Chapter 9: Work Groups and Teams 165

8 WORK TEAMS AND GROUPS

CHAPTER SCAN

There is an increase in groupwork and teamwork in organizations because groups and teams
provide psychological advantages to organizational members, and because the tasks are being
accomplished more creatively by groups. All groups must progress through typical developmental
stages. One of the key elements of group work is empowering individuals to carry out their ideas.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

1. Define group and team.

2. Explain four important aspects of group behavior.
3. Describe group formation, the four stages of a group's development, and the
characteristics of a mature group.
4. Discuss quality circles and quality teams.
5. Identify the social benefits of group and team membership.
6. Explain the task and maintenance functions in teams.
7. Discuss empowerment, teamwork, and self-managed teams.
8. Explain the importance of upper echelons and top management teams.
130 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups

KEY TERMS

The following key terms are introduced in Chapter 8.

group
team
norms of behavior
group cohesion
social loafing
loss of individuality
status structure
quality circle (QC)
quality team
psychological intimacy
integrated involvement
task function
maintenance function
self-managed team
upper echelon

THE CHAPTER SUMMARIZED

I. OPENING SPOTLIGHT: Competition in the Subcompact Car Market

II. GROUP BEHAVIOR

This is a good opening place to remind students of the differences between groups and
organizations, and between groups and teams.

A. Norms of Behavior

The standards for behavior by which we evaluate the members are referred to as norms of
behavior. Group members need to understand the stated as well as the unspoken norms
by which they are evaluated.

B. Group Cohesion

Group cohesion is defined as the "interpersonal glue" that makes members of a group
stick together.

C. Social Loafing

Social loafing refers to the failure of a group member to contribute personal time, effort,
thoughts, or other resources to the group. Students can readily relate examples from their
experiences of working in groups.

D. Loss of Individuality
 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups 131

Loss of individuality is a social process in which individual group members lose self-
awareness and its accompanying sense of accountability, inhibition, and responsibility for
individual behavior.

III. GROUP FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT

All groups go through four predictable stages of development after formation. They may
fluctuate between stages, and some never reach the last state.

A. Group Formation

Groups may be informal or formal, and our behavior will vary accordingly. It is important
to have diverse representation in both types of groups. Informal groups may evolve
around an activity related to a formal group (e.g., bowling leagues).

B. Stages of Group Development

Groups typically go through four stages of development.

1. Mutual Acceptance

The focus in this stage is interpersonal relationships. Some power, influence, and
authority issues may also arise. Trust and emotional comfort are important in this
stage.

2. Decision Making

This stage emphasizes decision making activities related to what the task is and
how the task is to be accomplished.

3. Motivation and Commitment

Self-motivation and motivation of groups members becomes the primary focus of

the third stage of group development. Task functions in this stage include ensuring
that the work of the group gets done while maintenance functions include
encouragement and support of group members.

4. Control and Sanctions

At this stage the group should have a clear purpose and mission, clear norms, and
a high level of cohesiveness. Both positive and negative sanctions are used in this
stage to control member behavior.

C. Characteristics of a Mature Group

Mature groups have four distinguishing characteristics.

1. Purpose and Mission

132 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups

The purpose and mission may be assigned or it may emerge from within the group.
A clear purpose and mission enhances performance in groups.

2. Behavioral Norms

Behavioral norms take time to develop, but they are intuitively understood by each
group member. These are also what outsiders to the group judge the group on.
Students may be aware that it is not a problem for them to be late to a group
meeting, but it is not accepted, for example, to leave early.

3. Group Cohesion

Low cohesion in a group results in low commitment to the group goals. On the
negative side, groupthink can be a problem with highly cohesive groups. Groups
need to understand that conflict is not a sign of a lack of cohesion, but a necessary
phase which all groups must go through before they perform as a unit.

4. Status Structure

Authority and task relations among group members is status structure. Effective
teams resolve authority issues effectively and have a well understood status
structure. Groups typically have one well-defined leader, while teams typically
share leadership based on the characteristics of each group member.

IV. TEAMS AT WORK

A. Why Teams?

Teams are effective when work is complex, tasks are interdependent, activities require
collaboration, and when knowledge, skills and abilities are dispersed across
organizational members. Organizations must be careful, however, to provide adequate
training and direction to any teams that are formed.
B. Quality Circles and Teams

Quality circles (QCs) are small groups of employees who work voluntarily on company
time to address quality-related problems, such as quality control, cost reduction,
production planning and techniques, and even product design. A quality team is a more
formal group, typically formed by upper-level managers and is sometimes given
responsibility to act on a decision.

C. Social Benefits

The benefits of teams are psychological intimacy and integrated involvement.

Psychological intimacy is the emotional and psychological closeness to other team or
group members. Integrated involvement is the closeness achieved through tasks and
activities.

D. Task and Maintenance Functions

A task function is an activity directly related to the effective completion of a team's work.
Maintenance functions relate to satisfying interpersonal needs within the group or team.
 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups 133

Some task functions are more important at one time in the life of a group, and other
functions are more important at other times. Students might want to try to define specific
activities that relate to these functions from their personal experiences.

V. EMPOWERMENT AND SELF-MANAGED TEAMS

Teamwork can be implemented in organizations through self-managed teams. Self-managed

teams deal with broader issues than just quality. Teams are empowered to the extent that they are
participative and supportive of team members.

A. Empowerment Skills

This is an alternative to individual empowerment through teams. Competence skills are

required components for self-managed teams. This implies that as new organizational
members receive training, they will receive a corresponding increase in empowerment.

B. Self-Managed Teams

Research indicates that participation in self-managed teams positively influences employee

attitudes, but does not influence absenteeism and turnover. Managers must be realistic
about the expected results from self-managed teams. Although they can be set up and
functioning in relatively short periods of time, full self-direction may not occur for several
years.

VI. UPPER ECHELONS: TEAMS AT THE TOP

A top level executive team in an organization is referred to as upper-echelon. The background
characteristics of the top management team can often predict organizational characteristics.

A. Multinational Teams

Multicultural teams increase the uncertainty, complexity, and inherent confusion in group
processes. The advantages are that diverse groups produce more, and better ideas, which
often limits the effects and risks of groupthink.

VII. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: TEAMWORK FOR PRODUCTIVITY AND

QUALITY

VIII. CLOSING SPOTLIGHT: People and Processes Produce Quality at Ford Wayne

CHAPTER SUMMARY

· Groups are often composed of diverse people at work. Teams in organizations are a key to
enhance quality and achieve success.
· Important aspects of group behavior include norms of behavior, group cohesion, social loafing,
and loss of individuality.
· Once a group forms, it goes through four stages of development. If successful, the group
emerges as a mature group with a purpose, clear behavioral norms, high cohesion, and a
flexible status structure.
134 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups

· Quality circles, originally popularized in Japan, and quality teams contribute to solving
technological and quality problems in the organization.
· Teams provide social benefits for team members, as well as enhancing organizational
performance.
· Empowerment and teamwork require specific organizational design elements and individual
psychological characteristics and skills.
· Upper echelons and top management teams are key to the strategy and performance of an
organization. Diversity and a devil's advocate in the top team enhance performance.
· Managing in the new team environment places new demands on managers, teams, and
individuals. Managers must create a supportive and flexible environment for collaborative
teams and empowered individuals. Team leaders must nurture the team's development.

REVIEW QUESTIONS: SUGGESTED ANSWERS

1. What is a group? A team?

A group is a collection of two or more people with common interests or objectives. A team is a
small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common mission,
performance goals, and an approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

2. Explain four aspects of group behavior. How can each aspect help or hinder the group's
functioning?

The norms of behavior are standards that a work group uses to evaluate behavior of its members.
Group cohesion is the "interpersonal glue" that makes members of a group stick together. Social
loafing is the failure of a group member to contribute personal time, effort, thoughts, or other
resources to the group. The loss of individuality occurs when group members lose self-awareness
and its accompanying sense of accountability, inhibition, and responsibility for individual behavior.
In general, norms are facilitative. Social loafing is detrimental because it creates conflict. Loss of
identity or deindividuation can lead to aberrant behavior. Cohesiveness can have positive effects
such as satisfaction, but it can also lead to problems such as groupthink.

3. Explain what happens in each of the four stages of a group's development. When does the
group address interpersonal issues? Task issues? Authority issues?

The group forms and determines what to expect from each other. This first state is the mutual
acceptance stage. This first stage focuses on interpersonal relations among the members. Next,
decision making is the first task-oriented step, and is thought of as a planning stage. The
motivation and commitment stage determines the contributions of teammates and is concerned
with execution, achievement, and authority. The final stage, control and sanctions, is the maturity
stage. The group controls its members by using positive and negative reinforcements.

4. Describe the four characteristics of mature groups.

A mature group has a clear purpose and mission, well-understood norms and standards of
conduct, a high level of group cohesion, and a flexible status structure.

5. Why are teams important to organizations today? How and why are teams formed?
 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups 135

In addition to having creative ideas evolve from groups, employees become loyal to and
psychologically intimate with team members. Teams can meet the needs for integrated
involvement as well.

6. Describe at least five task and five maintenance functions that effective teams must perform.

Task functions include initiating activities, seeking information, giving information, elaborating
concepts, coordinating activities, summarizing ideas, testing ideas, evaluating effectiveness, and
diagnosing problems. Maintenance functions include supporting others, following others' leads,
gate keeping communication, setting standards, expressing member feelings, testing group
decisions, consensus testing, harmonizing conflict, and reducing tension.
7. Describe the necessary skills for empowerment and teamwork.

Competence skills and negotiating skills, especially with allies, opponents, and adversaries are
essential. Another set of skills needed is the development of cooperative and helping behaviors.
Finally, communication skills are needed.

8. What are the benefits and potential drawbacks of self-managed teams?

Research has shown that self-managed teams have a positive impact on employee attitudes but not
on absenteeism or turnover. Such teams are empowered to make many decisions, and because
they are closest to the actual work performed, can positively affect product and source quality
improvements.

9. What is the role of the manager in the new team environment? What is the role of the team
leader?

The manager is responsible for creating a receptive organizational environment for work groups
and teams by setting limits and barriers. Leaders are active team members who nurture the
development and performance of the team.

DISCUSSION AND COMMUNICATION QUESTIONS: SUGGESTED ANSWERS

1. Which was the most effective group (or team) of which you have been a member? What made
that group (or team) so effective?

Students can use the characteristics from the chapter, and can probably name others. Issues of
leadership, empowerment, cohesion, norms and diversity are especially applicable.

2. Have you ever experienced peer pressure to act more in accordance with the behavioral norms
of a group? Have you ever engaged in a little social loafing? Have you ever lost your head and
been caught up in a group's destructive actions?

Students having worked in groups that meet outside class will have experience in peer pressure.
Be sure to point out that meeting the requirements of the group, and social loafing are not the
same. Destructive actions have also been referred to as "mob mentality." Both the Los Angeles
riots and the spring break fiascoes in Florida are examples of destructive actions.

3. Name a company that successfully uses teamwork and empowerment. What has that company
done that makes it so successful at teamwork and empowerment? Has its team approach made a
difference in its performance? How?
136 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups

The six focus companies from the textbook are logical suggestions for students who will not be
able to single out individual organizations. The Ritz-Carlton is also a good example, because it is
the only hotel that has ever won the Baldrige award.
4. Name a person you think is a particularly good team member. What makes this person a good
team member? Name a person who is a problem as a team member. What makes this person a
problem?

This can be constructive, and students should provide the text criteria and examples.

5. Think about your current work environment. Does your work environment use quality circles
or self-managed teams? What are the barriers to teamwork and empowerment in that
environment? What elements of the environment enhance or encourage teamwork and
empowerment? (If you do not work, discuss this question with a friend who does.)

In class, students with experience in teams have an opportunity to tell other students their
frustrations and their rewards working with teams. Cultural differences are relevant, and
international students from collectivist cultures can be encouraged to share their views of
teamwork.

6. Prepare a memo describing your observations about teams and groups in your workplace or
your university. Where have you observed teams or groups to be most effective? Why? What
changes might be made at work or in the university make teams more effective?

Encourage students to consider different types of teams that they might observe, particularly
those at different levels in the organization. Students should draw on the material from the text in
discussing the effectiveness of the teams.

7. Develop an oral presentation about what the most important norms of behavior should be in
an academic community and workplace. Be specific. Discuss how these norms should be
established and reinforced.

In addition to outlining important norms, students should also provide support for why those
norms are important. Discuss whether norms should be the same for faculty, staff, administration,
and students. If there has been a recent debate on your campus regarding a particular norm and
how it is reinforced, this is a good opportunity to discuss the issue.

8. Interview an employee or manager about what he or she believes contributes to cohesiveness

in work groups and teams. Ask the person what the conclusions are based on. Be prepared to
discuss what you have learned in class.

Interview a middle manager or low-level manager (department head or supervisor) about what he
or she believes contributes to the cohesiveness of teams and work groups. Formulate questions to
derive his or her views and insights while keeping in touch with the overall nature of his or her
tasks, duties and responsibilities. Ask the person the reason behind his or her position about
cohesiveness of teams and work groups.

Compose/write an article about the interview and interject your own learning and insights about
of the dynamics of an effective team or work group. The article must be about 500 – 1,200 words.
You are given the option to include video clips, sound bites or images to complement to article
 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups 137

that you have written. Upload this in your online portfolio on or before 1:30 PM Thursday July
18.

If the comments of the person interviewed differ from the text material, students should probe as
to why this is the case. During class discussion, compare and contrast the different perspectives
of the people interviewed.

9. Do you admire the upper echelons in your organization or university? Why or why not? Do
they communicate effectively with groups and individuals throughout the organization?

Students should consider whether others in the organization or university share their opinion
about the upper echelons. Discuss why there might be differences in perspectives between
individuals and groups.

ETHICS QUESTIONS: SUGGESTED ANSWERS

1. Assume that someone is engaged in social loafing in a group of which you are a member.
What should you do? Is this person acting in an unethical manner?

The central point here is related to the previous chapter, on communication. Groups should foster
an open environment as a group norm so that when there is a variance in the quality of effort, you
can address the individual honestly and openly.

2. Does a moral dilemma arise when an individual is expected to subordinate his or her
individuality and autonomy to the will of the work group or team? Suppose you are a member of
a work group or team that is getting ready to act in a way you believe is unethical or immoral.
What should you do? Will you be responsible for the actions of the entire team?

The film, Twelve Angry Men, is an excellent example of staying with your convictions once you
are convinced that it is an ethical issue. Even in organizations where you are ordered to obey a
command, individuals are ultimately responsible for their actions. (Students can see this
illustration through the film, A Few Good Men.)

3. Assume that a very mature group decides that it is necessary to resort to threats to one of the
members to keep the person in line with the group's norms. Further assume that the behavior of
the person in question is not endangering anyone inside or outside the group. Is the proposed
group action unethical? What should your position be on the issue?

Threats are not an adequate way to communicate. This is a form of manipulation and coercion.
Again, ask students to refer to the previous chapter on communication. Threats, especially severe
ones, are unethical. Managing behavior is best accomplished by training, reinforcement, coaching,
and counseling.
138 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups

4. Suppose an empowered employee makes a mistake at your place of work that damages some
property but does not hurt anyone. Assuming the employee was empowered to act, should the
employee be punished for the unfortunate consequences of the action? Would your answer differ
depending on whether the employee had been properly trained and supervised before being
empowered?

Most organizations are fairly specific regarding accidents at work. Accidents are rarely punished,
particularly if the employee had not received training related to the equipment. An individual may
be empowered but may not necessarily be liable

CHALLENGES

8.1 HOW COHESIVE IS YOUR GROUP?

This challenge could be assigned prior to class discussion on cohesiveness. During class
discussion, students could be asked to share the experiences from the group they evaluated in the
challenge to help illustrate the points related to cohesiveness.

8.2 ARE YOU AN EMPOWERED EMPLOYEE?

As you cover the material on empowerment in class, encourage students to share their
experiences as empowered or unempowered employees.

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES

8.1 TOWER BUILDING: A GROUP DYNAMICS ACTIVITY

This exercise gives students an opportunity to examine group dynamics in a task-oriented

situation. Students must take responsibility to bring materials to class for building a tower. All
materials must fit into a box no greater than eight cubic feet. This exercise is a favorite exercise
for many to uncover the dynamics of group and leadership behavior. The advantage of this
exercise is that it takes far less time than game-oriented simulations.

8.2 DESIGN A TEAM

This exercise provides students with an excellent opportunity to apply much of the material from
the text and to think in depth about how teams should be formed. As groups share their responses
to the questions be sure and discuss similarities and differences in responses. At the conclusion of
the group presentations, try to reach agreement as a class on the ideal profile for this team.

ALTERNATIVE EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE:

PUTTING THE BEAT BACK IN GROUPS

Instructor's Notes:
 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups 139

This exercise may be discussed in at least three ways. (1) Students may use this opportunity to
review or teach the chapter components to each other in the group, (2) this serves as a team
development exercise, where the instructor may ask how cohesive the group is and where the
group development is on this project, and (3) this is a lighthearted avenue to receive different
contributions from students than are normally provided. Creativity is a difficult subject to
convince students that they utilize throughout their lives. This exercise provides an avenue for
students to risk being creative among their peers.
140 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups

PUTTING THE BEAT BACK IN GROUPWORK

Adapted from Donald D. Bowen, The University of Tulsa

You and the members of your team are lyricists for a major must publishing house, Country &
Western, Inc. (CWI). CWI specializes in country music, and has developed a unique approach to
the creative business of developing hit country songs. In contrast to the normal approach to song
writing, artists under contract to CWI provide only the music to their songs. CWI employs
specialists in lyrics (you and your teammates) to write the titles and words.

When a musician submits a new melody to CWI, the Vice President of Creativity listens to the
tune, identifies a topic he believes to be appropriate for the melody, then assigns one of the lyric
production teams to develop a catchy title for the song including the words (or variations of
them) the Vice President used to designate the topic of the song. For example, if the assigned
topic was "love", acceptable titles might include:

"I ain't had a beer since breakfast so what I'm feelin' must be love,
or
"Lovin' you sure beats punchin' cows.

The Vice President of Creativity has just assigned the following topics for titles. Make a creative
country and western song title out of as many as possible in the time allotted.

Topic Proposed Title

1. Empowerment

2. Group cohesion

3. Team

4. Group development

5. Quality circles

6. Social loafing

7. Upper echelon

8. Psychological intimacy
 Chapter 8: Work Teams and Groups 141

EXTRA EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES:

The following exercises to supplement the material in the textbook can be obtained from:

Marcic, Dorothy & Seltzer, Joe. Organizational Behavior: Experiences and Cases, 5th Ed.
South Western College Publishing Company, 1998.

Prisoner’s Dilemma: An Intergroup Competition. p. 195-196. Time: 50 minutes.

Purpose: To explore trust and its betrayal between group members through
demonstrating the effects of interpersonal competition.

Windsock Inc. p. 121-123. Time: 50 minutes or more.

Purpose: To explore intergroup relationships.