ORGANIZATIONAL

BEHAVIOR
B21BH2060
Groups
• Individuals form groups. They live in groups. They move in groups. They
work in groups. Groups are important.
• They influence work and work behaviour. They cannot be ignored.
• They exert significant influence on the organisation. They are
inseparable from organisation. They are useful for the organisation.
• They form foundation of human resources. The study of group
behaviour is important.
• Individual and group behaviour differs from each other. Group
behaviour affects productivity.
Groups
• Elton Mayo and his associates way back in 1920 conducted the famous
Hawthorne experiments and came to know that the group behaviour
have major impact on productivity.
• Human resources comprise individuals and individuals move in groups.
• Every manager must possess the knowledge of group behaviour along
with individual behaviour.
• He must understand group psychology. He should understand
individual behaviour in the context of group behaviour.
• Individual behaviour is influenced by the group behaviour.
Groups
• M.E. Shaw defined a group “as two or more people who interact and
influence one another.”
• Viewers in a theatre, passengers in a train are not a group unless they
interact for long and exert some influence on each other. Such people’s
gatherings are referred to as collection.
• They interact at a very low level nor they get influenced with each
other but enjoy being in collection.
• The collection of people may get-converted into a group temporarily if
they are caught up in a dangerous situation like fire, robbery etc.
• They will come over a problem fighting as a group unitedly.
Group Behaviour
• Management must understand the group behaviour because it affects
productivity, day-to-day administration, communication etc.

• Management cannot free itself from the influence of group.

• A supervisor is the link between management and group. He

communicates the decisions of top management to the employees at
lower level and the feeling of the staff at lower level reaches top
management through supervisor. He is at the key position. He must
therefore understand group behaviour and make use of the group for
achievement of organisational goals.
Group Behaviour
• Group behaviour can be task oriented and human relations oriented.

• Through group various tasks can be accomplished and better human

relations can be developed.

• Moreno has developed a socio-metric analysis to study work group

behaviour. Under this method self reports from group members are
obtained indicating likes and dislikes of working with other members
of group. A socio-gram is prepared on the basis of information. This
analysis helps in comparing results with formal requirement.

• Group behaviour can be effectively utilized for implementing change.

Characteristics of Groups
Characteristics of Groups
• Size: To form a group, it must be having at least two members.
Practically, the number of group members ranges from 15 to 20. The
more the members in the group, the more complex it is to manage.
• Goals: Every group has certain goals, that are the reasons for its
existence.
• Norms: A group has certain rules, for interacting with the group
members.
• Structure: It has a structure, based on the roles and positions held by
the members.
Characteristics of Groups
• Roles: Every member of a group has certain roles and responsibilities,
which are assigned, by the group leader.
• Interaction: The interaction between the group members can occur in
several ways, i.e. face to face, telephonic, in writing or in any other
manner.
• Collective Identity: A group is an aggregation of individuals, which are
separately called as members, and collectively called as a group.
• Group Climate: An emotional setting of the group, that relies on
participative spirit, coordination, trust and bonding among the
members, open communication and other similar factors.
Importance of Groups
• Management of modern organisations is making concerted efforts to
introduce industrial democracy at workplace. They are using task force,
project teams, work committees where workers get due
representation. They participate very often in decision-making. This
takes place in groups.
• The tasks in modern industries are becoming more complex, tedious
and monotonous. To change these conditions and make the
environment at workplace more lively, work committees and work
groups and teams are formed to monitor the work and change.
• When group is working, all the benefits of division of labour accrue.
Importance of Groups
• To make participative management more effective and relieve
executives of petty responsibilities employees are given these
responsibilities to carry on successfully and effectively. Group of
employees are also given joint responsibility to carry on the work.
• Groups of all kinds and types are used by inviting their cooperation in
all matters related to production as well as with human relations to
make the organisation effective.
• There are several works which an individual cannot perform. To
complete such tasks, group efforts are required for its completion, e.g.
building of a ship, making of a movie, construction of a fly-over, a
complex etc.
Importance of Groups
• A group can make better judgment as compared to an individual.
• While accomplishing tasks group can use creative instinct and
innovative ideas than a single individual.
• Individuals in a group communicate with each other and discuss work
performance and suggestions to make it better and excellent.
• Group efforts substantially affect individual, his attitude and behaviour.
• Group has the ability to satisfy the needs of its members. In a group an
individual member feels secured and he can directly get technical and
work related assistance. They also get special support when they are
emotionally depressed., all the benefits of division of labour accrue.
Group Effectiveness
• Group is a social setting that offers knowledge, hard work and
opportunities.
• The group influences individual member’s attitude and behaviour.
• A group’s effectiveness brings about organisational effectiveness which
is essential for growth and prosperity of organisation.
• There are certain measures of group effectiveness.
Group Effectiveness
• Productivity: Higher the productivity effective is the group. Quality and
quantity of product speaks for group effectiveness.
• Attendance: Each group member must attend the work regularly.
Absenteeism and high employee turnover speaks for laxity of the
group.
• Job Satisfaction: Job satisfaction motivates the group for hard work to
make it more effective.
• Retention: Retaining the human resources makes the group effective.
Firing them very often leads to chaos because every time a new person
enters the group disturbing the group cohesiveness having negative
effects.
Group Effectiveness
• Attitude: Attitude of group members towards work also is a measure of
group effectiveness and must be taken seriously. Efforts must be made
to develop and nurture positive attitude of the group member.
• Employee Well-being: Physiological and psychological welfare of the
employee keeps them fit. Efforts should be made to assure the mental
and physical fitness of the employees to ensure group effectiveness.
• Learning: Knowledge comes through learning i.e. education, training,
knowing things from fellow employee and making one suitably
knowledgeable and skilled in working. This makes the group effective.
Knowledge is power.
Types of Groups (Basic Classification)
• Groups can be classified as:
• Formal Groups
• Command Group
• Task Group
• Informal Groups
• Interest Group
• Membership Group
• Friendship Group
• Reference Group
Formal Groups
• Formal groups are created as part of organisation structure to
accomplish organisational tasks.
• A work group in a plant is the example of formal group.
• They are bound by hierarchical authority in the organisation.
• They have to follow rules, regulation and policy of the organisation.
These groups are required by the system.
• The organisation provides a system of rules and regulation for
attaining organisational objectives.
• Formal groups help in achieving goals without any difficulty.
Formal Groups
• According to A.L. Stencombe, “a formal group is said to be any social
arrangement in which the activities of some persons are planned by
others to achieve a common purpose”.
• They facilitate coordination of activities and help in forming logical
relationship among people and positions.
• They create group unity.
• Leonard R Sayles has subdivided formal group into command group
and task group.
Formal Groups – Command Group
• Command group consists of subordinates who are directly
responsible to a supervisor.
• Command groups are structured by the organisation.
• The subordinates working in enforcement department of a town
planning authority are reporting to and directly responsible to the
enforcement officer.
• This group is responsible for removal of encroachment on public land.
• There is a specific department established for the purpose and is busy
throughout with its activities.
Formal Groups – Task Group
• Task group is formed to complete a project.
• This type of group is also known as task force.
• The job of the group is to complete the task within allotted time
period.
• If one task is completed they are allotted new task to work with.
• Project teams, quality circles, audit teams are the examples of task
group.
Informal Groups
• Informal groups exist within the formal organisations and arise
because of individuals’ social needs and desire to develop and
maintain relations with people.
• Working at a plant or office leads to formation of informal groups.
They work together and this leads to their interaction.
• Through interaction groups are formed.
• These groups are spontaneous and emotional.
• Keith Davis has defined informal group as, “the network of persons
and social relations which is not established or required for formal
organisation.”
Informal Groups
• These are the groups formed by the employees themselves at the
workplace while working together. The organisation has not taken any
active interest in their formation.
• Informal groups are very effective and powerful.
• Some managers view them harmful and disruptive to the interest of
the organisation. They suspect their integrity and consider as a virtual
threat.
• While some managers seek their help in getting the task completed
quickly. They do not consider them as threat.
• The strength of these informal groups can be utilized for
accomplishment of organisational objectives.
Informal Groups
• According to M. Dalton, “informal groups are cliques.”
• Cliques are a group of people of different organisation levels coming
together with a common interest.
• Cliques are horizontal, vertical, and random.
• Horizontal Cliques comprise people from the same rank and work
area.
• Vertical Cliques consist of people of different organisation levels.
• Random Cliques are made up of employees from both horizontal and
vertical lines coming together with a common interest.
Informal Groups – Subtypes
• Interest Group –
• A group of employees coming together for attaining a common
purpose. Employees coming together for payment of bonus increase
in salary, medical benefits and other facilities are the examples of
interest group. The people with common interest come together.
• Membership Group –
• A group of persons belonging to the same profession knowing each
other e.g. teachers of the same faculty in the university.
Informal Groups – Subtypes
• Friendship Group –
• A group outside the plant or office, having similar views, tastes,
opinions, belonging to same age group. They form clubs and
associations based on the friendship.
• Reference Group –
• It is a primary group where people shape their ideas, beliefs, values
etc. They want support from the group. Family is an important
reference group. A team of players playing a game is a reference
group.
Types of Groups – Based on Purpose
• Vocational Groups - Association of the same vocation e.g.: Class I
officers association, teachers association etc.
• Instructional Groups - The people who have enrolled themselves for
the same course e.g. students doing M. Tech in the same subject
• Government Group - Association formed for the governing e.g.
municipal council, management board.
• Religious Group - People belonging to same religion coming together
and forming a group.
• Recreational Group - Group formed with a purpose of recreation e.g.
football club, cricket club etc…
Why Do People Join Groups
• There is no particular reason answering why individuals join groups.
• Group helps individual to feel stronger, have fewer self-doubts, and
be more contrary to threats.
• Security mirrors strength in numbers. Status pinpoints a prestige that
comes from belonging to a specific group. Inclusion in a group is
considered as important because it provides recognition and status.
• Self-esteem transmits people's feelings of self-worth. Membership
can sometimes raise feelings of self-esteem like being accepted into a
highly valued group.
Why Do People Join Groups
• Affiliation with groups can meet one's social needs. Work groups
significantly contribute to meet the need for friendships and social
relations.
• Groups represent power. What mostly cannot be achieved
individually becomes possible with group effort. Power might be
aimed to protect themselves from unreasonable demands. Informal
groups provide options for individuals to practice power.
• People may join a group for goal achievement. Sometimes it takes
more than one person to accomplish a particular task.
Size of Group
• There is no limit to the size of group. It can be of very small size
comprising of two members to any number of members.
• The size of the group affects the behaviour of member of that group.
• Small groups of two or three need special concern.
• Group of two is known as Dyads.
• Group of three is known as Triads.
Size of Group
• Dyad or Group of Two - Dyad consists of two persons only. In this
group no third person is present to mediate when difference of
opinion or disagreement on any count arise. This results in frequent
quarrel, fight between the two. But the persons in this group
maintain agreement between them and do not indulge in quarrel.
They avoid differences between the two or set them aside. It is better
not to have dyad if differences in opinions or disagreements are not
allowed to surface.
• Triad or Group of Three - It is a group consisting of three members
only. In this a problem crops up when there is a perfect agreement
between the two and third is in strong opposition. This is a natural
consequence. Managers usually avoid forming triads.
Size of Group
• Small Group - Small groups are quite significant. They consist of small
number of people ranging from four, five to forty, fifty or so and small
indeed. Work force, task force, committees, teams, project team are
the examples of small group. Under these groups if a group consists
of large number then interaction between them is a bit difficult task.
• The group of ten or less than ten is more effective as they can interact
quite effectively. In a large group people avoid discussion. Moreover,
there should be odd number of members like five, seven, nine, eleven
etc. to avoid deadlock and not coming to agreement with a majority.
Odd numbers of members are always preferred.
Size of Group
• The size of group has certain effects. The large group reduces
interaction among its members. Members don’t find time to talk to
each other. Smaller groups bring about greater cohesion. In larger
groups people find less time to interact and hence less cohesion.
• It is also seen that members of small groups are more satisfied than
that of larger groups. In small groups members feel free and exercise
more freedom to interact.
• Larger groups have more productivity than that of smaller groups.
Larger groups perform better than smaller groups. Problem solving is
easy in large groups. Groups are dynamic in nature whatever the size
they have.
Factors Governing Formation of
Groups
• Personal Traits:
• The first and foremost factor that governs formation of group is
personal traits. People join groups because they find commonality of
interests, beliefs, values and attitudes. People of common beliefs,
interests, values and attitudes come together and form group.
• Emerging Leadership:
• People form groups with a potent will of emerging leaders of the
group. When people come together they choose someone to lead
them. The leader gets accepted by the people. People follow him
because they feel that he will safeguard their interests. The leaders
get authority from their followers.
Factors Governing Formation of
Groups
• Identical Objective:
• The people with similar objectives have strong feeling to come
together and form groups. This enables people to come together and
interact and they share the burden of each other while working
together. They know each other well and having the same objectives
can form a group.
• Interaction:
• People get opportunity to interact in a group and they join it or come
together and form it. Through interaction social relationship is
developed. The need for interaction is very strong among people. A
desire to have an interaction is a potential reason to form a group.
Development of Group
• Forming:
• Forming is the first stage of group development. This is the beginning
of a group where there is a great deal of difficulties arise as regards
objectives and goals, framing of rules and regulations, taking the
members into confidence, framing the structure, deciding about the
leadership issue, tackling the differences among members.
• Storming:
• Storming is a stage where conflicts arise. It is the testing time for
group leader to pacify and resolve the conflicts between the
members of group that have arisen because of interpersonal
behaviour. There are chances of split in the group.
Development of Group
• Norming:
• Leadership gets established under this stage resulting into group
cohesion. Group gets organised. Members of the group start believing
each other’s and mutual understanding develops. A sense of
belonging to the group and togetherness strengthened. The conflicts
and misunderstandings get resolved.
• Performing:
• Under performing stage the interpersonal relationship among
members is booming and they establish intimacy. They start opening
up their hearts to each other. The members try to relieve their fellow
members of their tension arising out of dissatisfaction. The group
starts working as a team and freely interacts.
Group Behaviour: Problems
• Conflict
• Disagreements within groups are common and often a healthy way of
building cohesiveness, this is because if people disagree on a
particular point they will have the opportunity to explain why and
perhaps offer alternative solutions to the problems of the group.
• Conflict and further discussion can be a good way of reflecting and
clarifying the aims and objectives of the group and can enhance
understanding by taking in the viewpoints of all group members.
Conflict only becomes a problem when comments become personal,
towards an individual or sub-group of individuals, or discussion takes
up too much time to the detriment of the group’s purpose.
Group Behaviour: Problems
• Non Participation or Withdrawal
• Everyone has the right not to participate within the group, although it
is usually preferable for all members to contribute.
• Some members will prefer to observe rather than to participate
vocally and others may wish to contribute but feel too shy, fear self-
disclosure or lack confidence. To overcome lack of self-confidence,
where members wish to contribute but fear to do so, their non-
participation needs an encouraging, positive approach, however, they
should not be embarrassed or pressured to participate. Some group
members who are withdrawn may just take longer to warm to the
group situation and to open up.
Group Behaviour: Problems
• Monopolising
• There may be times when one person in the group has a lot more to
say than others.
• This may be the case, for example, if one member has a focused area
of expertise which needs to be shared with others. Monopolising,
however, refers to one or two members dominating the group at the
expense of other members' contributions.
• Monopolising can lead to resentment from others in the group,
feeling that they do not have the opportunity to make their points.
Group Behaviour: Problems
• Scapegoating
• When things go wrong in a group situation it is sometimes easy to
direct blame at one or more individuals within the group, this is
known as 'scapegoating' and can be very damaging for the individual
concerned and also for the group as a whole.
• The person may be rejected by the group and become a target for
anger, frustration and ridicule by other members. Such behaviour
may lead that member to withdraw, especially if they are unwilling or
unable to defend themselves.
• Everybody makes mistakes and we all fail sometimes; scapegoating
can be comparable to bullying and most detrimental to the self-
confidence of the victim.
Group Norms
• Norm refers to group behaviour standard, beliefs, attitudes,
traditions, expectations shared by group members.
• According to Michael Argyle, “Group norms are rules or guidelines of
accepted behaviour which are established by a group and used to
monitor the behaviour of its members.”
• The group norms determine how members of group should behave.
• They determine the behaviour of group.
• Group norms regulate the behaviour of group.
• Group norms help in understanding the group behaviour. Norms
cannot be violated.
Group Norms
• Any violation of group norms by any member invites criticism and
imposing of sanctions.
• Group norms are framed to achieve objectives of the group. Norms
enhance social interaction.
• Group norms establish role relationships. The high profile members
have to play a leading role in a group.
• Group norms can be social, ethical in nature. Group norms portray
certain image of its members. Norms provide a base for controlling
behaviour of group members.
• Norms applied to all the members uniformally and all members are
expected strictly adhere to them.
Group Norms
• The development of norms takes place because of experience of
some senior members of the group.
• The behaviour of the members also plays an important role in setting
norms.
• Norms are developed through decisions, supervisors instructions to
his subordinates and some critical incidents in member’s life.
• Norms need to be enforced strictly because they ensure survival of
group.
• For regulation of behaviour of group member’s strict enforcement of
norms become necessary.
Group Cohesiveness
• Cohesiveness is an important characteristic of group.
• Rensis Likert has defined cohesiveness as “the attractiveness of the
members to the group or resistance of the members to leaving it.”
• It refers to the attachment of the members with the group.
• According to K. Aswathappa, “cohesiveness is understood as the
extent of liking each member has towards others and how far
everyone wants to remain as a member of the group.”
• It is a degree of attachment among members of the group and to
group membership. Attractiveness is the key to cohesiveness.
• Cohesive group attract membership from new members. It also
changes in degree over time.
Factors Affecting Group Cohesiveness
• Group Formation Factors - The factors which are responsible for
group formation such as common interests, shared goals, etc. serve
as the base for cohesiveness.
• Interaction - Interaction between the group members makes the
group more cohesive.
• Difficulty in Membership - Some groups take great care in selecting
their members and making admission to them very difficult. Difficulty
in getting membership increases cohesiveness of group. Such groups
are valued by members and feel proud of being members.
• Success - Success of individual or shared objectives by the members
feels pride about the success resulting in greater cohesion of the
group.
Factors Affecting Group Cohesiveness
• Threat - When members of group feel threatened from any source,
external in particular increases cohesiveness.
• Size of Group - Size of the group affects its cohesiveness. Increased
size of group decreases its cohesiveness and vice versa. Small size of
group facilitates more interaction among the group members, hence
more cohesiveness.
• Continued Membership - Membership of the group is continued by its
members for a longer period of time increases cohesiveness of group.
• Attitude and Values - Cohesiveness of group increases because of
shared attitude and values. Everyone gets attracted towards the
people having identical attitudes, values and beliefs.
Benefits of Group Cohesiveness
• The members of cohesive groups have high morale.
• They don’t have conflicting views; hence decrease in conflicts among
the group members at the workplace or elsewhere. People of
cohesive groups have no anxiety at the workplace.
• Members of cohesive groups are free from botheration, hence they
are very regular at their work. This reduces absenteeism and high
employee turnover.
• Cohesiveness increases productivity.
• Organisations gain from the members of cohesive group ; It creates
an environment of cooperation resulting into benefits to the
organisations.
Group Roles
• The concept of roles is applicable to all employees within an
organization as well as to their life outside the organization. A role is a
set of expected behavior patterns attributed to the one who occupies
the position demanded by the social unit.
• Employees attempt to understand what kind of behavior is expected
from them. An individual when presented by divergent role
expectations experiences role conflict.
• Group roles are divided into three types −
• Task-oriented Roles
• Relationship-oriented Roles
• Individual Roles
Task - oriented Roles
• Roles allotted to individuals according to their work and eligibility is
known as task-oriented roles.
• Task-oriented roles can broadly divide individuals into six categories:
• Initiator − The one who proposes, suggests, defines.
• Informer − The one who offers facts, expresses feelings, gives opinions.
• Clarifier − The one who interprets, defines, clarifies everything.
• Summarizer − The one who links, restates, concludes, summarizes.
• Reality Tester − The one who provides critical analysis.
• Information seekers or providers − The one who gives information and
data.
• These roles present the work performed by different individuals
according to their marked designation.
Relationship - oriented Roles
• Roles that group individuals according to their efforts made to
maintain healthy relationship in the group and achieve the goals are
known as relationship-oriented roles.
• Harmonizers − The one who limits tension and reconciles
disagreements.
• Gatekeeper − The one who ensures participation by all.
• Consensus Tester − The one who analyzes the decision-making process.
• Encourager − The one who is warm, responsive, active, shows
acceptance.
• Compromiser − The one who admits error, limits conflict.
• These roles depict the various roles an individual plays to maintain
healthy self as well as group relationships.
Individual Roles
• Roles that classify a person according to the measure of individual
effort put in the project aimed is known as individual roles.
• Aggressor − The one who devalues others, attacks ideas.
• Blocker − The one who disagrees and rebels beyond reason.
• Dominator − The one who insists superiority to manipulate.
• Cavalier − The one who takes part in a group non-productively.
• Avoidance − The one who shows special interest to avoid task.
• These roles depict the various roles an individual plays to maintain
healthy self as well as group relationships.
Well-Functioning Groups
• A group is considered effective when it has the following
characteristics:

• Relaxed, comfortable, friendly atmosphere.

• Task to be executed are well understood and accepted.
• Members listen well and actively participate in given assignments.
• Assignments are made clear and are accepted.
• Group is acquainted of its operation and function.
• People express their feelings and ideas openly.
• Consensus decision-making process is followed.
• Conflict and disagreement center regarding ideas or method.
Groups and Productivity
• Groups are essential part of any organisation.

• Groups are of immense help to the manager in his day-to-day

management. Cohesive groups are effective. Manager must allow the
groups to be cohesive.

• Effective group leads to higher productivity because of low turnover

and low absenteeism.

• Stogdill conducted studies and came to the conclusion that in some

there was no relationship between productivity and group
cohesiveness, in some there was positive relationship and in some
cohesive groups were least productive.
Reference Groups
• It is a group to which a person or another group is compared.

• Reference groups are used in order to examine and determine the

nature of a person or other group's features and sociological
attributes. It is the group to which a person relates or aspires to link
himself or herself psychologically.

• It is important for deciding a person's self-identity, attitudes, and

social ties. It becomes the ground of reference in making comparisons
or contrasts and in judging one's appearance and performance.

• These groups act as a benchmark and contrast needed for

comparison and evaluation of group and personal characteristics.
Group Change
• Group change on certain occasions seems necessary.

• Groups have taken the shapes of small organisation teams in the form
of various sections of departments, work teams, study teams, project
teams are some of the instances to name.

• Reshuffling of the entire team or removing some men and inducting

the new one becomes inevitable.

• To meet the demands from the members of the group to remove a

member to revitalize the group or to sort out internal conflicts have
to be met.
Group Change
• Group change also becomes evident from the fact that interpersonal
tensions are mounting because of certain reasons such as some
members want to leave the group and join the other one as they
could not pull on working with some of the members of the group.

• Under such circumstances the group change becomes inevitable for

effective teamwork.
Methods to bring Group Change
• Training

• Training the individuals and group to give more knowledge, skill and
change attitude take place through training methods. There are
several methods of training that can be utilized for preparing the
members of group to accept change. Change is essential for smooth
and progressive working by any organisation. Training methods
include delivering lectures, discussion methods, business games, role
playing; programmed instructions etc. provide knowledge and
prepare members for any change and requirements of the
organisation. Training is imparted to fulfil the needs of the
organisation.
Methods to bring Group Change
• Team Building

• Team building is a work group consisting of supervisor and

subordinates. The team members are asked to answer themselves a
question relating to the effectiveness of group and what are the
expected changes to be implemented.

• The group members have to make self examination. This needs lot of
pursuance of the members and motivate them for the purpose. This
takes lot of time for members to learn and realize the need for
change. Organisation must employ all those methods of
organisational development and change to bring about group
effectiveness by effecting change behaviour of the members.
Group Decision Making
• Group decision-making commonly known as collaborative decision-
making is a situation faced when individuals collectively make a
choice from the alternatives before them.

• The decision is then no longer attributable to any individual group

member as all the individuals and social group processes like social
influence contribute to the decision outcome.

• The decisions made by groups are mostly different from those made
by individuals. For example, groups tend to make decisions that are
more extreme than those made by individual members, as individuals
tend to be biased.
Group Decision Making - Advantages
• Synergy

• It is the idea that the whole is greater than the aggregate of its parts.
When a group makes a decision collectively, its judgment can be
powerful than that of any of its members. Through discussing,
questioning, and collaborative approach, group members can identify
more complete and robust solutions and recommendations.

• Sharing of information

• Group decisions take into account a wider scope of information as

each group member may contribute distinct information and
expertise. Sharing information increases understanding, clarifies
issues, and facilitates movement towards a collective decision.
Group Decision Making - Disadvantages
• Diffusion of Responsibility

• Group decision making results in distribution of responsibility that

results in lack of accountability for outcomes. In this way, everyone is
responsible for a decision, and no one really is. Group members may
blame others for bad decisions.

• Lower Efficiency

• Group decisions can sometimes be less efficient than individual

decisions. It takes additional time because there is a need of active
participation, discussion, and coordination among group members.
Meetings can get eliminated in trivial details that may matter a lot to
one person but not to the others.
Group Decision Making - Disadvantages
• Groupthink

• One of the biggest disadvantage of effective group decision making is

groupthink.

• It is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people

in which the wish for harmony or conformity results in an illogical or
dysfunctional decision-making outcome.

• By refraining themselves from outside influences and actively

suppressing opposing viewpoints in the interest of minimizing
conflict, group members reach a consensus decision without critical
evaluation of substitute viewpoints. Groupthink sometimes produces
dehumanizing actions against the out-group.
Group Thinking (Groupthink)
• Groupthink is a term developed by social psychologist Irving Janis in
1972 to describe suboptimal decisions made by a group due to group
social pressures.

• It is a phenomenon in which the ways of approaching problems or

matters are dealt by the consensus of a group rather than by
individuals acting independently. Essentially, groupthink occurs when
a group makes faulty or ineffective decisions just for the sake of
reaching an agreement.
Group Thinking (Groupthink)
• Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of individuals
reaches a consensus without critical reasoning or evaluation of the
consequences or alternatives.
• Groupthink is based on a common desire not to upset the balance of
a group of people which creates a dynamic within a group whereby
creativity and individuality tend to be stifled in order to avoid conflict.
• In a business setting, groupthink can cause employees and
supervisors to overlook potential problems in the pursuit of
consensus thinking. Because individual critical thinking is de-
emphasized or frowned upon, employees may self-censor and not
suggest alternatives for fear of upsetting the status quo.
Group Thinking – Symptoms
• Invulnerability - Members of the group share an illusion of
invulnerability that creates excessive optimism and encourages taking
abnormal risks.
• Rationale - Victims of this behavior ignore and discount warnings and
negative feedback that may cause the group to reconsider their
previous assumptions.
• Morality - Victims ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their
decisions and believe unquestionably in the morality of their in-
group.
• Stereotypes - Members of the group possess negative and/or
stereotypical views of their “enemies”.
Group Thinking – Symptoms
• Pressure - Direct pressure is applied to any individual who
momentarily expresses concern or doubt about the group’s shared
views.
• Self-censorship – They avoid deviating from what the group
consensus is and keep quiet.
• Illusion of Unanimity - Victims of groupthink believe that the majority
view and judgments of the group are unanimous.
• Mind Guards - They may appoint themselves to protect the group and
the group leader from information that may be problematic or
contradictory to the group’s views, decisions, or cohesiveness.
Group Thinking – Impact
• Groupthink, in essence, values harmony and coherence over accurate
analysis and critical thinking of individual members.
• The impact of Group thinking are as follows:
1. Bad decisions due to lack of opposition
2. Lack of creativity
3. Overconfidence in groupthink negatively impacts the profitability
of an organization
4. Optimal solutions to problems may be overlooked
5. Lack of feedback on decisions and hence poor decision-making
Group Thinking – Remedies
• Devil’s advocate role – Playing the devil’s advocate means taking on
the role of fostering argument and conflict. This is one of the oldest
and most commonly used tools that can be used to mitigate
groupthink bias.
• Encourage diversity – Diversity in the group keeps group cohesiveness
in check and increases multiple perspectives. When there are many
sources of diversity within the team, members will find themselves
unable to form homogenous subgroups and attack others.
Group Thinking – Remedies
• Monitor group size – Although there is no magic number, keeping a
group lean may help group members speak up, instead of conforming
to popular views.
• Realize that conflict is not always bad – The way the leader and group
members see conflict decides how effective the implementation of
other practices will be. Remember… mindset matters! Encouraging
authentic dissent, although it’s very important, is easier said than
done; accepting dissent is a slow and gradual process. Until this
approach is whole-heartedly accepted by all members, minority
dissenters might be disliked and treated unfairly. Teams must
establish procedures to protect minority dissenters from backlash.
Group Decision Making - Techniques
• In order to eliminate group think and group shift from a group, we
can use four different techniques that will help us make a
collaborative decision that is best for the group.

• These techniques are −

• Brainstorming

• Nominal group thinking

• Didactic technique

• Delphi technique
Brainstorming
• This technique includes a group of people, mostly between five and
ten in number, sitting around a table, producing ideas in the form of
free association. The main focus is on generation of ideas and not on
evaluation of these ideas. If more ideas can be originated, then it is
likely that there will be a unique and creative idea among them.

• All these ideas are written on the blackboard with a piece of chalk so
that all the team members can see every idea and try to improvise
these ideas.

• Brainstorming technique is very effective when the problem is

comparatively precise and can be simply defined. A complex problem
can be divided into parts and each part can be dealt with separately
at a time
Nominal Group Thinking
• This technique is similar to brainstorming except that this approach is
more structured. It motivates individual creativity. Members form the
group for namesake and operate independently, originate ideas for
solving the problem on their own, in silence and in writing.

• Members do not communicate well with each other so that strong

personality domination is evaded.

• The group coordinator either collects the written ideas or writes them
on a large blackboard so that each member of the group can see what
the ideas are. These ideas are further discussed one by one in turn
and each participant is motivated to comment on these ideas in order
to clarify and improve them.
Nominal Group Thinking

• After all these ideas have been discussed, they are evaluated for their
merits and drawbacks and each actively participating member is
needed to vote on each idea and allot it a rank on the basis of priority
of each alternative solution.

• The idea with the highest cumulative ranking is selected as the final
solution to the problem.
Didactic Interaction
• This technique is applicable only in certain situations, but is an
excellent method when a situation actually demands it.

• The type of problem should be such that it generates output in the

form of yes or no. Say for example, a decision is to be made whether
to buy or not to buy a product, to merge or not to merge, to expand
or not to expand and so on.

• These types of decision requires an extensive and exhaustive

discussion and investigation since a wrong decision can have serious
consequences.

• There are many advantages as well as disadvantages of this type of

situation.
Didactic Interaction
• The group that makes the decision is divided into two sub-groups,
one in favour of the “go” decision and the opposing in favour of “no
go” decision.

• The first group enlists all the “pros” of the problem solution and the
second group lists all the “cons”. These groups meet and discuss their
discoveries and their reasons.

• After tiring discussions, the groups switch sides and try to find
weaknesses in their own original standpoints. This interchange of
ideas and understanding of various viewpoints results in mutual
acceptance of the facts as they exist so that a solution can be put
together around these facts and ultimately a final decision is reached.
Delphi Technique
• This technique is the improvised version of the nominal group
technique, except that it involves obtaining the opinions of experts
physically distant from each other and unknown to each other.

• This isolates group members from the undue influence of others.

Basically, the types of problems sorted by this technique are not
specific in nature or related to a particular situation at a given time.

• For example, the technique could be used to explain the problems

that could be created in the event of a war.
Delphi Technique - Steps
1. The problem is first identified and a panel of experts are selected.
These experts are asked to provide potential solutions through a
series of thoughtfully designed questionnaires.
2. Each expert concludes and returns the initial questionnaire.
3. The results of the questionnaire are composed at a central location
and the central coordinator prepares a second set of questionnaire
based on the previous answers.
4. Each member receives a copy of the results accompanied by the
second questionnaire.
Delphi Technique - Steps
5. Members are required to review the results and respond to the
second questionnaire. The results typically trigger new solutions or
motivate changes in the original ideas.
6. The process is repeated until a general agreement is obtained.
THANK YOU !