Dynamics
 Social capital: the productive potential of strong
relationships, goodwill, trust, and cooperation
 What Is a Group?
 Two or more freely interacting individuals who share a
common identity and purpose
 Types of Groups
 Informal groups: A collection of people seeking
friendship and acceptance that satisfies esteem needs
 Formal groups: A collection of people created to do
something productive that contributes to the success of
the larger organization
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Figure 13.1: What
Does It Take to Make a Group?
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Fundamental Group Dynamics
(cont’d)
 Friendship in the workplace considerations:
 Bosses being friends with subordinates
 Putting limits on social media interaction
 Attraction to Groups
 Attractiveness of the group
 Cohesiveness of the group
 Roles
 Socially determined ways of behaving in specific
positions
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Table 13.1: Factors
that Enhance or
Detract from Group
Attractiveness and
Cohesiveness
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Fundamental Group Dynamics
(cont’d)
 Norms
 Norms are the standards (degrees of acceptability and
unacceptability) for conduct that help individuals
judge what is right or good or bad in a given social
setting.
 Norms are culturally derived and vary from one culture
to another.
 Norms are usually unwritten, yet have a strong
influence on individual behavior.
 Norms go above and beyond formal rules and written
policies.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Fundamental Group Dynamics
(cont’d)
 Reasons That Groups Enforce Norms
 To facilitate the survival of the group
 To simplify or clarify role expectations
 To help group members avoid embarrassing situations
 To express key group values and enhance the group’s
unique identity
 Ostracism
 Rejection by the group for violation of its norms
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Figure 13.2: Norms Are
Enforced for Different Reasons
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Group Development
 Characteristics of a Mature Group
 Members are aware of each other’s assets and
liabilities.
 Individual differences are accepted.
 The group’s authority and interpersonal relationships
are recognized.
 Group decisions are made through rational discussion.
 Conflict is over group issues, not emotional issues.
 Members are aware of the group’s processes and their
own roles in them.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Six Stages of Group Development
 Stage 1: Orientation
 Uncertainty about most everything is high.
 Stage 2: Conflict and challenge
 Subgroups struggle for control; roles are undefined.
 Stage 3: Cohesion
 Consensus on leadership, structure, and procedures is
reached.
 Stage 4: Delusion
 A feeling of “having been through the worst of it”
prevails
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Six Stages of Group Development
(cont’d)
 Stage 5: Disillusion
 Subgroups form with disenchantment, diminished
cohesiveness, and diminished commitment to the
group.
 Stage 6: Acceptance
 A trusted and influential group member steps forward
and moves the group from conflict to cohesion so that it
becomes highly effective and efficient.
 Member expectations are more realistic.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Figure 13.3: Group Development
from Formation to Maturity
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Organizational Politics
 What Does Organizational Politics Involve?
 The pursuit of self-interest at work in the face of real or
imagined opposition
 Why Do Employees Use Organizational Politics?
 Employees resort to political behavior when they are
unwilling to trust their career solely to competence,
hard work, and luck.
 Whether employees will fall back on political tactics
has a lot to do with an organization’s climate or culture.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Research on Organizational Politics
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The higher the level of management, the greater the amount
of politics.
The larger the organization, the greater the politics.
Staff personnel are more political than line managers.
Marketing people are the most political; production people
are considered the least political.
“Reorganization changes” reportedly prompted more
political activity
61% of employees believe organizational politics helps
advance one’s career.
45% of employees believe that organizational politics
detracts from organizational goals.
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Political Tactics
 Posturing: “One-upmanship” and taking credit for
others’ work
 Empire building: Gaining control over human and
material resources
 Making the supervisor look good: Engaging in “apple
polishing” or “brown nosing”
 Collecting and using social IOUs: Exchanging
reciprocal political favors by making someone look
good or covering up someone’s mistakes
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Political Tactics
(cont’d)
 Creating power and loyalty cliques: Facing superiors as
a cohesive group rather than alone
 Engaging in destructive competition: Sabotaging the
work of others through character assassination
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Antidotes to Political Behavior
 Strive for a climate of openness and trust.
 Measure performance results rather than personalities.
 Encourage top management to refrain from political
behaviors.
 Strive to integrate individual and organizational goals
through meaningful work and career planning.
 Practice job rotation to encourage broader
perspectives and understanding of the problems of
others.
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Conformity and Groupthink
 Conformity is complying with the role expectations
and norms perceived by the majority to be appropriate
in a particular situation.
 Conformity enhances predictability, which is generally
thought to be good for rational planning and
productive enterprise.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Research on Conformity
 The Hot Seat (Asch)
 Following the Immoral Majority
 Individuals tend to go along with the group (blind
conformity) when faced with overwhelming
opposition by the group.
 Groupthink (Irving Janis)
 Groupthink is a mode of thinking (blind conformity)
that people engage in when they are deeply involved in
a cohesive in-group, when the members’ strivings for
unanimity override their motivation to realistically
appraise alternative courses of action.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Figure 13.4: The Asch Line Experiment
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Groupthink
(cont’d)
 Symptoms of Groupthink
 Excessive optimism
 An assumption of inherent morality
 Suppression of dissent
 A desperate quest for unanimity
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Conformity and Groupthink
(cont’d)
 Preventing Groupthink
 Avoid using groups as rubberstamps.
 Urge each group member to think independently.
 Bring in outside experts for fresh perspectives.
 Assign someone the role of devil’s advocate.
 Take time to consider possible effects and
consequences of alternative courses of action.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Teams, Teamwork, and Trust
 Cross-functional team
 A task group staffed with a mix of specialists focused
on a common objective
 Virtual team
 A group of individuals working on tasks from a
dispersed location who are electronically linked
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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What Makes
Workplace Teams Effective?
 Innovative ideas
 Accomplishment of goals
 Adaptability to change
 High person/team commitment
 Being rated highly by upper management
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Figure 13.5: A Model of Team Effectiveness
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Trust: A Key to Team Effectiveness
 Trust Is:
• A belief in the integrity, character, or ability of others
• The primary responsibility of the manager
• The key to establishing productive interpersonal
relationships
• A vehicle for encouraging self-control, reducing the
need for direct supervision and expanding managerial
control
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Figure 13.6: Trust and Effective Group Interaction
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Six Ways to Build Trust
 Communication: Keep people informed.
 Support: Be an approachable person.
 Respect: Delegate important duties and listen.
 Fairness: Evaluate fairly and objectively.
 Predictability: Be dependable and consistent.
 Competence: Be a good role model.
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Summary
 Managers need a working understanding of group
dynamics because groups are the basic building blocks
of organizations.
 After someone has been attracted to a group,
cohesiveness—a “we” feeling—encourages continued
membership.
 Mature groups are characterized by mutual
acceptance, encouragement of minority opinion, and
minimal emotional conflict.
 Organizational politics centers on the pursuit of selfinterest.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Summary
(cont’d)
 Although a fairly high degree of conformity is
necessary if organizations and society in general are to
function properly, blind conformity is ultimately
dehumanizing and destructive.
 Teams are becoming the structural format of choice.
Today’s employees generally have better technical
skills than team skills.
 Trust, a key ingredient of effective teamwork, is
disturbingly low in the American workplace today.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Terms to Understand
 Social capital
 Ostracism
 Group
 Organizational politics
 Informal group
 Conformity
 Formal group
 Groupthink
 Cohesiveness
 Cross-functional team
 Role
 Virtual team
 Norms
 Trust
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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