Chapter 9 Tuesday March 17 2015 10 26 PM Classifying Groups Group 2 or more individuals interacting and interdependent to achieve particular objectives Formal or informal groups Formal group defined by the organization s structure with designated work assignments establishing tasks This group engages in stipulated or directed goals made by the organization Informal group neither formally structured or directed toward organization goals No need to respond to social contact Social identity theory Perspective that considers when and why individuals consider themselves members of groups This theory proposes that people have emotional reactions to failure or success of their group Proposes that self esteem gets tied into the group s performance Helps us understand who we are and where we fit in with other people Ingroup favoritism seeing members of our ingroup as better than other people AND people not in our group as all the same THIS PAVES THE WAY FOR STEREOTYPING CHARACTERSITCS THAT MAKE SOCIAL IDENTITY Similarity Same values or characteristics as other members of the organization Demographic similarity can lead to stronger identification for new hires Distinctiveness noticing identities that are different from other groups Status Identifying oneself in high status groups increase self esteem Uncertainty reduction Membership in a group helps some people understand who they are and how they fit into the world Stages of Group Development The Five Stage Group Development Model a model that shows groups through 5 distinct stages Forming stage Uncertainty about the group s purpose structure and leadership This stage is complete when members begin to think of themselves as part of the group Storming stage one of the intragroup conflict Members accept the existence of the group but resist the constraints it imposes on individuality When this stage is complete there is a clear hierarchy of leadership within the group Norming Stage Close relationships develop and group demonstrates cohesiveness Strong sense of group identity and camaraderie When this stage is complete the group assimilated to a common set of expectations in member behavior Performing The structure is fully functional and accepted Group energy has transformed to performing the task at hand permanent work groups end here Adjourning stage this is for temporary committees task forces etc wrappying up activities and preparing to disband An Alternative Model for Temporary Groups with Deadlines Temporary groups have a unique sequence of actions or inactions The first meeting sets up the group s direction First phase is inertia stand still or locked into a fixed course of action A transition takes place when the group has used half its alloted time Initiates major changes Second phase of inertia follows the transition 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Org Behavioral Page 1 5 6 Second phase of inertia follows the transition The group s last meeting is characterized by accelerated activity This is a punctuated equilibrium model Group Properties Roles Norms Status Size Cohesiveness and Diversity Group Property 1 Roles Role a set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit Role perception An individ s view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given situation Role Expectations the way others believe you should act in a given context Psychological contract an unwritten agreement that exists between employees and employer This agreement sets out mutual expectations Management is expected to treat employees justly provide acceptable working conditions clearly communicate what is a fair day s work Employees are expected to respond by demonstrating a good attitude following directions and showing loyalty to the org Role Conflict A situation in which an indvid is confronted by divergent role expectations At the extreme two or more role expectations are mutually contradictory Zimbardo s Prison Experiment created a prison student guards and prisoners The individuals learned new roles quickly Group Property 2 Norms Norms acceptable standards of behavior shared by group members that express what to do under certain circumstances Performance norm explicitly cues about how hard members should work what level of output should be how to get the job done tardiness Appearance norms dress code unspoken rules about when to look busy Social arrangement norms whom to eat lunch with whether to form friendships on and off the job Resource allocation norms assignment of difficult jobs distribution of resources like pay or equipment Hawthorne Studies examine the relationship between the physical enviro and productivity Increase light level output of work increase Decrease of light level still increased productivity Only moonlight did productivity decrease 2nd experiment special treatment increases group performance 3rd experiment the effect of a sophisticated wage incentive plan Conformity the adjustment of one s behavior to align with the norms of the group Group norms press us toward conformity We desire to be one of the group and therefore avoid being visibly different Reference group Important groups to which individs belong or hope to belong and with those norms individs are likely to conform Deviant workplace behavior antisocial behavior or workplace incivility voluntary behavior that violates significant org norms and threatens the well being of the or its members Org Behavioral Page 2 1 2 3 Working in teams could lead to a chain reaction of high levels of dysfunctional behavior undermining co workers or being uncooperative result to poor coordination and lower levels of group performance False confidence on team if not doing assigned work Group Property 3 Status Status a socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others Status characteristics theory The power a person wields over others likely to control the group s resources The ability to contribute to a group s goals people who contributes lead to the group s high status and success The individ s personal characteristics Someone whose personal characteristics are positively valued by the group and have high status than someone with fewer valued attributes Status and norms high status indvids have more freedom to deviate from norms than other group members They resist conformity pressures Athletes celebs top performing salespeople outstanding academics Status and group interaction high status people are more assertive Speak more