Ch. 13

• Group


  Two or more people who perceive themselves as a group and interact with each other
• Group


  • Must involve some degree of structure and permanency
  • The members of the group must see themselves as a unit
  • The group must provide rewards to its members
  • Anything that happens to one member of the group affects every other members
  • The members of the group must share a common goal
• Dyad


  2 people
• Triad


  3 people
• Small Group


  4 to 20 people
• Reasons for Joining Group

  • Assignment
  • Physical Proximity
  • Affiliation – the need to be with other people
  • Identification
  • Emotional Support
  • Assistance for help
  • Common Interest
  • Common Goals
• Group Cohesiveness


  • The extent to which group members like and trust one another, are committed to accomplishing a team goal, and share a feeling of group pride
  • More cohesive the group is, the greater: performance, decision quality, member satisfaction, member interaction, employee courtesy
  • Cohesiveness also lose the sight of organization goals (e.g. putting their colleagues first before their client)
• Group Homogeneity


  Extent to which its members are similar
• Homogenous Group


  Members are similar in some or most ways
• Heterogenous Group


  Members are more different than alike
• The best working groups consist primarily of similar people but have dissimilar person adding tension and a different vantage point
• Stability of Membership


  The greater stability, the greater cohesiveness
• Groups in which members remain for long periods of time are more cohesive and perform better than groups that have high turnover
• Isolation


  Groups that are isolated or located away from other groups tend to be highly cohesive
• Outside Pressure


  Groups that are pressured by outside forces also tend to become highly cohesive
• Psychological Reactance


  When we believe that someone is trying to intentionally influence us to take some particular action, we often react by doing the opposite
• Group Size


  Smaller size of group, more cohesive
• Additive Tasks


  Those for which the group's performance is equal to the sum of the performances by each group member; each contribution is important
• Conjunctive Tasks


  Group performance depends on the least effective group member
• Disjunctive Tasks


  Group performance is based on the most talented group member
• Social Impact Theory


  If the group is already stable and cohesive, adding another member might be disruptive
• Group Status


  The higher group status, the greater cohesiveness
• It's important to believe that a group has higher status
• Group Ability and Confidence

  • Groups with high-ability members outperform those with low-ability members
  • Confidence is the key to success
• Personality of the Group Members

  • Groups whose members have task-related experience and score high in the personality dimensions of openness to experience and emotional stability will perform better than groups with no such characteristics
• Communication Structure


  Good Communication is also the key
• Group Roles


  • Task-Oriented Roles – involves behaviors such as offering new ideas, coordinating activities, and finding new information
  • Social-Oriented Roles – involve encouraging cohesiveness and participation
  • Individual Role – blocking group activities, calling attention to oneself, and avoiding group interaction
• Social Facilitation


  Involves positive effect of presence of others on individual's behavior
• Social Inhibition


  Involves the negative effects of other's presence
• Audience Effects


  Takes place when a group of people passively watch an individual
• Audience size, proximity, and status affects the performance of the group
• Coaction


  The effect on behavior when two or more people are performing the same task in the presence of one another
• Mere presence of others naturally produces arousal
• Social Loafing


  Considers the effect on individual performance when people work together on a task
• Free-Rider Theory


  When things are going well, a group member realizes that his effort is not necessary and this does not work hard as he would if he were alone
• Sucker Effect


  Social loafing occurs when a group member notices that other group members are not working hard and does are "playing him for a sucker"
• Individual Dominance


  If the leader or group member has an accurate solution to a problem the group is trying to solve, the group will probably perform at a high level
• Groupthink


  Members become cohesive and like-minded that they make poor decisions despite contrary information that might reasonably lead them to other options
• Nominal Group


  When several people individually work on a problem but do not interact
• Interacting Group


  When individuals interact to solve a problem