St.

Mary`s University
Faculty of Business
Department of Management

Organizational Behavior

By: Seferu Gagar

TK 2010 1
 CHAPTER THREE: FOUNDATIONS OF
GROUP BEHAVIOR
Chapter Learning Objectives
 After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
• Define groups, and distinguish the different types of groups.
• Identify the five stages of group development.
• Demonstrate how norms and status exert influence on an
individual’s behavior.
• Show how group size affects group performance.
• Understand the implications of diversity for group
effectiveness.
• Compare the effectiveness of interacting, brainstorming,
nominal, and electronic meeting groups

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Learning Objectives….

•Contrast groups and teams.

•Compare and contrast four types of teams.
•Identify the characteristics of effective teams.
•Evaluate evidence for cultural differences in group status and social
loafing , and effects of diversity.

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Defining and classifying team and/or group

Group
• Two or more individuals, Interacting and
interdependent, who have come together to
achieve particular objectives.
• Groups can be either formal or informal

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Definition of Group….

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 Types of Group

Formal group:
 Defined by the organization’s structure, with
designated work assignments establishing
tasks.

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 Types of Group ….
• the behaviors team members should engage in are stipulated
by and directed toward organizational goals.
Informal group:
• Alliance that are neither formally structured nor
organizationally determined.
• Natural formations in the work environment that appear in
response to the need for social contact.
e.g. Three employees from different departments who regularly
have lunch or coffee together are an informal group.

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Sub classifications of Group

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• eThe authority relationship between a department
manager and the supervisors or between a senior nurse
and her subordinates exemplifies a command group.
• For example, activities of clerks in an insurance company
are required tasks. When an accident claim is filed, several
clerks must communicate and coordinate with one another
if the claim is to be handled properly.
• Employees banding together to present a unified front to
management for more benefits and waiters pooling their
tips are examples of interest groups.

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Why Do People form and join Groups

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i. The Satisfaction of Needs: The desire for need satisfaction
can be a strong motivating force leading to group formation
ii. ii. Security: Without the group to lean on when various
management demands are made, certain employees may
feel they are standing alone, facing management and the
entire organizational system.
iii. Social: a desire to be part of a group points out the
intensity of social needs.
iv. Esteem: For a variety of reasons, a certain group in a
particular work environment may be viewed by employees
as having a high level of prestige (technical competence
outside activities, etc.).

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 Why Do People …….
v. Proximity and Attraction
• Attraction designates the degree to which people are drawn
to each other because of perceptual, attitudinal, performance,
or motivational similarity.
• Proximity also makes it possible for individuals to learn about
the characteristics of other people.
vi. Group Goals: A group’s goals, if clearly understood, can be the
reasons an individual is attracted to that group.
vii. Economics: groups form because individuals believe that they
can derive greater economic benefits from their jobs if they
organize.

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For example
individuals working at different points on an assembly line may
be paid on a group incentive basis in which the group’s
production determines each member’s wages.

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Stages of group…
Forming stage:
• members feel a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s
purpose, structure, and leadership.
Storming stage:
• Lots of conflicts between members of the group
• one of intragroup conflict. Members accept the existence of the
group but resist the constraints it imposes on individuality.
Norming stage:
• members have developed close relationship and cohesiveness
• complete when the group structure solidifies and the group has
assimilated a common set of expectations of what defines
correct member behavior.

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Norming stage…..

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Stages of group…
performing stage
• The group is fully functional.
• The structure at this point is fully functional and accepted.
• Group energy has moved from getting to know and
understand each other to performing the task at hand.

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performing stage…..

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Adjourning stage:
• wrapping up activities rather than
performance and preparing to disband.
• Others may be depressed over the loss of
camaraderie and friendships gained during
the work group’s life.

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Adjourning stage….

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
Characteristics of Groups

i. Structure
ii. Status Hierarchy
iii. Roles
iv. Norms
v. Leadership
vi. Cohesiveness
Structure:
• Within any group, some type of structure evolves over time.
• Group members are differentiated on the basis of such factors
as expertise, aggressiveness, power, leadership skills, and
status; each member occupies a position in the group.

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Status Hierarchy

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Roles

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Norms

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Leadership

• The leader of a group exerts some influence over group

members.
• In the formal group, the leader can exercise legitimately
sanctioned power.
• That is, the leader can reward or punish members who
don’t comply with directives, orders, or rules.

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Cohesiveness

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 Group Decision making Phenomena
 Groupthink
• defined as the “deterioration of mental efficiency, reality
testing, and moral judgment” in the interest of group solidarity.
• Situations where group pressures for conformity deter the group
from critically appraising unusual , minority or unpopular views.
 Group shift
• When discussing a given set of alternatives and arriving at a
solution , group members tend to exaggerate the initial positions
that they hold.
• This causes a shift to more conservative or more risky behavior.

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Obstacle to team/ group productivity
 Norm Violation and Role Ambiguity/Conflict
 The Groupthink, Conformity Problem
 Risky Shift Phenomenon
 Social Loafing

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 Norm Violation and Role Ambiguity/Conflict

 Group norms that are violated can result in

antisocial behaviors.
 these include sexual harassment and theft.
 Others include lying, spreading rumors,
withholding effort, and absenteeism.

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 The Groupthink, Conformity Problem

• defined as the “deterioration of mental

efficiency, reality testing, and moral
judgment” in the interest of group solidarity.
• Situations where group pressures for
conformity deter the group from critically
appraising unusual , minority or unpopular
views.

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Risky Shift Phenomenon

 Agroup may make more risky decisions than the individual

members would on their own.
Social Loafing
• occurs when members reduce their effort and performance
levels when acting as part of a group
• Primary causes include lack of performance feedback within
the group, tasks that are not intrinsically motivating, situations
in which the performances of others will cover for the reduced
effort given by some members
• More likely to appear in large teams, where individual
contributions are more difficult to identify.

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Group Decision-Making Techniques

The major group decision making forms are:

 Interacting groups
 Brainstorming
 Nominal group technique
 Computer assisted group, or an electronic meeting
technique

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Group Decision-Making…..

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Group Decision-Making…..

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Group Decision-Making…..

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Group Behavior
Difference between Groups and Teams

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Work team

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The differences between work groups and work
teams.

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Types of teams

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Types of teams(cont`d)

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