How groups make decisions and source attachment

¶ … Groups Make Decisions?

Decision making by an individual is a straightforward process due to the unilateral source thereof. But when it comes to group decision making, the matter has several complications particular when there are disparate opinions and several issues that needed addressed. Group decision making even becomes more challenging when there is a minority that is forming dissenting opinions. The paper by De Dreu and West is focused on this especially in determining if minority dissent and individual creativity hinders or contributes to group decision making. To prove or disprove this hypothesis, two studies were made where the first "involved self-managed postal service teams responsible for the distribution of parcels in a particular geographic region while the second involved semiautonomous product and management teams in a variety of organizations (De Dreu & West, 2001, p. 1193)." The results of the two studies proved that minority dissent is a positive factor in contributing to team innovation and creativity. This may seem illogical at first since any dissent is usually treated as counterproductive to group decision making. However, the results of the studies proved otherwise.

What De Dreu and West found out was (2001, p. 1199) that task conflict and minority dissent, like a devil's advocate, can stimulate the questioning of underlying assumptions and prevent premature movement to consensus. This is true indeed because in group decision making, when members always agree unanimously or arrive at a consensus readily, they may fall prey to groupthink. Groupthink approaches problems collectively with the members of the group agreeing for fear of being deemed as non-conformists. The major downside of groupthink is that although there are benefits to having undisputed decisions, the group may fail to recognize the validity and viability of other options. Having minority dissent in group decision making provides a means of looking at all available options and ensures team innovation and promotes creative thinking.

The point above has been further reiterated in the research when De Dreu and West quoted Nemeth and Straw (1989) regarding "the value of minority dissent is that issues and problems are considered from more perspectives so that group members detect new solutions and find more correct answers (2001, p. 1199)." In addition to this, having minority dissent in group decision making avoids the "yes man" syndrome; thus, ensuring the way the group always arrives at a decision has undergone open, multi-faceted, and analytical discussions. This ensures that no stone has been left unturned prior to arriving at the best possible decision since each and every factor has been judiciously and carefully examined.