Group Decision Making-Organizational Behaviour-Lecture Handout, Exercises of Organization Behaviour

Download Group Decision Making-Organizational Behaviour-Lecture Handout and more Exercises Organization Behaviour in PDF only on Docsity! Organizational Behavior - MGT502 VU © Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 90 Lesson 19 GROUP DECISION MAKING Overview Group and organizational effectiveness hinge on minimizing process losses, achieving process gains, aligning group goals with organizational goals, and having the appropriate level of group cohesiveness. Three types of groups that are especially important in many organizations include the top management team, self-managed work teams, and research and development teams. This chapter makes the following points: Actual group performance often falls short of potential performance; process losses result from coordination and motivation problems in groups. Process gains cause the potential performance of a group to rise, and they enhance group effectiveness. Social loafing, a motivation problem that leads to process losses, is the tendency of individuals to exert less effort when they work in a group than when they work alone. Social loafing occurs for two reasons: (a) individuals in a group think that they will not receive positive outcomes for performing at a high level or negative outcomes for substandard performance because individual levels of performance cannot easily be identified and evaluated; and (b) individuals think that their own efforts are unimportant or not needed. Social loafing can be eliminated or reduced by making each individual feel that he or she can make an important and worthwhile contribution to the group, and by keeping group size small. Group tasks can be characterized in terms of the nature of interdependence between group members. Thompson describes three types of task interdependence: pooled, sequential, and reciprocal. The nature and causes of process losses and process gains depend on the type of task involved and the degree of interdependence among group members. Group cohesiveness is the attractiveness of a group to its members. Group size, the similar- ity/diversity of group members, competition with other groups, success, and the exclusiveness of the group help to determine the level of participation and communication within a group, the level of conformity to group norms, and group goal accomplishment. Group goals aligned with organization goals, lead to an optimal level of group cohesiveness that results in high performance. When group goals are not aligned with organization goals, group cohesiveness is dysfunctional for an organization. Four kinds of work groups that have the potential to affect organizational performance dramatically are top-management teams, self-managed work teams, research and development teams, and virtual teams. Deciding When to Use a Team Use a Team When: – Many perspectives are needed – Acceptance of the decision is critical – The problem is complex or unstructured – Individuals judgments are unreliable – Individuals are unwilling to take necessary risks – You want to develop team members’ team-related skills Be Cautious About Using a Team When: – The issue is unimportant – Individuals don’t want to participate docsity.com Organizational Behavior - MGT502 VU © Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 91 – Individual risk preferences are too high – Time is of the essence – Group norms are unacceptable Guidelines for Dealing with Problem Behaviors • Choose team members carefully. • Offer training. • Provide clear goals. • Clearly define member responsibilities. • Use peer evaluations. • Reward superior performance. • Don’t let social considerations overwhelm concern with the task. • Remove problem team members as a last resort. Group Decision Making Advantages 1. more knowledge through pooling of group resources 2. Increased acceptance & commitment due to voice in decisions 3. greater understanding due to 4. involvement in decision stages Disadvantages 1. Pressure in groups to conform 2. Domination by one forceful member or dominant clique 3. Amount of time required, because group is slower than individual to make a decision Group Problem Solving Techniques • Consensus presenting opinions and gaining agreement to support a decision • Brainstorming process to generate a quantity of ideas • Nominal Group Technique process to generate ideas and evaluate solutions • Delphi Technique process to generate ideas from physically dispersed experts • Computer-Aided Decision Making Group Problem Solving Techniques Consensus Presenting opinions and gaining agreement to support a decision • In these groups, members meet face to face and rely on both verbal and nonverbal interaction to communicate with each other. • Interacting groups often censor themselves and pressure individual members toward conformity of opinion. • Brainstorming, the nominal group technique, and electronic meetings have been proposed as ways to reduce many of the problems inherent in the traditional interacting group. Brainstorming “Process to generate a quantity of ideas” Group members actively generate as many ideas and alternatives as possible, and they do so relatively quickly and without inhibitions. • It is meant to overcome pressures for conformity in the interacting group that retard the development of creative alternatives. docsity.com