Chapter 7 - Groups and teamwork

Question 1

Groups

Answer 1

2 or more people interacting interdependently to achieve a common goal

Question 2

Formal groups

Answer 2

established by organizations to facilitate achievement of organizational goals (Project teams, committees)

Question 3

Informal groups

Answer 3

emerge naturally, in response to common interests of the members (rarely authorized by organization and can help or hurt it)

Question 4

Social devices

Answer 4

groups –> require a fair amount of negotiation and trial and error before individual members begin to function

Question 5

Group development

Answer 5

model tool for monitoring and troubleshooting groups

Question 6

stages of Group development

Answer 6

forming –> storming –> norming –> performing –> adjourning (new groups, if not no need for storming/norming)

Question 7

Forming

Answer 7

orientation period: observation, listening. (ambiguous and dependency on each other)

Question 8

Storming

Answer 8

confrontation and criticism (sort out roles and responsibilities)

Question 9

Norming

Answer 9

Solve issue and develop social concensus (compromise/cohesive/info and opinions more open)

Question 10

Performing

Answer 10

devotes energy toward task accomplishment (achievement, creativity)

Question 11

Adjourning

Answer 11

rites and rituals that affirm the group’s successful projects (parties, emotional support)

Question 12

Punctuated Equilibrium model

Answer 12

groups with deadlines are affected by their first meeting and midpoint transitions

Question 13

Phase 1 (PuncEM)

Answer 13

first meeting until midpoint: sets agenda and tone, little progress toward goal

Question 14

Midpoint transition

Answer 14

occurs almost exactly the midpoint in time before deadline: plans activity for phase 2 and change in approach

Question 15

Project deadline (phase 2)

Answer 15

decision from midpoint: ends with final meeting with concerns on how outsiders will evaluate product

Question 16

Group structure (& its consequences)

Answer 16

characteristics stable social organization which vary with size, diversity, norms, roles, status, cohesiveness

Question 17

Group size

Answer 17

usually 3-20 members but minimum 2

Question 18

Group size and satisfaction

Answer 18

larger groups = less satisfaction = less friendships = more conflict =available time for participation decreases

Question 19

Group size and performance

Answer 19

depends on the task and how to define good performance

Question 20

Types of group tasks

Answer 20

additive tasks (AT)
Disjunctive Tasks 
Conjunctive tasks (CT)

Question 21

Additive tasks

Answer 21

group performance = sum of performance of individual group members
potential performance increases as group size increases

Question 22

Disjunctive tasks

Answer 22

group performance = performance of best group member

potential performance increases as group size increases

Question 23

Conjunctive tasks

Answer 23

group performance = limited to performance of lowest member

potential and actual performance of CT will decrease as group size increases

Question 24

Process losses

Answer 24

performance difficulties that come with motivating larger groups
actual performance = potential performance - process losses

Question 25

Diversity

Answer 25

diverse groups have harder time communicating and cohesive, so the stages of group development takes longer

Question 26

diverse groups

Answer 26

perform better when creativity and innovation is needed

Question 27

Social norms

Answer 27

collective expectations about the behaviors of each others (codes of conduct)

Question 28

normative influence is

Answer 28

unconscious

Question 29

Why do norms develop?

Answer 29

provide regularity & predictability of the behavior; carry out our daily business with minimal disruption

Question 30

What do norms develop about

Answer 30

regulate behavior that are important to their supporters

Question 31

How do norms develop

Answer 31

collectively held expectations that depend on people to maintain it

Question 32

Why do people comply with norms

Answer 32

private attitudes; save time and social confusion

Question 33

typical norms

Answer 33

dress, reward allocation and performance

Question 34

Roles

Answer 34

positions in a group “packages of norms” with expected behavior

Question 35

consequences of role conflict

Answer 35

job dissatisfaction, stress reactions, lowered organizational commitment and turnover intentions

Question 36

roles in organizations

Answer 36

assigned roles and emergent roles

Question 37

assigned roles

Answer 37

prescribed by organization to divide labour & responsibility
“who does what”

Question 38

emergent roles

Answer 38

develop naturally to meet the social-emotional needs of the group or assist in formal job accomplishment

Question 39

role ambiguity

Answer 39

goals of one’s job or the method is unclear; caused by organizational factors, role sender and focal person

Question 40

Status

Answer 40

the way in which people communicate with each other (higher or same status)

Question 41

group cohesiveness

Answer 41

how a group is attractive to its group members

Question 42

Factors making a group more cohesive

Answer 42

member diversity
success
threat and competition
size
toughness of initiation

Question 43

Member diversity

Answer 43

terms of gender, age, race can be overridden if they agree on how to accomplish a task

Question 44

success

Answer 44

goal accomplished: more cooperative

Question 45

threat and competition

Answer 45

external can force members to work together when the goals are in danger

Question 46

size

Answer 46

larger groups have harder tie in staying cohesive

Question 47

toughness of initiation

Answer 47

groups that are harder to get into are more attractive

Question 48

Consequences of cohesiveness

Answer 48

more participation (lower turnover, absenteeism)
more conformity  (respect group norms)
more success (achieving goals

Question 49

cohesive groups more effective

Answer 49

participation + communication + conformity = agreement = goals

Question 50

Social loafing (SL)

Answer 50

tendency to withhold (refuse to give) physical or intellectual effort in a group task –> low motivation

Question 51

SL is more prominent

Answer 51

in individualistic societies

Question 52

social loafing in large groups leads to

Answer 52

process losses:

1. free-rider effect: people lower their effort to get a free ride at expense of others
2. Sucker effect: people lower their effort because they feel like others are free riding (to restore equity)

Question 53

counteracting social loafing

Answer 53

1. make individual performance meaningful
2. work must be interesting
3. increase the feeling of indispensability
4. increase performance feedback
5. reward group performance for effectiveness

Question 54

Virtual teams

Answer 54

work groups that use technology to collaborate across time, space and organizational boundaries; lack of face-to-face with team members

Question 55

pros of virtual teams

Answer 55

around the clock work, reduced travel time and costs, larger talent pool

Question 56

challenges of virtual teams

Answer 56

trust, miscommunication, isolation, high costs, management issues

Question 57

lessons concerning virtual teams

Answer 57

recruitment: choose carefully (attitude & personality)
training: invest in training for technical and interpersonal skills
personalization: know each other through face-to-face
goals and ground rules: virtual team leaders should define goals clearly + feedback