unit 2 - chapter 2

Question 1

what are the six key questions re: motivation (Roberts)?

Answer 1

1. What motivates a person? Should you look for the answer ‘inside’ the person in their ‘needs’ for money, status or power? Should you look outside at the work they do and how they are managed? .
2. Is there a universal truth to be discovered, or is motivation highly contingent and dependent on the specific character of a person or situation? .
3. How does motivation change over time? Is what motivates the same as what demotivates?
4. . Can your manager know more about what motivates you than you do, or does your motivation depend on the sense you make of your experiences? .
5. Can a manager motivate someone else or is motivation always something you get from yourself? .
6. What allows or gets in the way of such self-motivation?

Question 2

how does Rollison define motivation?

Answer 2

a state arising in the processes that are internal and external to the individual, in which the person perceives that it is appropriate to pursue a certain course of action (or actions) directed at achieving a specified outcome (or outcomes) and in which the person chooses to pursue those outcomes with a degree of vigour and persistence. (Rollinson, 2008, p. 148)

Question 3

how do Bloisi et al. (2006) define motivation?

Answer 3

there are three elements that are contained in definitions of motivation. These are:

• some need, motive or goal that triggers action
• a process that directs the choice of action
• a level of effort intensity that is applied to the chosen vocation

Question 4

what are the building blocks of motivation?

Answer 4

• Needs are fundamental requirements for survival and wellbeing, and can be physical or psychological. .
• Values are things that people consider good or desirable, and culture plays an important role in deciding which ones become important. They are not usually specific to a particular situation
• Goals are things that are sought in a particular situation in which culture also plays a significant role.

Question 5

what are content vs process theories

Answer 5

• Content theories focus on human needs and their satisfaction (‘content’ in this context refers to those ‘contents’ within us that drive or push us: see Kornberger et al., 2008),
• process theories were introduced because it was felt that content theories did not sufficiently explain why people are motivated to behave in certain ways and because to answer such questions it is necessary to consider what processes are involved in motivation.

Question 6

what is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Answer 6

• Self-actualisation: Personal growth and fulfilment
• Esteem needs: Achievements, status, respectability, reputation
• Social needs: Family, relationships, affection, etc.
• Physiological needs: Air, food, drink, shelter, sleep, etc.
• Safety needs: Protection, security, order, law, etc.

According to Maslow, needs form a hierarchy, and people must satisfy their lower-level needs first. Thus, hungry, cold individuals will focus on getting food and warmth with no concern for their higher-order needs; but when well-fed and warm, they will seek safety and then the comfort of being with others. This means that people attend to higher needs only when they have satisfied the lower needs.

Question 7

what is the criticism of Maslow’s theory?

Answer 7

• Because of its simplicity, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has an intuitive appeal among managers and practitioners.
• However, the theory has also attracted criticism for assuming that motivation is hierarchical, while research has failed to find support for a clear delineation of five sets of needs organised into a hierarchy.
• For instance, Harvey et al. (2000) in their comparative study come to different conclusions about the work values and motives of managers from Britain and Zimbabwe.
• Their findings suggest that Maslow’s hierarchy might need to be re-ordered and redefined for Zimbabweans and others who put higher importance on security (safety needs) and self-esteem needs and less on accomplishment (self-actualisation) and friendship.
• people may have different priorities at different times in their life or at different stages of their career.
• They may also have all levels of need simultaneously (even someone close to self-actualisation will be upset if their salary is reduced).

Question 8

what is the ERG theory?

Answer 8

Alderfer (1972) hypothesises that rather than five needs, individuals have in fact three needs.

• Existence needs are concerned with sustaining human existence and survival. They cover the physiological and safety needs of a material nature.
• Relatedness needs concern relationships with the social environment such as love or belonging, affiliation and meaningful interpersonal relationships of a safety or esteem nature.
• Growth needs are concerned with the development of potential and cover self-esteem and self-actualisation.

Question 9

what are the similarities between Maslow and ERG theory?

Answer 9

The main similarities between Alderfer’s and Maslow’s theories are that

• 1) both hypothesise human needs as the basis for motivation,
• (2) both hypothesise similar types of needs (although the precise classifications differ)
• (3) both theories view needs as being hierarchical.

However, Alderfer suggests that extra rewards at the lower levels can compensate for a lack of satisfaction at the higher levels, whereas for Maslow a lower-level need must be satisfied first before proceeding to the next level.

Question 10

what are the four main drives according to Lawrence and Nohria?

Answer 10

• to acquire,
• to bond,
• to learn
• to defend.

Lawrence and Nohria make the point that these four drives are ‘hardwired’, the result of aeons of evolution. In fact, evolution theory could be seen to support Maslow’s hierarchy, too. Thus, if you believe in the survival of the fittest, an animal that does not concern itself with personal survival through immediate physiological need satisfaction and attention to personal safety will not leave many offspring. These needs being satisfied, in a social species at least, social needs then become important. Status will next contribute to breeding success, and self-actualisation and learning might help the social group as a whole. From this perspective, while the means of satisfying needs may be learned, at least some of the underlying drives may well be extremely deeprooted and exert a strong influence on behaviour. Lawrence and Nohria also make the interesting suggestion that drives energise and partially steer not just behaviour but also reasoning, decision making, perception and memory.

Question 11

what are the assumptions behind theory X?

Answer 11

• 1 Management is responsible for organizing the elements of productive enterprise – money, materials, equipment, people – in the interest of economic ends.
• 2 With respect to people, this is a process of directing their efforts, motivating them, controlling their actions, modifying their behavior to fit the needs of the organization.
• 3 Without this active intervention by management, people would be passive – even resistant – to organizational needs. They must therefore be persuaded, rewarded, punished, controlled – their activities must be directed. …

Question 12

what are the limits of theory X?

Answer 12

• McGregor suggests that Theory X helps us understand the assumptions underlying a certain type of managerial approach.
• These assumptions are, however, limiting for managers in that they can prevent managers from seeing the potential benefits of other approaches and can actually be the cause of employees becoming demotivated.

Question 13

what are the assumptions of theory Y?

Answer 13

• 1 Management is responsible for organizing the elements of productive enterprise – money, materials, equipment, people – in the interest of economic ends.
• 2 People are not by nature passive or resistant to organizational needs – they become so as a result of their experience in organizations.
• 3 The motivation, the potential for development, the capacity for assuming responsibility, the readiness to direct behavior towards organizational goals are all present in people. Management does not put them there. It is the responsibility of management to make it possible for people to recognize and develop these human characteristics for themselves.
• 4 The essential task of management is to arrange organizational conditions and methods of operation so that people can achieve their own goals best by directing their own efforts toward organizational objectives.

Question 14

what is involved in Herzberg’s dual-factor theory?

Answer 14

• Herzberg’s dual-factor theory Herzberg focuses on work itself as a source of motivation (Herzberg, 1968/ 2003).
• His views emerged from his research, in the course of which he asked people to recall times when they felt especially satisfied and motivated by their work and times when they felt particularly dissatisfied and demotivated.
• Employees were also asked to identify what factors had caused these feelings. Two entirely different sets of factors emerged. For example, a person who listed low pay as a source of dissatisfaction did not necessarily identify high pay as a cause of satisfaction.
• From this, Herzberg argued that the traditional model of a single dissatisfaction–satisfaction continuum was incorrect in that improvement in some areas (called ‘hygiene factors’) might help remove dissatisfaction, but would not necessarily increase satisfaction or motivation.
• Herzberg therefore proposed a dual-factor explanation of motivation. Dualfactor theory refers to two different needs.
  
  • 1 Hygiene factors, which involve working conditions and can trigger dissatisfaction.
  • 2 Motivator factors, which originate from the nature of the job itself and can create job satisfaction.

Question 15

what are Herzberg’s motivation factors?

Answer 15

• Motivation factors
• Achievement
• Recognition
• The work itself
• Responsibility
• Advancement and growth

Question 16

what are Herzberg’s hygiene factors?

Answer 16

• Hygiene factors
• Supervision
• Working conditions
• Interpersonal relationships
• Pay and job security
• Company policies

Question 17

criticism of Herzberg’s theory

Answer 17

• As with all motivation theories, the model can be criticised.
• For example, the terms ‘satisfaction’ and ‘motivation’ are used as if they are interchangeable, whereas they can potentially mean quite different things (for example, a satisfied need, according to Maslow, no longer motivates).
• Furthermore, Herzberg’s sample of ‘two hundred engineers and accountants, who represented a cross section of Pittsburgh industry’ (March, 2009, p. 18) is hardly extensive or representative of employees in general.
• Most seriously, his methodology can be criticised in that people are known to be more likely to attribute positive things to their own efforts, while blaming circumstances outside their control for the negative things – this alone could explain his ‘two factors’.

Question 18

positive aspects of Herzberg’s theory

Answer 18

However, Herzberg’s theory has been influential in suggesting that: .

• satisfaction can be increased by enabling people to take responsibility for what they do and how they do it, and by giving them scope to achieve and advance in their roles
• . dissatisfaction can be reduced by having effective organisational policies and procedures, paying workers well, improving the working environment, and so on – but improvement of these factors will not motivate people to work better, except perhaps in the very short term.
• In addition, the distinction between motivators and hygiene factors serves to highlight the potentially powerful role of intrinsic rewards that derive from the work itself.
• (You might, however, want to consider whether everyone at work is interested in intrinsic rewards. Perhaps some people hate responsibility, satisfy their higher order needs outside work and would prefer a quiet working life for reasonable pay.)

Question 19

what are the implications of Herzberg’s theory for managers?

Answer 19

• The implications of Herzberg’s dual-factor theory for managers are therefore clear.
• Herzberg suggests that providing hygiene factors will eliminate employee dissatisfaction but will not motivate workers to high achievement levels. stimulate motivation is through improving the nature of work itself.
• At the time that Herzberg developed his theory, most jobs were relatively structured and routine (and many still are).
• Herzberg’s idea was that many of these jobs could be enriched – and this is an idea that, when put into practice, has enabled motivation to be built into the design of a job.

Question 20

what are the principles of job enrichment?

Answer 20

• 1 Remove some controls while retaining accountability Responsibility and personal achievement
• 2 Increase the accountability of individuals for their own work Responsibility and recognition
• 3 Give a person a complete natural unit of work (for example, module, division, area)
• Responsibility, achievement and recognition
• 4 Grant additional authority to an employee (job freedom) Responsibility, achievement and recognition
• 5 Make periodic reports directly available to the worker in person rather than to the supervisor Internal recognition
• 6 Introduce new and more difficult tasks not previously handled Growth and learning
• 7 Assign individuals specific or specialised tasks, enabling them to become experts Responsibility, growth and learning

Question 21

what are the challenges of job enrichment from management perspective?

Answer 21

• From the management perspective, however, the implementation of job enrichment is rarely trouble-free,
• most common cause of the failure of job-enrichment schemes is the lack of commitment of those implementing them.
• It is very easy to implement a scheme as a reaction rather than as a long-term strategy to improve satisfaction and productivity.
• Job enrichment is not an easy option, and in most cases the organisation should be prepared for an initial drop in performance as people learn new ways of working.
• You might experience resistance to change, especially from anxious supervisors or line managers who think their positions are being undermined (one of the ways of minimising adverse reactions is to conduct a small-scale pilot scheme first).

Question 22

what is involved in process theories?

Answer 22

• Process theories of motivation are ‘a group of theories that explain how employees select behaviours with which to meet their needs and determine whether their choices were successful’ (Daft, 2006, p. 704).
• These theories are called process theories because they focus on the mental processes used to evaluate cause-and-effect relationships.
• As was noted, content theories tend to assume you will be motivated if a job provides rewards or incentives that enable you to meet your needs. The underlying assumption of content theories is therefore that everyone is motivated by the same factors and will behave in similar ways.
• But, unfortunately, giving someone a reward may not increase effort and increased effort may not produce better performance.
• Similarly, people may regard the same job differently, and while some people may perceive work as fulfilling their desire for a particular outcome, others may not. Indeed, that other people may have entirely different desires is an underlying assumption of process theories.

Question 23

what are the aspects of equity theory?

Answer 23

• J.S. Adams’s equity theory (1963) suggests that motivation is moderated by the perceived fairness of, or discrepancy between, personal contributions and rewards relative to what others receive.
• One important assumption of this theory is that the less people perceive they get out of work, the less effort they may put into work.
• According to equity theory, then, a person’s perceptions and beliefs about inputs and outcomes are important in judging equity.
• If there are inequities, people will then act to reduce perceived inequalities in their treatment, for example, by working less or arguing for greater rewards.
• People look at the linkage between work and outcomes, calculate whether it is fair, and then act accordingly.
• In practice, however, there are often differences between perceptions, beliefs and reality.
• Equity theory also suggests that people hold certain beliefs about the inputs and outcomes of their jobs.
  
  • The outcomes of a job include pay, fringe benefits (such as a company car), status, intrinsic interest in the job and any other needs that the person is seeking to satisfy.
  • The inputs are the factors that people perceive they bring to the job – for instance, qualifications and ability, as well as effort and motivation.
• The theory explains that people add up all their inputs and all their outcomes and compare them to the outcomes and inputs of some other person, or class of people, they perceive to be doing similar work. Where the ratios are equal, equity exists, and people continue to apply the same level of inputs (that is, effort).

Question 24

what is necessary to achieve equity?

Answer 24

• The inputs compared are equal and the outcomes compared are equal. .
• The person making the comparisons receives more outcomes for extra inputs.
• The person making the comparisons receives fewer outcomes for fewer inputs.

Question 25

what is involved in inequity?

Answer 25

• The person making the comparisons receives fewer outcomes for the same or more inputs.
• . The person making the comparisons receives more outcomes for the same or fewer inputs.

Question 26

how do people react to inequity?

Answer 26

• Inputs may be altered. .
• Outcomes may be altered. .
• Views on inputs and outcomes may be distorted
• . . The situation (job) may be left. .
• Referenced individuals may be acted upon to change their level of inputs or outcomes. .
• The person making the comparisons may start making comparisons with other people.

Question 27

challenges/positive aspects of equity theory?

Answer 27

• Equity theory seems to be able to make sensible predictions about people’s behaviour and level of motivation when people are undercompensated for their work. That is, people will attempt to restore equity when they gain fewer outcomes for the same or more inputs.
• However, when people are overcompensated, the theory makes predictions that diverge from how many people actually behave.
• Although there is evidence that some people may feel guilty about overcompensation and attempt to restore equity – by, for instance, increasing input – many others find overcompensation quite tolerable,
• for example, Sir Fred Goodwin the former Chief Executive of The Royal Bank of Scotland did not see anything wrong with a reported award of a pension of £16 million from a bank that had posted huge losses under his leadership.
• Therefore, while it seems true that the less people get out of work, the less likely they are to be motivated, it does not always follow that the more people get out of work, the more they put into it.

Question 28

which managerial principles are relevant to the concept of equity?

Answer 28

Although equity theory cannot fully explain motivation, the theory gives rise to a number of important managerial principles.

• The first is that people will and do make comparisons with others at work, and perceived inequity can lead to a loss of satisfaction and decreased motivation.
• As a manager you should be sensitive to this comparison process and try to ensure, where possible and desirable, that such comparisons do not lead to perceived inequity.
• The second principle is that equity and inequity are perceived, not absolute, concepts. In this respect, managers should be sensitive to the perspectives of others in order to avoid perceived inequity

Question 29

what is involved in Vroom’s expectancy theory?

Answer 29

Motivation and performance are highest when valence, instrumentality and expectancy are all high (Vroom, 1964). That is, people will increase their effort when effort is seen to be linked directly to job performance (expectancy), and job performance to rewards (instrumentality), and the rewards are the ones that matter to those involved (valence). Rewards that are not guaranteed by increased job performance can act as motivators, as long as individuals believe that by exerting effort they can increase the likelihood of obtaining the reward (for example, the sales bonus on reaching the sales target). Rewards that come anyway, regardless of the effort put in, are not likely to act as motivators.

Question 30

which management issues are highlighted by expectancy theory?

Answer 30

• Ability – a manager must establish whether the person is capable of the required performance
• Goals – if effort is to be linked to performance, clear, agreed and measurable goals are needed and regular feedback on performance should be given. Unfortunately, this is not easy, as goals may be difficult to measure, there may be genuine disagreements about them, or they may be ambiguous. .
• Resources – the resources required to do a job include appropriate tools, materials and equipment, and the necessary information. If any of these are lacking, people will feel that the level of performance they achieve does not depend solely on their efforts. Instead, it is limited by factors outside their control. This will tend to reduce motivation. .
• Time – this is another major factor that will limit performance. Performance will be limited by having more to do than is possible in the available time. This may be one factor within a manager’s control when allocating work to others. It is useful to give people as much notice as possible. If deadlines are clearly specified, a person can then allocate time between the various tasks in the most efficient way. .
• Job design – this influences the link between effort and performance

Question 31

what is involved in goal-setting theory?

Answer 31

• Goal-setting theory was developed by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham (1969), who proposed that specific, challenging goals increase motivation and performance when the goals are accepted by people and if they receive feedback to indicate their progress toward goal achievement (Daft, 2006, p. 708).
• The main premise of goal-setting theory is that people’s goals or intentions play an important part in determining behaviour (Mullins, 2008).
• People set their goals and attempt to achieve them in a manner that is concordant with their needs and values. In trying to achieve these goals, people notice the consequences of their behaviour.
• If it seems likely that goals they have set are not going to be achieved by their current behaviour, they can either modify their goals to make them more realistic or modify their behaviour in order to achieve the goal

Question 32

which components does goal-setting theory include?

Answer 32

• Goal specificity’ refers to the degree to which goals are real and unambiguous, which is necessary in order to direct behaviour and maintain motivation. .
• ‘Goal difficulty’ suggests that hard goals are more motivating than easy ones but that they should be achievable. Effort increases when the person is committed to attaining the goal. .
• ‘Goal acceptance’ requires that employees must ‘buy into’ the goals and become committed to them. .
• ‘Feedback’ refers to continued dialogue about the progress being made towards achieving the goals. The agenda for this is often set by management.

Question 33

how can goal-setting theory be used to improve motivation?

Answer 33

Goalsetting theory indicates that motivation can be improved in the following ways: .

• Setting challenging, but realistic, goals. Goals that are too difficult will lead to decreased performance, especially over the longer term.
• Setting clearly understood goals, with specific performance targets. Unclear and vague goals are just as bad as setting no goals whatsoever.
• . Supplying complete, timely and accurate feedback. This enables people to see clearly and quickly how their own behaviour can be changed to improve performance.

Goal-setting theory goes one step further than content theories, in that it attempts to link motivation directly to job performance. Although goalsetting theory provides a different explanation of motivation from that of value theories, none of these theories can be used independently of the others to provide a full explanation of motivation. A consideration of people’s needs will help explain their values, and their values will help explain their preferred goals and their commitment to those goals.

Question 34

what is the model proposed by Blake and Mouton of managing group and team dynamic?

Answer 34

two fundamental ingredients of managerial behaviour:

• One is concern for production:
• the other is concern for people.

‘Concern for’ does not mean a dedication for specific targets, nor does it mean the results achieved in themselves. It means the general approach.

Question 35

what is the categorisation of groups?

Answer 35

Kakabadse et al. (1988) have suggested a useful categorisation: groups may be

• formal or informal,
• primary or secondary

Question 36

what are formal groups?

Answer 36

Formal groups have some formal recognition and authority within the organisation and usually have a defined purpose or task that is related to the overall task of the organisation. They might be departments, work groups or project teams. An organisation can be regarded as consisting of an interlocking set of such work groups.

Question 37

what are informal groups?

Answer 37

Informal groups do not have formal authority. Individuals within organisations interact with a wide range of other people who may not be part of their formal groups. They may form relationships with those people to pursue common interests, or to make various exchanges. Informal groups may form to fulfil special needs and goals – to provide friendship, a sense of identity and belonging, or to pursue a common interest such as sport. For example, a mixture of city bankers and lawyers who were lifelong Manchester United Football Club fans in the UK got together a bid to buy the club (Gibson, 2010). Informal groups may also form to pursue work-related interests.

Question 38

what are primary groups?

Answer 38

Primary groups are those whose members have regular and frequent interactions with each other in the pursuit of some common interests or tasks. A small work group, project team or family are all primary groups. They usually have an important influence on their members’ values, attitudes and beliefs.

Question 39

what are secondary groups?

Answer 39

Secondary groups are those whose members interact less frequently. A large committee, a professional group or an association are all examples. They are often larger than primary groups and their members may not have the opportunity to get to know each other well. As a result, secondary groups are usually less cohesive than primary groups.

Question 40

which functions are formal groups used for in organisations?

Answer 40

Formal groups are used for a variety of functions in organisations, especially those requiring a combination of different skills, knowledge, perspectives or interests. These functions may include: .

• distributing and managing work .
• problem solving and decision making .
• passing on information .
• coordinating and liaising .
• enabling people to participate in decision making .
• negotiation or conflict resolution .
• inquests or inquiries into the past.

Question 41

what is a common source of difficulties with groups?

Answer 41

• A common source of difficulties with groups arises when the same group is expected to perform two different functions simultaneously.
• For example, a management meeting that starts as a negotiation between departments is unlikely to proceed satisfactorily to a discussion of the long-term plans of the organisation.
• Thus, the functions of groups need to be clearly separated, perhaps by time, place, title or a change of style.
• For example, a committee might find it useful to separate the part of a meeting dealing with administrative matters from that part dealing with future plans, and to adopt a different style for each part.
• The committee could adopt a fairly brisk and formal style to deal with routine administration, have a break, and then choose a more relaxed and participative style to deal with future plans.
• It could take this separation even further and have occasional review days offsite to discuss plans in more detail.

Question 42

what are Individuals’ benefits from belonging to groups?

Answer 42

• 1 Satisfying social needs
• 2 Establishing or confirming an identity
• 3 Gaining help and support in carrying out their particular objectives (which may not be the same as the organisation’s)
• 4 Sharing and helping in a common activity (Source: adapted from Handy, 1976, p. 147)

Question 43

what are the two levels groups are working at?

Answer 43

Any group can be regarded as working at two levels:

• the level of the task (tackling the business of the group)
• the social level (meeting people’s needs for acceptance, recognition, belonging, and so on).

So working in a group is both a task and a social process. These two aspects of a group are interrelated: people are unlikely to contribute effectively to the group task if they are feeling uncomfortable, threatened or anxious; and people are unlikely to feel happy and comfortable in a group unless they think that the group’s task is being tackled in a reasonable manner. Both aspects of a group are important for its effectiveness.

Question 44

what are the contextual factors improving group’s effectiveness?

Answer 44

• Contextual factors or ‘givens’ are the first sort – these are factors that usually have to be negotiated with other people in the organisation outside the group.
• They include the size and composition of the group, the task it is to accomplish, the resources it has at its disposal and the external recognition it receives from other groups in the organisation.
• Once established, these factors often take some time to change and may be regarded as ‘givens’ or constraints within which the group will operate

Question 45

what are internal factors related to group effectiveness?

Answer 45

• The second group of factors is internal or intervening factors.
• These are factors that are more under the direct control of group members and can therefore, in theory at least, be changed within a relatively short timescale to improve group performance.
• They include leadership, task and maintenance functions, interaction patterns, motivation and group development.

Question 46

what issues are there around group size?

Answer 46

• Many committees delegate specific tasks or projects to small groups of two to four people. The size of a group will depend in part on the nature of the task being addressed.
• For example, a stakeholder engagement group in a company may have to be quite large to represent all the different interests, whereas a team set up to examine ways of re-organising the reception area might be quite small.
• The larger the group is, the greater the diversity of skills and knowledge available to it. Yet at the same time, the larger the group, the less opportunity there is for each individual to participate and influence proceedings. The size of the group is therefore a trade-off.
• Research shows that in order to enable all members to participate effectively, a group of between five and seven people is best, but to achieve the range of expertise and skills required, it may need to be larger.
• As a group increases beyond, say, ten or twelve people it may become less effective and perhaps may tend to split into smaller sub-groups.

Question 47

what issues are there around group composition?

Answer 47

Group composition

• In deciding the composition of a group it is important to have members with the necessary competencies to tackle the group task.
• Homogeneous groups, whose members share similar values and beliefs, tend to produce higher member satisfaction and less conflict, yet they tend to be less creative and
• produce greater pressures for conformity. Heterogeneous groups, in contrast, are likely to experience greater conflict, but have the potential for greater creativity and innovation. As the heterogeneous group members have a wider range of views and opinions, their decisions are also more likely to be widely accepted within the organisation.
• A successful implementation of diversity policies will lead to organisations employing people with a greater range of experiences, backgrounds, etc., as a result of which, groups will probably become more heterogeneous.
• Such diverse groupings can occur, for example, in partnerships between public sector and community groups where people are invited to represent the community in government planning.
• once invited, they may find that there is little recognition of their differing experiences and skills in a formal meeting setting.
• Groups can also become transnational and crosscultural, working in virtual teams across national boundaries.
• This is becoming more prevalent as a result of advances in information technology and the globalisation of business.
• It is inevitable that increasing the diversity of a group may also increase the potential for disagreement

Question 48

what issues are there around nature of the task?

Answer 48

• A group that is given a task that it feels is realistic and important is more likely to perform better than one that is not.
• Some tasks may require very different forms of group behaviour and will be difficult to do together.
• For example, a group formed to disseminate information may not be the best place for attempting creative problem solving as well.
• Probably it is best not to give one group such ‘conflicting’ tasks, and if they are, the tasks need to be clearly separated in some way, perhaps by dealing with them in separate meetings.
• Ideally the task should contain the right degree of challenge for the group.
• A task that is too difficult may lead to failure and damage morale.
• A task that is too easy will leave the group with little sense of challenge or accomplishment when the task is complete.
• In most cases, a group that is given a clear and unambiguous task can perform more quickly than one that is given an open-ended and ambiguous task.
• Clearly, not all tasks can be well defined, however. Groups given ill-defined tasks will probably need more support and members who can tolerate greater stress. They will also need to be allowed more time to become an effective group.

Question 49

what issues are there around resources and support?

Answer 49

• For a group to function effectively, it will need adequate resources.
• The people establishing the group will need access to the necessary equipment, finance and support services to do the job.
• One of the quickest ways of reducing group morale and effectiveness is to deprive it of the resources it needs to function smoothly!

Question 50

what issues are there around external recognition?

Answer 50

• No one wants to spend whole mornings in committees whose conclusions will never be noticed, or will be overruled. (Handy, 1999)
• The standing of a group and its members in the wider organisation will also affect group productivity and morale. If members feel that the work of their group or committee is accepted as being important to the organisation and contributing to its goals then they are more likely to be motivated.
• Equally, the group will need to be clear how its results will be reported to the rest of the organisation. Again, the morale of the group is likely to diminish if it feels it cannot communicate relevant findings from its work to the rest of the organisation.

Question 51

what issues are there around leadership?

Answer 51

The way in which leadership is exercised needs to be appropriate to the circumstances faced by the group and to be acceptable to the group’s members if the group is to perform well.

Question 52

what are common task functions?

Answer 52

• Proposing/initiating Building Diagnosing Giving and seeking information
• Evaluating Decision making Proposing ideas, courses of action that are relevant to the task
• Developing other people’s proposals Analysing what is wrong or what is the cause of a particular situation
• Offering and seeking information that is relevant to the task
• Evaluating the merits of particular proposals and outcomes
• Contributing to decisions on a particular proposal or course of action

Question 53

what are some maintenance functions?

Answer 53

• Gate-keeping Opening – positively attempting to involve others in discussion Closing – attempting to control or cut off others
• Encouraging Being friendly, supportive and responsive to other people by verbal or non-verbal means
• Conflict resolution Being prepared to acknowledge and deal with conflict
• Giving feedback Giving positive feedback on people’s contributions
• Dealing with feelings Recognising and acknowledging people’s feelings
• Looking after physical needs Meeting people’s physical needs in the group, for example, by providing adequate amenities, refreshments, etc.

Question 54

what is the wheel interaction pattern?

Answer 54

• In the ‘wheel’ pattern all communication in the group is channelled through one person, usually the manager or leader of the group.
• In the ‘all-channel’ pattern, anyone can communicate directly with anyone else in the group.
• Experiments using these patterns have shown that: .
  
  • the wheel pattern is always the quickest to reach a solution or conclusion .
  • in dealing with complex open-ended problems, the all-channel pattern is the most likely to reach the best solution; with the wheel pattern, the abilities of the central person will determine the pattern’s effectiveness .
  • the level of satisfaction for individuals is fairly high in the all-channel pattern and mixed in the wheel pattern, the central figure expressing greater satisfaction and those at the outlying positions feeling more isolated.

Question 55

which aspects of motivation are relevant to groups?

Answer 55

• Motivation is more than satisfaction, which is one possible outcome of groups.
• Lack of satisfaction can lead to absenteeism and turnover of members. But a satisfied group is not necessarily a productive group.
• Knowledge of expected results, together with a belief that what is expected is realistic, will help to motivate the individuals in a group.
• Information on how performance actually compares with expectations is also required. These factors are as vital to the motivation of groups as they are for individuals.
• Motivation by involving people in decisions affecting the group will only work if the group and the task are important enough to the individual to justify acceptance of additional responsibility and any other costs.
• Perhaps the most important aspect of motivation in groups is a mission or set of goals that is highly valued by the group’s members. In the absence of such a mission, group members are more likely to put their own individual goals and interests before those of the group.
• Group coherence and performance may also improve when the group perceives some external threat or competitor as a ‘common enemy’ of the group, though there is a danger of ‘groupthink’ (discussed later) in such a situation.

Question 56

what are characteristics of a team?

Answer 56

• It has a common goal or task to pursue. .
• The pursuit of this goal or task requires collaboration and the coordination of activities among the team’s members. .
• The team members have regular and frequent interactions with each other. .
• It has a team identity, which is distinct from its members’ individual identities.

Question 57

what are the common types of teams?

Answer 57

• Teams are frequently established to tackle particular, discrete tasks.
• Small task teams are frequently set up to develop new strategies or policies in a particular area, and these teams are sometimes called working parties or task forces.
• Teams may be established around a particular function. For example, a group of department heads may form the senior management team.
• Location is another basis on which teams develop. Close collaboration and coordination of work can occur between people sharing the same location. This is quite common when a national organisation has several offices in different parts of the country.
• However, collaboration and coordination can also occur when people just happen to work in the same room or the same part of a building if there is a shared goal or task, because this is an important determinant of whether a team exists or whether it does not.
• Teams are also formed to undertake particular projects. Project teams are normally established for a specific time and have a defined task or target to achieve.
• Project teams are usually distinguished from task teams by lasting over a longer term and having at least some workers who commit a high proportion or all of their working time to the project. Project teams may also have a higher degree of autonomy from the work of the rest of the organisation.

Question 58

what are the advantages of working in a team?

Answer 58

• the chance to bring a variety of skills and experiences to tackling a problem or task .
• the opportunity for people to learn from each other .
• mutual support .
• the potential for team members to enthuse and motivate each other .
• a degree of independence from the rest of the organisation.

Question 59

what are teh disadvantages of working in a team?

Answer 59

• too much isolation from the rest of the organisation, leading to goals being out of tune with organisational goals .
• team pressures, leading to an unrealistic view of the world (groupthink) .
• competition between teams, leading to conflict.

Question 60

what are the challenges of the concept of a “team”?

Answer 60

• ‘Team’ is not a neutral word. As Parsloe (1981) observed, it is ‘soaked in positive values’.
• Teams are expected to be collaborative, egalitarian, cooperative and committed. Our images of teams are so positive that the word ‘team’ is often used to describe any arrangement in which staff are nominally grouped together, irrespective of whether they actually work together as a team.
• In fact, groups that do not work collaboratively may be called teams, perhaps to hide this fact, or in the hope that greater collaboration will result.
• Stanton (1989) reviewed the findings of research on team-working in the personal social services and concluded that ‘loud and sustained calls for better team-working are a signal of its absence’.

Question 61

what are Belbin’s team roles?

Answer 61

• The ‘coordinator’, who establishes the goals, allocates roles and responsibilities, is assertive, conscientious and has drive. .
• The ‘plant’, who advances new ideas and strategies with attention to major issues. This person is often imaginative and intelligent, but may resent criticism and be careless of detail. .
• The ‘implementer’, who converts ideas and objectives into practical operational procedures and who is task-oriented, conscientious and affiliative. .
• The ‘monitor evaluator’, who analyses rather than creates ideas. The monitor evaluator’s main contribution is the ability to find weaknesses in what is going on, even though sometimes these could be issues that are remote to the team (but necessary to it). .
• The ‘shaper’, who shapes the way in which team effort is applied, directs others attention to the team’s priorities and objectives. The shaper imposes order on group discussions and the activities, often appearing aggressive at times. .
• The ‘team-worker’, who is most concerned with harmony within the team and who is most supportive and understanding of other team members. The team-worker is likeable, popular, uncompetitive, which makes this person tend not to be noticed except when absent. .
• The ‘resource investigator’, who is an extroverted, stable member who identifies ideas and resources in the external environment. The resource investigator’s enthusiasm might not be maintained throughout the team’s task, however. .
• The ‘completer finisher’, who identifies areas that need more work and looks for possible omissions. The completer finisher can be anxious about detail and often has high standards and likes to push to complete the task on time. .
• The ‘specialist’, who provides specialist knowledge and skills. The specialist is often single-minded and self-motivating.

Question 62

according to Belbin, when does a team work best?

Answer 62

• . a match between an individual’s responsibilities and his or her ‘natural’ team role .
• diversity in members’ mental abilities .
• an ability to identify and adjust imbalances in the group .
• a strong plant to produce ideas for the team .
• a good coordinator to show patience and command, seek out ability and elicit trust .
• a range of team roles available to the group.

Question 63

what is involved in criticism of Belbin’s work?

Answer 63

. Belbin’s work has been criticised by Fincham and Rhodes (2005) who suggest that: .

• the nature of assigning an individual to his or her team role is problematic .
• the measures of team roles have poor reliability and validity, and thus roles are sometimes over-interpreted .
• the role types are seen as being fixed, rigid attributes of individuals, and this can encourage labelling of individuals .
• caution is required to avoid placing too much emphasis on team role specifics. There are also issues about the extent to which Belbin’s ideas travel across cultures.

Question 64

what is MBTi vs MTR-i?

Answer 64

Some psychologists, using the ideas of Carl Jung (1875–1961), have developed a sixteenfold categorisation of team roles.

• The first of these is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTi), and more recently another psychologist (also called Myers but not related) has developed and refined the Myers-Briggs model to show how different preferences come together to create the ingredients of a team. This is called the Management Team Roles Indicator (MTR-i) (Berens et al., 2004).
• Whereas the MBTi focuses on instinctively preferred behaviours, the MTR-i focuses on more transient aspects of personality. When Jung’s four preferences (Sensing, Intuition, Thinking and Feeling) are combined with the two orientations (extraversion and introversion), the result is the eight team roles measured by the Management Team Role Indicator (MTRi™) which is part of the Type Mapping™ system.

Question 65

what are Tuckman’s four stages?

Answer 65

• 1 Forming – at this stage the group is not fully a group but rather a collection of individuals. It is characterised by general talk about the purpose, identity, composition, lifespan, leadership and working arrangements of the group. Individuals are usually keen to make an impression on the group and establish their own personal identities.
• 2 Storming – most groups go through a period of conflict after an initial superficial consensus. At this stage, the purpose, leadership and other roles, working patterns and behaviour of the group or of its members may all be challenged. People’s individual goals, or ‘personal agendas’, may be revealed during this process and some interpersonal conflict is to be expected. This stage is particularly important in the formation of trust within the group – people are testing out each other and the group, and revealing more about themselves. If successfully handled, this stage leads to the formulation of more realistic goals and procedures.
• 3 Norming – this stage is characterised by the group establishing the norms and patterns of work under which it will operate, for example, how it should work, how decisions are taken and what degree of openness, trust and confidence are appropriate between members. There will probably be much tentative experimentation by people who are testing feelings and opinions within the group and establishing their level of commitment.
• 4 Performing – only when the previous three stages have been completed will the group be fully productive. Although some level of performance will have been achieved during earlier phases, output will have been diminished by the energy put into resolving the group processes and exploring individual objectives and roles. In many committees and groups that meet infrequently, the basic issues of objectives, procedures and appropriate leadership patterns are never fully resolved, and may continue to hinder the group, often leading to frustration and reduced effectiveness.

Question 66

what is Tuckman’s fifth stage?

Answer 66

Tuckman later added a fifth stage, ‘adjourning’, which recognises that groups and teams often disband or re-form into other groupings once a task has been completed, and it is necessary to recognise the characteristics of this stage as well (Tuckman and Jensen, 1977). People may be feeling uncertain about the future. They may be experiencing stress in the transition from one group setting to another, in parting from the group or in having nothing specific to move on to. Managers can help here by giving supportive feedback on past performance and by encouraging people to continue networking with former colleagues in the group. Social events to mark the end of the work of a group are valuable, too, not only as a way of marking the transition, but in interpersonal terms as well.

Question 67

what is Knight’s critique of Tuckman?

Answer 67

• However, more recent research by Knight (2006) examines Tuckman’s ideas and suggests that, much though his stages are used, they are not necessarily experienced by all teams.
• In particular, Knight found that very few teams followed the Tuckman model, although they did follow a variant of this. In particular, groups did not progress through the model in a linear way. Forming, norming and performing occurred alongside each other at 25 per cent of completing the task, norming at 40 per cent and performing at 45 per cent.
• Very little storming was observed. One area of work where effective team performance is often a life or death issue is the military, so it is not surprising that much research in this area has been conducted for the armed forces.
• Knight’s work was conducted in this setting, so it may be that these were highly disciplined teams. However, Tuckman himself observed little storming but explained this away by the artificial nature of the task in his own experiments.

Question 68

what are virtual teams?

Answer 68

• The formation of virtual teams allows organisations to draw talent quickly from different functions, locations and organisations (Duarte and Snyder, 2006). These approaches to team work have become possible through advances in information technology.
• Virtual teams can communicate from great distances or be part of a group that works in the same building (Duarte and Snyder, 2006).
• They rely on technology to make up for the lack of face-toface meeting and use email, voicemail, videoconferencing, internet and intranet technologies and various types of collaboration software to perform their work, although they might sometimes meet face to face (Daft, 2006).

Question 69

what are the challenges of virtual teams?

Answer 69

Virtual teams present several unique challenges for managers. Daft (2006, p. 775) suggests the following critical issues: .

• Selecting the right team members. The first step is creating a team of people who have the right mix of technical and interpersonal skills, task knowledge and personalities to work in a virtual environment. .
• Managing socialisation. People need to get to know one another and understand the appropriate behaviours and attitudes.
• . Fostering trust. An essential ingredient, as teams that exhibit high levels of trust tend to have clear roles and expectations of one another, get to know one another as individuals, and maintain positive action-orientated attitudes.
• Effectively managing communications. While frequent communication is essential, managers or team leaders need to understand when and how to use various forms of communication to best advantage.

Question 70

what are global teams?

Answer 70

• Govindarajan and Gupta (2001, p. 63) define global teams as ‘a cross-border team of individuals of different nationalities, working in different cultures, businesses and functions, who come together to coordinate some aspect of the multinational operation on a global basis’
• These types of teams also place challenges on managers to make them successful. Bringing people together from different nations means that they come with different values and beliefs, as well as the challenges of bridging gaps of time, distance and culture (Daft, 2006).
• Examples of challenges might include
  
  • members speaking different languages,
  • different technologies
  • different ideas about team work itself.
• Their success requires investment in resources and adequate time in preparation and orientation of the members at the beginning of the task.

Question 71

what are common problems in groups and teams?

Answer 71

• . hidden agendas .
• blind spots .
• group anxiety .
• ‘groupthink’.

Question 72

what are hidden agendas/blind spots?

Answer 72

• levels of ‘self-awareness’ between members of a group will differ. An individual will be aware of things that other members of the group are not aware of and vice versa.
• individuals bring their own objectives to groups.
• Things that an individual wants or expects from the group that the group does not know about are called hidden agendas.
• Common examples of hidden agendas include: .
  
  • someone using a meeting to impress another colleague .
  • someone resisting a proposal on spurious grounds because that person is not prepared to reveal the real reasons behind the resistance
  • someone using a meeting to embarrass or ‘put down’ another member of the group for personal reasons.
• The best way to handle hidden agendas is often to bring them into the open early on – at the storming stage of group development. For example, the group might have a round robin on ‘What are we personally hoping for from this project?’ or ‘What are our departments hoping to get out of this working party?’
• no guarantee that people will be open about their motives.

blind spot

• imbalance in self-awareness – when other group members know things about an individual that the individual does not realise him or herself – is a blind spot.
• A typical example of a blind spot is a situation where the group is unwilling to tell someone that the real reason why her or his offer of help is not being accepted is because no one believes that she or he can do it.
• One of the main reasons for blind spots is that the group members are afraid of hurting the feelings of another group member.
• while blind spots remain, the individual concerned is clearly disadvantaged.
• This individual can do nothing to challenge the assumptions of the rest of the group, or try to change his or her own behaviour.

​ both hidden agendas and blind spots can damage the effectiveness of groups. Increasing a group’s level of openness and ‘self-awareness’ of these problems can increase trust and release energy.

Question 73

what is involved in group anxiety?

Answer 73

• Group relationships are on the whole more stressful than individual relationships, and generally the larger the group, the greater the stress.
• People tend to feel exposed, on show, uncertain of where they fit in. This is particularly true in new groups and at large formal gatherings and meetings.
• There is less opportunity for immediate confirmation and feedback from other people and more space for fantasies to grow about what other people think or intend.
• People may: .
  
  • talk too much through embarrassment . intellectualise to get away from the anxious feelings .
  • chat to a neighbour to get some personal contact .
  • be so worried that they cannot listen and then ask irrelevant questions .
  • turn up late because they are worried about coming at all, or as a form of silent protest .
  • make bad jokes at inopportune moments .
  • attack and criticise others because they are afraid of being attacked themselves .
  • stray from the point because they are too anxious to concentrate .
  • smooth over all difficulties, try to keep things ‘nice’ and avoid confrontation .
  • continually apologise for themselves.
• More seriously, people may: .
  
  • withdraw, hide, try to become inconspicuous .
  • look for someone stronger to protect them or ally themselves with the person most likely to win, regardless of the ally’s views .
  • look for someone to attack and begin hostilities against the nearest likely victim – scapegoating
    *

Question 74

what is involved in group think?

Answer 74

• Groupthink is a term that was coined by Irving Janis, who was intrigued by how teams arrive at devastating decisions by ignoring evidence that might suggest that what they are planning to do or have done is ill-advised (Janis, 1972).
• By far some of the most famous cases include decisions to take military action when circumstances make a successful outcome highly unlikely, for example, the ‘Bay of Pigs’ attempted invasion of Cuba in 1961.
• More recent suggested examples include the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster (Esser and Lindoerfer, 1989, pp. 167–77) and the 2006 Nimrod disaster (Sengupta, 2009).
• In each case warnings were sounded about the dangers, but these were ignored.
• Janis suggests that under certain conditions commitment to the group overrides ability to assess situations realistically. These conditions are:
• The group faces a situation where an important decision has to be made, under severe time pressure.
• 2 The group is already fairly cohesive.
• 3 The group has a tendency to isolate itself from outsiders.
• 4 The leader has a preferred solution, which the group actively pursues.

groupthink can be recognised by the following symptoms: .

• an exaggerated sense of the group’s importance and a feeling of invulnerability . unanimity .
• the rationalising away of less-preferred options
• . appeals to morality .
• stereotyping of opponents in negative terms . pressure on members to conform .
• self-censorship of doubts.

Question 75

what are the layers in organisational conflict?

Answer 75

• Misunderstandings These are differences and conflicts resulting from genuine misconceptions about what is said or implied – people ‘getting hold of the wrong end of the stick’.
• Differences in values and beliefs People’s values and beliefs influence how they view and act on the world. Differences in values are likely to manifest themselves in disagreements over how the organisation should be run. For example, people may disagree over whether to accept sponsorship or assistance from particular companies.
• Differences in interest These arise primarily from competition for scarce ‘goods’ and resources. These ‘goods’ may be things that people want as individuals: status, power and position, or the difference can arise as departments or sections compete for limited resources in the organisation.
• Interpersonal differences For all kinds of reasons, people can have difficulty in ‘getting on’ with others – differences in personality, temperament or style may be involved. A ‘personality clash’ is the usual term for it.
• Feelings and emotions It is difficult to separate hurt feelings from the content of that with which we disagree. Equally, conflict itself can arouse strong emotions and lead to further conflict. Emotions aroused in one situation can easily spill over into another situation, and often we only realise after the turbulent meeting that it was what we represented there that was attacked, rather than us personally

Question 76

what are the signs of potential hidden conflict?

Answer 76

• coolness or rigid formality in relations between the individuals or groups involved .
• difficult or uncomfortable silences at meetings
• . issues that seem to keep coming back on the agenda of meetings time after time but never seem to be resolved .
• an unwillingness to communicate between individuals or groups .
• one individual or group ‘putting down’ another
• the withdrawal of parties from discussions and the avoidance of certain issues .
• constant referral to formal rules and procedures.

Question 77

what are five approaches to addressing conflict?

Answer 77

• Ignoring The uncertainty and varied emotions that are frequently involved in conflict can lead to uncomfortable feelings of anxiety or threat. One way of trying to escape these difficulties is to ignore the problem. In many cases this may not matter – the conflict may not be very deep or it may be a result of healthy differences of opinion. However, the danger is that the conflict may be destructive, in which case your failure to deal with it may be seen as an avoidance of your managerial responsibilities.
• Allowing If the conflict is constructive, or likely to be temporary or relatively trivial, then you might deliberately allow it to run its course. If emotions are aroused or if people’s feelings are hurt and they are upset, you might want to take some action to help smooth the situation. This may involve giving individuals support, allowing them to explain their feelings and encouraging them to put the conflict in perspective. Alternatively, if you are not sure how the conflict will develop, you may prefer to adopt a watching brief, allowing the conflict to happen but keeping an eye on it in case it becomes destructive and you need to intervene.
• Reducing or containing Strategies aimed at reducing or containing the conflict can be further divided into short-term, ‘quick fix’ responses and medium-term responses that will probably be more effective in the long term. Short-term strategies would include persuasion, coercion, arbitration and buying-off. Medium-term strategies include separating the parties, mediation, appeals and confrontation.
• Resolving Resolving strategies aim to find a longer-term resolution to the conflict. They not only try to deal with the present problem, but also create the conditions where destructive conflict is less likely to occur in future. This may be done by establishing common goals, organisational restructuring, improving communication and integrative bargaining.
• Preventing Probably the most effective way of dealing with destructive conflict is to try to prevent it happening in the first place. Given that people and groups will always have differences, and sometimes irreconcilable ones, how can you achieve this? The answer is that you cannot achieve it with certainty but that your best chance will lie in encouraging a climate in which people seek win–win solutions rather than win–lose solutions.

Question 78

how to defend against groupthink?

Answer 78

• First, try to ensure that important groups contain people with some diversity of opinions.
• Second, try to aim for a moderate, rather than a high degree of consensus in the group.
• If there is a high degree of consensus, then invite one or two people to play the role of devil’s advocate, taking up contrary views for the sake of argument.
• Alternatively, new members with different ideas could be invited into the group – the disadvantage here being that the group would need to reform, which, of course, takes time.