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CHAPTER 13
GROUP BEHAVIOR AND CONFLICT
What is a Group? A Working Definition
A group is a collection of two or more interacting individuals in a stable
pattern of relationships, provides rewards to its members, who share
goals, and perceive themselves as a group.
Group characteristics:
 two or more people in social interaction.
 rewards to members.
 stable structure.
 members share common interests or goals.
 individuals must perceive themselves as a group.
Mere aggregates of people do not fit this definition because they do not interact
and do not perceive themselves to be a group even if they are aware of each
other as, for instance, a crowd on a street comer watching some event (nominal
groups). True groups posses all of the qualities of groups, especially the quality
of interaction (interacting groups).
Formal and Informal Groups
Individuals join groups, or are assigned to groups, to accomplish various
purposes. If the group is formed by a manager to help the organization
accomplish its goals, then it qualifies as a formal group. Formal groups typically
wear such labels as work group, team, committee, quality circle, or task force. An
informal group exists when the members' overriding purpose of getting together
is friendship. Although formal and informal groups often overlap, such as a team
of corporate auditors heading for the tennis courts after work, some employees
are not friends with their co-workers.
Functions of Formal Groups
Researchers point out that formal groups fulfill two basic functions:
organizational and individual. Complex combinations of these functions can be
found in formal groups at any given time.
Why Do People Join Groups?
People join groups for a variety of reasons.
 Affiliation
 Identification
 Emotional Support
 Assistance
 Common Interest
 Common Goals
 Physical Proximity
 Assignment – It’s mandatory
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Factors Affecting Group Performance
Cohesiveness is the strength of group members' desires to remain a part of their
groups. Cohesion is strengthened by:
 homogeneity
 the severity of the initiation to join the group.
 a high external threat or competition.
 the amount of time spent together.
 the smallness of the group.
 the group's history of success.
Group cohesion has some important consequences as well:
Positive
 people enjoy membership.
 members participate more fully.
 they tend to be highly productive.
 they experience low turnover.
Negative
 groupthink arises when groups are too cohesive.
 group commitment might hinder productivity.
 groups may conspire to sabotage employers for the group's
benefit.
Group Size (Separate Discussion than Cohesiveness)
How many group members is too many? The answer to this deceptively
simple question has intrigued managers and academics for years. Folk wisdom
says "two heads are better than one" but that "too many cooks spoil the broth."
So where should a manager draw the line when staffing a committee? At 3? At 5
or 6? At 10 or more? Researchers have taken two different approaches to
pinpointing optimum group size: mathematical modeling and laboratory
simulations. Let us briefly review recent findings from these two approaches.
Communication Structure see figure 13.02 page 509
Task versus Maintenance Roles
Task roles enable the work group to define, clarify, and pursue a common
purpose. Meanwhile, maintenance roles foster supportive and constructive
interpersonal relationships. In short, task roles keep the group on track while
maintenance roles keep the group together. A fraternity or sorority member is
performing a task function when he or she stands at a business meeting and
says: "What is the real issue here? We don't seem to be getting anywhere."
Another individual who says, "Let's hear from those who oppose this plan," is
performing a maintenance function. Importantly, each of the various task and
maintenance roles may be played in varying combinations and sequences by
either the group's leader or any of its members.
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Presence of Others - when someone performs differently, either more effectively
or less effectively, in the presence of others than when alone, they are
experiencing social facilitation. This phenomenon is explained by several
psychological processes.
Individuals experience heightened emotional arousal. Then when aroused they
have a tendency to perform the most dominant response, what comes normally.
If the dominant response is appropriate, performance will be enhanced. If the
dominant response is inappropriate, as in a new situation, performance will be
impaired.
While there is a lot of research to support this theory, the "why" of it is still
unclear. Social facilitation may result in evaluation apprehension, the fear of
being evaluated or judged by another. Another explanation is the distractionconflict model which recognizes that the presence of others creates a conflict
as to where attention is directed.
Social Loafing: "Free Riding" When Working with Others
Additive tasks are those in which each person's contributions are added together
to another's. Unfortunately, as people work together, some in the group may ride
on the efforts of others. This is social loafing.
Some explain social loafing through social impact theory, that the impact of any
social force acting on a group is divided equally among its members. As a result,
each member feels less than fully responsible for the outcome and puts in less
effort.
Another explanation is that the contributions of others makes each individual feel
that his/her contribution is less important.
A contributing issue is that some members of a group may be more interested in
getting something for themselves than getting something for the group.
Tips for eliminating social loafing
 Make each performer identifiable.
 Make work tasks more important and interesting .
 Reward individuals for contributing to their group's
performance.
 Use punishment threats.
Group Dominance
Groupthink – coined by Irving Janis, groupthink refers to the tendency of
cohesive groups to make bad decisions due to a failure to consider alternative
points of view. Actual events that could be explained by this phenomenon
include:
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The Bay of Pigs
Escalation of Troops in the Vietnam War
The Challenger Launch Decision
The Introduction of “New Coke”
Tips for eliminating groupthink
 Devils Advocate
 Break up Groups
 Give Groups a Second Chance – Reinforce the idea that it’s alright to
make mistakes.
Group Conflict
Conflict is a problem that occurs at several levels: between organizations;
between groups; between members within groups; within an individual and
between the multiple roles of a person's life. (interorganizational, intergroup,
interpersonal; intrapersonal and interrole.
Causes of Conflict
 Competition for Resources
 Task Interdependence
 Ambiguity
 Communication Barriers
 Personality
Individual differences in how people deal with conflict.
Five styles of handling conflict.
 Compromise - Split issues down the middle.
 Competition - high concern with one's own interests.
 Collaboration - high concern for one's own interest and those of
others.
 Accommodation - giving others what they want.
 Avoidance - low concern for oneself and others.
Effective
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Conflict Resolution Techniques:
Bargaining
Mediation
Arbitration
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