Lindsay Flaherty - Management Chapter 9

Status

A prestige grading, position, or rank within a group. As far back as scientists have been able to trace human groupings, they've found status hierarchies between tribal chiefs and their followers, nobles and peasants, and the haves and the have-nots.

Does the desire to be accepted as a part of a group leave one susceptible to conforming to the group's norms or exert pressure that's strong enough to change a member's attitude and behavior?

According to the research of Solomon Asch, the answer appears to be yes. Asch's study involved groups of seven or eight people who sat in a classroom and were asked to compare two cards held by an investigator. One card had one line; the other had three lines of varying lengths. As shown here in Exhibit 10-4, one of the lines on the three-line card was identical to the line on the one-line card. The difference in line length was obvious so that under ordinary conditions subjects made errors of less than 1 percent. The object of the task was to announce aloud which of the three lines matched the single line. Interestingly, when all the members of the group deliberately gave incorrect answers, about 35 percent of the subjects altered their answers to align with the group. The Asch study provides managers with considerable insight into group behaviors. To diminish the negative aspects of conformity, managers should create a climate of openness in which employees are free to discuss problems without fear of retaliation.

Cohesiveness

Another group structural element that may create special challenges for managers because global teams exhibit higher levels of mistrust, miscommunication, and stress.

Norms

Are acceptable standards shared by the group's members.

Conformity

Are culture-bound. As might be expected, conformity to social norms tends to be higher in collectivistic cultures than in individualistic cultures.

Command Group

Are determined by the organization chart and composed of individuals who report directly to a given manager.

Self-Managed Teams

Are essentially independent. In addition to their own tasks, they take on traditional managerial responsibilities such as hiring, planning and scheduling, and evaluating performance.

Cross-functional teams

Bring together the knowledge and skills of individuals from various work areas, or are groups whose members have been trained to do each other's jobs.

How have global teams caused challenges for managers?

Few trends have influenced how work gets done as much as the use of work teams in organizations. The shift from working alone to working in teams requires employees to cooperate with others, share information, confront differences, and sublimate personal interests for the greater good of the team. Managers build effective teams by understanding what influences performance and satisfaction. However, managers today also face challenges such as managing global teams and understanding when teams aren't the answer.

What are larger groups better at (12 or more members)?

Finding facts with facts Getting jobs done Gaining diverse input

What are the 5 stages of group development?

Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning

Does a group become more effective as it progresses through the first four stages?

Of course, some groups don't get much beyond the forming or storming stages. These groups may have serious interpersonal conflicts, turn in disappointing work, and get poor performance reviews. The assumption that a group becomes more effective as it progresses through the first four stages may be generally true, but what makes a group effective is complex. Under some conditions, high levels of conflict are conducive to high levels of group performance. There might be situations in which groups in the storming stage outperform those in the norming or performing stages. Also, groups don't always proceed sequentially from one stage to the next. Sometimes groups are storming and performing at the same time. Groups even occasionally regress to previous stages. Therefore, don't assume that all groups precisely follow this process or that performing is always the most preferable stage. Think of the group development model as a general framework that underscores the fact that groups are dynamic entities. Managers need to know the stage a group is in so they can understand the problems and issues that are most likely to surface.

Group cohesiveness

The degree to which members are attracted to one another and share the group's goals. However, the relationship between cohesiveness and effectiveness is complex. A key moderating variable is the degree to which the group's attitude aligns with its formal goals or the goals of the larger organization. The more cohesive a group, the more its members will follow its goals.

Status

Varies between cultures. Countries differ on the criteria that confer status. For instance, in Latin America and Asia, status tends to come from family position and formal roles held in organizations. In contrast, while status is important in countries like the United States and Australia, it tends to be given based on accomplishments. Managers must understand who and what holds status when interacting with people from a culture different from their own.

Trust

Which facilitates cooperation, reduces the need to monitor each other's behavior, and bonds members around the belief that others on the team won't take advantage of them.

The four contextual factors that appear to be most significantly related to team performance are:

Adequate resources Leadership and structure A climate of trust, Performance evaluation and reward systems.

Is diversity beneficial or a consequence for team effectiveness?

Although many view diversity as desirable, research seems to show the opposite. One review found that studies on diversity in teams from the last 50 years have shown that surface-level differences such as race/ethnicity, gender, and age tend to have negative effects on team performance. However, some evidence does show that the disruptive effects of diversity decline over time, but it doesn't confirm that diverse teams always perform better in the long run.

Why are status systems important?

Are important factors in understanding behavior. Status is a significant motivator that has behavioral consequences when individuals see a disparity between what they perceive their status to be and what others perceive it to be. Anything can have status value if others in the group admire it. Members of groups often place people into status categories, and they usually agree about who's high, low, and in the middle. It's important for employees to believe that there is equity or congruence between the perceived ranking of an individual and the status symbols he or she is given by the organization.

Task Group

Are often temporary and are composed of individuals brought together to complete a specific job task.

What is an informal group?

Are social groups that occur naturally in the workplace and tend to form around friendships and common interests.

Problem-Solving Teams

Are teams from the same department or functional area involved in efforts to improve work activities or to solve specific problems. Members share ideas or offer suggestions on how work processes and methods can be improved, but they're rarely given the authority to implement any of their suggested actions.

What is a formal group?

Are work groups that are defined by the organization's structure and have designated work assignments and specific tasks directed at accomplishing organizational goals.

Why does an organization need adequate resources?

As part of the larger organization system, a team relies on resources outside the group to sustain it. If a team does not have adequate resources the team's ability to perform its job effectively is reduced. Resources can include timely information, proper equipment, encouragement, adequate staffing, and administrative assistance.

Important work design elements that enhance team member motivation and increase team effectiveness include:

Autonomy Using a variety of skills Being able to complete a whole and identifiable task or product, and Working on a task or project that has a significant impact on others Research indicates that these characteristics enhance team member motivation and increase team effectiveness.

The three tests to determine if teams are not the answer:

Can the work be done better by more than one person? Task complexity would be a good indicator of a need for different perspectives. In contrast, simple tasks that don't require diverse input are probably better done by individuals. Does the work create a common purpose or set of goals for the people in the group that's more than the sum of individual goals? For instance, many car dealerships use teams to link customer-service personnel, mechanics, parts specialists, and sales representatives to better meet the goal of outstanding customer satisfaction. Finally, managers need to look at the interdependence between tasks. A team approach is the answer when the success of everyone depends on the success of each person and the success of each person depends on the others.

What are the four types of groups?

Command group Task group Cross-functional teams Self-managed teams

Global Teams: Team Processes

Communication issues Managing conflict Virtual teams

Why is the processes that global teams use to do their work can be particularly challenging for managers?

Communication issues often arise because not all team members may be fluent in the team's working language. However, research shows that a multicultural global team is better able to capitalize on the diversity of ideas represented if a wide range of information is used. Additionally, managing conflict in global teams isn't easy, especially when those teams are virtual teams. However, research shows that in collectivistic cultures a collaborative conflict management style can be most effective.

What are smaller groups better at (5-7 members)?

Completing tasks faster Problem solving Figuring out what to do

Global Team Structure

Conformity Status Social Loafing Cohesiveness

The four key components of effective teams include:

Context Team's composition Work design, and Process variables.

Cross-functional team

Defined as a work team composed of individuals from various specialties. For example, ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel company, uses cross-functional teams of scientists, plant managers, and salespeople to review and monitor product innovations.

Drawbacks for global teams

Disliking team members Mistrusting team members Stereotyping Communication problems Stress and tension

Although each group has its own unique set of norms, common classes of norms appear in most organizations. These norms focus on:

Effort and performance. This is probably the most widespread norm and it can be extremely powerful in affecting an individual employee's performance. Dress codes dictate what's acceptable to wear to work.

Benefits for global teams

Great diversity of ideas Limited groupthink Increased attention on understanding others' ideas, perspectives, etc.

Social Loafing

Has a Western bias and is consistent with individualistic cultures like the United States and Canada, which are dominated by self-interest. It's not consistent with collectivistic societies such as China and Israel, in which individuals are motivated by group goals and actually performed better in a group than when working alone.

Forming Stage

Has two phases: The first phase is when people first join the group The second phase is when they define the group's purpose, structure, and leadership. The latter phase involves a great deal of uncertainty as members "test the waters" to determine acceptable behaviors and is complete when members begin to think of themselves as part of a group.

Adjourning Stage

However, for temporary groups—such as project teams, task forces, or similar groups that have a limited task to do—the final stage in which the group prepares to disband. Attention is focused on wrapping up activities instead of task performance.

What is the relationship between cohesiveness and productivity?

If the goals are favorable, a cohesive group is more productive than a less cohesive group. However, if cohesiveness is high and attitudes are unfavorable, productivity decreases. If cohesiveness is low and goals are supported, productivity increases, but not as much as when both cohesiveness and support are high. When cohesiveness is low and goals are not supported, cohesiveness has no significant effect on productivity.

Benefits and drawbacks of global teams

In global organizations, understanding the relationship between team effectiveness and team composition is more challenging because of the unique cultural characteristics represented by members of a global team. Not only must managers recognize team members' abilities, skills, knowledge, and personalities, but managers must also be familiar with, and clearly understand, the cultural characteristics of the groups and the group members they manage, such as high certainty avoidance, where members are uncomfortable dealing with unpredictable and ambiguous tasks. Also, managers need to be aware of the potential for stereotyping, which can lead to problems.

Team effectiveness

Includes objective measures of a team's productivity, managers' ratings of the team's performance, and aggregate measures of member satisfaction. What research has shown so far is summarized here in Exhibit 10-6. As we look at this model, keep in mind that: (1) Teams differ in form and structure and (2) this model assumes that managers have already determined that teamwork is preferable to individual work.

Storming Stage

Is named because it is the period of intragroup conflict about who will control the group and what the group needs to be doing. This stage is complete when a relatively clear hierarchy of leadership and agreement on the group's direction is evident.

Norming Stage

Is one in which close relationships develop and the group becomes cohesive and demonstrates a strong sense of group identity and camaraderie. This stage is complete when the group structure solidifies and the group has assimilated a common set of expectations regarding member behavior.

Virtual Teams

Members collaborate online with tools such as wide-area networks, videoconferencing, fax, email, or websites where the team can hold online conferences. Virtual teams can do all the things that other teams can—share information, make decisions, and complete tasks. However, they lack the normal give-and-take of face-to-face discussions. That's why virtual teams tend to be more task-oriented, especially if the team members have never personally met.

The value of knowing the roles for team members

On many teams, individuals may play multiple roles. It's important for managers to understand the individual strengths a person brings to a team and to select team members with those strengths to ensure that these roles are filled.

The four most common types of work teams are:

Problem solving teams Self-managed work teams Cross-functional teams Virtual teams

What is social loafing?

Reducing effort because dispersion of responsibility encourages individuals to slack off. When a group's results can't be attributed to any single person, individuals may be tempted to become "free riders" and coast on the group's efforts because they think their contributions can't be measured. Individual productivity of each group member declines as the group expands So managers who use work groups should provide a means by which individual efforts can be identified.

Role (Group Behavior)

Refers to behavior patterns expected of someone who occupies a given position in a social unit. Individuals play multiple roles and adjust their roles to the group to which they belong at the time. In an organization, employees attempt to determine what behaviors are expected of them. They read their job descriptions, get suggestions from their bosses, and watch what their coworkers do. Role conflict occurs when an employee has conflicting role expectations.

What type of personality traits are the most effective for a group?

Research shows that three of the Big Five dimensions are relevant to team effectiveness: Agreeableness High levels of both conscientiousness Openness to experience.

The basic foundation for understanding group behavior includes:

Roles Norms and conformity Status systems Group size, and Group cohesiveness

Work Groups

Share information and make decisions to help each member do his or her job more efficiently and effectively. They do not engage in collective work that requires joint effort.

Why do member preferences need to be considered?

Some people just prefer not to work on teams, which can create a direct threat to the team's morale and to individual member satisfaction.

What are the team composition factors?

Team member abilities Personality Role allocation Diversity Size of teams Member flexibility, and Member preferences

performance evaluation and reward system

Team members have to be accountable both individually and jointly. Therefore, in addition to evaluating and rewarding employees for their individual contributions, managers should consider group-based appraisals, profit-sharing, and other approaches that reinforce team effort and commitment.

What can teams do?

Teams can do a variety of things, from designing products and providing services to negotiating deals and making decisions.

Why is it important to decide if team work is necessary?

Teamwork takes more time and often more resources than individual work does. Teams require managers to communicate more, manage conflicts, and run meetings. The benefits of using teams need to exceed the costs.

Part of a team's performance depends on its members' knowledge, skills, and abilities. Research shows a team needs three different types of skills. What are these skills?

Technical expertise. Problem-solving and decision-making skills. Interpersonal skills. A team can't achieve its performance potential if it doesn't have or can't develop the right mix of all these skills. However, a team doesn't necessarily need all these skills immediately. Team members commonly take responsibility for learning the skills in which the group is deficient so the team can achieve its full potential.

Groupthink

Tends to be less of a problem in global teams because members are less likely to feel pressured to conform to the ideas, conclusions, and decisions of the group.

Performing Stage

The group structure is in place and accepted by group members. Their energies have moved from getting to know and understand each other to working on the group's task. This is the last stage of development for permanent work groups.

Self-managed work team

The need to get employees involved in work-related decisions and processes A formal group of employees who operate without a manager and are responsible for a complete work process or segment. A self-managed team is responsible for getting the work done and for managing itself, which usually includes planning and scheduling work, assigning tasks to members, collective control over the pace of work, making operating decisions, and taking action on problems.

Why does an organization need to have team leadership and structure?

To function properly, a team needs to agree on the specifics of work and how all the team members' individual skills fit together. This requires team leadership and structure, which can come from the organization or from the team itself. Even in self-managed teams, a manager's job is to be a coach supporting the team's efforts and managing outside (rather than inside) the team.

Why is it important to turn groups into teams?

Turning groups into effective teams may be critical for an organization's survival. It's estimated that some 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies have at least half of their employees on teams, and more than 70 percent of U.S. manufacturers use work teams. Research suggests teams outperform individuals when the tasks require multiple skills, judgment, and experience. Teams are more flexible and responsive to changing events than traditional departments or other permanent work groups are. They can quickly assemble, deploy, refocus, and disband. Many organizations have restructured work processes around teams because managers are looking for that positive synergy that will help the organization improve performance with no or few additional inputs. Such increases are simply "potential." Nothing inherent in the creation of work teams guarantees that positive synergy and its accompanying productivity will occur. Successful work teams have certain characteristics that managers will need to ensure their teams possess.

What is a group?

Two or more interacting and interdependent individuals who come together to achieve specific goals.

Is it better to have a larger or smaller group?

When it comes to the size, the most effective teams have five to nine members, but experts suggest using the smallest number of people who can do the task.

Work Teams

Work intensely on a specific, common goal using their positive synergy, individual and mutual accountability, and complementary skills.

Does the size of a group affect the group's behavior?

Yes, it depends what criteria we are looking at Research indicates, for instance, that small groups complete tasks more quickly than larger ones do. However, if a group is engaged in problem solving, large groups consistently score better than their smaller counterparts. In general, large groups—those with a dozen or more members—are good for gaining diverse input for such tasks as fact finding. On the other hand, smaller groups are better at doing something productive with those facts. Groups of approximately five to seven members tend to act more effectively.