Dwight Shute Cohesiveness In The Office
Group Case Study: The Office Introduction: Our small group was asked to watch two episodes of The Office season 9 episodes 16 and 17. We were then asked to negotiate as a group and come to a consensus about the following questions.
1. Define The Group Roles In The Office.
Many Different roles are played around the office, from the episodes we watched and the characters we got to know, they have many different roles.
Dwight Schute- Dwight is many things, he is a dominator in the sense that he “takes control” of his groups. He is also a Blocker, he is negative and stubborn for no apparent reason. We feel he is also somewhat of a group observer, lets everyone know what’s going right or wrong.
Pam Halpert- Definitely the Encourager she confirms the value of other people and ideas they …show more content…
contribute. She is nice and kind hearted. Also we see Pam as an Information seeker, how she asked for additional clarification on the cupcake debacle by asking everyone what would be the right thing to do.
Angela Martin- Is in our opinion the Compromiser, by seeking new alternatives i.e. Taking care of Dwight’s sick aunt. And in this sense she is also the initiator/contributor by suggesting different ways to get the job done.
Andy Bernard- Andy has many different roles in the office, but in these episodes we noticed these group roles stuck out the most. He is a self-confessor by getting together with his coworkers and relaying his feeling about his coworker or “ex-girlfriend” is relating personal problems unrelated to the groups task. He is also a Help seeker with his low self-worth outlook.
2. How Does Dwight Display the Five types of Power? Use Examples of him displaying power.
Dwight uses all five powers in both episode sixteen and seventeen. The first power is legitimate power which is one someone is elected or appointed to a position that enables them to influence the group’s outcome. Dwight uses this when his aunt has passed and she has given the three siblings the farm. The one condition is that all three of them have to stay to take care of the farm. Dwight then uses legitimate power to convince his siblings to stay together to get the property. The second power is referent power which is when liked or becomes liked. I saw this power used when Dwight takes his nephew around the farm to show him how things are done. At one point of this episode the nephew is leaving and shakes his hand I saw that the nephew created a bond with him and the sister saw what Dwight did and you could see how she changed her mind to staying. The third power is expert power this power has to do with having the knowledge and the information of certain issues and ideas. Dwight is very knowledge about running the farm that his aunt has left them. He has his own farmland that he tends to and would be able to run the other property since he was raised and was taught how to manage the duties of the farm with the help of the other siblings. The fourth power is the reward power with this power someone can grant and reward someone and make themselves feel more gratified. In episode sixteen he illustrates this with his aunt. He tells her that he will give her some type of whiskey if she takes a bath and changes her clothes. She allows Angela to clean her up and while Angela is finishing up with her she is drinking happily. Only if she allows Angela to clean her up. The fifth power is coercive power this is the opposite of the reward power. This power is used to punish people. He also uses this power in episode sixteen when he tells Angela that she owes him. He punishes her by telling her that she has to clean up his aunt. This is a punishment to Angela because of the way that Dwight’s aunt verbally abuses her and fights with her the whole time that she is trying to clean her up.
3. Do you See Cohesiveness in the office? Explain why or why not
Cohesiveness in the office is seen a few times throughout both episodes.
For example, cohesiveness is seen when Jim obtains Pam an interview in the same city he is in. It seemed their goal was to get her to Philadelphia so that they could be together. In the end she did not take the job that she knew was not right for her and could not stay even though she wanted too. Put in this same situation, I would have made the same choice. Another example of cohesiveness is seen when everyone in the office is aware of Meredith and Pete dating but Andy is left out of the loop. Everyone seems to agree that they make a good couple and kept it a secret to spare Andy’s feelings. In this instance, I would have minded my own business too. I make it a point not to get involved in others personal relationships. In another example, the group appeared to all be in agreement on how to handle a situation when they decide, as a group, not to partake in the cupcakes by a former coworker. But nobody keeps their word and they eat the tainted cupcakes backfiring on them all. In general, I have found that going along with what the majority want, in an office setting, makes for a much easier work
environment.
4. Do you think Groupthink exists in the office?
Our Opinion on Group thinking in the office and whether they use it or not, is yes and no. in episode 17 season 9 the group has to make the decision on eating Todd’s cupcakes. They all communicate and use group thinking to guide their final decision. However after they all have an agreement they end up making their own decisions despite of their agreement. If we were in this situation, we would have thought more thoroughly on our decision, giving some more supporting facts and examples dealing with the cause using our full power to analyze and evaluate ideas.
5. Are there any Transformational leaders in these episodes of the office? Was Dwight transformational in leading Angela when she helped him clean his sick aunt?
There are a few cases of transformational leading, in episode 16 I feel that Angela was the one doing the transformational leading by taking charge of taking care of his sick aunt. And in episode 17 I felt Dwight had become a transformational leader by guiding his siblings and taking on all the responsibilities of the farm. They both showed transformational leading skills by shaping the vision of the group.
Conclusion: In Conclusion we all worked well as a team and came up with the common goal. Our secondary group worked well and cohesively together to come up with the answers to these opinionated questions.
1. Define The Group Roles In The Office.
Many Different roles are played around the office, from the episodes we watched and the characters we got to know, they have many different roles.
Dwight Schute- Dwight is many things, he is a dominator in the sense that he “takes control” of his groups. He is also a Blocker, he is negative and stubborn for no apparent reason. We feel he is also somewhat of a group observer, lets everyone know what’s going right or wrong.
Pam Halpert- Definitely the Encourager she confirms the value of other people and ideas they …show more content…
contribute. She is nice and kind hearted. Also we see Pam as an Information seeker, how she asked for additional clarification on the cupcake debacle by asking everyone what would be the right thing to do.
Angela Martin- Is in our opinion the Compromiser, by seeking new alternatives i.e. Taking care of Dwight’s sick aunt. And in this sense she is also the initiator/contributor by suggesting different ways to get the job done.
Andy Bernard- Andy has many different roles in the office, but in these episodes we noticed these group roles stuck out the most. He is a self-confessor by getting together with his coworkers and relaying his feeling about his coworker or “ex-girlfriend” is relating personal problems unrelated to the groups task. He is also a Help seeker with his low self-worth outlook.
2. How Does Dwight Display the Five types of Power? Use Examples of him displaying power.
Dwight uses all five powers in both episode sixteen and seventeen. The first power is legitimate power which is one someone is elected or appointed to a position that enables them to influence the group’s outcome. Dwight uses this when his aunt has passed and she has given the three siblings the farm. The one condition is that all three of them have to stay to take care of the farm. Dwight then uses legitimate power to convince his siblings to stay together to get the property. The second power is referent power which is when liked or becomes liked. I saw this power used when Dwight takes his nephew around the farm to show him how things are done. At one point of this episode the nephew is leaving and shakes his hand I saw that the nephew created a bond with him and the sister saw what Dwight did and you could see how she changed her mind to staying. The third power is expert power this power has to do with having the knowledge and the information of certain issues and ideas. Dwight is very knowledge about running the farm that his aunt has left them. He has his own farmland that he tends to and would be able to run the other property since he was raised and was taught how to manage the duties of the farm with the help of the other siblings. The fourth power is the reward power with this power someone can grant and reward someone and make themselves feel more gratified. In episode sixteen he illustrates this with his aunt. He tells her that he will give her some type of whiskey if she takes a bath and changes her clothes. She allows Angela to clean her up and while Angela is finishing up with her she is drinking happily. Only if she allows Angela to clean her up. The fifth power is coercive power this is the opposite of the reward power. This power is used to punish people. He also uses this power in episode sixteen when he tells Angela that she owes him. He punishes her by telling her that she has to clean up his aunt. This is a punishment to Angela because of the way that Dwight’s aunt verbally abuses her and fights with her the whole time that she is trying to clean her up.
3. Do you See Cohesiveness in the office? Explain why or why not
Cohesiveness in the office is seen a few times throughout both episodes.
For example, cohesiveness is seen when Jim obtains Pam an interview in the same city he is in. It seemed their goal was to get her to Philadelphia so that they could be together. In the end she did not take the job that she knew was not right for her and could not stay even though she wanted too. Put in this same situation, I would have made the same choice. Another example of cohesiveness is seen when everyone in the office is aware of Meredith and Pete dating but Andy is left out of the loop. Everyone seems to agree that they make a good couple and kept it a secret to spare Andy’s feelings. In this instance, I would have minded my own business too. I make it a point not to get involved in others personal relationships. In another example, the group appeared to all be in agreement on how to handle a situation when they decide, as a group, not to partake in the cupcakes by a former coworker. But nobody keeps their word and they eat the tainted cupcakes backfiring on them all. In general, I have found that going along with what the majority want, in an office setting, makes for a much easier work
environment.
4. Do you think Groupthink exists in the office?
Our Opinion on Group thinking in the office and whether they use it or not, is yes and no. in episode 17 season 9 the group has to make the decision on eating Todd’s cupcakes. They all communicate and use group thinking to guide their final decision. However after they all have an agreement they end up making their own decisions despite of their agreement. If we were in this situation, we would have thought more thoroughly on our decision, giving some more supporting facts and examples dealing with the cause using our full power to analyze and evaluate ideas.
5. Are there any Transformational leaders in these episodes of the office? Was Dwight transformational in leading Angela when she helped him clean his sick aunt?
There are a few cases of transformational leading, in episode 16 I feel that Angela was the one doing the transformational leading by taking charge of taking care of his sick aunt. And in episode 17 I felt Dwight had become a transformational leader by guiding his siblings and taking on all the responsibilities of the farm. They both showed transformational leading skills by shaping the vision of the group.
Conclusion: In Conclusion we all worked well as a team and came up with the common goal. Our secondary group worked well and cohesively together to come up with the answers to these opinionated questions.