unit 04 - group dynamics

7/29/2019 Unit 04 - Group Dynamics

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Unit 04 GroupDynamics

Sociology of Organization


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Group

A group is any collection of individuals who have

mutually dependent relationships.

It refers to a collection of two or more interacting

individuals with a stable pattern of relationships

between them, who share common goals and who

perceive themselves as being a group.


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Group

A group is two or more persons who are

interacting with one another in such amanner that each person influences and is

influenced by each other person

-Marvin Shaw


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Types of Groups


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Groups may be classified into different types. The basis of

differentiation may be based on purpose, extent of

structuring and process of formation, membership and size ofthe group.

The groups are classified as:

Primary Groups and Secondary Groups

Formal and Informal Groups

Membership and Reference Groups

Command and Task Groups

In-Groups and Out-Groups

Open and Closed Groups


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Primary Groups

A Primary Group is characterized by intimate, face to

face association and co-operation.

The membership of such a group is small and is

based on intimate relationship.

For Ex: Family, Friendship Groups or NeighbourhoodGroups.


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Secondary Groups

A Secondary Group is more formal, general and remote.

The members of the secondary group may not have any

interest in the problems and pleasures of others.

The continuous interaction, intimacy, face-to-face

interaction, co-operation and association of Primary Groups

may not be found in Secondary Group.

For Ex: employment, vendor-to-client relationships, etc.


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Formal Groups A Group that is officially, deliberately and consciously

created to perform certain tasks is know as Formal Groups.

It refers to the structure of well-defined jobs each bearing a

definite authority, responsibility and accountability.

Such a group has a hierarchical structure.

The members of the group are allotted definite tasks.

They have to adhere to certain rules and regulations.


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Formal Groups

It is also known as Command Group.

Every superior has subordinates to whom he delegates

authority to enable them to carry out the tasks assigned.

For the performance of the tasks by the subordinates, the

superior is answerable to his own superior.

For Ex: Departments, task forces, project groups, board of

directors.


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Characteristics of Formal Groups

A Specific Function

Norms

Division of Labour

Authority

Bureaucracy

Rationality

Tests of Membership

Substitution


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Formal Groups

According to Classical theorists, the formal

organization is built on Four Pillars:

I. Division of Labour

II. Scalar and Functional Processes

III. Structure

IV. Span of Control


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Characteristics of Formal Organization

Organization structure is designed by the top managementto fulfil certain requirements- performance of necessary

activities thereby achieving organizational goals.

Organization Structure is based on the principle of Division

of Labour and efficiency in operation.

Organisation concentrates more on the performance of the

jobs, and not on the individuals performing the job.


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Characteristics of Formal Organization

The authority and responsibility assigned to each job

have to be adhered to by the job holders. Based on

the concept of authority and responsibility, people

are placed in hierarchy and their status iddetermined accordingly.

Coordination among members and their control are

well specified through process procedures, rules, etc.


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Informal Group

An Informal Group is one that is unofficially created, it

arises owing to personal relationships between the

individuals in an organization.

Factors such as friends, language, religion and hobbies,

personal likes and dislikes influence the formation of

informal groups.

Informal Groups maintain and strengthen the values and

beliefs of their members.


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Informal Groups The provide a feeling of security to the members and help

them interact with one another.

They further strive to solve work related problems.

For Ex: Clubs


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Types of Informal Groups

Friend Group: The Friendship Group emerge to meet

the Social affiliation needs of members for belonging,

for affection, acceptance, etc.

Interest Group: Emerge to pursue certain goals and

interest. Few members in an organization may band

together to protect their interest. For Ex: A volley ball

group.


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Characteristics of Informal

Organization

Informal organization is a natural outcome at theworkplace, it is not designed and planned.

Informal organization is created on the basis of similarityamong its members. The basis of similarity may be age,sex, place of origin, caste, religion, personality

characteristics, likes and dislikes etc.

Membership in an informal organization is voluntary, aperson may become member of several informalorganization at the same time.


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Characteristics of Informal Groups

Behaviour of members of the informal organization is

coordinated and controlled by group norms and not by the

norms of the formal organization.


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Membership Groups

A Membership Group is one which an individual

really belongs.

An individual may be member of several groups at atime but he may not participate actively in all such

groups but he would like to participate in that whose

norms are more attractive and gratifying.

Ex: Literary Group, History Club, Golf Club


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Reference Groups

Reference Group is one with which the individual

identifies or to which he would like to belong.

The attractiveness of the Reference Group makes thenorms of that group more attractive to the individuals

who aspire to it and its norms will become more

influential in determining behaviour.

They have more relevance to organizational behaviour


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Command Groups

A command group is composed of the subordinates

who report directly to a common superior.

This type of group is determined by organizationchart.

Ex: College Principal and Teachers


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Task Groups

A task group is comprised of employees who work

together to complete a particular task or project.

Task Group is usually formed to solve a problem orperform an activity, thus membership of the group

may extend beyond the hierarchical command of a

superior.


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In-Groups

The In-Groups represent a clustering of individual

holding prevailing values in a society or at least

having a dominant place in social functioning.

It can be a majority numerically, or it may represent

the power structure with it a pattern of behaviour

considered desirable.


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Out-Groups

The Out-Group is the conglomerate looked as

subordinate or marginal in the society it is usually

referred to as the minority group even though in

certain instances, it may represent the numericalmajority.


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Open Groups

An open Group is one that is in a constant state of change.

Its membership keeps fluctuating, i.e. existing members

may leave and new members may join.

The group accepts the ideas of the new members and may

slowly give up certain old practices, in view of such trend ,

the group can have plans and proposals only for a shortperiod of time.

Open Groups faces conditions of imbalance and instability


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Closed Groups

A closed group is one that is stable.

It maintains stable membership and does not shed

established practices. It therefore can have proposalsfor a fairly longer period of time.

It does not face conditions of imbalance andinstability.


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Importance of Groups


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Delegate Tasks

Working in a group allows members to share

responsibilities, rather than the brunt of the work

falling in the hands of one person.

Instead, group members can delegate tasks to

individuals who possess the knowledge, skills and

abilities necessary to accomplish the task

successfully.


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Spark Creativity

Group work helps spark creativity in the minds of thegroup members giving them a wider range of ideas asthey work to come up with solutions for organizationalproblems.

Individuals may go into a group with ideas, but with thehelp of the group, their ideas get expanded upon andturned into creative, attainable, strategic or timely

solutions.


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Share Diverse Opinions

Group work gives members an opportunity to explore diverse

opinions, which can provide different points of view, as they

work to solve problems.

One group member may consider an option or have a stance

that other members of the group have not considered.

With diverse experiences and knowledge, group work ensuresthat problems are not solved using one person's input.


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Learn to Combine

Group work teaches members the essence of

compromising and not insisting upon their own ways.

As group members come up with solutions, they work toincorporate the ideas and opinions of the group in their

final decisions.


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Combine Skills

Groups are composed of individuals who may share

some of the same knowledge and skills, however,

oftentimes, members come from different educational

backgrounds and have different work and volunteer

experiences, which uncovers strengths that one group

member may have, while others are lacking.


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Build Relationships

Working in a group can help individuals build long-lasting

relationships based on trust and loyalty.

As group members, people learn about thecommonalities they share and differences, which leads

them to seek group members they can build

relationships with even outside of the group.


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Nature of Groups

Shaw has summarized various definitions of groups into four


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Shaw has summarized various definitions of groups into fourcategories.

First, group is defined as consisting of individuals whoperceive the existence of a group & their membership in it.

Second, group is defined on the basis of a common

motivation or goal.

Third, this class of definitions looks to the structure of thegroupthe relationships and ties among group members

which bind them into a group.

Fourth, this definition perceives the central element of agroup to be interacting among its members.

This approach Shaw finds most acceptable and defines group as


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This approach, Shaw finds most acceptable and defines group as

two more persons who are interacting with one another in such

a manner that each person influences and is influenced by each

other. This definition may be expanded further to include

qualifications, as identified by Shepherd.

Firstly, the small group is a kind of social phenomenon which is

more enduring and tighter than social relationship but is looseror less organized than a formal organization.

Second, a group should be large enough so its members

feel a sense of common identity and mutual awareness.This size of a group cannot be prescribed in terms of exact

number of persons.

However as small group increases in size it reaches


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However as small group increases in size, it reachessome upper limit where the group altered so that itsmembers establish some formal rules and regulations

and group members more like a formal organization.

Third, the small group, apart from its size, possessessome other characteristics. Moreover, it is not

necessary that a group can be informal only, aspointed out by Shepherd.

Thus, a group may be defined as the aggregation ofsmall number of persons who work for commongoals, develop a shared attitude, and are aware thatthey are part of a group and perceive themselves as

such.


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Group Dynamics


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Group Dynamics

In simple terms group dynamics refers to the study offorces operating within the group.

The social process by which people interact face to face insmall groups is called group dynamics.

Group dynamics is concerned with the interaction of the

individual in a face to face relationship.


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Group Dynamics It focuses on the team work where in small groups are

constantly in contact with each other and share common

ideas to accomplish the given tasks.

The group develops in its goals clearly and furnishessuggestions to its members for the accomplishment of

goals.

Every goal chooses its leader who may effectively

coordinate group efforts towards accomplishment of these

objectives.


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Group Dynamics

Group dynamics can be studied based on different views of KURTLEWIN.

NORMATIVE VIEW : is that group dynamics which describes how

a group should be organized and conducted.

VIEW THAT TAKES GROUP DYNAMICS AS A SET OF TECHIQUES:here role playing, brain storming, buzz groups, group therapy,

sensitively training, team building are traditionally equated with

group dynamics.

Third view: this is closest to Lewin s conception group dynamicsis viewed from the perspective of the maternal nature of groups,

how they form their structural and processes and how they

function and affect the individual member, other groups and the

organization.


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How Group Dynamics

Influence and Affect theWorking of the Organization??


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Organizational Goals and Tasks

Just like individual and groups, organizations are formed topursue certain goals which are at once sources of co-

operation and conflict.

such goals as survival, self-reliance, freedom of action,

adaptation, unity and the like, tend to be shared by group

members as goals. Organizations undertake certain tasks to

achieve their goals.

Tasks may be differentiated in some way: Tasks vary in their

complexity, skill requirements, co-operation requirements,

specificity, measurability and divisibility.


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Assumption and Assignment of Roles

The term role is defined as a set of behaviours

expected of a member who occupies a particular position

in a organization. For ex: the role expected of a senior in

an organization is different than a junior.

The expected role of each member in a group is explicitly

or implicitly indicated .

Roles also differ in the degree of their clarity and

compatibility.


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Leadership in Organization

Informal leaders emerge in an organization by commonconsent. They reflect and shape the views and values of

members.

They tend to command more influence and power than

formal leaders. They gain confidence and acceptance of

organization members by virtue of their personality traits,

abilities and skills.

In general, leaders in organization are expected to interact

more intensely and frequently with group members.


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Leadership in Organization

They are also expected to undertake functions such

as providing emotional support and sense of

direction to members, facilitating tasks to perform

for achieving goals, enforcing norms or behaviour tomaintain the entity, unity and autonomy of the

organization, building the organization image and

strength and creating climate in which members

derive some social satisfaction.


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It refers to the situation where people interact in

large or small groups, it happens that some groups

perform well and result into social loafing.

This happens because there are several factors, both

within groups and outside these, which affect group

performance.


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Factors Affecting Group Behaviour

Physical Proximity

Age and Experience

Social Background

Ethnicity

Status of Job


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External Conditions


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External Conditions A group is not an independent but is created by an organization

to perform certain specified work. Thus, A group has to work

within the framework provided by the organization.

Organizational factors that impose conditions for group working

are organizations strategy, its resources, rules and regulations,authority structure, performance evaluation and reward

systems, physical work setting, and culture.

To the extent these are positive, group performance will bepositive. In alternative scenario, group performance will be

negative.


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Group Structure


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Group Structure A group is not unorganized mob of few individuals but a

conscious and purposive creation. Therefore, the group must

have structure just like an organization has structure, in simpleterm; structure is the pattern in which various parts or

components of an object are interrelated or interconnected.

In the case of the physical object, such a pattern is visible but in

case of a social object like work group, this is not visible.Therefore, the structure of a work group has deducted from its

various components and how they work.

These are group composition, group size, roles, leadership,

group norms, group cohesiveness and status. All these affect

group performance.


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Group Composition The composition of a group plays a important role in

determining group performance.

Group composition is most often defined in terms of

homogeneity of the group members.

A group is homogeneous if the members are similar in one or

several ways that are critical to the work of the group, such as

age, work experience, education, technical specialty, etc. in aheterogeneous group, the members differ in one or more ways

that are critical to the work of the group.


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Group Size

A group can have as few as two members as can interact

meaningfully and influence one another.

Group size can have an important effect on groupperformance.


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What are norms?


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What are norms?

Norms are more encompassing than roles.

While roles involve behaviouralexpectations for specific positions, norms

help organizational members determine

right from wrong and good from bad.

Definition of Norm


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Definition of Norm

Norms are Shared attitudes, opinions, feelings, or actions

that guide social behaviour (that is by two or more people

that guides their(Group) behaviour).

According to Michael Argyle:

"Group norms are rules or guidelines of accepted behaviour

which are established by a group and used to monitor the

behaviour of its members".


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Group Norms in simple


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Group Norms in simple

terms, Group members follow standards of behaviour that they all agree on. Once these standards have been accepted by everyone in the group, they become

norms.

Norms determine how the members should or should not behave in certain

circumstances.

Norms represent value judgments about appropriate behaviour in social situations.

Although they are infrequently written down or even discussed, norms have

powerful influence on group behaviour.

Norms guide behaviour and reduce ambiguity in groups.


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Although Norms are typically unwritten and seldom discussed openly,

they have a powerful influence on group and organizational behaviour.

For example, groups establish performance normssome groups push

each other to work hard, others to see who can do the least; appearance

norms as to what is acceptable and unacceptable; and norms regarding

punctuality and loyalty to the organization.


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Th i i ti b f li d


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The norms in an organization may be formalized or

informal norms.


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While norms of a functional

nature help achieve

organizational goals.

Norms of a dysfunctional

nature do just the reverse.

Though every work group has

a unique set of norms, there

are certain classes of norms

that are common to most

work groups.

Thus,depending on their effectiveness, informal norms can be functional

or dysfunctional in nature.


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Behaviour Norms

Behaviour norms are rules that standardise how individuals act while

working on a day-to-day basis.

Examples are:"do not come to committee meetings unless you have read the reports to be'"discussed"', "greet every customer with a smile'', etc.

These norms tend to reflect motivation, commitment to the organization andtherefore result in high level of performance.

Performance Norms Performance norms are rules that standardize employee output and

number of hours worked.

The Development of


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The Development of

Norms Norms usually develop slowly as groups learn those behaviours that

will facilitate their activities. However, this slow development can be

short-circuited by critical events or by a group's decision to change

norms.

Most norms develop in one or more of four ways:

(1) Explicit statements by supervisors or co-workers;

(2) Critical events in the group's history;

(3) Primacy, or by virtue of their introduction early in the group's

history; and

(4) Carryover behaviours from past situations.


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Norms tend to be enforced by group


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Norms tend to be enforced by groupmembers when they

Help the group or organization survive.

Clarify or simplify behavioural expectations.

Help individuals avoid embarrassing situations.

Clarify the groups or organizations central values and/or

unique identity.


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Uniqueness of Group Norms

The norms of one group cannot be easily mixed withanother group.

Some differences are primarily due to the difference in

structure of the groups.

However, even very similar work groups may develop

different norms

The members of one group may be friendly with their

supervisor whereas those of another group may not.


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Norm Conformity

Norms have the power to force a certain degree ofconformity.

There are several factors consist of norm conformity, whichare as follows:

Some groups may exert more pressure for conformity than

others because of the personalities of the group members.

The history of the group and its members also plays a part

in conformity.


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Aspects of Group Norms

Prescriptive norms: define the socially appropriate way to

respond in a social situation.

Example: Food should be shared equally, Follow the orders ofthe leader.

Proscriptive norms: in contrast are prohibitions; they define the

types of actions that should be avoided if at all possible,

Example: Do not take more than your share of food and water


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Group Cohesiveness


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Group cohesiveness refers to the extent which the members of

a group are attached to each other and willing to remain within

the group.


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L d hi


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Leadership

If the leader is capable, he will be able to secure cohesioneasily among members.


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Si f G


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Size of Group

When the size of the group increases, securing cohesion

among members becomes difficult.

L ti f G


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Location of Group

Vague lines between different groups have a negativeeffect on group cohesion.


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C titi


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Competition

While intergroup competition (between 2 differentgroups) is constructive for the groups cohesiveness,

intra-group competition will be detrimental to the

groups stability and therefore, cohesiveness.


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Increasing the membership of like minded persons:

Measures to Increase Group


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p

Cohesiveness

Increasing interaction among the members:



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p

Cohesiveness

Taking care of the group size: If the group is unwieldy, securingconsensus among the members is sure to become difficult. It is,

therefore, necessary to take care of the group size.



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p

Cohesiveness

Encouraging competition among groups:


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Meaning


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Meaning

Group decision making is an activity based on the old adagetwo heads are better than one.

It permits many persons simultaneously to interact and to arrive

at a decision. In group decision making, there can be either

consensus among the members of the group or the decision can

be arrived at through simple majority unless the group

prescribes any other mode of majority. Consensus implies that

all members must agree to the proposed decision, whereas

majority vote implies that it is enough for the majority of the

group members to agree on the decision arrived at.

Process of decision making


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Process of decision making


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While generating the alternatives, the concept of limiting

factor should be applied. A limiting factor is one which stands

in the way of accomplishing a desired objective. If these

factors are identified, managers will confine their search for

alternatives to those which will overcome the limiting factors.

A decision maker can use several sources for identifying

alternatives: his own past experience, practices followed by

others and using creative techniques.

Evaluation of Alternatives


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Evaluation of Alternatives

After the various alternatives are identified, the next step is to

evaluate them and select the one that will meet the choice

criteria.

In narrowing down the number of alternatives, two approachescan be followed: constraint on alternatives and grouping of

alternatives of similar nature.

Having narrowed down the alternatives which require seriousconsideration, the decision maker will go for evaluating how

each alternative may contribute towards the objectives

supposed to be achieved by implementing the decision.

Evaluation of various alternatives dissects an alternative into


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Evaluation of various alternatives dissects an alternative into

various tangible and intangible factors.

Tangible factors are those which can be quantified because they

are quite obvious like the cost per unit, investment required,

output to be received, etc.

Intangible factors are mostly qualitative and cannot be

measured in terms of quantity. For example, in a plant location,

various non-economic factors like psychological problem arising

out of displacement of persons from the plant sight, ecological

balance, etc.

Choice of alternative


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Choice of alternative The evaluation of various alternatives presents a clear picture

as to how each one of them contributes to the objectives

under question. A comparison is made among the likely

outcomes of various alternatives and the best one is chosen.

Choice aspect of decision making is related to deciding the

most acceptable alternative which fits with the organizational

objectives. It may be seen that the chosen alternative should

be acceptable in the light of the organizational objectives.

Thus, it is not necessary that the chosen alternative is the best

one. In choosing an alternative, the decision maker can go

through three approaches: experience, experimentation and

research and analysis.


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Implementation of a decision required the communication to


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Implementation of a decision required the communication to

subordinates, getting acceptance of subordinates over the

matter involves in the decision and getting their support forputting the decision into action.

The decision should be effected at appropriate time and in

proper way to make the action more effective. Theeffectiveness of action is important because it is the only

effective action through which organizational objectives can

be achieved and right decisions help in effective action.


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The feed back may also help I reviewing the decision when


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The feed back may also help I reviewing the decision when

conditions change which may require changes in decision.

Therefore, a successful manager is one who keeps a close lookat the objectives and results of the decision and modifies his

decision according to the changes in the situations.


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Quality of Decision: Group decision making generally leads to


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Quality of Decision: Group decision making generally leads to

higher quality solutions unless an individual has expertise in the

decision area and this is identifies in advance.

Climate of decision making: Supportive climate encourage

group problem solving whereas competitive climate stimulates

individual problem solving.

Time availability: Group decision making is a time consuming

process and therefore when time at the disposal is sufficient,

group decision making can be preferred.

Merits of group decision making


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process

Every member of the group will come out with his views on theproblem considered. The problem , therefore, can be

thoroughly discussed and the best solution can be found out.

Such an advantage is not available in the case of individual

decisions.

The decision of the group, usually, will not be a biased one. This

is because every member of the group has his own ideals and

values. No member can impose his views on others. There is

always a chance for bias in individual decisions.


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The group usually consists of members who represent different

segment of an organization. Therefore, each member will

ensure that injustice is not done to segment he represents.

The process of group decisions making also provides scope for

proper coordination and cooperation among the members.Every member has to take the other members into confidence

when he discusses any issues.

Group decisions enjoy a greater sense of acceptability thanindividual decisions.


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It is also possible that a few influential members of the group


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It is also possible that a few influential members of the group

may try to put pressure on others and get their consent.

Group decisions are always expensive when compared to the

individual decisions in terms of time, money and efforts

required.

Conflicts may also arise between the members of the group

which may affect the decision of the group

unit 04 - group dynamics

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