Robbins & Judge

Organizational Behavior
Chapter 9
Foundations of Group Behavior

Bob Stretch
Southwestern College

© 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 9-0

 Chapter Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
– Define groups, and differentiate between different types of groups.
– Show how role requirements change in different situations.
– Demonstrate how norms and status exert influence on an
individual’s behavior.
– Show how group size affects group performance.
– Contrast the benefits and disadvantages of cohesive groups.
– Contrast the strengths and weaknesses of group decision making.
– Compare the effectiveness of interacting, brainstorming, nominal,
and electronic meeting groups.
– Evaluate evidence for cultural differences in group status and
social loafing, and the effects of diversity in groups.

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 Defining and Classifying Groups
Group:
– Two or more individuals interacting and interdependent, who
have come together to achieve particular objectives
Formal Group:
– Defined by the organization’s structure with designated work
assignments establishing tasks
Informal Group:
– Alliances that are neither formally structured nor
organizationally determined
– Appear naturally in response to the need for social contact
– Deeply affect behavior and performance

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Subclassifications of Groups

Formal Groups Informal Groups

Command Group Interest Group
– A group composed of the – Members work together to
individuals who report attain a specific objective with
directly to a given manager which each is concerned
Task Group Friendship Group
– Those working together to – Those brought together
complete a job or task in an because they share one or
organization but not limited more common characteristics
by hierarchical boundaries

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 Why People Join Groups

Security
Status
Self-esteem
Affiliation
Power
Goal Achievement

See E X H I B I T 9-1

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 Group Properties

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 Group Property 1: Roles
Role
– A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone
occupying a given position in a social unit
Role Identity
– Certain attitudes and behaviors consistent with a role
Role Perception
– An individual’s view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given
situation – received by external stimuli
Role Expectations
– How others believe a person should act in a given situation
– Psychological Contract: an unwritten agreement that sets out
mutual expectations of management and employees
Role Conflict
– A situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role
expectations

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 Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment
Faked a prison using student
volunteers
Randomly assigned to guard and
prisoner roles
Within six days the experiment
was halted due to concerns
– Guards had dehumanized the
prisoners
– Prisoners were subservient
– Fell into the roles as they
understood them
– No real resistance felt

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 Group Property 2: Norms
Norms
– Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are
shared by the group’s members
Classes of Norms
– Performance norms - level of acceptable work
– Appearance norms - what to wear
– Social arrangement norms - friendships and the like
– Allocation of resources norms - distribution and assignments
of jobs and material

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 Group Norms and the Hawthorne Studies
A series of studies undertaken by Elton Mayo at Western Electric
Company’s Hawthorne Works in Chicago between 1924 and
1932

Research Conclusions
– Worker behavior and sentiments were closely related.
– Group influences (norms) were significant in affecting
individual behavior.
– Group standards (norms) were highly effective in
establishing individual worker output.
– Money was less a factor in determining worker output than
were group standards, sentiments, and security.

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 Norms and Behavior
Conformity
– Gaining acceptance by adjusting one’s behavior to align with
the norms of the group
Reference Groups
– Important groups to which individuals belong or hope to
belong and with whose norms individuals are likely to
conform
Asch Studies
– Demonstrated the power of conformance
– Culture-based and declining in importance

E X H I B I T 9-4

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 Defying Norms: Deviant Workplace Behavior
Deviant Workplace Behavior
– Also called antisocial behavior or workplace incivility

– Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational

norms and, in doing so, threatens the well-being of the
organization

– Typology:
• Production – working speed
• Property – damage and stealing
• Political – favoritism and gossip
• Personal Aggression – sexual harassment

E X H I B I T 9-5

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 Group Influence on Deviant Behavior

– Group norms can influence the presence of deviant behavior

– Simply belonging to a group increases the likelihood of
deviance
– Being in a group allows individuals to hide – creates a false
sense of confidence that they won’t be caught

E X H I B I T 9-6

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 Group Property 3: Status
A socially defined position or rank given to groups or
group members by others – it differentiates group
members
– Important factor in understanding behavior
– Significant motivator

Status Characteristics Theory

– Status derived from one of three sources:
• Power a person has over others
• Ability to contribute to group goals
• Personal characteristics

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 Status Effects
On Norms and Conformity
– High-status members are less restrained by norms and
pressure to conform
– Some level of deviance is allowed to high-status members so
long as it doesn’t affect group goal achievement
On Group Interaction
– High-status members are more assertive
– Large status differences limit diversity of ideas and creativity
On Equity
– If status is perceived to be inequitable, it will result in
various forms of corrective behavior.

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 Group Property 4: Size
Group size affects behavior
Size:
– Twelve or more members is a “large” group
– Seven or fewer is a “small” group
Best use of a group:
Attribute Small Large
Speed X
Individual Performance X
Problem Solving X
Diverse Input X
Fact-finding Goals X
Overall Performance X

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 Issues with Group Size
Social Loafing
– The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when
working collectively than when working individually
– Ringelmann’s Rope Pull: greater levels of productivity but
with diminishing returns as group size increases
– Caused by either equity concerns or a diffusion of
responsibility (free riders)
Managerial Implications
– Build in individual accountability
– Prevent social loafing by:
• Setting group goals
• Increase intergroup competition
• Use peer evaluation
• Distribute group rewards based on individual effort

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 Group Property 5: Cohesiveness
Degree to which group members are attracted to each
other and are motivated to stay in the group

Managerial Implication
– To increase cohesiveness:
• Make the group smaller.
• Encourage agreement with group goals.
• Increase time members spend together.
• Increase group status and admission difficulty.
• Stimulate competition with other groups.
• Give rewards to the group, not individuals.
• Physically isolate the group.
E X H I B I T 9-7

9-17
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 Group Decision Making vs. Individual Choice
Group Strengths:
– Generate more complete information and knowledge
– Offer increased diversity of views and greater creativity
– Increased acceptance of decisions
– Generally more accurate (but not as accurate as the most
accurate group member)
Group Weaknesses:
– Time-consuming activity
– Conformity pressures in the group
– Discussions can be dominated by a few members
– A situation of ambiguous responsibility

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 Group Decision Making Phenomena
Groupthink
– Situations where group pressures for conformity deter the
group from critically appraising unusual, minority, or
unpopular views
– Hinders performance
Groupshift
– When discussing a given set of alternatives and arriving at a
solution, group members tend to exaggerate the initial
positions that they hold. This causes a shift to more
conservative or more risky behavior.

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 Groupthink
Symptoms:
– Group members rationalize any resistance to the assumptions
they have made
– Members apply direct pressures on those who express
doubts about shared views or who question the alternative
favored by the majority
– Members who have doubts or differing points of view keep
silent about misgivings
– There appears to be an illusion of unanimity
Minimize Groupthink by:
– Reduce the size of the group to 10 or less
– Encourage group leaders to be impartial
– Appoint a “devil’s advocate”
– Use exercises on diversity
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 Group Decision-making Techniques
Made in interacting groups where members meet
face-to-face and rely on verbal and nonverbal
communication.
Brainstorming
– An idea-generating process designed to overcome pressure
for conformity
Nominal Group Technique (NGT)
– Works by restricting discussion during the decision-making
process
– Members are physically present but operate independently
Electronic Meeting
– Uses computers to hold large meetings of up to 50 people

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 Global Implications
Status and Culture
– The importance of status varies with culture
– Managers must understand who and what holds status when
interacting with people from another culture
Social Loafing
– Most often in Western (individualistic) cultures
Group Diversity
– Increased diversity leads to increased conflict
– May cause early withdrawal and lowered morale
– If the initial difficulties are overcome, diverse groups may
perform better
– Surface diversity may increase openness

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 Summary and Managerial Implications
Performance
– Typically, clear role perception, appropriate norms, low
status differences and smaller, more cohesive groups lead to
higher performance

Satisfaction
– Increases with:
• High congruence between boss and employee’s perceptions
about the job
• Not being forced to communicate with lower-status employees
• Smaller group size

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