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Seminar Four

Terms in this set (18)

Chapter 9: What is the difference between effectiveness and efficiency? Can we consider the group's effectiveness without assessing the efficiency?
In regard to this specific instance, effectiveness refers to factors such as accuracy, speed and creativity whereas individual work may be faster, but groups are generally more creative. Efficiency refers to the fact that group work will arguably consume more work hours than individual work to tackle the same problem.
And no, we must assess the efficiency as well. As mentioned, managers must weigh the reduction in efficiency against the increase in effectiveness.
(p. 334)
Chapter 9: Describe one strength of Group Decision Making.
Strengths:
It generates more complete information and knowledge. By aggregating the resources of several individuals, you get more input as well as heterogeneity. They offer increased diversity of views, giving us the opportunity to consider more approaches and alternatives.
Chapter 9: Describe one weakness of group decision making.
Weaknesses:
They are time-consuming. They also result in conformity pressures, meaning the desire to be accepted by the group squashes any overt opinions. Groups can also be dominated by a select few members. Groups also suffer from ambiguous responsibility (certain members may slack). (p. 333-334)
Chapter 10: Describe one advantage of diversity in groups/teams.
Offers opportunity to solve problems in unique ways, potentially meaning that they produce better results with more accuracy simply by talking more and taking more time to reach consensus.
(p. 332)
Chapter 10: Describe one disadvantage of diversity in groups/teams.
It tends to increase group conflict, especially in the initial stages of the group which often lowers morale and raise dropout rates.
Chapter 10: Which are the typical tasks of a self-managed work team?
Self-managed work teams are groups of employees who perform highly related or interdependent jobs; they take on some supervisory responsibilities. These responsibilities typically include planning and scheduling work, assigning tasks, making operating decisions, taking action on problems and working with suppliers and customers.
(p. 353)
Chapter 10: Briefly explain the three categories that make a team effective.
1. Context: this refers to factors such as having adequate resources, a solid leadership and structure, a climate of trust (members of the team should trust their leader) a performance evaluation and reward system (basically incentives).

2. Composition: This related to how teams should be staffed. E.g., you want to look at the abilities of members, their personality, allocation of roles in the team, diversity & cultural differences, size of teams (they shouldn't be too big for example) as well as member preferences (some people may rather work alone).

3. Process: An example is that teams should produce more outputs than inputs. Regarding process, we look at having a common plan & purpose, specific goals, team efficacy (their belief that they can succeed), team identity ('belongingness' in the team), team cohesion (emotional commitment to other members, a drive to move forward), social loafing (not pulling your weight to the team) etc.
(p. 358-467)
Chapter 10: What are the differences between a work team and a work group?
Workgroup:
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. Workgroups have no need or opportunity to engage in collective work with joint effort, so the group's performance is merely the summation of each member's individual contribution.

Work team:
Generates positive synergy through coordination. The individual efforts result in a level of performance greater than the sum of the individual inputs.
(p. 351-352)
Chapter 11: What are automatic processing and controlled processing? Which type of processing is widely used in industries?
Both are ways of how humans process information.

Automatic processing is a relatively superficial
consideration of evidence and information making use of heuristics. It takes little time and effort so it makes sense to use it for processing persuasive messages related to topics you don't really care about.

Controlled processing is a detailed consideration of evidence and information relying on facts, figures and logic. It takes a high amount of effort and energy, but makes it harder to be fooled. For example, you may use controlled processing while searching for a house to live in.

Regarding which is widely used in industries, this isn't found in the textbook. Based on the correlating picture text; controlled processing. But I'd argue it could very well be automatic for day-to-day tasks.
(p. 402-403)
Chapter 11: What are common barriers to effective communication? Briefly describe four of them.
1. Filtering: A sender's manipulation of information so that it will be seen more favorably by the receiver.
E.g., A manager who tells his boss what he feels the boss wants to hear is filtering information.

2. Information overload: A condition in which information inflow exceeds an individual's processing capacity. E.g., What happens when individuals have more information than they can sort and use? They tend to select, ignore, pass over, or forget it.

3. Emotions: You may interpret the same message differently when you're angry than when you're happy. E.g., People in negative moods are more likely to scrutinize messages in greater detail, whereas those in positive moods tend to accept communications at face value.

4. Language: Even when we're communicating in the same language, words mean different
things to different people. (p. 403-406)
Chapter 11:. Give one suggestion for dealing with gossip and rumors.
1. Share the information you have, and the information you don't—where there is good formal communication with much information, there is no need for rumors. When you don't know information that others are seeking, discuss when you will know and follow up.

2. Explain, explain, explain. As a manager, discuss what decisions are made and why they were made, as well as the plan going forward.

3. Respond to rumors noncommittally, and then verify for yourself the truths you can. Make certain to gather all sides of the story.

4. Invite employees to discuss their concerns, ideas, suggestions, thoughts, and feelings about organizational matters. Help them frame their thoughts into more objective viewpoints.
(p. 388)
Chapter 11: How do you distinguish formal and informal communication?
Formal communication/channels: Established by the organization to transmit messages related to the professional activities of members. They follow the traditional authority chain within the organization.

Informal communication/channels are instead spontaneous and subject to the individual's choice.

Examples of both would be that formal communication can be 'downward communication', meaning managers assign tasks and provide job instructions. Informal communication goes via the 'grapevine' and can be rumors and gossip and is often 'word-of-mouth' information.
(p. 384-387)
Article: Explain briefly two aspects of organizational context that were described by Sundstrom.
1. Organizational culture: Culture in an organization refers to collective values and norms.

2. Mission clarity: Team effectiveness may depend on having a clearly defined mission or purpose within the organization.

(All aspects: Organizational culture, task design, mission clarity, autonomy, performance feedback, rewards/recognition, training & consultation, physical environment)
(Michelson et al.)
What is the difference between rumors and gossip?
Rumors: Defined as "evaluating talk (written or spoken) between at least two persons about an absent third person(s)". Are motivated by the "desire for meaning and sense making",
Gossip: contrary to rumors, caused by "ego and individual needs" and, hence, can be explained by motivational theories.
(Feldman)
ARTICLE QUESTION: Explain two of the four common ways in which norms develop.
Most group norms develop in one or more of the following four ways:

1. Explicit statements by supervisors or co-workers
Norms that facilitate group survival or task success are often set by the leader of the group or powerful members. (eg. group leader sets norms about long coffee breaks)

2. Critical events in the group's history
There might be critical events in the group's history that have an important impact on the future. (eg. indiscretion about hiring stuff)

3. Primacy: the first behavior pattern that emerges in a group often sets group expectations. (eg. if the first group meeting is marked by very formal interactions)

4. Carry-over behaviors from past situations:
Many group norms in organizations emerge because individual group members bring set expectations with them from other work groups in other organizations.
Article: According to the article 'Work Teams' by Sundstrom et al., the two aspects of team effectiveness are performance and viability. Explain both terms.
Viability is the member's satisfaction, participation, and willingness to continue working together.

Performance entails the acceptability of output to customers.
(Feldman)
Article. Explain Carry-over Behaviours. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Carryover Behaviour?
Carry-over behavior is one of the 4 ways how norms develop. Many group norms in organizations emerge because individual group members bring set expectations with them from other work groups in other organizations.

Advantages: can increase the predictability of group members' behavior in new settings and facilitate task accomplishment, help avoid embarrassing interpersonal situations and irritation

Disadvantages: When norms are carried over, they might set standards that probably cannot be changed anymore. It might be hard to adapt to certain norms, if the behaviors between the old and new organization are considerably different.
(Michelson et al.)
Article: Describe two possible benefits of gossip.
It allows people to relieve emotions and frustrations, which also lead to stronger social bonds. Furthermore, it gives the opportunity to marginal groups to raise their voices. For managers gossip also serves as an "early warning system" about internal situations since information is spread faster.
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