Decision Making in Groups

Question 1

Group Decision Making VS Individual Decision Making

Answer 1

• Groups offer diverse perspectives and expertise, leading to better-informed decisions.
• Aspects of the problem can be divided among group members.
• Decision is highly critiqued.
• Group decision making can be slower, which may not be suitable for urgent situations.
• Certain members, such as leaders, may dominate the decision-making process.
• Creates intragroup conflict.

Question 2

Group Decision Making Process

Autocratic

Answer 2

• The group leader makes decisions alone, based solely on the leader’s knowledge.
• Fast decision-making process.
• Quality of the decision may suffer if the leader lacks relevant information.
• A variation of this is the consultative decision making.
• The leader solicits information from group members but retains the final decision-making authority.

Question 3

Group Decision Making Process

Democratic

Answer 3

• All group members participate in discussing and voting on a particular course of action.
• Majority rule typically determines the decision.
• Considers a greater number of alternatives due to input from all members.
• Increases member commitment to the chosen course of action.
• Time-consuming due to the need for discussion and voting.
• May be inefficient as it encourages conflict.

Question 4

Group Decision Making Process

Consensus

Answer 4

• All group members must agree on the chosen course of action.
• Typically used for very important decisions.
• Examples include jury decisions and major organizational decisions.
• Results in a high-quality decision backed by all group members.
• Extremely time-consuming.
• May be impossible to achieve if one or more members strongly resist the majority decision.

Question 5

Groupthink

Answer 5

• Syndrome occurring in highly cohesive decision-making groups.
• Norm develops to arrive at an early consensus, reducing critical decision making.
• Researched by Irving Janis, who studied poor decisions made by high-level decision-making groups.
• Symptoms include illusion of invulnerability, illusion of morality, shared negative stereotypes, collective rationalizations, self-censorship, illusion of unanimity, direct conformity pressure, and mindguards.
• Strategies to combat groupthink include introducing productive conflict, bringing in outsiders for different viewpoints, appointing devil’s advocates, encouraging critical evaluation, prioritizing quality over speed, holding individual members accountable, and reducing pressures to conform.

Question 6

Group Polarization

Answer 6

• The tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than those made by individuals.
• Initial research found evidence of the “risky shift” phenomenon, where groups tended to make riskier decisions.
• Subsequent research challenged these findings, suggesting that group discussion often leads individuals to become more extreme in their opinions, regardless of the direction of the shift.
• Group polarization can occur in work situations, influencing decisions such as product introductions.
• Virtual groups may be even more prone to group polarization than face-to-face groups.
• Two explanations for group polarization: persuasive arguments presented by other group members and adoption of the group’s values.
• Safeguards against group polarization include including members with varying initial opinions and the presence of dissenting voices.
• Group polarization can be a cause for concern, particularly when decisions involve risks or inhibit group goals.