MGT 315 Groups and Teams

team

2 or more people who work interdependently over some time period to accomplish common goals related to some task-oriented purpose

functional and divisional

2 types of task decomposition

surface level and deep level

2 types of team diversity

Asch effect

A form of conformity in which a group majority influences individual judgment

work team

A relatively permanent team in which members work together to produce goods and/or provide services; generally require full time commitment from their team members

inputs and processes (IPO model)

Are teams good or bad for performance (outputs)? Depends on...

A

At Bark Shape industries, each employee has a workspace in which to debark logs used to make rustic homes and patio furniture. The policy is that everyone on a team must remain at his or her workstation until everyone has secured the logs they were working on. At the end of the shift, everyone on team C is ready to go home, but they are waiting on Felipe, who still has not secured his logs. Exceeding the time allocated in a shift hurts the production rating of a team. Team C is witnessing a(n) _____ task. Multiple Choice A.conjunctive B.disjunctive C.subtractive D.additive E.virtual

-coordination costs -competition -conflict -conformity -group think -social loafing

team possible disadvantages/ process losses

stronger

team work commitment is ? when there is a complex task

weaker

team work commitment is ? when there is a simple task

task interdependence

the degree to which team members interact with and rely on other team members for the information, materials, and resources needed to accomplish work for the team

Groupthink

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives; avoiding a critical evaluation of ideas the group favors

management team

coordinate activities of departments or functional areas to achieve long term goals

parallel team

provide recommendations and resolve issues; part time committees

A

Charles is an accountant at a large firm. His boss has instituted a plan designed to create high levels of task interdependence. Which of the following is NOT something Charles should be prepared for? Multiple Choice A.The team being less able to adapt to new situations. B.Spending more time communicating with members of his team. C.Spending more time coordinating with members of his team. D.More knowledge will be shared among workers. E.Decreases in team productivity.

A

Deep-level diversity has positive effects on team creativity when Multiple Choice A.team members are instructed to take the perspective of their teammates. B.all team members are highly conscientious. C.there are no team members exhibiting individualistic roles. D.team size is more than 15 people. E.there are fewer than three fault lines in the team.

B

Diversity can be both beneficial and harmful to team performance. Which of the following is one of the benefits typically attributed to diversity in teams? A.Increased team cohesion B.Decreased conformity and groupthink C.More effective communication D.Quicker decision making

think decision making

How to minimize process loss?

B

John F. Kennedy's decision to go forward with the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, NASA's decision to launch the space shuttle Challenger in unusually cold weather, and Enron's board of directors' decisions to ignore illegal accounting practices are famous examples of A.noise. B.groupthink. C.team process. D.network structure. E.communication complexity.

B

Nominal group technique decreases social loafing and production blocking—problems with brainstorming—by Multiple Choice A.making people pool their ideas in a face-to-face meeting. B.making people write down ideas on their own. C.discouraging bad ideas in the meeting. D.making people agree to one idea generated in a face-to-face meeting E.making people speak in turns during all face-to-face meetings.

D

One way to potentially prevent problems associated with too much cohesion is to formally institute the role of a(n) _____, a person who is responsible for evaluating and challenging prevailing points of view in a constructive manner and also bringing in fresh perspectives and ideas to the team. Multiple Choice A.mediator B.arbitrator C.mental model D.devil's advocate E.conflict appraiser

-increased performance -social or effective benefits

Teams possible advantages/ process gains

A

_____ can be beneficial to teams if it stimulates conversations that result in the development and expression of new ideas. Multiple Choice A.Task conflict B.Relationship conflict C.Noise D.Groupthink E.Social loafing

C

_____ diversity refers to diversity regarding observable attributes such as race, ethnicity, sex, and age. Multiple Choice A.Disjunctive B.Additive C.Surface-level D.Conjunctive E.Deep-level

B

___________ is the phenomenon occurring when members of a team exert less effort when working on team tasks than they would if they worked alone on those same tasks. Multiple Choice A.Groupthink B.Social loafing C.Self-serving bias D.Social facilitation E.Framing effect

A

_____________ tasks depend on the abilities of the "weakest link." Multiple Choice A.Conjunctive B.Subjunctive C.Disjunctive D.Indicative E.Additive

surface-level diversity

differences in easily perceived characteristics, such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, or disability, that do not necessarily reflect the ways people think or feel but that may activate certain stereotypes

deep-level diversity

differences such as personality and attitudes that are communicated through verbal and nonverbal behaviors and are learned only through extended interaction with others; values, education, training, etc.

-synergy -development -resource pooling -cooperation

examples of process gains?

-groupthink -social loafing -conformity -relationship conflict -task conflict

examples of process losses?

accountability systems and team size (no group should be larger than needed)

groups can increase accountability and decrease social loafing and self censoring through...

prior to discussion

groups can increase anonymity and decrease the asch effect, conformity, and agreeability through talking about this...

devil's advocate

groups can increase criticality and decrease group think through utilizing...

IPO Model

inputs (types of teams), processes (how inputs are combined), outcomes (outputs of team performance)

leader-staff teams

leader makes decisions for the team and provides direction; responsibilities of leaders and team are distinct

project team

one time task teams; generally complex and require a lot of input from different types of training backgrounds

action teams

perform tasks for a limited duration; ex) musical group

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable; decrease in individual effort decreases as group size increases

devil's advocate

this can reduce groupthink and ensures that people discuss ideas critically

functional

type of task decomposition; jack of all trades; one place; ex) each student does one part of the process for all 4 industries

divisional

type of task decomposition; master of one, every place; ex)each student does all 4 parts of process for one of the industries

pooled interdependence

type of task interdependence; lowest degree of required coordination and interdependence; complete work independently

reciprocal interdependence

type of task interdependence; members are specialized; interact with subset of members (marketing, design, etc.); no strict sequence of activities

sequential interdependence

type of task interdependence; members are specialized; tasks completed in an order; ex) assembly line

comprehensive interdependence

type of task interdependence; requires highest level of coordination and interdependence