Organizational behavior chapter 11

Potential performance — the highest level of performance that a group is capable of achieving at a given point in time

process losses — performance difficulties that a group experiences because of coronation and motivation problems

process gains — increases and potential performance that result from new ways of motivating in coordinating group members

social loafing — the tendency of individuals to exert less effort when they work in groups than when they were:

sucker effect — a condition in which some group members, not wishing to be considered suckers, reduce their own efforts when they see social loafing by other group members

task interdependence — the extent to which the work performed by one member of a group affects what other members do

pooled task independence — the task interdependence that results when each member of a group makes a separate and independent contribution to group performance

sequential task interdependence — the task interdependence that results when group members must perform specific behaviors in a predetermined order

reciprocal task interdependence — the task interdependence that results when the activities of all work group members are fully dependent on one another

synergy — a process gain that occurs when members of her group acting together are able to produce more or better output than would have been produced by the combined efforts of each person acting a line

group cohesiveness — the attractiveness of a group to its members

top management team — the team of managers who report to the chief executive officer and determine what an organization is trying to accomplish and develop plans for goal attainment

research and development team — a team that is formed to develop new products, maybe cross functional, and is often used in high-tech industries

skunk Works — an R&D team that is created to expedite new product design and promote innovation in an organization

virtual team — a team in which a significant amount of communication and interaction occurs a lot chronically rather than face-to-face

Summary

Group and organizational effectiveness hinge on minimizing process losses, achieving process gains, a winding group goals with organizational goals, and having the appropriate level of group cohesiveness. Four types of groups that especially important in many organizations include the top management team, self managed work teams, research and development teams, and virtual teams.

Actual group performance often fall short of potential performance because of process losses due to coronation a motivation problems in groups. Process gains cause the potential performance of a group to rise, and they enhance group effectiveness.

Social loafing, a motivation problem that leads to process losses, is the tendency of individuals to exert less effort when they worked in a group that if they were alone. Social loafing occurs for two reasons: individuals in a group think they will not receive positive outcomes for performing at high-level or negative outcomes for substandard performance because individual levels of performance cannot easily be identified and evaluated. And second, individuals think that their own efforts are unimportant or not really needed. Social loafing can be eliminated or reduced by making individual performance levels identifiable, making each individual feel that he or she can make an important and worthwhile contribution to the group, and by keeping group size small.

Group tasks can be characterized in terms of the nature of interdependence between group members. Thompson describes three types of task interdependence:pooled, sequential, and reciprocal. The nature and causes of process losses and process gains depends on the type of task involved and the degree of interdependence among group members.

Group cohesiveness is the attraction of a group to its members. Group size, the similarity/diversity of group members, competition with other groups, success, and exclusiveness of the group help to determine the level of group cohesiveness. Consequences of group cohesiveness are the level of participation in communication within a group, the level of conformity to group norms, and group goal a calm judgment. When group goals are aligned with organizational goals, there is an optimal level of group cohesiveness that results in high levels of performance. When group goals are not aligned with organizational goals, group cohesiveness is dysfunctional for organization.

Four kinds of work groups that have the potential to affect organizational performance dramatically our top management teams, self managed work teams, research and development teams, and virtual teams.