DEPARTMENT OFEDUCATION AND TEACHING STUDIES ASIGNMENT NUMBER TWO
FROM : FRANCES SIMWINGA
REG. NUMBER : BAE/2A/169/10
TO : DR. D.M. NDENGU (PhD)
COURSE : SOCIAL PSCHOLOGY
COURSE CODE : ETS 3502
TASK : MOST OF THE DECISIONS MADE AT MEETINGS CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO GROUPTHINK. FROM WHAT YOU HAVE READ IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, HOW DOES GROUPTHINK AFFECT DECISION MAKING IN AN ORGANISATION THAT YOU KNOW?
DUE: 14th JUNE, 2013.
HOW DOES GROUPTHINK AFFECT DECISION MAKING IN AN ORGANASATION.
Colman(2001) in a dictionary of psychology defines groupthink as “ a collective pattern of defensive avoidance , characteristic of a group decision making in organisations in which group members develop rationalisations in supporting illusions of their own infallibility and invulnerability within the organisation .”p. 318. It entails that there is more of concurrence than critical thinking when making decisions in an organisation. This article will discuss how groupthink can affect decision making in an organisation such as school, political party and airtel (Business Company).
Groupthink can cause poor performance or even failure to achieve the organisations objectives. Its tendency of seeking concurrence can for example make a wrong decision triumph (Shepherd, 1964). For instance, a cafeteria committee can change the supplier of food stuffs. If the group does not objectively consider the decision may end up selecting poor food stuffs that may be unhealthy to the students. Coon and Mitterer (2007) state that the urge to make such decisions may arise from the need to maintain others approval even at the cost of critical thinking. In apolitical party groupthink results in poor allocation of resources. For example, parties spend a great deal of resources of University Party Wings at the expense of the
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