MOI UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS.

DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTS AND FINANCE

BBM 358: FINANCIAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS

[JULY OCTOBER 2012] CAT 1

LECTURER: MR STEPHEN BITOK VICTOR NDATI OKILLAH BBM/2727/12 NAIROBI CAMPUS GROUP B (EVENING)

Contents

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: All Human beings exhibit some characteristics behavior pattern when in a group setting. It is therefore imperative for people involved in managing people to study theories and doing practical exercise which will help them to better understand people behavior in groups and group dynamics. We may underestimate the importance of societies and group memberships in our lives and opt to take a solo journey through life but we will realize that much of our experiences in life involve

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being engaged with others and groups. When group patterns are combined with study of individual development, then group dynamics can also be used for education and therapy. Understanding Groups offers an extended 'dictionary' of the key concepts - culture, motivations, leadership, role-playing, coordinating and consultation - and then shows how this 'language' can help us find new solutions to familiar problems. All groups need to select, develop and reward their people; to structure and design their work; to resolve political conflicts; to lay down guidelines for their groups; and to plan for the future. We have carried out this research as a group and compiled the different findings that we got from different authors.

GROUP DYNAMICS AND INTERPERSONAL INFLUENCE: Group Defined According to T.M Newcomb, a group consists of two or more persons who share norms about certain things with one another and whose social roles are closely interlocking Its a collection
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of individuals who have regular contact and frequent interaction, mutual influence, common feeling of camaraderie, and who work together to achieve a common set of goals. A group can be any number of people who interact with one another, are psychologically aware of one another and perceive themselves to be a group. We can therefore say that a group has the following characteristics A definable membership A group consciousness A sense of share purpose Interaction and ability to act in and unitary manner

Types of Group: 1. Formal group - Formed to carry out specific roles or tasks. 2. Informal group - Created by individual members for purpose of sharing a common interest. 3. Primary groups - These a characterized by close, face to face interaction between members and they are small. 4. Secondary groups - These groups there is more interpersonal interaction between the members. A good example is a department in an organization. Theoretical Perspective

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Group dynamics theory originated with the work of Kurt Lewin who emphasized on bringing about organizational change through teams rather than individuals. This is because in organizational work, people work in groups and individual behavior must be modified or changed in light of groups prevailing practices and norms. Field theory by Lewin postulated that group behavior is an intricate set of symbolic interactions and forces that not only affects groups structures, but also modify individual behavior. Therefore individual is a function of the group environment or field. In group leadership, we have the great man theory which says leaders are born in families of leaders and are not made. The trait theory of leadership assumed that leaders share certain inborn personality traits William Schutz (1958, 1966) looked at interpersonal relations from the perspective of three dimensions: Inclusion, control, and affection. This became the basis for a theory of group behaviour that see groups as resolving issues in each of these stages in order to be able to develop to the next stage. Conversely, a group may also devolve to an earlier stage if unable to resolve outstanding issues in a particular stage.here as the behavioral approach isolated behaviors characteristic of effective leaders. Bruce Tuckman (1965) proposed the 4-stage model called Tuckman's Stages for a group. Tuckman's model states that the ideal group decision making process should occur in four stages:

Forming (pretending to get on or get along with others); Storming (letting down the politeness barrier and trying to get down to the issues even if tempers flare up );
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Norming (getting used to each other and developing trust and productivity); Performing (working in a group to a common goal on a highly efficient and cooperative basis). It should be noted that this model refers to the overall pattern of the group, but of course individuals within a group work in different ways. If distrust persists, a group may never even get to the norming stage.

The functions of Groups in Organization: a. Distribution and control of work b. Spread of information c. Delegation of work. d. Analyzing and solving problems. e. Conflict resolution.

Power in Groups The power of group membership over individual behavior and work performance illustrated clearly in the Hawthorne experiment at the western electrical company. A significant feature was the attention drawn to the importance and influence of group values and norms. One experiment was the observation of a group of 14 men working in a bank hiring room. The men formed their own sub-groups of cliques with natural leaders emerging with the consent of members. despite a financial incentive schemes where workers could receive more money the more they worked, the
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group decided on two units a day as a fair level of output .This was well below the level they were capable of producing. Group pressure on individual workers were stronger that financial incentives offered by management.

Formation of Groups Tuckman model identify four main stages of successive group development .Forming, storming, norming and performing. Forming-: At this stage people try to share their ideas and see if they can work as a group with a common goal(s). Storming -: As members of A group get to know each other better they will forward their views more openly and forcefully.Disagreemnt will be expressed and challenges will be experienced on the nature of tasks and arrangements made in the earlier stages of development Norming-: As conflict and hostility start to be controlled members in the group will establish guidelines and standards and develop their own norms and acceptable behavior. Performing-: When the groups a has progressed successfully through the three earlier stages of development, it will have created structures and work effectively as a team Another writer suggest that groups go through the following stages -The polite stage The why are we here what are we doing stage?

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The power stage which dominant will emerge? The constructive stage where sharing begins and The Unity Stage This often takes weeks eating together, talking together etc..

Conflict Conflict is defined as the degree of incompatibility, a struggle to achieve a purpose and a clashing of opposed principles Types of Conflicts Interorganizational Intergroup Intra group Between Individuals

Conflict Effects Organization conflict is inevitable due to personality clashes and incompatible pressure or onfluences.Each member has certain roles, objectives, and responsibilities which may be frustrated by ones who do not cooperate

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Caused Of Intergroup Conflicts Communication Problems through differences in work orientation, coordination difficulties through task interference, organizational design problems and poor motivation techniques Different frames of reference which affect members of a group by influencing perception and interpretation of events. Being forced to compete for limited resources. General lack of organization coordination. Different interpretation of organizational goals and aims Misplaced loyalty to group members which conflict which compete with loyalty of the department or the organization. Approaches To ending intergroup conflicts Ensuring that frame for references coincide Adopt a fair method of allocating limited resources Exchanging members between groups and varying tasks.

Practical application of group dynamics in an organization Improves on change management both theoretically and practical because an organization can reach through to people through groups rather than through individuals.
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Team building activities in groups improve productivity and effectiveness in an organization

Improves cohesiveness and decisions are quick to reach especially in the informal groups Functional conflicts bring competition between groups and hence improve on productivity within the organization.

LEADERSHIP Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. According to a group of researchers they identify different styles of leadership; a. Authoritarian or autocratic b. Participative or democratic c. Delegative or Free Reign Two other approaches that leaders use are: Consideration (employee orientation) leaders are concerned about the human needs of their employees. They build teamwork, help employees with their problems, and provide psychological support.

Structure (task orientation) leaders believe that they get results by consistently keeping people busy and urging them to produce.
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A good leader uses all three styles i.e., Authoritarian or autocratic, Participative or democratic and or Delegative or Free Reign depending on what forces are involved between the followers, the leader, and the situation. Some examples include: Using an authoritarian style on a new employee who is just learning the job. The leader is competent and a good coach. The employee is motivated to learn a new skill. The situation is a new environment for the employee. Using a participative style with a team of workers who know their job. The leader knows the problem, but does not have all the information. The employees know their jobs and want to become part of the team. Using a delegative style with a worker who knows more about the job than you. You cannot

do everything and the employee needs to take ownership of her job! In addition, this allows you to be at other places, doing other things. Using all three: Telling your employees that a procedure is not working correctly and a new one must be established (authoritarian). Asking for their ideas and input on creating a new procedure (participative). Delegating tasks in order to implement the new procedure (delegative). Forces that influence the style to be used included: How much time is available? Are relationships based on respect and trust or on disrespect? Who has the information you, your employees, or both? How well your employees are trained and how well you know the task.
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Internal conflicts. Stress levels. Type of task. Is it structured, unstructured, complicated, or simple? Laws or established procedures such as OSHA or training plans The six leadership behaviors are: Encouraging self-reinforcement by team members. Through the reinforcement of high levels of group performance, the Super leader encourages the group to recognize and appreciate actions that lead to high performance. Encouraging self-evaluation so that team members gather the relevant information to monitor and evaluate their performance. Encouraging team members to be self-critical of their own performance. By promoting a culture based on group outcomes the Super Leader helps assist team members to engage in behavior of self-goal setting. Encouraging self-expectation among work team members so that the team has high expectations for group performance. Encouraging the behaviors of task rehearsal so that the team practices a work activity before performing it CONCLUSION

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From the research, we have found that for individuals to have a success in organizations they tend to form groups as their source of unity and strength. Groups create need for understanding other individuals and solving problems together. Its a source of strength and increase bargaining power. It simply concur with the saying unity is strength.

REFERENCES: 1. LAURIE J. MULLINS-Management and organization Behavior, Seventh edition. 2. CHARLES B. HANDY- Understanding Organizations, Fourth edition. 3. Szillagyi A. Jr and Wallace M. Jr., Organizational Behaviour and performance 4. Bernard Burnes-Managing change fourth edition-2004 5. Management and Organizational Behaviour Laurie J Mukins -7th Edition 6. FT Practice Hall Financial Times person edition Ltd England 2005

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