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CHAPTER 14
THE NATURE OF GROUPS AND TEAMS IN ORGANIZATIONS
Lecture Notes
1
Groups and Teams
A.
Groups and Teams Defined
1.
A group is two or more people who interact to achieve a common objective.
 in the social sciences, groups have been seen as living, self-regulating systems that
sense and interact with their environments
 groups develop structures; they affect and are affected by group members
 groups go through a variety of stages of development
2.
A membership group is one that an individual belongs to by virtue of birth or life
circumstances.
 membership is not voluntary
 can be characterized by your ethnic, racial, and sexual grouping
3.
A reference group is any group to which we belong or aspire to belong and which we use
as a basis for judging the adequacy of our behavior.
4.
A team is a collection of individuals who
 are interdependent in their tasks
 share responsibility for outcomes
 see themselves and are seen by others as an intact social entity embedded in one or
more larger social systems
 manage their relationships across organizational boundaries
5.
The terms “work team” and “work group” will be used interchangeably.
6.
Distinguishing features of a work group
 members and observers must be able to distinguish people who are a part of the team
from those who are not
 have a distinct and recognizable task
 have a shared goal that its members can identify with
 members are working together and relying upon one another’s contributions to
accomplish a common goal that will affect other people
 members work together to complete a whole and identifiable piece of work
 members have the authority to make a wide range of decisions on matters affecting
them and their performance
 have a definable membership that is relatively stable over time
 Key Point: For those who attempt to make the distinction between groups and teams, the
degree of “bondedness” is commonly employed as the primary distinction.
7.
8.
B.
Table 14-1
p. 511
Committees produce a different dynamic than teams, and frequently are less effective.
 the composition and dynamics of committees produce a splintered body
 their work is conflictual in nature
 through this process, the view of the organization as a total system gets lost
The team approach to group activity reflects a focus on the fact that the subsystems need
to be joined as one if the organization is to be effective and efficient.
Types of Groups and Teams
1.
Formal vs. informal groups
 formal groups
 consciously created to serve an organizational objective
 typically, managers identify one or more objectives for a group and specify who
will be members
 in open and organic organizations, formal groups may form as the result of
employee initiative
 informal groups
 arise spontaneously
 grow out of people’s social needs, physical proximity, common interests, and
mutual attraction
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14 The Nature of Groups and Teams
2.
Manager-led vs. self-managing work teams
 manager-led
 place the responsibility for task performance with the group
 essentially all of the management functions remain the responsibility of
management
 in keeping with the classical school of management
 self-managing
 operate with goals given to them by management
 are also given the authority to develop plans for goal attainment
 often redesign the work system so that it accommodates their changing needs,
strengths, and weaknesses
 need to emphasize organizational learning
 Key Point: Self-managing teams are well-suited for complex, ill-defined and ambiguous
tasks, embedded in a rapidly changing environment.
3.
Vertical vs. horizontal teams
 vertical teams consist of members from several hierarchical levels
 horizontal teams consist of members from different departments at the same
hierarchical level
 both groups have been referred to as cross-functional teams
 Key Point: Once an organization employs work teams, the next step toward the high
involvement system is to nurture the evolution of the organization and its teams to the stage of
self-management.
4.
C.
Cohen and Bailey: four types of teams
 work teams: responsible for producing an organization’s goods or services
 parallel teams: perform functions that the regular organization is not equipped to
perform well (e.g., problem solving team, quality circle)
 project teams: formed to work on a single task and disband when it is completed
 typically work on non-routine tasks
 members are often drawn from different functional area
 management teams: manage sub-units and activities under their control
 can be found at different levels in the hierarchy
 increases in environmental turbulence and complexity has brought about an
increase in the use of top management teams
Self-Managing Work Teams
1.
Distinguishing characteristics
 stable membership
 small in size
 intelligent members
2.
Self-managing teams tend to perform a multiple skill-based task and perform a whole and
identifiable piece of work.
3.
High interdependence among members can lead to high levels of commitment and/or
conflict.
4.
Key recommendations
 the team should be responsible for a whole and identifiable piece of work
 the work should be designed so that it causes social and cooperative interactions
 members of the team should eventually learn all of the jobs that are a part of the
team’s responsibility
 the team should have the necessary power, information, skills, knowledge, materials,
and equipment needed to perform its work without having to look outside the team
 teams should have the power and information needed to evaluate their performance
5.
Many organizations (e.g., Johnsonville Foods, Quad/Graphics, General Mills) have
increased productivity as a result of developing work teams.
An Inside Look: Self-Managing Work Teams as a Step to Success
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14 The Nature of Groups and Teams
Industry Week recognized ten companies for successful operations. One element shared
by most of these companies is their use of self-managing work teams.
Employees involved in self-managing work teams work together to resolve issues of
productivity, quality, and safety issues. Because employees have such a high level of
participation, organizations train members extensively in team communications, group
decision making, and problem solving. Communicating organizational and team goals
effectively and making sure that they are accepted by all employees are also critical steps
in using teams successfully. The most effective size in these organizations is 7-15 people.
Eaton Corporation uses two types of teams: work teams and problem-solving teams. A
year after launching the teams program, managers were no longer present on the plant
floor, and teams assumed responsibility for nearly all aspects of the production process.
Safety also improved dramatically.
2
Informal and friendly peer pressure contributes to employee bonding and morale at
Eaton. New employees are hired on a temporary basis to evaluate how well they fit into
the team-based structure; permanent employment requires the approval of the full team.
Without the expertise and cooperation of all workers, the organization would not have
seen such dramatic increases in productivity, customer service, and safety.
Team Properties
A.
Table 14-2
p. 515
Table 14-3
p. 516
B.
Levels of Employee Involvement
1.
At the lowest level of involvement teams are used for information sharing.
 management makes all operational decisions
 managers meet with employees to inform them of what is going on and why
2.
More involvement characterizes teams made up of a selected group of organizational
members who meet with management on a regular basis to work on problems
 members have expertise that management wants to tap into
 often cross-functional
3.
Self-managed work teams have the most involvement.
4.
Short teams handle a group of tasks that were performed by a traditional service or
manufacturing department (e.g., motor assembly).
5.
Long teams perform a complete operation from beginning to end (e.g., building a
motorcycle).
Size
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
C.
Team size refers to the number of individuals who are recognized as being a part of the
social system.
It is recommended that teams be small in size and yet large enough to get the task done.
Team size affects many factors such as team development, performance, and member
attitude, motivation, and behavior.
As size increases, it becomes increasingly difficult for members to
 build and develop trust
 prevent subgroups from forming
 keep alienation from setting in
 have genuine participatory opportunities
 achieve a consensus
 have strong psychological ownership
The ideal team size is thought to be from 5 to 7 members.
Norms
1.
Team norms are collectively held expectations.
2.
A set of informal rules, shared beliefs and values that serve to guide member behavior.
3.
Origins of norms
 precedents set over time
 values brought into the group from other situations
 explicit statements from others
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14 The Nature of Groups and Teams
4.
5.
 critical events in the group’s history
Citizenship behavior, work attendance, and quality of work can be strongly influenced by
group norms.
Norms may signal sources of support or resistance to organizational activities.
 Key Point: Managers can work to develop groups, to shape group norms, and to satisfy group
needs that make these groups work as organizational allies.
D.
Table 14-4
p. 518
Roles
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
E.
Figure 14-1
p. 519
A role is a set of behaviors that characterize a person in a social setting.
Groups have two basic needs to be met if the group is to survive
 task-oriented
 social-emotional (maintenance)
As a result of these two needs, some group members tend to play a task-oriented role,
while others play more of a group maintenance function.
Some groups have members who are not fully participating and are self-oriented.
 contribute very little to the task or maintenance needs
 tend to occupy peripheral roles; membership is tenuous at best
Each role defines a set of expectations for a member’s behavior.
Role conflict and role ambiguity are two major sources of stress experienced by
organizational members.
Perceptions of roles
 expected role: the image of behavior that exists in the minds of others
 transmitted role: written or verbal description of the role given to the person filling it
 perceived role: a definition of the role as the individual understands it
 enacted role: how the role occupant actually fulfills it
There are often contradictions among these roles, and it is the manager’s job to see that
the contradictions are kept to a minimum.
Social Facilitation and Impairment
1.
Social facilitation occurs when performance is enhanced by the presence of others.
2.
Social impairment occurs when performance is impaired by the presence of others.
3.
Increases in arousal facilitate individual performance.
4.
There is, however, a critical point at which additional arousal overwhelms the individual
and performance suffers.
5.
Easy vs. difficult tasks
 for easy tasks, even very high arousal improves performance
 for difficult/new tasks, even moderate arousal can be detrimental to performance
 Key Point: Managers should capitalize on this important psychological phenomenon in
decision-making groups. If the decision making involves simple or familiar situations,
employees should be allowed to work in the presence of others to increase performance
levels. If decision making deals with complex, unfamiliar situations, managers should
encourage employees to make the decision privately to keep performance levels high.
6.
F.
Steps can be taken to reduce the likelihood of overarousal and to take advantage of the
social facilitation process.
Homogeneity/Heterogeneity
1.
Homogeneous groups are made up of individuals with high levels of similarity.
2.
Heterogeneous groups are made up of individuals with high levels of diversity.
3.
As globalization spurs organizational restructuring, organizations will find that their
teams are more and more internally diverse.
 Key Point: The challenge facing team leaders and management will be to learn how to
enhance a team’s competitive advantage through this diversity.
4.
Advantages of homogeneous groups
 encourage the building of good interpersonal relationships
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14 The Nature of Groups and Teams




tend to have better communication
are easier to coordinate
are more likely to reach a consensus
often engage in more organizational citizenship behaviors
 Key Point: Heterogeneous groups have one major advantage over homogeneous groups: they
bring a greater variety of information and ideas. This variety frequently results in higher
decision quality.
5.
G.
Cohesiveness
1.
Cohesiveness is an interpersonal relationship reflecting the degree to which group
members all adhere to the group’s norms.
2.
Two forms of cohesiveness (paralleling the two major group needs)
 task-oriented
 social-emotional
3.
Figure 14-2
p. 521
Figure 14-3
p. 522
Other characteristics of heterogeneous groups
 often more creative
 extra energy and effort is directed toward building trust, communicating openly,
creating shared norms, and establishing cohesiveness
4.
5.
Characteristics of highly cohesive teams
 members accept the goals of the group
 norms are internalized
 member work toward meeting the teams task- and maintenance-oriented needs
Factors strengthening team cohesiveness
 threats to the team’s needs
 success
 time spent together
 team attractiveness
 small group size
 similarity
Consequences of cohesiveness
 team members enjoy being part of the team
 lower voluntary turnover and absenteeism
 high levels of motivation directed toward one or both of the group’s needs
 members accept norms and tend to participate more fully
 teams often have higher productivity than less cohesive teams
 more effective, efficient decision making
 Key Point: High levels of cohesion and satisfaction do not necessarily increase performance.
Performance is dependent upon a match between the goals of the group and those of the
organization. Managers need both to foster strong cohesion within a group and to direct it
towards organizationally desirable goals.
6.
H.
The negative side of team cohesion
 tendency for group members to follow the wishes of team leaders or group members
when the ultimate consequences are negative
 social pressures to conform
 a disproportionate amount of energy is directed toward the maintenance needs of the
group
Spatial Arrangement and Team Structure
1.
People’s physical location when they interact strongly affects behavior, attitudes and
motivation.
2.
Spatial arrangement affects the transfer of information, conflict, and leader emergence,
among other things.
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14 The Nature of Groups and Teams
3
Team Formation, Development and Facilitation
A.
Figure 14-4
p. 523
Table 14-5
p. 524
Stages of Team Development
1.
Stage 1: Orientation
 members are often uncertain about the team’s purpose, rules, leadership, roles
 members exchange information, ask questions about other members, and attempt to
define the nature of the team
2.
Stage 2: Conflict
 often, team members compete for leadership and role assignments
 disagreements may aside over procedures and the merits of the team itself
 Key Point: Because the conflict stage is unpleasant and often ineffective, many teams try to
deny its onset or deal with its issues superficially; however, forcing a team to bypass the
conflict stage greatly increases the chances of regression to this stage at a later date.
3.
4.
5.
6.
B.
4
Stage 3: Cohesion
 team members work through personal differences, develop a set of norms, and agree
on their roles
 group structure emerges
 a sense of team identity emerges
 significant increases in team effectiveness are common during this stage
Stage 4: Delusion
 members believe that significant problems no longer exist
 at this stage, a team may fall prey to groupthink and commit errors due to its false
sense of perfection
Stage 5: Disillusion
 members are shocked into awareness of the problems that still confront the team
 cohesiveness decreases, and members may be tempted to leave the team
 “team puberty”
Stage 6: Acceptance
 members discuss their differences rather than fighting over them
 aggressively attack issues; de-emphasize personal interests
 team effectiveness increases rapidly, as does members’ satisfaction
Individual Differences and Group Fit
1.
Like a successful marriage, there will be work adjustment and the motivation to continue
the relationship by both the individual and the organization when each’s needs are met.
2.
Work adjustment (a fit between the individual and the organization) exists when
 the needs of the individual are appropriately reinforced by the benefits and
opportunities offered by the organization
 the needs of the organization are fulfilled by the skills and abilities of the employee
3.
Characteristics of effective team players
 extroverted
 conscientious
 agreeable
 internal locus of control
 high need for affiliation
 collectivist
4.
In addition to the opposites of the factors listed above, people with strong needs for
autonomy, achievement, and Machiavellianism do not generally work well in teams.
5.
It is important to construct groups with individuals who are more likely to fit with the
group and find their membership personally fulfilling.
Team Performance
A.
Figure 14-5
p. 527
Team Performance Capacity
1.
A team’s capacity to perform is strongly influenced by the knowledge, skills, abilities,
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14 The Nature of Groups and Teams
2.
3.
5
and information that the team possesses and that can be brought to the task.
Also refers to the team’s culture, norms, level of group development, and structure.
Two important elements of team structure
 interdependence: the degree to which team members are dependent upon and
affected by one another as they perform their respective team roles
 team autonomy/self-leadership: the degree to which an external supervisor performs
the activities representing leadership
 it is believed that high interdependence and levels of autonomy are positively
associated with team performance
B.
Team Performance Motivation
1.
Team motivation is reflected by the strength of the motivation brought individual
members and whatever synergistic effects that might occur among the team members.
2.
Extrinsic motivators are incentives administered to the group by others.
3.
Intrinsic motivators
 individual-based: forces operating upon each team member from within themselves
 group-based: forces coming from within the group, operating upon group members
4.
Collective efficacy: the degree to which members of a group believe that the group has
the capacity to achieve one or more of its performance objectives.
 there is emerging evidence that collective efficacy is crucial for what a group of
people choose to do
 the strength of a group lies partially in its sense of collective efficacy
5.
Influences on the development of individual self-efficacy
 enactive mastery: repeated performance accomplishments
 vicarious experiences: modeling of self or others in task performance
 verbal persuasion: receipt of information about one’s capacity for task performance
 logical verification: deriving new knowledge from things already known
 emotional arousal: being sufficiently stimulated to focus on task performance
6.
Level of team empowerment is also related to the strength of its motivation to perform.
7.
A team is empowered when the following characteristics are present:
 collective efficacy
 meaningfulness
 autonomy
 impact
8.
Goal setting, especially setting specific goals, has a positive impact on performance.
C.
Team Performance Strategy
1.
Having a clear outcome toward which the team is working, coupled with an action plan
that details how they are to proceed and interact with one another.
2.
Performance expectations frequently have a process component.
D.
Team Performance Context
1.
The environment surrounding the team impacts it, yet remains out of members’ control.
2.
Team performance context represents the rest of the organization that lies outside of the
team’s formal boundaries.
Managing Team Effectiveness
A.
Table 14-6
p. 530
Components of Team Effectiveness
1.
Customer satisfaction
2.
Performance quantity
3.
Performance quality
4.
Member satisfaction
5.
Member commitment
6.
Cooperation
7.
Absenteeism
8.
Turnover
9.
Citizenship behavior
14-7
14 The Nature of Groups and Teams
B.
Figure 14-6
p. 531
Impediments to Team Effectiveness
1.
Social loafing
 individuals fail to put forth their best efforts in the belief that their contributions will
get lost in the group effort
 the ability to observe and evaluate individual effort is the most effective way to
reduce the likelihood of social loafing
2.
Diffusion of responsibility
 individuals fail to act in the belief that it is the job of others to act, or because the
presence of others reduced feelings of accountability
 often difficult to identify
3.
Polarization
 the group takes a position that is more extreme than that which would have been
taken if members were acting alone
 risky shift: the group makes a decision that is more prone to risk than the average
individual operating alone
 cautious shift: the group makes a decision that is less prone to risk than the average
individual operating alone
 risky shift occurs more often
 polarization happens because of
 familiarization with the situation
 diffusion of responsibility
 individual members persuading others to take risks
 cultural values
4.
Escalation of commitment
 a group and/or individual continually sticks with a commitment, even when signals
suggest that a bad decision has been made
 occurs for psychological, social, and structural reasons
 factors which reduce the tendency of escalation
 frequent and timely feedback
 numerous decision opportunities
 low visibility
5.
Premature closure
 a rush to resolution
 commonly occurs when a member has a preferred solution
 to avoid hurt feelings and reduce uncertainty, the problem is not explored adequately
 adopting a systematic decision making/problem solving process reduces the
likelihood of premature closure
6.
Groupthink
 happens when a group has illusions of invulnerability that lead it to accept excessive
risks
 members believe that the group’s purpose is to righteous that they do not question
the morality of its assumptions or tactics
 highly cohesive groups are commonly victims of groupthink
 consequences
 few alternatives are considered
 reexamination of decisions is unlikely
 reexamination of a rejected alternative is unlikely
 outside experts are seldom used
 facts that do not support the group are ignored
 risks are ignored or glossed over
 can cause highly capable groups to make terrible decisions
 some examples of bad decisions made as a result of groupthink
 Challenger space shuttle disaster
 Bay of Pigs invasion
 escalation of the Vietnam conflict
 Watergate cover-up
 to prevent groupthink
 encourage members to evaluate ideas openly and critically
14-8
14 The Nature of Groups and Teams

6
 ask influential members to adopt an initial neutral stance
 discuss the group’s decision with an independent outside body
 use expert advisors to challenge group views
 have outside experts attend group meetings
 assign a devil’s advocate role to one or more group members
 explore alternative scenarios for possible external reactions
 use subgroups to develop alternative solutions
 meet to reconsider decisions prior to implementation
groups with high levels of task-oriented cohesion and low levels of social-emotional
cohesion are less likely to suffer from groupthink
Employee Responses to Work Teams
A.
Figure 14-7
p. 534
Figure 14-8
p. 535
B.
Effects of Groups upon Members
1.
Informational: groups affect the beliefs and knowledge that group members possess
2.
Affective: members’ job satisfaction is likely to be affected by the work that they do as a
work group member
3.
Behavioral: Group properties such as size, cohesiveness, etc. affect member performance,
attendance, and acts of citizenship
4.
Motivational: Groups may posses the ability to stir the enthusiasm of their members by
their ability to satisfy an individual’s motives
Groups as Organizations
1.
Groups fit the definition of organizations.
 two or more people
 a common purpose
 joined together with a communication and command system
 relatively enduring people-to-people and people-to-work interaction network
2.
Each can be seen as a socio-technical system.
3.
Decision-making, planning, directing, and controlling need to take place for or within the
group.
4.
There appears to be a consistent pattern of teams leading to worker satisfaction.
14-9