Group Dynamics

Lesson 1
What Is A Group?
• Every group evolves out of a purpose (strong or weak)
• The most successful teams are driven by a strong purpose, often envisioned by an inspiring and visionary leader
Definitions of Groups
• A Psychological Group is any number of people who (a) interact with each other, (b) are psychologically aware of each other, and (c) perceive themselves to be a group. Huczynski & Buchanan
• A Group is defined as two or more individuals interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives. Stephen Robbins
Types of Groups

Formal Groups: These are groups in an organization, which have been consciously created to accomplish the organization’s collective purpose and are defined by the organization’s structure, with designated work assignments and tasks.
Formal groups may be:
• Command Groups: A Command Group is determined by the organization chart and consists of individuals who report directly to a given manager.
• Task Groups: A Task Group consists of individuals who are working to achieve a given common goal or complete a given project. A Task group may consist of people from across functions.

Informal Groups: An Informal Group is a collection of individuals who become a group when members develop interdependencies, influence one another’s behavior and contribute to mutual need satisfaction.
Informal groups may be:
• Interest Groups: People who may or may not be aligned into common command or task groups may affiliate to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned. Such groups are called Interest Groups.
• Friendship Groups: Individuals who have common characteristics form social alliances that extend beyond the work place to form friendship groups.

Group Properties & Processes(Characteristics)
• Interaction – Group members do things to and with each other. Most such interactions revolve around tasks that the group must accomplish. Other interactions evolve from the socio-emotional side of group life (supporting, complementing, caring, etc)
• Structure – group members interactions are organized and inter-connected, which reflect group structure – the stable pattern of relationships among members.
• Structure involves roles – the behaviors expected of people in the group; norms – the rules governing individual behavior within the group. When norms are breached, conflicts arise.
• Group Cohesion – refers to the strength of the bonds linking members of a group to one another. It reflects the group’s unity, oneness and solidarity.
• Social Identity – reflects the shared perception of themselves as members of the same group or social category.
• The collective identity reflects membership in all forms of social groups or demographic groups.
• Goals – these represent the purpose of groups. Goals act as the foundation for the existence of groups.
What Do Groups Do? Joseph E. McGrath has classified group tasks (called the circumplex of group tasks) into four broad group goals, further subdivided into eight basic activities. The following diagram shows the Circumplex of group tasks:

What is Group Dynamics
• Kurt Lewin (1951) described group dynamics as the way groups and individuals act and react to changing circumstances.
• Cartwright and Zander define Group Dynamics as “the field of inquiry dedicated to advancing knowledge about the nature of groups, the laws of their development, and their interrelations with individuals, other groups and larger institutions (1968)
What is NOT Group Dynamics?
• According to Cartwright and Zander, Group Dynamics is NOT therapeutic perspective of holding that psychological well-being can be ensured through participation in small groups guided by a skilled therapist; nor is it the communication of guidelines or rules that enable individuals to develop the skills needed for smooth social interactions; finally , it IS NOT a loose collection of maxims concerning how groups should be organized.
Emergence of Group Dynamics
• Group dynamics emerged between 1890 and 1940 when psychologists, sociologists and others became interested in groups.
• While sociologists tried to explain the role played by groups in maintaining social order; while others stressed the importance of primary groups – small groups characterized by face-to-face interaction, interdependency and strong group identification.
Are Groups Real? : While many researchers believe that groups are real, that even certain individual acts (such as suicide) may be traced to the individual’s linkages to groups, some other researchers (such as Floyd Allport), tried to show that groups are not real, because the actions of all are simply the sum of the actions of individuals. So, Allport never believed that there is something called “Group mind”.
Other Characteristics Of Groups
• Groups are greater than their parts
• Groups are living systems
• Groups are seen as real by perceivers – Donald T. Campbell coined the term “entitativity” to describe the extent to which something seems to be unified entity. This may arise out of belief in common fate, similarity or proximity
• Entitativity depends upon certain perceptual cues that perceivers rely on intuitively to decide if an aggregation of individuals is a true group or just a collection of people
• Groups influence individuals
• Groups are real – while all collections of people may not be groups, the perceiver will consider an aggregate with qualities of unity to be a group.
• Group dynamics is an inter-disciplinary field of study that has its roots in several fields: psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, speech and communication, business and industry, social work, education, clinical/counseling psychology, criminal justice, sports and recreation, etc.
Stages Of Group Development
• Bruce W. Tuckman developed a theory of group development which has become famous as the five-stage model of group development.
• He called these five stages as: Formation (forming), Conflict (storming), Structure (norming), Production (performing), and Dissolution (adjourning)

Stage I: FORMING
• Set of individuals has not yet become a group. Individuals are in the process of assessing each other and getting to know each other. Group issues are cohesion and involvement. Stage II: STORMING
• This is a conflict stage in the group’s life and may be uncomfortable. There is a resistance to the constraints that the group imposes on individuality. There is also a struggle for leadership of the group. Key Group issues at this stage are group direction and the management of conflict. Stage III: NORMING
• In this stage the group members develop working relationships, working rules, norms of behavior and allocate roles. A framework is created to enable each member relate to others in the group. Stage IV: PERFORMING
• This is the stage when the group becomes fully functional, everyone knows his or her roles and the group energy is now directed from getting to know each other to performing the tasks at hand and achieving the group goals. Stage V: ADJOURNING
• For Permanent groups the PERFORMING stage is the final stage. However, for temporary groups like Project Teams, task forces, etc., after the group task is achieved, the next and last stage would be the stage of adjourning. Apart from summing up the work done, the group may also involve itself in reviewing work done, problems and issues and take with them lessons learnt from the group interaction.

Group Developments
The following table shows the formation of the group structure and task activity as the group goes through various stages of development.
Group Stage Group Structure Task Activity
Forming Considerable anxiety, testing to discover the nature of the situation, what help can be expected from leader or convener and what behavior will or will not be appropriate What is the task? Members seek the answers to that basic question, together with knowledge of the rules and the methods to be employed
Storming Conflict emerges between sub-groups; the authority and/or competence of the leader is challenged; opinions polarize. Individuals react against efforts of the leader or group to control them The value and feasibility of the task is questioned. People react emotionally against its demands.
Norming The group begins to harmonize; it experiences group cohesion or unity for the first time. Norms emerge as those in conflict are reconciled and resistance is overcome. Mutual support develops Cooperation on the task begins; plans are made and work standards laid down; communication of vies and feelings develop
Performing The group structures itself or accepts a structure which fits most appropriately its common task. Roles are seen in terms functional to the task and flexibility between them develops. Constructive work on the task surges ahead; progress is experienced as more of the group’s energy is applied to being effective in the area of their common task
Cycles of Group Development

Tuckman Model the formation of a group
1. Orientation – Members tend to go along with whatever the leader suggests. There is very little conflict expressed in the group
2. Conflict – People seem to have very different views about how things should be done in this group. Members challenge the leader’s ideas.
3. Structure – The group is spending its time planning how it will get its work done. Members can rely on each other. They work as a team
4. Work – The group gets, gives, and uses feedback about its effectiveness and productivity. The group encourages high performance and quality work. Tuckman’s model is also called as Successive Stage Theory of group development.
• A number of subsequent studies have shown that groups do not always go through the successive stages of the Tuckman Model.
• While the forming stage is common for all groups, many groups, even after the performing stage, do come back to the storming (re-storming) and norming (re-norming) stages.
• Software programmers, for instance, who work on products for long years, show signs of shifting from task-focused stages back to conflict and norming stages.
• Bales (1965) studied a number of discussion groups and found that they tended to oscillate between periods of group effort and periods of cohesion-creating, interpersonal activity.
• Bales’ equilibrium model of group development therefore assumes that group members strive to maintain a balance between accomplishing the task and enhancing the quality of the interpersonal relationships within the group.
• In consequence groups cycle back and forth between what Tuckman called norming and performing stages.
• According to Bales, a period of prolonged group effort must be followed by a period of cohesion-creating, interpersonal activity.
• A modification of Bales’ Equilibrium Model is the Punctuated Equilibrium Model which states that groups often go through periods of rapid activity and periods of relative inertia.

The Punctuated Equilibrium Model
• Studies show that temporary groups do not go through the five stages of the Tuckman model
• Instead they go through stages punctuated with activity and inertia.

The punctuated equilibrium model identifies following stages that temporary groups go through:
• In stage one, the first meeting sets the group’s direction; this phase is one of inertia
• A transition takes place at the end of the first phase, which coincides with the half-way mark of the project time
• The transition stage is one of major changes and activities and ends the phase one
• Phase two is a period heightened activities but again one of inertia
• The last phase is the completion phases, when again the group goes through intense activities.

Lesson 2 : Teams Vs Groups
Why Teams? • work teams was considered something special; but today, it is the non-use of work teams that is considered surprising
• Today most IT companies work with work teams; 80% of Fortune 500 companies have more than 50% of their employees working in teams.
The reason for using work teams appears to be:
• Teams outperform individuals – especially when the task requires multiple skills input
• Teams are found to be more flexible in a dynamic environment compared to the traditional departmental structures
• Groups have the ability to quickly assemble, deploy, refocus and disband
• Teams have greater ability to motivate individuals to better performance than a traditional hierarchical structure
• It has also been found that cross-functional teams are better at dealing with customers than individuals.
Difference Between Teams & Groups
• A Work Group may be defined as a group that interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to help each group member perform within his or her area of responsibility
• A Work Team, on the other hand, is a group whose individual efforts result in a performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs
• Merely calling a group of individuals as a team does not make it automatically become effective and have positive synergy. There are some preconditions required to ensure the group “actually” becomes a team. Are Teams Always Effective?
Teams are not the panacea for all situations. Three thumb rules may be used to find out if a work team would be more effective in a given situation:
• Can the work be done by more than one person?
• Does the work create a common purpose for the group that is more than the aggregate of individual goals?
• Are the members of the team interdependent?

Creating Effective Teams Personality is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others. The Big Five Model of Personality, treats personality as a combination of five basic dimensions:
• Extroversion – the comfort level of an individual with relationships; being sociable, assertive. Introverts tend to be reserved, timid and quiet.
• Agreeableness – refers to individual’s ability to be cooperative, warm, trusting
• Conscientiousness – individuals who are responsible, organized, dependable and persistent.
• Emotional stability – ability of individuals to withstand stress
• Openness – the ability of individuals to be creative, curious and artistically sensitive
• Ideally groups must have people with similar personality traits Challenges In Creating Effective Teams
• Creating a team out of people who come from an individualistic society is a key challenge
• Creating teams in an organization that is used to encouraging and recognizing individual efforts is another key challenge
• Selection, training and rewards are keys to making teams effective.

Types Of Teams

Problem Solving Teams Self-Managed Work Teams Cross-functional teams Virtual Teams groups of 5-12 employees usually from same department who meet to discuss ways of improving efficiency, quality, work environment, etc.
• These teams do not have the authority to unilaterally implement their ideas
• Quality circles, Continuous improvement groups, etc. are examples of such teams Group 10 to 15 employees who take on responsibilities of their former supervisors.
Perform highly related or interdependent tasks including planning, scheduling of work, collective control over group work, operating DM , acting on problems and working with suppliers and customers
• weaknesses: not effective during times of downsizing

individual satisfaction may increase, such teams also suffer from higher absenteeism and turnover rates performance depends on factors such as the make-up of the team, the type of tasks and reward structure, etc.
And on situational factors including culture – in higher power distance countries people like to be hierarchically guided, rather than taken independent decisions and hence do not prefer such teams • employees from about the same hierarchical levels, but from different work areas come together to accomplish a task.
Cross functional Teams may be:
• Task forces – temporary cross-functional work teams formed to achieve a specific task
• Committees – cross-functional teams that may have a tenure longer than task forces Cross functional teams enable members to gain greater knowledge, take longer to gel together as it takes time to build trust and team work. • – tie together members who are physically dispersed using computer technology in order to achieve a common goal.
The three factors difference
• Absence of Para verbal or nonverbal cues
• Limited social context
• Ability to overcome time and space constraints drawbacks: • Social rapport which often contributes to cohesiveness, compromise and understanding in face-to-face teams is absent in virtual teams
• Virtual teams may not give satisfaction to some members who also expect to develop social contact and exchanges in their teams
• One big difficulty with virtual teams is managing them – motivating employees is often more difficult in virtual environments

TQM & Teams
• TQM is about process improvement, and employee involvement are key to making process improvements. Hence, TQM is closely related to effective team building and management
• BA’s quality movement started with creating Continuous Improvement Groups (CIGs) and quality champions in each station.
Ford identified FIVE goals for quality management teams:
• Teams should be small enough to be effective and efficient
• Teams must be properly trained in skills required to perform their tasks
• Teams must be allocated enough time
• Teams must be given authority to resolve problems
• Each team must have a “champion” to help it get over hurdles.
Teams & Workforce Diversity When teams have people of diverse views, experiences and abilities, there may be less cohesiveness, but it is likely to take more rational decisions. The advantages and disadvantages are:
Reinvigorating Mature Teams
• As teams mature, even diverse teams tend to become more cohesive, and with cohesiveness at times comes group think and group shift
• Teams, therefore, need reinvigorating from time to time. This includes: Training, reminding the members of the advantages and pitfalls of mature teams and encouraging team members to use their team’s development as an experience.
Lesson 3 : Group performance (3 case study)
The Hawthorne Studies
The Hawthorne Studies – Elton Mayo - Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne Works, Cicero, Illinois – 1924-1932
HAWTHORNE EFFECT
Key outcome of the study is that employees would work harder if they believed that management was concerned about their welfare and supervisors paid special attention to them. This phenomenon has come to be called the “Hawthorne Effect”.
The Human Relations Movement emerged from the Hawthorne studies. The Human Relations approach to management proposed that workers respond primarily to the social context of the work place including social conditioning, group norms and interpersonal dynamics.
There were FOUR main phases to the Hawthorne Experiments:
1. The illumination experiments
2. The relay assembly test room
3. The interviewing program
4. The bank wiring observation room

the illumination experiments The relay assembly test room The interviewing Program The bank wiring observation room Manipulating illumination of one group of workers and comparing their subsequent productivity with productivity of another group whose illumination was not changed Relay assembly involved putting together a number of parts to make telephone relays. This was a repetitive and boring work. Six women workers were taken in for this study. They worked in a separate area In order to understand workers’ feeling towards their supervisors and their general work conditions, a large interviewing program was undertaken 14 men were made to work in a bank wiring room with specific piece-work incentives. It was observed that the men formed their own informal organizations, with some emerging as leaders
Result: When illumination was increased for experimental group, productivity of both groups increased.
Productivity of both groups continued to increase even when lighting was decreased for the experimental group. The experiment was conducted over 13 periods during which their conditions of work relating to hours of work, rest pauses and provision of refreshments, etc. were changed.

During the experiment, the observer adopted a friendly manner, consulting with the workers, listening to their complaints and keeping them informed of the experiment.
Despite the many changes made to their working conditions, their productivity kept increasing. The only complaint from the workers was that too many breaks made them lose their work rhythm. More than 20,000 interviews were conducted.
Initially a structured interview was conducted, but as employees expressed desire to talk about other issues, the interview was changed to an open-ended one. The bank wiring observation room
1. Productivity did not increase beyond a point.
2. The group was found to establish an informal, acceptable level of output. People who produced beyond this acceptable level were called “rate busters” and under-producers were called “Chiselers”.
3. For the sake of group acceptance, workers slacked off once they reached the acceptable output level

Conclusion: Group productivity is not directly influenced by illumination.
The special attention, which the two groups received as part of the experiment, motivated them to perform better.

Conclusion – the extra attention shown to workers and managements attention on them was main reason for increased productivity Conclusion – given an opportunity the workers not only shared their views about work, but also about issues outside work including family circumstances, etc Conclusions: Wage incentives were less important to the workers than social acceptance. Group sentiments, Group standards and Security influenced individual behavior more than money Social Facilitation
• The enhancement of performance when another person is present is called Social Facilitation.
• Social facilitation occurs when an individual is involved in coaction (i.e. doing a job in the presence of another person who is doing a similar job) or performing in front of a passive spectator
• People do not always perform better in groups: Floyd Allport (1920) experimented with people working alone and in groups and found that while they produced more working in groups than as individuals, the quality of what the group produced was often lower than what was produced by them working alone
Social Facilitation Zajonc’s theory
• Robert B. Zajonc (1965) drew a distinction between Dominant Responses (routine and easily learnt responses) and Non-dominant responses
• Social facilitation occurs with dominant responses, but with non-dominant responses presence of others leads to social interference leading to poor performance

• What is dominant and non-dominant response can vary for different people
• Example: if talking in public is not a dominant response for an individual, presence of people would make it difficult for such an individual to speak
• Simple task like removing shoes and sock is performed by people faster in the presence of others; but, a more unfamiliar task like a robe that is tied in the back, is performed more slowly when others are watching
• Charles F Bond and Linda J. Titus (1983) studied 24,000 individuals and found that Zajonc’s theory was correct in that simple tasks were performed faster when working in groups, while complex tasks were performed more slowly in groups
• They also found that even though the speed of performance was increased in case of simple tasks with social facilitation, the quality was rarely enhanced.
Why Social Facilitation Occurs?
• Zajonc’s analysis explains “when” social facilitation occurs, but doesn’t say why it occurs
• Triplett (1898) had studied cyclists who he found performed better in the presence of other cyclists and had offered some explanation: one that the lead rider may break the wind resistance and makes the followers’ job easier; and that the presence of others may buoy up the spirits of other riders encouraging them exert greater effort.
• Zajonc explained that the reason for social facilitation is “Compresence” – a drive or arousal that an individual experiences in the presence of another, which triggers social facilitation when the tasks are easy and only need dominant responses to perform them
Social Facilitation – Zajonc’s Drive Theory
• According to this theory, Zajonc predicts that social facilitation is triggered even when the all forms of social interaction, communication and evaluation between an individual and observer are blocked.
• Studies show that if an observer is made to sit near an individual, and the observer is blindfolded and wore ear plugs, still the performance is enhanced in case of simple tasks as predicted by Zajonc.

Physiological reasons for Social Facilitation
• Studies show that heart rate and blood pressure increase due to compresence but this depends on situations and who is watching
• If the task is simple, and the people present are known people, then such arousal facilitates better performance
• If the task is difficult, and people present are not familiar, then such arousal leads to apprehension and tension leading to poor performance
Evaluation Apprehension Theory - Motivation Approach
• Nickolas B. Cottrell (1972) proposed that when people are performing a task in the presence of others, they are apprehensive about how others would evaluate them. This apprehension leads to better performance in case of simple tasks, but in case of difficult tasks this apprehension becomes debilitating and leads to poor performance.
• Thus, according to Cottrell it is not arousal (as stated by Zajonc) but rather apprehension that causes social facilitation effect
Self Presentation Theory
• According to this theory, people often want to present themselves in the best way in the presence of others. This leads them to display the best social behaviors and maintain a particular social image.
• Performance situations create self-presentational challenges for members, particularly when they fear they may fail; and thus they raise their performance levels
Motivational Approaches to Social Facilitation
• The motivational approaches explain social facilitation by stating that an individual’s performance is enhanced by apprehension over future rewards or punishments; this raises drive levels leading to better performance
• When people know that they are being evaluated by observers, their performance increases in case of simple tasks
• Studies have shown that if a person fails once, the second time he performs even worse in the presence of others
• If evaluation apprehension is decreased by allowing for private responses, unevaluative audiences, and the absence of a definable task that can be evaluated then social facilitation is eliminated.
• Finally, people who are highly confident and skilled enhance their performance in the presence of others, while those who have no confidence in their own abilities, and/or are less skilled often perform poorly in the presence of others
Cognitive Processes & Social Facilitation
• Distraction-conflict theory – According to this theory, the presence of another person distracts the individual who has to divide his attention between the task on hand and the other person
• This distraction makes the individual put more effort into focusing on the task, and where the task is simple he/she performs it quicker; however, if the task is complex, this higher effort of focusing on task is does not sufficiently overcome the distraction and hence performance falls
A summary Of Social Facilitation Theories

Theory Mediating Process Evidence
Drive Theory (Zajonc, 1965) Unlearned Drive – the mere presence of others elevates drive levels; this drive triggers social facilitation when tasks are so easy that only dominant responses are needed to perform them People show signs of physiological arousal when others are present
Facilitative arousal occurs primarily for simple tasks
Evaluation – apprehension theory (Cottrell, 1972) Motivational process – through experience, people learn to associate the presence of others with evaluation; this concern for evaluation facilitates performance on well-learned tasks The presence of others is facilitative only when the observers can evaluate the quality of the performance
Facilitative effects are strongest when individuals are striving to make a good impression
Distraction-Conflict theory (Baron & Sanders, 1986, 1981) Cognitive Process – when others are present, attention is divided between the other people and the task; attentional conflict increases motivation, which facilitates performance so long as the task is simple If people are present but do not draw the participant’s attention social facilitation effect is reduced

Prejudice & Social Facilitation
• Prejudices are deeply ingrained negative attitudes about members of other groups
• Studies show that prejudiced individuals are more vociferous in expressing their prejudices in the presence others who are similarly prejudiced (social facilitation), while they do not express those prejudices when alone
Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM) & Social Facilitation
• Many IT and Call centers resort to EPM
• Social facilitation is found to work even when an individual is monitored electronically
• Studies by John Aiello show the following results:
– Skilled workers are less impacted by EPM and their performance is enhanced; while, unskilled workers’ performance diminished due to EPM
– Monitoring increased workers’ feeling of stress, except when they were part of a cohesive group
– While performing simple tasks social facilitation increased performance during EPM, but in case of complex tasks the knowledge of being watched impeded work
– Individuals who knew they could turn off the EPM showed no negative impact
– Similarly, employees whose opinions were taken before introducing EPM did not show any negative effects due to EPM
Social Facilitation in Educational Setting
• Study groups formed by students for purpose of studying course material have been found to facilitate better performance. Students who are committed to their groups and value the learning experiences they provide generally outperform students who react negatively to such groups
• It is however found that in the early stages of learning, groups can be a distraction; and studying alone is found to enhance student’s learning

Social Loafing
• Ivan Steiner (1972) showed that while groups performed better than individuals, they never performed to their full potential. He identified the reasons for such below-potential performance to process losses. According to him: Actual group productivity = (Potential productivity – Losses owing to faulty processes)
• Max Ringelmann (1913), a French agricultural engineer showed that workers – including men and animals – all become less productive in groups
• He conducted an experiment where he asked individuals to pull on a rope and measured the units of weight they pulled
• If individually they could pull, say 100 units, would they pull 200 units when pulling the rope together?
• Ringelmann found that if individuals could pull 100 units of weight, two of them together could pull only 186 (and not 200), three could pull only 255 (instead of 300), and eight people could pull only 392 (instead of 800)
• As more people were added, the group became increasingly inefficient. This effect is called Ringelmann effect.
• Ringelmann identified two reasons for this inefficiency of individuals in groups:
– Process or coordination losses
– Social loafing – reduction of effort by individuals when they are in a group
Social Loafing – What are the causes?
• When an individual is working in a group, and his job is (and can be) evaluated, social facilitation occurs leading to better performance
• However, when the same individual is working in a group, and no evaluation is done (or possible), then social loafing occurs, leading to lower performance
• If the task is individualistic one, and is easy, the presence of other people increases evaluation apprehension, so social facilitation occurs
• However, when group members are anonymous, and their contributions are unidentifiable, the presence of others reduces evaluation apprehension, and social loafing becomes more likely.
• Following slide illustrate this process

How to reduce social loafing?
• Increase identifiability of jobs
• Minimize free riding (where members feel they can do less because others will make up for the slack)
• Set goals – groups with goals perform better than those without goals
• Increase involvement – exciting, challenging and personally involving tasks decrease social loafing
How to reduce social loafing?
• Offer group-based incentives rather than individual based incentives
• High involvement of individuals may also make group members to cover for their less productive colleagues through what is called Social Compensation

Collective Effort Model
• Karau and Williams (1993) proposed this model based on the Expectancy model of motivation
• People are motivated when the effort-outcome valence, outcome-reward valence and attractiveness of reward are strongest
• In groups, if individual efforts are not identifiable these valences may not be strong and hence individuals tend to social loafing
How to reduce social loafing?
• Increase identification with group – If people are working in groups, but the group and its tasks have no meaning to them, they care very little if their group succeeds or fails
• However, if members derive their sense of self and identity from their membership in a group, then social loafing is replaced by social laboring (as members put in more efforts for their groups)
Social Combination
• A group’s performance is determined not only by the resources available to it (including the skills and abilities that members bring to it), but also how well these resources are combined
• Group performance depends on group composition
Factors that contribute to good group composition are:
• Knowledge, Skills & ability (KSA) – group’s performance depends in part on its members’ KSAs
• Diversity – groups with diverse talents, abilities are more productive than groups with similar talents and abilities
• Men and Women in groups – studies show that task content and interaction style influence the contributions that men and women make to groups
• While men are found to contribute more if the task requires physical strength while women excelled in verbal tasks
• Men often performed in task-oriented interactions, while women performed better in interpersonal interactions
• Groups having both men and women thus give it a heterogeneity that helps them to perform better than groups that have only men or women

Steiner’s Taxonomy of Tasks – see also table at the end
• The effective performance of a group is dependent not only on individuals and the abilities and skills they bring to the group, but also on how well they combine these with their inter-personal interactions.
• Steiner (1972) suggested that in many cases the recipe for how group members’ inputs will be combined is determined by the task itself. Steiner proposed a Taxonomy of Group tasks.

Question Task type Qualities Examples
Divisibility: can the task be broken down into sub tasks? Divisible Components can be assigned to individual members Playing a football game
Building a house Unitary Task does not have subcomponents Pulling a rope; reading a book
Quantity Vs Quality Maximizing Quantity – more produced, better performance Lifting a great weight
Generating maximum ideas Optimizing Quality – correct or optimal solution Developing the best solution
Interdependence – how are individual inputs combined to yield a group product? Additive Individual inputs are added together Pulling a rope Compensatory Decision is made by averaging individual decisions Averaging ratings of job applicants Disjunctive Group selects one solution from a pool of members’ solutions Letting one art project represent the entire school Conjunctive All group members must contribute to the product for it to be completed Climbing a mountain Discretionary Group decides how individual inputs relate to group product Deciding to clean a place together

Type of task and Group Performance
Task type Productivity effect
Additive (individual inputs added) – they are divisible and maximizing Better than the best – group exceeds performance of best individual; chances of social loafing are higher
Compensatory (average decision accepted) Better than most – group exceeds performance of majority of individuals
Disjunctive (group decision from pool of individual decisions) Better than average on most tasks and equal to the best if the group accepts the best member’s inputs
Conjunctive – Unitary (all group members contribute and no individual identity) Equal to the worst – group equals performance of its least capable worker
Conjunctive – divisible (all group members contribute but individual contributions identifiable) Better than worst – performance will be superior if subtasks are matched to individual’s capability
Discretionary (group decides how individual inputs relate to group task) Variable – performance depends on the combination rules adopted by group

Lesson 4 : Group Structure (2 case study) Every group is characterized by structure that is either pre-determined or evolves as the group forms. Group structure is characterized by the following elements:
• Group norms Group roles Group socialization Inter-member relations & status and Communication
How do norms develop in groups? – The Muzafer Sherif Experiment
• Muzafer Sherif studied norm emergence through an experiment called “autokinetic effect”.
• Individuals are made to stare at a pin point of light in a dark room. Due to an illusion, the pin point of light (even though stationary) appears to move
• Muzafer Sherif asked the individuals to tell him the extent of this movement
Autokinetic Effect
• Muzafer found that initially individuals started with estimates that varied from 1 to 10 inches, but when made to sit in groups and say aloud their estimates, their estimates began to converge, until, by the third session they all agreed it was about 3 inches

Group Norms
• Norms are shared consensual standards.
• Sherif found that the individual’s acceptance of the group norm was not just “compliance” – that is, the individuals agreed with the rest in the group in public, but disagreed in private
• He found by experiment that the individuals “internalized” the group norm, and when tested individually, after the group experiment, continued to estimate the light movement as per the group norms
Transmission of Group Norms
• Studies have shown that group norms, once set, are transmitted across generations
• New group members tend to agree with the group norms set by predecessors, even when such norms are found to be arbitrary and often lead to group errors
• Experiments show that it takes 5 or 6 sessions for the group norms to return to normal
• Sometimes, even those group norms that appear to be meaningless, continue to be accepted by succeeding generations of members, because norms become part of the structure of the group, because such group norms tend to organize interactions, increase predictability (in terms of response and behavior) and enhance solidarity

Roles – The Andes Experience
• On the day after the crash, one of the passengers (who was captain of the rugby team) sought help from other survivors for various tasks
• Three survivors provided first aid to the injured, another group of boys melted ice to provide water for the group, another team cleaned the aircraft cabin to keep it clean for the group to live in.
Roles
• Role and role differentiation are necessary in a group to enhance its working
• We can classify roles within a group into three broad categories:
– Task roles
– Relationship roles
– Individual roles
Role Conflicts
• Role conflicts may arise from role ambiguity which in turn could lead to:
• Inter-role conflicts
• Intra-role conflicts
• Person-role conflict
1. Task role: These are the roles that relate to getting the work done. They represent the different roles needed to take a project step-by-step from initial conception through to action.
a) Initiator/Contributor - Proposes original ideas or different ways of approaching group problems or goals. This role initiates discussions and move groups into new areas of exploration.
b) Information Seeker - Requests clarification of comments in terms of their factual adequacy. Seeks expert information or facts relevant to the problem. Determines what information is missing and needs to be found before moving forward.
c) Information Giver - Provides factual information to the group. Is seen as an authority on the subject and relates own experience when relevant.
d) Opinion Seeker - Asks for clarification of the values, attitudes, and opinions of group members. Checks to make sure different perspectives are spoken.
e) Opinion Giver - Expresses his or her own opinions and beliefs about the subject being discussed. Often states opinions in terms of what the group "should" do.
f) Elaborator - Takes other people's initial ideas and builds on them with examples, relevant facts and data. Also looks at the consequences of proposed ideas and actions.
g) Co-ordinator - Identifies and explains the relationships between ideas. May pull together a few different ideas and make them cohesive.
h) Orienter - Reviews and clarifies the group's position. Provides a summary of what has been accomplished, notes where the group has veered off course, and suggests how to get back on target.
i) Evaluator/Critic - Evaluates the proposals against a predetermined or objective standard. Assesses the reasonableness of a proposal and looks at whether it is fact-based and manageable as a solution.
j) Energizer - Concentrates the group's energy on forward movement. Challenges and stimulates the group to further action.
k) Procedural Technician - Facilitates group discussion by taking care of logistical concerns like where meetings are to take place and what supplies are needed for each meeting.
l) Recorder - Acts as the Secretary or Minute-Keeper. Records ideas and keeps track of what goes on at each meeting.

2. Personal / social roles :

a) Encourager - Affirms, supports and praises the efforts of fellow group members. Demonstrates warmth and provides a positive attitude in meetings.
b) Harmonizer - Conciliates differences between individuals. Seeks ways to reduce tension and diffuse a situation by providing further explanations or using humour.
c) Compromiser - Offers to change his or her position for the good of the group. Willing to yield position or meet others half way.
d) Gatekeeper/Expediter - Regulates flow of communication. Makes sure all members have a chance to express themselves by encouraging the shy and quiet members to contribute their ideas. Limits those who dominate the conversation and may suggest group rules or standards that ensure everyone gets a chance to speak up.
e) Observer/Commentator - Provides feedback to the group about how it is functioning. Often seen when a group wants to set, evaluate, or change its standards and processes.
f) Follower - Accepts what others say and decide even though he or she has not contributed to the decision or expressed own thoughts. Seen as a listener not a contributor

3. Dysfunctional and/or Individualistic Roles

These roles disrupt group progress and weaken its cohesion.
a) Aggressor - Makes personal attacks using belittling and insulting comments, for example, "That's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard." Actions are usually an attempt to decrease another member's status.
b) Blocker - Opposes every idea or opinion that is put forward and yet refuses to make own suggestions, for example, "That's not a good idea." The result is that the group stalls because it can't get past the resistance.
c) Recognition Seeker - Uses group meetings to draw personal attention to him or herself. May brag about past accomplishments or relay irrelevant stories that paint him or her in a positive light. Sometimes pulls crazy stunts to attract attention like acting silly, making excess noise, or otherwise directing members away from the task at hand.
d) Self-confessor - Uses the group meetings as an avenue to disclose personal feelings and issues. Tries to slip these comments in under the guise of relevance, such as "That reminds me of a time when." May relate group actions to his or her personal life. For example, if two others are disagreeing about something, the Self-confessor may say, "You guys fight just like me and my wife .“
e) Disrupter/Playboy or Playgirl - Uses group meetings as fun time and a way to get out of real work. Distracts other people by telling jokes, playing pranks, or even reading unrelated material.
f) Dominator - Tries to control the conversation and dictate what people should be doing. Often exaggerates his or her knowledge and will monopolize any conversation claiming to know more about the situation and have better solutions than anybody else.
g) Help Seeker - Actively looks for sympathy by expressing feelings of inadequacy. Acts helpless, self deprecating and unable to contribute, e.g. "I can't help you, I'm too confused and useless with this stuff."
h) Special Interest Pleader - Makes suggestions based on what others would think or feel. Avoids revealing his or her own biases or opinions by using a stereotypical position instead, for example, "The people over in Admin sure wouldn't like that idea." or "You know how cheap our suppliers are, they won't go for that
Group Socialization

Inter-member relationships – The Andes Experience
• On the 17th day of the Andes survivors’ ordeal, an avalanche swept through their makeshift shelter and some members died , One of those who died was the rugby team captain, who had until then informally taken charge of coordinating the groups stay in the Andes and its survival , After the captain’s death, a new hierarchy of relationships emerged
Status relations in Groups
• Every group is characterized by status differentiation and pecking order, which may emerge automatically or be formally conferred
• Claiming Status – people may claim status by posture, the way they dress, method of communication, display of anger, display of confidence, expertise, etc.
• Perceiving status – sometimes despite the claims of individuals to status, the group may reject them, if the group has a different perception of what an individual’s behavior should be to claim a particular status
• Status may be conferred or assumed based on either Specific Status Characteristics (such as expertise, strength, health, maturity, etc) or Diffuse Status Characteristics (such as age, sex, wealth, ethnicity, status in other groups, or cultural background, etc.)
• Specific Status Characteristics are task-specific and personal specific, while diffuse status characteristics are general personal qualities
• Status generalization is a tendency among group members to assume certain diffuse characteristics as the norm for certain jobs and positions. This often leads to racial, class and other forms of bias against individuals, minorities, women, etc.
• Solo status – the state of being the only member of a category (for example only woman in an all-male group) also leads to status generalization
Inter-member Relationships
• Sociometric differentiation – some group members becoming ‘stars’, some ‘outcasts’, some ‘average’, some ‘isolates’.
• Sociometric relations show reciprocity, transitivity, and homophily.
• also lead to formation of clusters or cliques
The Balance Theory
• According to Fritz Heider’s balance theory, a group structure remains stable when the sociometric relations within it are balanced
• Unbalanced sociometric relations lead to tension among group members and people tend to set right this imbalance either through psychological changes in the individual members or through interpersonal changes in the group
• What determines attraction between members within a group are: similarity, complementarity, reciprocity, personal qualities and even physical attractiveness
Group Communication draw communication network :
• Communication is an important structural element of groups
• Communication may be centralized or decentralized
• While the wheel and Y are centralized network, circle and comcon networks are decentralized
• Studies show that centralized networks of communication work better in case of simple tasks, while decentralized networks work better in case of complex tasks.
• Communication networks impact groups in two ways:
• Positional Effect & Directional Effect

Positional Effect Positional effect is caused by:
• Degree of centrality – the extent to which one individual is connected to maximum number of members. Centrality raises the sociometric status of the individual
• Betweenness – refers to the extent to which one member is able to act as the “go-between” different members thus linking people. Such members become “harmonizers”.
• Closeness – is a position in a communication network, where a member is able to communicate with maximum number of members directly, without having to go through others.
• Individuals who have high degree of centrality and betweenness, in a centralized communication network are always thought to be leaders of their groups
• Centralized communication networks have fewer centralized positions, compared to decentralized networks, and hence the level of satisfaction with centralized networks is lower than that in decentralized networks
Directional effects
• Directional effects of communication networks refer to horizontal and vertical communications within groups
Directional effects on communication include the reticence of higher authorities to pass on all information to lower levels, and the tendency of lower level employees to convey only the “good” information to higher-ups and suppressing “bad” information
Conclusion
While each group is unique in its own way, there are some underlying structural elements that are common to all groups. These structural elements – norms, roles, relationships and status networks, communication networks – impact not only individuals within groups but also the overall capability and performance of groups. Hence, it is important to understand these structural elements

Lesson 5
Power
• Power is the ability to affect the behavior of others
• Social power is the capacity to influence others, even when these others try to resist influence.
• Every group is characterized by power and the influence that flows from power
• Power holders can produce intended and foreseen effects on others, even when the others try to resist

Difference Between Power & Influence

• Both involve a capacity to change the behavior of another individual. However,
• Power > Behavior > Attitude
• Influence > Attitude > Behavior
• Power requires that the target perceives that the user has something that the target wants

Difference Between Power & Influence
• Influence is simply the capacity to effect a choice made
• Influence is a purely internal equation
• Power over an individual is the capacity to make their decisions for them
• An individual’s only inherent power is the ability to make their own decisions. Giving that up is how power is ceded to others
• Power then is not purely internal as with influence. Power is not filtered by the individual psychology.
• When someone makes decisions for us, he is said to exert power and we have ceded power to him/her; on the other hand, when we choose to follow another, we are said to be influenced by the other.
Difference Between Power & Force

• Force, unlike power, does not involve making choices for another, but rather doing something to another

Example – Force, Power, Influence

• For instance I can hold a gun to your head and tell you to give me your money. In that case I have force that I can apply to you (the gun, or more specifically the high velocity bullets that the gun can project). I probably have Influence (due to your fear of injury and death). It may seem to you that I have Power but that’s an illusion. Holding the gun to your head I can tell you that I will shoot you if you don’t comply but the choice is ultimately yours. If you feel like you don’t have a choice in that matter it’s because you have been conditioned to fear death to such a level that the threat of it creates an overwhelming hysteria in you
Milgram’s Experiment
• Obedience to authority is a measure of the extent to which power influences.
• Stanley Milgram (1974) conducted an experiment to see to what extent and under what conditions people obey authority.
• He used groups of three people to conduct his experiment
• One person was a professional actor who was hired to be the experimenter. He was to introduce himself as an expert and in-charge of the experiments. He was to be an authoritative person who would give the orders and conduct the sessions. He was introduced as an expert from the Yale University, where Milgram conducted these experiments initially.
• The second person was also a part of the research team (a confederate) who would participate as a learner in the sessions. He was a slightly nervous person in his 40s and friendly.
• The third person was the actual participant on whom the experiment was to be conducted and was a volunteer who was selected through an advertisement.
• The experiment was one of a teacher and learner. Even though to the participant it appeared as if the allocation of tasks to the confederate and participant was done rather randomly, what the participant did not know that Milgram ensured that every time the confederate turned out to be the learner and the participant had to be teacher.
• The teacher had to sit in one room and (through a mike system) teach the learner (sitting in another room) pairs of English words (like blue box, nice day, good day, etc).
• Once the learner had learnt the words, the teacher would test if the learner could recall the pairs of words in the same order. For example, if the teacher would say blue and give him several choices like sky, ink, box, etc. If the learner answered “blue box” it would be correct. If he gave the wrong answer, the teacher is to press a switch to give a small electric shock to the learner.
• The learner was tied to a chair (in the presence of the participant) and left in the adjacent room from where he would listen to the questions and give answers.
• Milgram had created a console containing several switches marked from 0-450 volts. Each time the learner made a mistake, the teacher is to press one of the switches to give a small shock to the learner.
• The experimenter explained to both the participant and the learner that the shocks would be very mild and not dangerous to the learner though there would be some pain as the voltage increased
• The experimenter would sit next to the teacher and every time the learner gave a wrong answer the teacher is to press a switch and give a shock.
• If the learner repeated the mistakes, the teacher is to increase the shock voltage, and if the learner kept silent higher voltage shock is to be given
• If the teacher hesitated to give the shock, the experimenter would prompt him to continue giving the shock.
• What the participant, however, was not told was Milgram had arranged the experiment in such a way that no shock was ever actually given to the learner sitting in the other room
• However, the learner (who was Milgram’s confederate) was either told to make noises as if he was suffering the pain of shock, or such noises were pre-recorded and played, every time the teacher gave the shock
• Milgram expected that none or only a few of the participants would ever obey the orders of the experimenter to give a shock to the learner
• He was surprised to find that 65% of the participants went to extent of giving up to 450 volts of shock just on the prompting and orders of the experimenter, knowing fully well that the learner in the other room was crying in pain.

• Milgram found that all participant obeyed the orders (or promptings) of the experimenter till the 300v level, but beyond that some participants refused to give the shock.
• What was surprising was that 65% of the participants continued to give the shock in obedience to the experimenter’s instructions right till the end (till 400v level)
• Milgram made several modifications to the experiment to see how the level of obedience changed
• Proximity condition – he made the learner sit in the same room (a little away) from the teacher. In this case the obedience dropped to 40%
• Touch proximity condition – Milgram also made the learner sit next to the teacher, and for every wrong answer, the learner had to keep his hand on a plate through which current was (supposedly) passed when the teacher pressed a switch. If the learner refused to keep his hand on the plate, the experimenter would give the teacher a shock-proof glove, and ask him to press down the hand of the learner on to the plate. In this case 30% still obeyed the experimenter’s orders
• Heart condition – in another variation, the learner was made to sit in the adjacent room, and when the experimenter connected wires to him pretended that he had heart problem. During the shock phase, the learner screamed and became silent beyond 330 volts, still 65% of the participants continued give shock till 450 volt level
• Prestige and obedience – In another variation of the experiment, Milgram wanted to test if the participants obeyed the experimenter because he was introduced to them as an expert from Yale University (and the prestige of the expert and Yale University made them obey). So, he shifted the experiments to a small office in a shopping area. He introduced the experimenter as a member of a group doing the experiment for an industry and not as an expert or from Yale University. In this case he found the obedience dropped to 48%.
• Surveillance – In another variation, Milgram wanted to test what would happen to the obedience level if the experimenter sat in another room and not visible to the teacher. In this case he found that only 20% obeyed the experimenter’s instructions upto the 450 volt level and many participants deceived by pressing only the 15 volt switch while saying they had pressed the higher volt switch
• Expertise – In another variation, Milgram wanted to test if it was the experimenter’s expertise that made the participants obey his orders. So, he asked the experimenter to start giving the initial instructions, but then withdraw (on some pretext), and a fourth member was asked to temporarily take over the experimenter’s role. The new member was to give instructions about giving shock, but this time he found only 20% obeyed the new experimenter
• Group Effects - Milgram also experimented to find out if the teacher’s obedience to the experimenter changed if he was made to work with two others. So, he got two more participants (these were Milgram’s confederates to sit with the participant. They were, however, briefed to only share the job of calling the words, getting feedback, etc., but the switches to give shock was to be done by the participant.
• Group Effects – Milgram had instructed the two confederates to refuse to listen to the experimenter when the learner cried out in pain. In this case, the obedience of the participants came down, but still 10% of the participants continued to give the shock to the learner, though the other two people with him were watching
• Group Effects – In a slight variation of this experiment, Milgram made the participant do the job of one of the confederates of calling words, etc., while the confederate gave the shock. In this case, 92.5% of the participants just did their job, even though in front of them the other person was giving high levels of shock to the learner
• While this level of obedience has surprised many, subsequent experiments and many real life example indicate that this level of obedience is not unnatural.
Bases of Power
• French and Raven have identified six bases of power:
– Reward Power
– Coercive Power
– Legitimate Power
– Referent Power
– Expert Power
– Informational Power
There are other classifications of power as well – see diagram at the end of handout

Power Processes
• Normally, the members of a new group start as equals, but soon interpersonal processes create differences in roles, status, attractiveness, and communication. People with the required power bases often emerge as leaders or influencers.
• Many factors are responsible for the obedience shown by people to others.
• Interpersonal Complimentarity hypothesis – according to this hypothesis, positive behaviors evoke positive and negative behavior evoke negative responses, while dominant behaviors evoke submissive behavior and submissive behaviors evoke dominant behavior.
• Power & Responsibility – studies show that power and responsibility are usually identified with people occupying high offices – leaders, managers, executives, bosses, etc.
• Because others think that responsibility and power is concentrated only in the higher hierarchical levels, the others (in lower levels) assume an “agentic state” (according to Milgram) and they become agents of a higher authority and begin to obey that authority
• Power of roles – studies show that people often get immersed in their roles (both under experimental conditions and in real life) and thus obey the person with the role of the authority
• Power of commitment – the foot-in-the-door technique (of making small requests gradually escalating to larger requests) is a way of committing people to the authority of superiors
• The Dynamics of Authority thus involves controlling key bases of power, using power tactics, exploiting the nature of the subordinate-authority relationship, and prefacing large demands with minor ones, authorities exert great influence on group members.
The Metamorphic Effects of Power
People react differently to power
• Compliance and Conversion – some people readily accept the power exerted by others and comply or convert to the views of the authority
• Conversion happens in three stages (Kelman’s three-stage theory of conversion) – Compliance, identification and internalization
• Resistance to Coercive Influence – People in power do not always get compliance. If the authority lacks referent power, uses coercive influence methods, and asks the group members to carry out unpleasant assignments people may revolt against the authority. Such conditions generate reactance (individuals asserting their freedom and autonomy) in group members.
• When coercive power is used it can lead to disruptive contagion, or ripple effect, especially if the reprimanded people have substantial influence over the other members of the group who can influences them to disrupt the group
• It is therefore recommended to use other bases of power such as reward power, referent power, and expert power
• Reactions to power tactics – the reaction of subordinates to exertion of power depends on how the power is exerted: Directly, rationally, bilaterally
• Directness – this is an overt method of exerting power – threats, demands, doing what one wants regardless of objections, etc.; alternatively one may covertly manipulate or influence indirectly
• Rationality – this involves using logic, reasoning and good judgment in exerting power. Ingratiation and evasion are non-rational methods
• Bilaterality – this involves a give-and-take approach to influencing. This includes persuasion, discussion, negotiation. Unilateralism is the opposite, where power is exerted without the cooperation of the target.
• Power, Activation, and Inhibition – one’s sense of power often is reflected in the way one behaves.
• People with a sense of high power are active, positive, seek rewards and opportunities, show high energy, etc.; while, people with low sense of power are inhibited.
• If an individual works for long periods under the authority of others, he/she tends to become inhibited.
• According to the Approach-Inhibition Model (Keltner, Gruenfeld & Anderson, 2003), people react in two ways to environmental influences – one is “approach” associated with action, self-promotion, seeking rewards and opportunities, increased energy and movement, etc.
• Another reaction is inhibition associated with reaction, self-protection, avoid-activity, etc. Reaction Approach Reaction (High Power) Inhibitory reaction (low power)
Experience & expression of effect Positive effect Negative effect
Social attention Sensitive to rewards Sensitive to threat and punishment Perceptions of others Views others as a means to one’s own ends Views self as a means to others’ ends
Social cognition Automatic processing Controlled processing
Social Behavior Approach related behavior Behavioral inhibition
Behavioral regulation Socially inappropriate behavior Socially appropriate behavior Behavioral consistency Self-determined & personally consistent Situationally consistent

Changes In the Power Holder
• Not everyone seeks power – Social dominance Orientation (SDO) is a general predisposition of some people toward anti-egalitarianism within and between groups, manifested by a preference for group-based hierarchy and the domination of inferior groups by superior groups.
• People who are high in SDO tend to create, protect and increase differences between themselves and others
• Power does at times corrupt. Leaders sometimes have the tendency to overstep the bounds of their authority when they feel they have the overwhelming support of the group (a phenomenon called mandate phenomenon)
• The Iron Law of Oligarchy – when power is concentrated in the hands of a few (oligarchy), these individuals will tend to act in ways that protect and enhance their power.
Conclusion
• Authority is essential to group life. Without its organizing guidance, group members could not coordinate their efforts and achieve their goals. Yet authorities that overstep their boundaries can undermine members’ motivations, create conflict, and break the bonds between members. Authorities, too, must be wary of their own power, for power is easily misused. Who should question authority? Those who have it and those who are controlled by it.

Lesson 6 :
Definition of Leadership
Leadership is both a process and property.
As a process (focusing on what leaders do), leadership is the use of non-coercive influence to shape the organization’s goals, motivate behavior toward the achievement of those goals, and help define group or organizational culture.)
As a property, leadership is the set of characteristics attributed to individuals who are perceived to be leaders.
Leaders are people who can influence the behaviors of others without having to rely on force.
Leaders are people whom others accept as leaders.

Power & Leadership Power is the ability to affect the behavior of others. One can have power without actually using it. In an organization setting, FIVE types of power.
• Legitimate Power Power granted through the organizational hierarchy; it is the power defined by the organization that is to be accorded to people occupying particular positions.
• Reward Power The power to give or withhold rewards, such as salary increases, bonuses, promotions, praise, recognition and interesting job assignments, etc.
• Coercive Power - The power to force compliance by means of psychological, emotional or physical threat.
• Referent Power -The personal power that accrues to someone based on identification, imitation, loyalty or charisma
• Expert Power – Power that accrues based on one’s expertise

Leadership Theories There are broadly three approaches to leadership
• Trait Theories
• Behavioral Theories
• Situational Theories

Trait Theories of Leadership
• Traits are personal qualities and characteristics of individuals.
• Trait theories of leadership tried to isolate personal qualities and characteristics of individuals that differentiated leaders from non-leaders.
• The search for a set of traits that differentiated leaders from others failed. The trait approach did identify six traits that are consistently associated with leadership
• Ambition & Energy
• Desire to lead
• Honesty & Integrity
• Self confidence
• Intelligence
• Job-relevant knowledge

Limitations of the Trait Approach to Leadership
• There are no universal traits that predict leadership; rather, traits appear to predict leadership only in selective situations
• The evidence for traits to be causes of leadership is unclear. For example, does self-confidence create leadership or does success as a leader give self-confidence?
• Traits do a better job at predicting the appearance of leadership than in actually distinguishing effective and ineffective leaders.

Behavioral Theories of Leadership The behavioral theories of leadership were aimed at understanding the behaviors and actions of leaders. Three behavioral studies of leadership are considered important.
• Michigan Studies
• Ohio State Studies
• Leadership Grid

Leadership Continuum (Diagrams) Tannenbaum and Schmidt leadership continuum was one of the earliest attempts at explaining leadership behavior. The continuum identifies seven levels of leadership ranging from extreme boss-centered to extreme subordinate centered leadership.

Managers Leaders
Do things right Do the right things
Are interested in efficiency Are interested in effectiveness
Administer Innovate
Maintain Develop
Focus on systems and structure Focus on people
Rely on control Rely on trust
Organize and staff Align people with a direction
Emphasize tactics, structure and systems Emphasize philosophy, core values and shared goals
Have a short-term view Have a long-term view
Ask How and When Ask What and Why
Accept the status quo Challenge the status quo
Focus on the present Focus on the future
Have their eyes on the bottom line Have their eyes on the horizon
Develop detailed steps and timetables Develop visions and strategy
Seek predictability and order Seek change
Avoid risks Take risks
Motivate people to comply with standards Inspire people to change
Use position to position influence Use person to person influence
Require others to comply Inspire others to follow

OHIO STATE STUDIES (Ohio State University, late 1940s)
Initiating structure refers to the extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure his or her role and those of employees in the search for goal attainments. This type of leader may be described as “task oriented”, as they place considerable emphasis on work organization, work relationships, goal attainment, expect workers to maintain definite standards of performance and emphasize on meeting deadlines.

Consideration is described as the extent to which a person is likely to have job relationships that are characterized by mutual trust, respect for employees’ ideas and regard for their feelings. This type of leader may be described as “people oriented” as they place high emphasis on their followers’ comforts, well being, status and satisfaction. They help employees with personal problems, are friendly and approachable and treat all employees as equals.

BEHAVIORAL THEORIES
Behavioral theories propose that specific behaviors differentiate leaders from non-leaders.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN STUDIES

The Production Oriented leaders are found to emphasize on the technical or task aspects of the job, their main concern being in accomplishing their group’s tasks.

Employee Oriented leaders are described as emphasizing interpersonal relations; they take a personal interest in their employees and accept individual differences.

THE MANAGERIAL GRID

The Managerial Grid (or Leadership Grid) is a graphic portrayal of leadership styles based on two dimensions: concern for people and concern for production (and portrays the Initiating Structure/Consideration leadership as stated by Ohio State Studies or the employee-oriented and production-oriented leadership styles identified by the Michigan Studies). The Grid is a nine-by-nine Matrix and outlines 81 different leadership styles.
Blake and Mouton who proposed the grid have found that a 9,9 style (also called high-high style) leaders were more successful than either a 9,1 (authority type) or 1,9 (laissez-faire type) type
CONTINGENCY OR SITUATIONAL THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP

FIEDLER MODEL
Step I Identify the leadership style using the Least Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Questionnaire.
Step 2 Based on the LPC analysis basic leadership style of an individual is classified as task- oriented or Relationship oriented.
Step 3 The theory states that task oriented leaders are most effective in highly favorable or
Highly Unfavorable situations, while relationship oriented leaders are most effective in moderate situations.
Step 4 Fiedler described three contingency dimensions to define situational factors:
1. Leader Member Relations – The degree of confidence, trust and respect members have for their leader. The warmer and friendlier this relationship, the more favorable the situation is.
2. Task Structure – The degree to which the job assignments are procedurized. The more structured the tasks are, the more favorable the situations is stated to be.
3. Position Power – The degree of influence a leader has over power variables such as hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases etc. The more power the leader has, the more favorable the situation is considered to be.
Step 5 The situation is evaluated in terms of these three contingency dimensions and leadership style is Matched to these situations.
Path-Goal Theory
• The primary functions of a leader are to make valued or desired rewards available in the workplace and to clarify for the subordinate the kinds of behavior that will lead to those rewards.
• The theory identifies four kinds of leader behavior.
• Directive leader behavior - tells the subordinates what is expected of them and gives direction
• Supportive leader behavior – is friendly, approachable and shows concern for subordinates and treats them as equals
• Participative leader behavior - allows participation of subordinates in decisions
• Achievement-oriented leader behavior - setting challenging goals, expecting subordinates to perform at high levels, encouraging subordinates and showing confidence in subordinates’ abilities.
• Unlike Fiedler’s theory, path-goal theory assumes that leaders can change their behavior according to situations. The situational factors include the personal characteristics of the subordinates and environmental characteristics of the workplace.

VROOM’S DECISION TREE APPROACH
• Victor Vroom’s decision-tree approach is a situational theory of leadership
• According to this theory, the degree to which subordinates should be made to participate in decision-making depends on the characteristics of the situation.
• After evaluating the situation on the basis of a number of attributes, the leader decides the extent to which the subordinate needs to be directed, facilitated in making his/her own decisions, etc.
• If a decision is critical to the organization its significance is rated as high; if the decision is routine it is rated as low.
• There are TWO decision trees presented by the theory; one is to be used when the manager wants a time-bound and quick decision; the other is used when the manager is interested in helping subordinates improve and develop their own decision-making skills The approach identifies FIVE decision styles:
• Decide: The manager makes decision alone and then announces or “sells” it to the group
• Consult (individually): Manager presents the program to group members individually, obtains their suggestions, and then makes decision
• Consult (group): The manager presents the problem to group at a meeting, gets their suggestions, and then makes decision
• Facilitate: The manager presents the problem to group at a meeting defines the problem, and its boundaries, and then facilitates group member discussion as they make the decision.
• Delegate: Manager allows the group to define for itself the exact nature and parameters of the problem and then to develop a solution.

Leader – Member Exchange Theory

The LMX theory states that there is a dyadic relationship between the leader and every member of the group. According to this theory, leaders develop exchange relationships with each of their subordinates, and that the quality of these leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships influences subordinates’ responsibility, decision influences, access to resources and performance.
Participation Theories
• Lewin-Lippitt-White studies the impact of leadership styles on group behavior. They identified three styles of leadership:
• The authoritarian or autocratic leader
• The democratic leader
• The laissez-faire leader
• It is generally found that shared leadership elicits the best responses from the group members.

Charismatic Leadership
• Charismatic leadership assumes that charisma is an individual characteristic of the leader
• Charisma is a form of interpersonal attraction that inspires support and acceptance
• All else being equal, someone with charisma is more likely to be able to influence others than is someone without charisma.
• Robert House, who proposed a theory of charismatic leadership in 1977, charismatic leaders are likely to have a lot of self-confidence, a firm conviction in their beliefs and ideals, and a strong need to influence people. They also tend to communicate high expectations about follower performance.
• There are three elements of charismatic leadership:
• Leader needs to envision the future, set high expectations, model behaviors consistent with meeting those expectations
• Next the charismatic leader must be able to energize others through a demonstration of personal excitement, personal confidence, and patterns of success
• Finally, the charismatic leader enables others by supporting them, empathizing with them, and expressing confidence in them.
• There are, however, ethical issues around charismatic leaders.
Transformational Leadership
• This leadership is defined as “leadership that goes beyond ordinary expectations by transmitting a sense of mission, stimulating learning experiences, and inspiring new ways of thinking.”
• Trusting subordinates, developing a vision, keeping cool, encouraging risk, being an expert, inviting dissent, and simplifying things, are considered keys to transformational leadership.

Implicit Leadership Theories
• Implicit Leadership theories (ILTs) are group members’ taken-for-granted assumptions about the traits, characteristics and qualities that distinguish leaders from the people they lead
• Group members come to groups with expectations, beliefs and assumptions about leaders and leadership. These cognitive structures are termed Implicit Leadership Theories
• Although each member may have a unique conception about leadership, studies show that generally they include task skills – leader should be active, determined, influential, and in command; Relationship skills – the leaders should be caring, interested, truthful, and open to others’ ideas
• Group members also expect their leaders to be prototypical of their group – example if the group values intellectual prowess and analytic ability their expectation of their leader different from a group that values action and adventure
Substitutes For Leadership
• There are many situations when leadership is not required, but people understand and take their own decisions. These are not explained by leadership theories. The concept of leaderless teams is often used to describe these situations.
• This concept identifies situations where leader behaviors are neutralized by characteristics of subordinates, the task and the organization.
• Characteristics of the subordinate that may neutralize leadership behaviors include ability, experience, need for independence, professional orientation, and indifference toward organizational rewards.
• Task characteristics that may substitute for leadership include routineness, availability of feedback, and intrinsic satisfaction.
• Organizational characteristics that may substitute for leadership include formalization, group cohesion, inflexibility, and a rigid reward structure. Leadership may not be necessary when policies and practices are formal and inflexible. Similarly, a rigid reward system may rob the leader of reward power and thereby decrease the importance of the role.

Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model (Diagram )
• The Hersey-Blanchard leadership model is a situational model of leadership, and considers the readiness of followers as a determinant of leadership styles.
• The model identifies FOUR types of leadership behavior based first on HIGH TASK or HIGH RELATIONSHIP orientations
• The model then identifies FOUR types of follower readiness and suggests the leadership styles appropriate for the different levels of follower readiness
Team Leader Vs Solo Leader(2 diagrams)

Lesson 7

The Nature & Impact of INFLUENCE In Groups
Social Influence in Groups
• Social Influence is the general term used to refer to the interpersonal processes that change group members’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
• We can consider two flows of influence: from majority to individuals called Majority Influences; &
• From individual or a small faction to Majority called Minority influence
The Asch Experiment: The extent to which people generally tend to conform to the majority was established through a scientific experiment performed by Solomon Asch. The results he obtained have come to be known as the “Asch Paradigm”.

Asch gathered a group of individuals and showed them two cards: one containing a single line and another card containing three lines one of which was the same size as the line in the first card, the other two lines being smaller
The results of Asch’s experiment were as follows:
76.4% of the members made at least one error
36.8% of the times the member conformed with the group (even though the group selection was wrong)
24% of the members never conformed
11% conformed 10 times or more
5% of members made at least one error when tested
• Asch further found that if the member had at least one ally (who disagreed with the majority), the percentage of conformance came down from about 37% to 10%.
• In other words, even if one member in the group dissented, the participant (even if he did not agree with the dissenting member) found it easy to dissent.

Other findings of the Asch Experiment include:
• If there is unanimity among the majority, the pressure on the minority (or individual) is strong
• Larger groups have a greater influence on the individual (or majority) but only upto a point.
• Asch found that when a group had only 2 members neither conformed with the other
• When the group had 3 members with one pitted against 2, the conformity rose to 13.6%
• When one member was pitted against 3 others the conformity rose to 31.8%
• However, if one member was pitted against more than 3 members, Asch did not find significant increase in conformity

Social Impact Theory
• According to the Social Impact Theory of Bibb Latane, the impact of any source of influence depends upon the strength, the immediacy, and the number of people (sources) present.
• Asch found that if an individual comes to know that a majority group has arrived at a decision as a group (and not independently), the individual will NOT conform to the group regardless of the size of the group because the individual treats it as one source of influence.
• On the other hand, if a group of 6 people arrive at the same decision independently, they have far greater impact on an individual to conform, because it becomes same as 6 different sources of influence.
• In fact, two 2-person groups are more influential than one 4-person group.
Types of Conformity
• Conformance does not always mean that the individual has converted to the views of the majority. There are different types of conformity (or non conformity) as follows:
• Compliance (or acquiescence) – occurs when an individual agrees with the majority in public but disagrees in private
• Conversion – represents a true change of opinion in that the individual agrees with the majority view both in public and private. Non-conformity can be two types:
• Independence – the individual disagrees with group in public and private, and takes a decision based only on his/her own beliefs
• Anti-conformity (counter conformity) – a member deliberately opposes the majority view in order to challenge the majority rather than express one’s own views
• Sometimes anti-conformity is used deliberately in the form of a ‘devil’s advocate’ to encourage contra views
• When an individual agrees with the majority view right from the beginning, she/he is not called a ‘conformist’. They are said to display Congruence.
Limits of Majority Influence
• Conformity across cultures – Asch performed his experiments in America which is an individualistic society. Later studies have shown that in collectivist societies like in Asia, the conformity is much higher than (38%) what Asch found in America. This increased conformance is driven both by individualism and power distance
• Conformity across times – Studies by two social scientists Bond and Smith have shown that conformity has DECREASED between 1952 and 1994. When Asch conducted his experiments in the 1950’s social norms stressed respect for authority and traditional values in American society. As social norms change, conformity does change, though there is no empirical evidence to say it necessarily changes with time.
• Conformity across sexes – studies have shown that women are more conforming than men. However, it is found that they are conforming more in face-to-face situations rather than in non-face-to-face situations
• One reason for this could be that women want to maintain positive relationships, while men use their disagreement as a means to dominate others
• Conformity Across People - Asch found in his experiments that some people agreed with the wrong answer of the majority in every trial, while some others never agreed with the majority view unless they felt it was the right view according to them.
• Age, personality and expertise are all found to impact the extent to which an individual will conform with majority. The following table lists personality characteristics that are associated with conformity and non-conformity.
Personality Characteristics & Conformity/ non-conformity
Characteristic Reaction to influence
Age Conformity increases with age
Authoritarianism Authoritarians generally tend to be conformists
Birth order First born children tend to conform more than later-born children
Dependency People who are high in dependency show higher conformance
Gender identity Women are found to conform more than men
Individualism-collectivism Collectivists conform more than individualists
Individuation High individuators (people with need to differentiate themselves in public) dissent more than conform
Intelligence Less intelligent people who are not confident of their own abilities conform more
Need for closure When need for closure is high, conformance is high
Need for uniqueness People with high need for uniqueness (NFU) tend to be dissenters rather than conformists
Self-blame People with tendency to blame one-self for negative outcomes, tend to be conformists
Self-esteem Individuals with low self-esteem conform more
Self-monitoring High self-monitors conform more
Stability Stability, conscientiousness and agreeability make people conform more
“Yea” saying “Yea” sayers conform more than people who carefully think through their answers
• Conformity across group sittings: It is found that conformity increases or decreases according to different situations. These are listed in the following tables.
Factor Conformity Increases if Conformity decreases if
Accountability Individuals are striving for acceptance by others Individuals are accountable for their own actions
Accuracy Majority’s position is reasonable or accurate Majority’s position is unreasonable or inaccurate
Anonymity Responses are made publicly or face-to-face Responses are anonymously made and members cannot see each other
Attraction Members are attracted to group or its members Members dislike each other
Awareness Individuals realize that their position is unusual Individuals do not realize that their position is unusual
Cohesion Cohesion is high Cohesion is low
Commitment to position Individuals are publicly committed to their position Individuals are not committed to their position publicly
Commitment to group Individuals are committed to group Groups or memberships are temporary
Priming If unnoticed cues in the setting prime conformity Situational cues prime independence
Size Majority is large Majority is small
Task Task is important but very difficult Task is important and easy, or task is trivial
Unanimity Majority is Unanimous Several Members disagree with the majority
What is Priming?
Priming refers to an increased sensitivity to certain stimuli due to prior experience. Because priming is believed to occur outside of conscious awareness, it is different from memory that relies on the direct retrieval of information. Direct retrieval utilizes explicit memory, while priming relies on implicit memory. Research has also shown that the effects of priming can impact the decision-making process (Jacoby, 1983).
Priming in psychology is where an early stimulus influences response to a later stimulus. For example, when a person reads a list of words including the word table, and is later asked to complete a word starting with tab, the probability that subject answers table is higher than for non-primed people. Or people shown an incomplete sketch and unable to identify it are shown more of the sketch until they recognize the picture. Later they will identify the sketch at an earlier stage than was possible for them the first time.
Priming works best when the two stimuli are in the same mode. For example visual priming works best with visual cues and verbal priming works best with verbal cues. But priming also occurs between modes, or between semantically related words such as doctor and nurse.
Priming can be conceptual or perceptual. Conceptual priming is based on the meaning of a stimulus and is enhanced by semantic tasks. For example, table, will show priming effects on chair, because table and chair belong to the same category. Perceptual priming is based on the form of the stimulus and is enhanced by the match between the early and later stimuli. Perceptual priming is sensitive to the modality and exact format of the stimulus. An example of perceptual priming is seeing the same sketch in the experiment mentioned above.
Minority Influence
• Even though groups generally tend to go with majority views, under certain circumstances, the majority may agree with a minority (or individual) views.
• Some of these conditions are:
• Consistency – If the individual argues his views unwaveringly
• Shows confidence and insight
• Presents compelling and coherent argument
• Minority preface their dissent with conformity
• Hollander (1971) developed the concept of Idiosyncrasy credits to explain a group’s positive reaction to a minority who preface their dissent with conformity
• High status members who have contributed in the past to a group’s goals tend to extract greater conformance from majority members
• Idiosyncrasy credits accumulate as members interact and contribute to the group’s goals.
• Such members with high credits are usually tolerated by majority when they dissent
• Sometimes a person who consistently disagrees with majority may be able to get the majority’s conformance; however, studies show that minorities who accumulate idiosyncrasy credits tend to extract greater conformance from the majority
• Larger and growing minorities have more influence on majority; however, the dissent should not threaten the integrity of the group itself. Many groups will accept debate and disagreements, but if it impacts the very integrity of the group the majority will quash the majority
• Minorities influence indirectly by getting others converted to their view point; whereas, majority members influence directly by making others comply with their views
Influence as Social Impact
• Influence in groups is two-sided
• Majority expect the minority to conform to their views; while minorities expect the majority to re-examine their views and revise their position
• But change in the group is a mutual process where both majority and minority influence each other. The interaction between minority and majority in groups leads to FOUR tendencies:
– Consolidation – over time the majority grows in size and minority dwindles
– Clustering – people are impacted by their closest neighbors and tend to form clusters
– Correlation - Over time the members’ opinions on issues outside those discussed in the group also tend to converge
– Continuing diversity – because of clustering minority members get shielded from the majority and their divergent views continue
Sources Of Group Influence Studies show that there are three broad sources of group influence:
– Information influence – occurs when group members use others’ views as information source
– Normative Influence – occurs when group members internalize their group’s norms and strive to act in ways consistent with those norms
– Interpersonal influence – Social influence that results from other group members selectively encouraging conformity and discouraging or even punishing non-conformity
Bystander Effect
• The tendency of people in groups to help less when they know others are present and capable of helping is called Bystander Effect.
• It was thought that bystander effect was a result of people’s apathy and selfish unwillingness. However, studies have shown other cognitive reasons:
– Diffusion of responsibility – it is a reduction of personal responsibility felt by individuals when they are in a group
– Information influence – individuals often rely on others to tell them what to do; however, in emergencies, every individual’s silence makes others feel there is no need to do anything
– Evaluation apprehension – when individuals feel that they may embarrass themselves by doing something inappropriate
Influence & Ostracism
• Stanley Schachter (1951) studied groups to find out how group members persuade a dissenter to agree or ultimately ostracize her/him
• He classified the members into (a) deviants – who disagree with majority always (b) sliders – those that initially disagreed but later agreed with majority (c) Mode – those that consistently agreed with the majority
• He found the following: Initially the group communicated more with the Mode, deviant and slider equally; and, once they learnt that the mode agreed with the majority view, their communication with mode dropped
• They continued to communicate with the deviant and slider; since the slider appeared to be coming around to the majority view, their communication with the slider was more than with the deviant.
• Once the slider came around to agreeing with the Majority, their communication dropped and now all communication was directed at the deviant to try and get him/her to agree with the majority view
• He found that during the first 35 minutes of discussion in the group, communication with slider and mode was low and increased with the deviant. At the 35th minute, the more cohesive majority groups, rejected the deviant and communication dropped.
• It is the tendency of group members to evaluate more harshly a disliked ingroup member who performs an offensive behavior than an outgroup member who performs the same offence.
Conclusion
• Since managers have to be leaders who influence and inspire others, it is important to understand how influence works within groups
• An understanding of influence in groups thus helps a manager to extract conformance when required, help create better team work within the organization.

Lesson 8

Informal Organizations
“A society is structured by formal organizations, formal organizations are vitalized and conditioned by informal organizations…. If one fails the other disintegrates” (Chester I. Barnard)
The aggregate of the personal contacts and interactions and the associated groupings of people (Chester I. Barnard)
“The system of relationships and lines of authority that develops spontaneously as employees meet and form power centers; that is, the human side of the organization that does not appear on any organization chart” (William G. Nickels )
Basic Characteristics
• Involves two or more people
• Informal relationships, groupings & interactions
• Repeated contacts but without any conscious joint purpose
• Involves the human need to socialize
• Includes both friendly and hostile relationships and interactions
• Informal association precedes formal organization, as it requires preliminary (informal) contact and interaction before establishment

Scope of Informal Organizations : Informal organizations exist within:
• Organization , Community , State or Everywhere

Effects and Consequences
• Affects knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and behaviour, which may spread across the entire organization with a chain reaction
• Forms habits, norms, customs institutions
• Creates conditions that may lead to the establishment of a formal organization
(e.g. families, societies, clubs, company etc.)
• Formal and informal practices often diverge (e.g. “failure” of a policy or procedure due to “non-acceptance” by the “people”)
• Informal groups also act as window to formal organizations (all organizational contacts are based on few individual interactions)
• Informal organization persists and expands with formal organization through continuity of interactions
• Repeated interactions imply common (unconscious) purposes such as social, professional (unofficial), material
• Lasting interactions are fundamentally based on human need for action.
• Such personal relationships are often more intense and significant than institutional (individual vs. org. loyalty)
• Purposive cooperation a means of individual (or social) development
• All these purposes are indirectly fulfilled through formal organizations
• Thus formal organizations serve societal cohesiveness and social integration

Creation of Informal by Formal Organizations
• Formal systems of cooperation are inherently informal in nature
• Formal activities involve people and result in informal association through continuous interactions
• Formal organizations provide individuals the means to fulfill social and individual needs through social interaction
• All organizations host informal organizations

Functions of Informal in Formal Organizations
• Communication (which is largely informal)
• Creates cohesiveness and integration
• Facilitates in creating “social” conditions that encourage willingness to work, by adding social motives
• Creates a feeling of independence as informal interactions are not governed by formal rules and authority
• Protects individual personality and character against negative (or corrupt) organizational influences
• Informal organizations play a significant role in the development of an organizational culture, that is the aggregate of the values, norms and attitudes of its people

Conceptual Application and Related Themes
• A public administrator should understand and harness the social forces in the organization to the advantage of the system
• To shape and guide values in the system, utilizing informal organizational concepts
• Can fight against corrupt practices by encouraging developing positive informal organizations
• Human Relations Movement – focus on human and group dynamics
• Trend towards organic vs. bureaucratic systems
• Organizing around values that drive people, rather than purely economic objectives
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - Social
• Systems theory – recognizing the influence of components on each other, on the system and vice versa
• Reinforced by research in social-psychology and sociology
• Recognition in modern organizational theory, of the relatively informal roles of champions and agents for change for significant organizational purposes

Grapevine
What is Grapevine
• Grapevine is an informal channel of business communication.
• It is called so because it stretches throughout the organization in all directions irrespective of the authority levels.
• The management can use grapevine to supplement the formal channels of communication.
Grapevine
• Though it carries some degree of error and distortion, efforts can be made to correct it.
• Ignoring the grapevine is nothing but to ignore a valuable source of communication.
• The management can eliminate its negative consequences and, at the same time, it can nourish its positive benefits. The managers have to learn to manage and control it.
Managing Grapevines
• The management can open up all the channels of organizational communication to present the facts positively before the employees and thereby can fight the negative messages with the positive weapons of facts and figures.
• Better job design and better quality of work life can easily bring the grapevine under the control of the management.
• It also prevents the boredom, idleness and suspicions among the employees.
• The negative consequences of the grapevine can be easily eliminated if the management is successful in creating trust-relationship with the employees.
• The rumors flourish beyond limits when the employees are not well informed by the management regarding the policies, objectives and the work procedure of the organization. The inadequate access to information and the feeling if insecurity is the reasons behind the negative outcomes of the grapevines
• The managers must give their employees an adequate access to information and the feeling of security.
• The rumors spread when the situations are unpredictable, unstructured, unplanned and are beyond the control of a person or the persons who are involved in them.
• Therefore, the best way to manage and control it is to provide accurate and substantial information of the situations to the employees.
• The managers should pick up the false rumors and dispel them by providing correct information.
• Before taking any decision or action, the managers must consider its possible effects on the informal groups and systems in the organization.
• The management can use the grapevine as a barometer of the public opinions in the organization or to feel the pulse of the employees in a particular situation. This will surely help them to take right policy decisions.
• In the formal activities of the organization, the management should avoid threatening the informal groups, which are responsible in spreading the grapevine effectively.
• The management should find out the people in the informal groups who are more active on grapevine. These people should be accurately and adequately informed so that the false rumors causing excitement and insecurity do not spread among the employees.
• The management should remember that the workplace community is maintained not only by the work itself but also by the informal human relationships.
• Therefore, the manager should honestly try to integrate their interests with those of the informal groups.
Perception & Its Significance
• We receive elementary inputs about the world through our senses and organize the bits and pieces of the input in ways that are advantageous to us in our attempts to deal with the world.
• The total process of receiving such inputs consists of four phases: stimulation, registration, organization and interpretation. Usually, however, it is the last phase which is referred to as perception.
Perception & Managerial Challenge
• Stereotypy, halo effect, projection and selective perception are the dominant human perceptual tendencies which assume special relevance in the context of management, since the managerial job heavily depends on extracting the right information from a variety of reports and impressions of people and events.
Stereotyping
• As a result of our socialization in a given culture, we perceive certain traits as being associated with certain groups of people
• Such ready-made concepts are convenient and perceptually economical to use, the need for verifying them is often unrecognized.
• Stereotyping leads a person to perceive and respond to others as members of one group or another, ignoring in the process the specific characteristics of individuals.
Examples of Stereotyping
"Madrasis"
provincial; selfish; garrulous; cliquish; simple; intelligent; cowardly; unreliable.

Halo Effect
• This is the tendency to judge specific qualities or traits from an overall impression or knowledge of just one trait.
• It was found in a study that officers who were liked were judged more intelligent than those who were disliked, even though their scores on intelligence tests were the same.
• Supervisors who are engaged in performance rating of their employees shall do well to pay attention to this perceptual tendency.

Projection
• Projection is said to occur when a person sees in others qualities which are his own, but which are too undesirable and too humiliating to admit to.
• A study found that people high in stinginess, obstinacy and disorderliness tended to rate others much higher on these traits than did people who had low measures of these undesirable characteristics.
• We have a tendency to see our bad qualities as belonging to others. Recognition and acceptance of this tendency can help to save us from mistaking ourselves for others and help us perceive others as they are.
Virtual Organizations
Socio-technical systems (STS) ( the joint social and technical aspects of ‘systems’)
• Sociological – people and groups of people
• Technical – more than technology but the two are often conflated – of organization and process

Primary contexts of STS application
• Organizations (most)
• Collaboration (more recently)
• Research and education (very recently) Especially in informatics fields

5th Generation of Work
 First generation work was essentially hunting and gathering;
 Second generation work started farming the land and raising crops and other food products;
 Third generation work moved to cities with factories and small businesses; and
 Fourth generation work moved to the office
 Fifth generation – technology (!) facilitated virtual organizations

Virtual organizations - Definition
• a geographically distributed organization whose members are bound by a long-term common interest or goal, and who communicate and coordinate their work through information technology’
Roles and relationships
• These members assume well defined roles and status relationships within the context of the virtual group that may be independent of their role and status in the organization employing them
Components of Virtual Organizations

Communication patterns
 A key feature of virtual organizations is a high degree of informal communication
 Because of a lack of formal rules, procedures, clear reporting relationships, and norms, more extensive informal communication is required
Organizational Behaviors Traditional System Complex Network
Roles Management Leadership
Methods Command & Control Incentives & Inhibitions
Measurement Activity Outcomes
Focus Efficiency Agility
Network Contractual Personal Outcomes
Relationship Hierarchy Heterarchy
Design Organizational Design Self Organization

Value Philosophy
• Value focuses on organizational outputs or outcomes rather than on inputs
– Eg: Deployed knowledge & skills rather than research budgets
• Value relates to benefits of outcomes rather than outcomes themselves
– Eg: Products & Services enabled by knowledge & skills
• Value implies relevant, useful and useable outcomes
– Beneficiaries have to understand and appreciat
Thus: 5th generation of learning
• explore teaching and learning groups as STSs
• Folding in some elements of social media
Social media reminder
• Reach - more decentralized, less hierarchical, and distinguished by multiple points of production and utility.
• Accessibility - generally available to the public at little or no cost.
• Usability - does not require specialized skills and training, or requires only modest reinterpretation of existing skills; in theory, anyone with access can operate the means of social media production.
• Immediacy - virtually instantaneous responses; only the participants determine any delay in response.
• Permanence - can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing.
Categories of social media
• Communication
• Collaboration
• (Multi) Media
• Review, recommendation, opinion
• Entertainment and monitoring

Negotiations & Group Dynamics
Introduction
Negotiation is something that everyone does, almost daily reasons:
• To agree on how to share or divide a limited resource / create something new that neither party could attain on his or her own / resolve a problem or dispute between the parties

Approach to the Subject
• Bargaining: describes the competitive, win-lose situation
• Negotiation: refers to win-win situations such as those that occur when parties try to find a mutually acceptable solution to a complex conflict
Three Important Themes
 The definition of negotiation and the basic characteristics of negotiation situations
 Interdependence, the relationship between people and groups that most often leads them to negotiate
 Understanding the dynamics of conflict and conflict management processes which serve as a backdrop for different ways that people approach and manage negotiations
Characteristics of a Negotiation Situation
• There are two or more parties / is a conflict of needs and desires between two or more parties
• Parties negotiate because they think they can get a better deal than by simply accepting offers
• Parties expect a “give and take” process
• Parties search for agreement rather than:
– Fight openly / capitulate / Break off contact permanently / Take their dispute to a third party
• Successful negotiation involves:
– Management of tangibles (e.g., the price or the terms of agreement)
– Resolution of intangibles (the underlying psychological motivations) such as winning, losing, saving face
Bargaining Strategies

Interdependence
In negotiation, parties need each other to achieve their preferred outcomes or objectives
• This mutual dependency is called interdependence
• Interdependent goals are an important aspect of negotiation
• Win-lose: I win, you lose
• Win-win: Opportunities for both parties to gain
• Interdependent parties are characterized by interlocking goals /Having interdependent goals does not mean that everyone wants or needs exactly the same thing
• A mix of convergent and conflicting goals characterizes many interdependent relationships
Types of Interdependence Affect Outcomes
• Interdependence and the structure of the situation shape processes and outcomes
– Zero-sum or distributive – one winner
– Non-zero-sum or integrative – mutual gains situation

Alternatives Shape Interdependence
• depends heavily on the alternatives to working together / The desirability to work together is better for outcomes / Best available alternative: BATNA (acronym for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement)

Mutual Adjustment
• Continues throughout the negotiation as both parties act to influence the other
• One of the key causes of the changes that occur during a negotiation
• The effective negotiator needs to understand how people will adjust and readjust and how the negotiations might twist and turn, based on one’s own moves and the other’s responses
Mutual Adjustment and Concession Making
• When one party agrees to make a change in his/her position, a concession has been made
• Concessions restrict the range of options / When a concession is made, the bargaining range is further constrained
Two Dilemmas in Mutual Adjustment
• Dilemma of honesty
– Concern about how much of the truth to tell the other party
• Dilemma of trust
– Concern about how much negotiators should believe what the other party tells them
Value Claiming and Value Creation
• Opportunities to “win” or share resources
– Claiming value: result of zero-sum or distributive situations where the object is to gain largest piece of resource
– Creating value: result of non-zero-sum or integrative situation where object is to have both parties do well
• Most actual negotiations are a combination of claiming and creating value processes
– Negotiators must be able to recognize situations that require more of one approach than the other
– Negotiators must be versatile in their comfort and use of both major strategic approaches
– Negotiator perceptions of situations tend to be biased toward seeing problems as more distributive/competitive than they really are
Value differences that exist between negotiators include:
• Differences in interest
• Differences in judgments about the future
• Differences in risk tolerance
• Differences in time preferences
Conflict
Conflict may be defined as a: "sharp disagreement or opposition" and includes "the perceived divergence of interest, or a belief that the parties' current aspirations cannot be achieved simultaneously"
Levels of Conflict
• Intrapersonal or intrapsychic conflict (occurs within an individual)
• Interpersonal conflict ( between individuals )
• Intragroup Conflict ( within a group)
• Intergroup Conflict (occur between organizations, warring nations) (the most complex)

Functions of Conflict
 Makes organizational members more aware and able to cope with problems through discussion.
 Promises organizational change and adaptation.
 Strengthens relationships and heightens morale.
 Promotes awareness of self and others.
 Enhances personal development.
 Encourages psychological development—it helps people become more accurate and realistic in their self-appraisals.
 Can be stimulating and fun.

Dysfunctions of Conflict
 Competitive, win-lose goals
 Misperception and bias
 Emotionality
 Decreased communication
 Blurred issues
 Rigid commitments
 Magnified differences, minimized similarities
 Escalation of conflict

The Dual Concerns Model Styles of Conflict Management(explain the above dia)

Individual Differences in Negotiation
Personality
• The best distributive bargainer appears to be a disagreeable introvert
• Those who can check their egos at the door are able to negotiate better agreements

Gender
• Men have been found to negotiate better outcomes than women, although the difference is relatively small
• Women may unduly penalize themselves by failing to engage in negotiations when such action would be in their best interest
Cross-Cultural Negotiations international negotiations: 2 context
• Environmental context (environmental forces that neither negotiator controls that influence the negotiation)
• Immediate context (Includes factors over which negotiators appear to have some control)
Environmental Context
Factors that make international negotiations more challenging than domestic negotiations include:
• Political and legal pluralism , International economics Foreign governments and bureaucracies , Instability , Ideology , Culture , External stakeholders
Immediate Context
“Factors over which the negotiators have influence and some measure of control”:
• Relative bargaining power , Levels of conflict , Relationship between negotiators , Desired outcomes , Immediate stakeholders
The Contexts of International Negotiations

How Do We Explain International Negotiation Outcomes?
International negotiations can be much more complicated
• Simple arguments cannot explain conflicting international negotiation outcomes
• The challenge is to:
– Understand the multiple influences of several factors on the negotiation process
– Update this understanding regularly as circumstances change
Conceptualizing Culture and Negotiation
• Culture as learned behavior
– A catalogue of behaviours the foreign negotiator should expect
• Culture as shared values
– Understanding central values and norms
• Career success/quality of life and
• Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture
Individualism/Collectivism
Definition: the extent to which the society is organized around individuals or the group
• Individualism/collectivism orientation influences a broad range of negotiation processes, outcomes, and preferences
– Individualistic societies may be more likely to swap negotiators, using whatever short-term criteria seem appropriate
– Collectivistic societies focus on relationships and will stay with the same negotiator for years

Power Distance
Definition: “The extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally”
• Cultures with stronger power distance will be more likely to have decision-making concentrated at the top of the culture.
Masculinity/Femininity
Definition: the extent cultures hold values that are traditionally perceived as masculine or feminine
• Influences negotiation by increasing the competitiveness when negotiators from masculine cultures meet
Uncertainty Avoidance
Definition: “Indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations”
• Negotiators from high uncertainty avoidance cultures are less comfortable with ambiguous situations--want more certainty on details, etc
Conceptualizing Culture and Negotiation
• Culture as dialectic
– All cultures contain dimensions or tensions that are called dialectics
• Example: Judeo-Christian parables “too many cooks spoil the broth” and “two heads are better than one” offer conflicting guidance
• This can explain variations within cultures
• Culture in context
– No human behavior is determined by a single cause
– All behavior may be understood at many different levels simultaneously
Culture as Values

The Influence of Culture on Negotiation:

Managerial Perspectives Research Perspectives

• Definitions of negotiation
• Negotiation opportunity
• Selection of negotiators
• Protocol
• Communication
• Time sensitivity
• Risk propensity
• Groups versus individuals emphasis
• Nature of agreements
• Emotionalism Negotiation outcomes
Research suggests that culture has an effect on negotiation outcomes, not be direct and it likely has an influence through differences in the negotiation process in different cultures
Some evidence suggests that cross-cultural negotiations yield poorer outcomes than intra-cultural negotiations
Negotiation process
Culture have significant effects on the negotiation process
How negotiators plan , offers made during negotiation , The communication process , How info is shared during negotiation
Effects of culture on negotiator cognition
Accountability to a constituent influenced negotiators from individualistic and collectivistic cultures differently
Effect of culture on negotiator ethics and tactics
Differences exist in the tolerance of different negotiation tactics in different cultures
Negotiators who trusted the other party were less likely to use questionable negotiation tactics
Effects of culture on conflict resolution
Within collectivistic countries, disagreements resolved based on rules, individualistic countries tend to be resolved through personal experience and training The Influence of Culture on Negotiation: Research Perspectives

Culturally Responsive Negotiation Strategies
• When choosing a strategy, negotiators should: aware of their own and the other party’s culture in general
Understand the specific factors in the current relationship
Predict or try to influence the other party’s approach
• Strategies are arranged based on the level of familiarity that a negotiator with other party’s culture
Strategies / level of familiarity Low Familiarity Moderate Familiarity High Familiarity
Unilateral strategy Employ agents or advisers (Useful for negotiators who have little awareness of the other party’s culture) Adapt to the other negotiator’s approach (Involves making conscious changes to your approach so it is more appealing to the other party Embrace the other negotiator’s approach (Adopting completely the approach of the other negotiator (negotiator needs to completely bilingual and bicultural)

Joint strategy Bring in a mediator (Encourages one side or the other to adopt one culture’s approaches or mediator culture approach)
Induce the other party to use your approach (The other party may become irritated or be insulted ) Coordinate adjustment (Involves both parties making mutual adjustments to find a common process for negotiation

Improvise an approach (Crafts an approach that is specifically tailored to the negotiation situation, other party, and circumstances)
Effect symphony (The parties create a new approach that may include aspects of either home culture or adopt practices from a third culture)

Lesson 10 (Original 3 pages up to case study)
Organizational Conflict
Conflict is “a process that begins when one party perceives that the other has frustrated, or is about to frustrate some concern of his.” K.W. Thomas (Hand book of Industrial and Organizational
Psychology).
Conflict is “a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected or is about to negatively affect something that the first party cares about.” Stephen Robbins

The Three Perspectives on Conflict
The Traditional View – All conflict is harmful and must be avoided. The Human Relations View - Conflict is a natural and inevitable outcome in any group. This view rationalizes the existence of conflict in all groups and state that it cannot be fully eliminated. On the other hand, some forms of conflict may benefit the organization.
Interactionist View – Conflict is not only a positive force in a group but that it is absolutely necessary for a group to perform effectively. The Interactionist approach encourages a certain “level” of conflict on the grounds that a harmonious, peaceful, tranquil and cooperative group is prone to becoming static, apathetic and non-responsive to the needs for change and innovation. The “level” should be such as to keep the group viable, self-critical and creative.

Types of Conflict

Sources of Conflict
1. Employment Relationship: This can lead to two types of conflicts. The exchange relationship in which wages are subject to opposing interests and priorities. The employment relationship necessarily requires the subordination of the employee to the authority of the employer.
2. Competition over Scarce Resources: Since resources are finite, conflict can arise with respect to how personnel, money, space or equipment are shared out. From a win/lose perspective, one party’s gain is held to be another’s loss.
3. Ambiguity over responsibility or authority: Individuals or groups may be uncertain as to who is responsible for performing certain tasks or duties, or who has the authority to direct whom. Each party may claim or reject responsibility and the result may be conflict.
4. Interdependence: When individuals, groups or departments depend on others in order to satisfactorily perform their own jobs, then conflict can result. When these others fail to make their required contribution in terms of quality or time, the other party involved may feel that its own major goals are being blocked or interfered with.
5. Differentiation: Differentiation refers to the degree to which tasks and work of individuals or groups is divided. The perception of people in one department of an organization about people in another department can often lead to conflicts.
6. Personal Variables: Individual perceptions, egos that may have their origins at the place of work or outside.