Problem 4 – Buchanan (Arnold)
Group: 2 or more people, in face-to-face interaction, each aware of their group membership and
interdependence, as they strive to achieve their goals.
Group dynamics: the forces operating within groups that affect their performance and their
members’ satisfaction.
- Roles and relationships
- Influence patterns
- Communication and coordination
- Dominance patterns (who leads, who follows)
- Balance between task and social goals
- Conflict resolution methods
Shouldn’t be confused with aggregates: unrelated people who happen to be in close physical
proximity for a short period of time.
This definition of group also excludes people defined by their physical attributes, location, age or
economic status.
A group is unlikely to exceed 12 people. Beyond that number the opportunity for frequent
interaction and group awareness is reduced.
Characteristics of groups: the more they have these, the more pronounced the group is:
- A minimum membership of 2 people: the greater the number of people, the greater the
level of communication required and the more complex the structure needed to operate
- A communication network: each member should be capable of communicating as the aims
and purposes are exchanged.
- A shared sense of collective identity: each member should identify with the other members
and not see themselves independently.
- Complementary goals: individual goals may differ but are complementary enough that
members feel able to achieve them through participation.
- Group structure: individuals will have different, fixed roles and these indicate what
members expect from each other. Norms or rules indicate what is acceptable and not.
Formal groups: consciously created by management to accomplish a defined task that contributes
to the organization’s goal. Task oriented, permanent, have a formal structure.
Informal group: develops by spontaneous interactions as people talk, joke and associate with one
another, influence each other’s behaviors and contribute to mutual need satisfaction.
Group self-organization: the tendency of groups to form interests, develop autonomy and
establish identities.
, Benefits of group working: Group challenges:
- Improve performance
- Reduce production costs
- Speed up innovations
- Improve product quality
- Increase work flexibility
- Introduce new technologies
- Increase employee participation
- Achieve better industrial relations
- Meet the challenge of global
competition
- Learn and retain learning
effectively
- Monitoring, coordinating and
directing a group is more
effective than individuals
- Groups handle complex
information processing
requirements better
GROUP TASKS BY MCGRATH:
- 88% of variation in group
performance is explained by
the task type.
- The horizontal axis reflects
the degree of mental or
physical performance.
- The vertical axis reflects the
degree which the task is
cooperative or conflicted.
This is a result of diversity of
perspectives that leads to
differences in preferences.
- Groups engage in 4 major
processes: generate, execute,
negotiate, and choose.
- Creative tasks such as
brainstorming, and planning
tasks such as agenda setting
both require idea generation.
- Execute tasks require physical movement and coordination, such as surgical operations,
military missions, athletic contests.
- Negotiate tasks involve resolving conflicts of viewpoints or interests e.g. labor-
management industrial disputes.
- Intellectual or problem-solving tasks require choosing correct answers, and decision
making or judgements tasks need reaching consensus on a preferred solution.
Group: 2 or more people, in face-to-face interaction, each aware of their group membership and
interdependence, as they strive to achieve their goals.
Group dynamics: the forces operating within groups that affect their performance and their
members’ satisfaction.
- Roles and relationships
- Influence patterns
- Communication and coordination
- Dominance patterns (who leads, who follows)
- Balance between task and social goals
- Conflict resolution methods
Shouldn’t be confused with aggregates: unrelated people who happen to be in close physical
proximity for a short period of time.
This definition of group also excludes people defined by their physical attributes, location, age or
economic status.
A group is unlikely to exceed 12 people. Beyond that number the opportunity for frequent
interaction and group awareness is reduced.
Characteristics of groups: the more they have these, the more pronounced the group is:
- A minimum membership of 2 people: the greater the number of people, the greater the
level of communication required and the more complex the structure needed to operate
- A communication network: each member should be capable of communicating as the aims
and purposes are exchanged.
- A shared sense of collective identity: each member should identify with the other members
and not see themselves independently.
- Complementary goals: individual goals may differ but are complementary enough that
members feel able to achieve them through participation.
- Group structure: individuals will have different, fixed roles and these indicate what
members expect from each other. Norms or rules indicate what is acceptable and not.
Formal groups: consciously created by management to accomplish a defined task that contributes
to the organization’s goal. Task oriented, permanent, have a formal structure.
Informal group: develops by spontaneous interactions as people talk, joke and associate with one
another, influence each other’s behaviors and contribute to mutual need satisfaction.
Group self-organization: the tendency of groups to form interests, develop autonomy and
establish identities.
, Benefits of group working: Group challenges:
- Improve performance
- Reduce production costs
- Speed up innovations
- Improve product quality
- Increase work flexibility
- Introduce new technologies
- Increase employee participation
- Achieve better industrial relations
- Meet the challenge of global
competition
- Learn and retain learning
effectively
- Monitoring, coordinating and
directing a group is more
effective than individuals
- Groups handle complex
information processing
requirements better
GROUP TASKS BY MCGRATH:
- 88% of variation in group
performance is explained by
the task type.
- The horizontal axis reflects
the degree of mental or
physical performance.
- The vertical axis reflects the
degree which the task is
cooperative or conflicted.
This is a result of diversity of
perspectives that leads to
differences in preferences.
- Groups engage in 4 major
processes: generate, execute,
negotiate, and choose.
- Creative tasks such as
brainstorming, and planning
tasks such as agenda setting
both require idea generation.
- Execute tasks require physical movement and coordination, such as surgical operations,
military missions, athletic contests.
- Negotiate tasks involve resolving conflicts of viewpoints or interests e.g. labor-
management industrial disputes.
- Intellectual or problem-solving tasks require choosing correct answers, and decision
making or judgements tasks need reaching consensus on a preferred solution.
