Groupthink Essays (Examples)

Groupthink Presidents Bush and Obama

" According to French (2009), some are of the opinion that avoiding groupthink is the main reason for Obama's assembly of apparent rivals in his cabinet. The author notes however that "healthy disagreement" is the best way to avoid groupthink rather than simply ensuring that there is no agreement within the group.

esearch Questions

Several questions emerge from the research problem. The first revolves around President Obama's ability to maintain a paradigm of multiple advocacy as opposed to groupthink in his foreign and domestic policy. Surely, if the Bush administration could begin so well and fail, the same is possible for Obama. Mr. Obama however appears to have avoided at least one mistake in this regard, by selecting a number of advisors he knows would not always agree with him. According to some critics, however, this is not enough (French, 2009). One should also ensure that the disagreement leads to…… [Read More]

Groupthink Serving on a Jury Amidst Groupthink

Groupthink

Serving on a Jury amidst Groupthink

Jury duty -- that horrible obligation all American citizens have to endure. No one wants to do it; yet, it is a crime to try and unlawfully get out of it. Serving on a jury does pace the individual in a position of power to judge the innocence or guilt of another person. This is not a job that should be taken lightly, although many people do not wish to put for the great effort and time that is needed to serve on a jury without bias. Still, there are people's lives on the line. The defendants depend on he members of the jury to provide them a chance at an unbiased trial. Yet, the one thing that can hinder that process is groupthink. Unfortunately, groupthink can occur often within the context of a jury board, making it crucial for every individual to…… [Read More]

Groupthink Team

Groupthink Team

Groupthink

Unfortunately, groupthink can cause the individual can often not retain their ability to think critically within a group setting. The research shows that groupthink occurs when "members of a group (or the entire group itself) begin to make faulty decisions due to the presumed pressures that result in collaboration" within a group setting (Woodward & Edwards 2010). Under the high influence and pressure of the group, many individuals may make decisions they would have otherwise avoided on their own. There are a number of examples of groupthink within current society and life that can attest to the negative power of the psychological power the group wields over the individual.

Example

The United States created a new precedent when then President Bush declared war on the nation of Iraq, when the country had not taken blatant obvious military action against the U.S. prior to the decision. Before this…… [Read More]

Communication and Groupthink

Communication and GoupThink

Do you agee with Hat's citicism that Janis' suggestions fo avoiding Goupthink "inadvetently eode collegiality and foste goup factionalism"? Do you think Hat's suggestions ae pefeable, o do they intoduce othe unintended negative consequences? Can the two sets of suggestions coexist?

Although Janis eseach on the phenomenon of goupthink has opened an entiely new field within goup dynamics, the initial suggestions that he offeed to goups to avoid such instances could cetainly "inadvetently eode collegiality and foste goup factionalism." Some level of goup think is actually natual and health especially in egads to the cohesiveness of the goup. Howeve, Janis believes that the focus on vigilant decision making by a five step effot to ceate and follow objectives. Howeve, ove focusing on the goupthink issue can actually ceate an entie new set of poblems and educe the functionality of the goup.

Hat has pepaed a sepaate set…… [Read More]

Group Think Groupthink in Twelve

The jury members listened and accepted what he said. When one person shows the other jury members that the knife is not so unique after all, they begin to realize there might be other things to reasonably doubt in the prosecution's case as well.

This worked well in the story because the jury foreman didn't demand loyalty from the other jury members. He didn't any power over them. They wouldn't lose their status or their jobs if they displeased him. The jury was only a group for a few hours and their livelihoods did not depend on the decisions they made or the opinions they expressed. Juries are not permanent, even though the decisions they reach could have permanent consequences for the defendant. Their own "fate" is not at stake as it would be if they were members of an advisory council for the president, for example. Who would want…… [Read More]

Business Communications and Groupthink From Wiser

Working in a group presents unique challenges, some of which emerge not during times of conflict, but ironically, during harmonious interactions. As Sunstein & Hastie (2015) point out in the first few chapters of Wiser, "happy talk" can be detrimental to group performance and productivity. Groups need to have people who are willing to voice their concerns and doubts. Too much "yes" spirit leads to complacency, which leads to the group repeating the same mistakes over and over. The social pressures of group dynamics can also lead to unwanted behavioral issues such as polarization, during which people become more extremely committed to their points-of-view instead of being open to and influenced by their teammates. Another potential detriment to group productivity is the cascade effect, which is basically a type of mob mentality. Sunstein & Hastie (2015) therefore help readers to identify the problems associated with groupthink.

Whereas the first chapter…… [Read More]

Group Think Groupthink Refers to

Groupthink can also influence the wider cultural context. Mullen, Calogero and Leader (2007) for example examined the phenomenon known as ethnonyms among different racial groups. Ethnonyms is a term referring to the designations that an in-group uses to distinguish itself from out-groups. These influence the groupthink dynamic, as it encourages homogeneous thinking and paradigms. Indeed, the authors found that intergroup hostility is directly related to these ethnonyms. The dangers of groupthink can therefore be avoided by encouraging diversity and critical thinking on the internal level.

eferences

Mullen, Brian, Calogero, achel M., Leader, Tirza I. (2007, Apr.). A social psychological study of ethnonyms: Cognitive representation of the in-group and intergroup hostility.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol 92(4), pp. 612-630.

Sommers, Samuel . (2006, Apr.). On racial diversity and group decision making: Identifying multiple effects of racial composition on jury deliberations.

Journal of Personality and…… [Read More]

Social Facilitation Social Inhibition and Social Loafing

Social Facilitation, Social Inhibition, And Social Loafing

The objective of this study is to provide a description of the characters in the media program demonstrating social loafing, social inhibition, and social facilitation. One of the characters will be selected by using the current literature and two ways their behavior might be mitigated will be explained. This work will additionally describe a situation in which negative consequences were observed resulting from groupthink or group polarization and use an article from the current literature to explain how on alternative to groupthink or group polarization could have been used in that situation.

Social Loafing, Social Inhibition, and Social Facilitation

Social loafing is described as "the tendency to reduce individual effort when working in groups compared to the individual effort expended when working alone." (Piezon and Donaldson, n.d., p.1) Social facilitation is described as the increase "of individuals' performance in the presence of others"…… [Read More]

Social Psychology Bringing it All Together

Social psychology is a very broad field that takes in the many varieties of group dynamics, perceptions and interactions. Its origins date back to the late-19th Century, but it really became a major field during and after the Second orld ar, in order to explain phenomena like aggression, obedience, stereotypes, mass propaganda, conformity, and attribution of positive or negative characteristics to other groups. Among the most famous social psychological studies are the obedience experiments of Stanley Milgram and the groupthink research of Irving Janus (Feenstra Chapter 1). Authority figures are very important in influencing the behavior and attitudes of groups, as advertising pioneers like Edward Bernays and Nazi propagandists like Josef Goebbels realized early in the 20th Century. Human beings naturally categorize others into groups, and attribute values, attitudes and stereotypes to them, while they also tend to favor members of their own group (Feenstra Chapter 2). Social psychologists have…… [Read More]

Group Agrees Over the Decision

The ignorance which was nuisance has been removed. In a group where the people of equal status have gathered, have the sense and aptitude towards the relevant topic, the grouping of people with difference in status might not be productive, and the possibility of the singularity of idea, and acceptance on the basis of seniority are the elements of concern. The lower status member is less likely to oppose the debate and conduct of the group activities, which will develop groupthink. The lower status member is less likely to be among the dissenters because such act will offend the seniors, which will develop negative consequences over the performance and the professional association with the company and the high command.

Question No. 3

The occurrence of the groupthink can be avoided, provided that the leader of the group plays dominant, neutral and significant role in the proceedings of the group session.…… [Read More]

Organizational Behavior - Case Study

Most retail environments are plagued by high turnover. While some of this has to do with a lack of motivation, much of the problem lies in the company's inability to create high-performance teams capable of taking on challenges and making decisions with peers to help solve problems within the company (Janis, 1972). In any environment, when a successful team is lacking, so too is motivation and consistency of performance. None of these traits are evident however, within the Container Store's case study.

Escalation of commitment - the Container store adopts the ideal of escalation of commitment as stated by the store's managers who follow the McGregor Theory Y This theory suggests that employees are not by nature "lazy" and will often perform in the best manner possible and commit to the company if given an opportunity to feel empowered to make decisions without the need to "check in" with members…… [Read More]

Self and Social Psychology Social Psychology Is

Self and Social Psychology

Social psychology is a relatively new field of study in modern science. Its focus is on the identity of the "Self" -- the sense of individuality: the component parts that make up who one "is" and the meaning of the "whole" Self. This paper acts as a referenced for individuals unfamiliar with the general principles of social psychology. It aims to provide the reader with a basic overview of the field and to define key principles often used by social psychologists.

Discovering the Self

Self-Concept, Awareness, and Self-Schemas

Discovering the Self in social psychology can seem as simple as posing the question, "Who am I?" (Myers, 2010, p. 13). But answering the question is where the discovery of Self really begins. One's sense of identity, sense of self, sense of gender, race, categorical social grouping all factor into the answer. "Who am I?" raises the issue…… [Read More]

Political Psychology Has Always Been

A change of leadership and divisive social forces might pressure such hatreds into re-erupting, but these hatreds are still historical 'products.'

A balance between history and psychology is needed to fully understand why mass political atrocities occur. A diffusion of responsibility during the action such as a war or a collective lynching can be a facilitating factor, but the social and historical context must be acknowledged. An authority that validates the atrocity, as in the case of Hitler or Milosevic can legitimize terror, but the people's responsiveness to that figure has its roots in culture and collective psychology. Furthermore, distance from authority can also create a sense of validation -- although lynching was never part of the official justice system of the South, it was obvious that the authorities were willing to ignore lynchings, provided they was done under the cover of night. The repercussions for protecting African-Americans and treating…… [Read More]

Success Factors in Group Development

team I was welcomed to observe contains divorced women of varying ages, from 30 to 40. The team members also had varying ethnic backgrounds. All of these women had different experiences with one thing in common; they had all had divorced and now desired a new life very free from that stress. The environment was relaxed and welcoming. The team members were free to sit where they felt comfortable, and the whole atmosphere was relaxing and calm. There were sofas placed around the table. It almost had an atmosphere like a get-together for log time friends.

The vision of the team is to help women divorcees in any situation restore their lives and stand on their feet. Depending on this, the mission describes what the group wants to do and how. This team seems to work to allow women that have experienced divorce to learn from one another's experiences. The…… [Read More]

Socially Influenced Encounters One a

Second example: High School Prejudice

In 2003, the Oprah infrey Show profiled a racially divided high school, where racism and prejudice were evident in the student body. Students allied themselves with 'like' persons much as in the above work situation, where only adults were concerned. As in the above-cited example, certain members of the community, although not all, wished to create a more cohesive social organization. Rather than engage in informal broaching of social norms, a more formal approach was used. This reflects the fact in high school, even more so than in the work place, that allying one's self with a particular group of one's friends is extremely important.

The high school instituted what it called a Challenge Day. At first, the students were resistant to the idea. The day began with a series of team-related activities that forced students from different cliques and ethnic groups to engage with…… [Read More]

Angry Men Despite the Fact

We can talk here forever, it's all the same thing." He was anxious to get to a verdict because he had a baseball game to attend that evening. He briefly repeated some of the arguments given in court, but none which would indicate that the boy was a murderer, simply a child who had gotten into some trouble during his life.

Question Seven

De-individuation can be seen most clearly in the film when the 12 jurors took their first vote. The foreman asked the group to raise their hand if they believed the boy was guilty. Six jurors raised their hand instantly, sure of their beliefs. The remaining jurors look around the room and one by one raised their hand. The only person who did not vote guilty was Juror #8 (Henry Fonda). You could see the uncertainty of the last ones to vote by the hesitant looks on their…… [Read More]

Group Decision Making the Costs

hile allowing an authoritarian voice to hold final sway over what is done may be least desirable, it may be necessary in a very spread-out group with many areas of expertise, or if the leader bears the brunt of the responsibility for the project and has greater knowledge of the different organizational factors involved.

There is no single perfect formula for forming a cohesive group, making decisions, and arguing in a constructive manner. The only rule that does hold fast and firm, regardless of the composition and authority structure of the group, good listening skills are necessary, as well balanced consideration of all sides of a debate. A healthy group, even a group dominated by a single leader, must not fall into groupthink, or create an environment where only a single opinion is considered valid, and dissent is not permitted.

orks Cited

Engleberg and ynn. orking in groups: Communication principles…… [Read More]

Conflict and Security in the

This was in keeping with the Marxist principle of a classless society. In the United Nations, the United States has had an equal standing with other nations such as ritain, France, and the Soviet Union. The United States has participated in United Nations actions and made a show of being a part of the international community while maintaining its superpower status outside of the United Nations' walls. In light of new global political conditions that emphasize global cooperation and governance, rather than government (aylis & Smith, 13), the United Nations still has an important role to play, and the United States has a role to play in it.

While the United States continues to be a member of the United Nations, it is no longer really a true team player. The United States, while still making a show of belonging to the United Nations, now more closely follows the principle…… [Read More]

Angry Men the Jury in Twelve Angry

Angry Men

The jury in Twelve Angry Men is not diverse in terms of ethnicity and gender, because it consists of twelve white males. The only diversity evident is with Juror 5, who has a social class-consciousness that is different from the other men due to his having grown up poor. This little "in" to the theme of prejudice is what helps Juror 8 eventually persuade the others that their hasty "guilty" verdict is based on prejudices rather than on the facts of the case. Moreover,, Juror 11 is also first generation immigrant, and this comes up later in as the jury deliberates.

Twelve Angry Men is squarely about personal bias. With the possible exception of Juror 8 (who might have personal biases of his own that did not surface in the trial), many men, especially Juror 10 but others too, have biases against people who live in slums and…… [Read More]

Defining the Manager

Manager

hen ork is Frantic, Managers Need ays to Expand Horizons is an article that essentially refers to the fact that successful decision-making in business is largely a function of developing a strategy and business model that is unique and effective in fulfilling customer need gaps ahead of the competition, while simultaneously managing to establish cost efficient ways of doing so in order to maximize profitability. Today's increasingly competitive and fast paced world, however, does not allow managers the luxury of either the resource or the time to follow systematic and streamlined methods of studying and analyzing the environment sufficiently enough to come up with sustainable, competitive ideas. The situation described by the article therefore relates to Herbert Simon's theory of 'bounded rationality,' which suggests that the costs of acquiring present information as well as uncertainty about the future limit the extent to which managers can make fully rational decisions,…… [Read More]

Intelligence and Politics Origins and

Franks (along with the Bush war cabinet, including Vice President Dick Chaney) "met repeatedly" to plan the attack on Iraq. It was groupthink through and through. At the same time Bush was saying publicly he was "pursuing a diplomatic solution" (Hamilton, 2004), "intensive war planning" was going on during the whole year 2002. It "created its own momentum" in the administration, Hamilton wrote.

In oodward's book, which was recognized as conveying authentic details about the Bush war planning and strategies, he covers much of the pre-war discussions Bush had with top members of his administration, along with decisions Bush made on his own and with help from people like his Foreign Policy Advisor, Condoleezza Rice. But according to an excerpt from oodward's book, Bush waited until the last minute (among his top staff) to brief Secretary of State Colin Powell, who had not been an advocate of going to war,…… [Read More]

Leadership Within the Education Field -- Will

leadership within the education field -- will be presented.

Groupthink: How to Recognize Groupthink and How to prevent it

Groupthink is a problem that many teachers' organizations have to deal with. In educational settings, managers and administrators have to be wary of groupthink, which is a situation that occurs when team members are too eager to go along with ideas and proposals. When a principal offers a policy idea and no one questions it or offers additional ideas, that is a sure sign that team members are not challenging ideas but rather they are just going along for the ride.

Ironically groupthink can occur when there has been a "high level of agreement and cohesiveness" among the team members. Previous chapters extolled the positive idea of team members working cohesively and constructively. But wait. If the group (whether teachers, coaches, counselors or others) is too willing to go along with…… [Read More]

Attribution Error Is the Tendency

However, it is more comforting to think that we as individuals have control over our health and can prevent illness through personal responsibility. This means we have no responsibility to extend greater healthcare coverage to others who do not have insurance as presumably they have not 'worked hard' enough to deserve such a benefit.

Question 2

Instinctively it might seem as if "the greater the cohesiveness or solidarity of a group, the better its decisions will be." Common sense suggests that cohesiveness produces a greater sense of agreement and solidarity. It is easier to enforce a decision that is made in a unified manner. But the problem with solidarity is the phenomenon known as 'groupthink' or the assumption that if the other members of the group think something is right, than it is correct.

Human beings are social animals, and the need to please others and to receive support is…… [Read More]

Affects of Pressure

Pressures to Conform or Obey

Western nations pride themselves on allowing their citizens freedom to choose for themselves their paths and destinies. However, psychological and sociological pressures often trump government-granted freedoms, especially in certain situations.

Sociology is the examination of the social lives of humans, groups, and societies, often defined as the study of social interactions. It is a relatively new academic discipline that evolved in the early 19th century throughout Europe and America. It deals with the social rules and processes that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, and institutions.

In fact, sociology is concerned with our behavior as social beings; as a result the sociological field of interest ranges from the analysis of brief contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the examination of global social processes. In a broad sense, sociology manifests the scientific examination of social groups,…… [Read More]

Healthcare Communication Theory in Healthcare

One of the more controversial questions that arises when discussing group interactions is if one person need to lead the group, for the group to be effective (Lane, 2000, Decision mapping). In healthcare, some type of hierarchy is essential. Treatment decisions cannot be made through consensus alone, especially when a patient's life is in immediate danger. Also, seniority and areas of expertise are essential to define -- a more experienced nurse's decision-making ability must have priority over a novice nurse's. Certain areas of expertise, like the staff's registered nutritionist, must be respected when providing care. In fact, research in support of a communication theory known as decision-mapping notes that "groups with ineffective leadership" are less rather than more cohesive (Stephens 1999). Knowing there is an effective source of leadership can produce confidence. However, some consultation between different people, including the patient, family, nurses, physicians, and other caregivers, is ideal when…… [Read More]

Psychology - Human Interaction the

y that time, several guards had become sadistic and the behavior of the prisoners provided clear indications of psychological breakdown. Interviews with study participants suggested that merely the perception of their respective roles influenced their behavior. More importantly, the groupthink that prevailed within the group of prison guards overcame any individual personal reluctance they may have had to treat their prisoners so harshly (Macionis 2003). The Significance of the Phenomenon of Groupthink on Individual ehavior:

Like deference to authority, groupthink is a natural human tendency that likely evolved as a necessary component of human social relationships that were essential to the early success of our species (Gerrig & Zimbardo 2005). In modern context, however, groupthink represents tremendous destructive potential because in the extreme, it involves the complete suspension of individual judgment and perception. In benign situations groupthink is evident in popular culture, such as in the cycle of fashion trends,…… [Read More]

Metaphysical Law of Attraction

Law of Attraction

Metaphysical Law of Attraction

Need for consideration of Metaphysical Law of Attraction

Attitude and their Effects

Superordinate Identities

Positive Effect in everyday interactions

In conflict management

Negative Affect As an indicator of an unhappy relationship

Paving the road to D-I-V-O--C-E

Positive Affect Paves the oad to espect and Admiration

Use of Law of Attraction and Intercultural Communication

Metaphysical Law of Attraction

"Thou, constrained by no limits, in accordance with thine own free will, in whose hand we have placed thee, shalt ordain for thyself the limits of thy nature"..Giovanni Pico della Mirranda, Oranto "De hominis dignitatis, " or "God's Address to Adam."

"If you're not an infinite being, what would be the purpose of your life?"..Wyne Dyer, The Power of Intention

What are your beliefs about the nature of the universe? Do you have believed in order, universal natural laws, cosmic intelligence, or chaos? Do you believe…… [Read More]

Group Processes 12 Angry Men

It is critical to remember that the jury is composed of 12 white men and that the defendant is a member of a minority. As a result, the groupthink is revealed in alarmingly prejudiced ways, with one of the jurors dismissing the defendant as a "slum kid," a sentiment that appears to be shared by many of the other jurors. It becomes clear that one of the reasons that they are willing to believe in the defendant's guilt is that he is different from them. This is an example of devindividuation. First, rather than acting as individuals, the eleven jurors are acting as a group. This causes them to lose some of their social constraints and act in ways that are considered deviant. Although racism was more acceptable during that time period, there was still some social taboo against suggesting that the defendant was guilty simply because he was Hispanic…… [Read More]

Communication in Work Groups

umors can be detrimental to any organization. There are four kinds of grapevine rumors that often lead to unnecessary gossip in any group setting. The first one is wish fulfillment and in this type of grapevine rumor, there is an identification of the hopes and wishes of the organization or company's employees. The second kind is bogey rumors. This second kind of rumor exaggerates the concerns and fears of employees.

The third is the wedge-drivers. These rumors are damaging, aggressive, and unfriendly; splitting and dissolving groups/allegiances. The last rumor is home-stretchers and these are based on anticipation of announcements or decisions. They serve the purpose of filling the gap in times of confusion or ambiguity.

esearch provides a figure for grapevine information accuracy and places it at an estimated 80% (Papa, Daniels, Spiker, & Daniels, 2008). This is because the basis of such rumors starts with a personal account that…… [Read More]

Flew Over the Academic Nest

For his trouble, Murphy receives a frontal lobotomy as a "treatment" for his unwillingness to cooperate and abide by the rules and norms, a touch that gives him a Christ-like quality that gives his ultimate fate as that of a martyr to the cause of the promotion of humanity. Indeed, humanity is ultimately indebted to those brave few in the human race who defiantly dare to confront and challenge the conventional thinking patterns and then willingly (or unwillingly) suffer the ultimate price for their ideals (McEver, 1998).

To recap, the author in this paper, has will applied sociological concepts such as groupthink, doublespeak and doublethink, and sociological experiments that speak to us as social groups about socialization and religion in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Although this book was originally made for entertainment purposes, this author finds that it is a key factor in the learning…… [Read More]

Police Forces and Diversity

That is very important for the people who are trying to get these kinds of jobs, because they have the chance to find a company that believes in them and that is actually looking for people who are not the same as everyone else. That can make a huge difference not only in whether the person gets hired, but also whether he or she is successful in the position and whether there are realistic opportunities for promotion (Tatli & Ozbilgin, 2009).

The third company type, the multicultural organization, has a number of different kinds of people and groups within it (Harvey, 2012). These companies want people who are diverse, and will deliberately seek them out, hire them, and encourage them. One of the reasons behind this is because people who own and manage these types of companies know that a more culturally diverse workforce can mean a number of new…… [Read More]

Sociology With the Emergence of

Take as an example McDonald's venture to extend its business operations in countries within the Asian region. Through globalization, the company has learned to adapt to the culture of the country it invests in. Examples of such adjustments are the introduction of rice in most of the meal offerings of McDonald's in the Philippines, inclusion of spicy foods in McDonald's menus in India, and the establishment of large McDonald's buildings in China in order to accommodate the large number of consumers that patronize the fast food chain. These are examples of companies' conscious effort to recognize globalization and its principles.

ibliography

Consensus." Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus.

Feminist Utopia." Available at http://www.amazoncastle.com/feminism/ecocult.shtml.

Introduction to globalization." Available at http://www.globalization.com/intro.cfm?page_id=1321.

Positivism." Available at http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/help/mach1.htm.

Postmodernism and its critics." Available at http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/Faculty/murphy/436/pomo.htm.

Socialization." Available at http://anthro.palomar.edu/social/soc_1.htm.… [Read More]

Managing a Project Team The

Flexibility within a team scenario is very important as having a choice in creating favorable matchups is a luxury for many managers looking to create a competitive advantage and sustain an effective and efficient unit of teamwork.

eflection on Learning

The many graphs and charts depicted within this chapter to reinforce the lessons written, provided much learning inspiration for me. The confusing nature of the pictures denote the importance of having a strong understanding for the problem at hand. It appears that data and information can be manipulated in many different ways, running the risk of increasing confusion rather than lessening it. Leadership is ultimately responsible for creating clear and concise questions that can help the data provide answers.

Too much data or too little data will leave the project in a state of disrepair and balance appears to be the most important objective in determining the progress of any…… [Read More]

Team to Be Autonomous in

By using these forms of open communication, members of the group would have felt less frightened or intimidated to speak up with their ideas.

Question Six

Conner's leadership style was very authoritarian. He thought he knew best, was confident about that fact, and wanted to make sure everything got done the right way -- his way. His style consisted of his making assumptions and asking for input without wanting honest feedback. Also, as a self-appointed leader, he did not ask the group whether or not they wanted to choose a different leader or operate in a more democratic fashion. This leadership style was not effective because the group was tasked with coming up with a creative product. An authoritarian leadership style does not breed creativity. In fact, just the opposite, it inspires others to do just what they did, fall in line. As previously mentioned, however, Conner's leadership style did…… [Read More]

Groups Make Decisions Decision Making by an

Groups Make Decisions?

Decision making by an individual is a straightforward process due to the unilateral source thereof. ut 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…… [Read More]

Problem Solving and Decision-Making Negotiation

Decision-Making

Assessing a Decision Based on Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats Technique

In the book Six Thinking Hats Edward de Bono describes the process of parallel thinking. This process means looking at problems from all angles at once. Edward de Bono uses the example of four people all looking at the same house. One person is looking at the front. Another is looking at the back. The other is looking at the left side. The final person is looking at the right side. These people are all arguing about what the house looks like, while each has a different view of the house. The fact is that what everyone is seeing is part of what the house looks like. But as long as they are all only seeing one side, they will never agree. They will also never really understand what the entire house looks like. The four people…… [Read More]

Organization Management and People

Restructuring of First ank

Family enterprise, First ank, has, for three decades, been the town's only bank. Mr. First, the founder, originally instituted it as a little loaning shop; the small business grew larger, turning into the town's sole financial services organization. It provided small loans and over-the-counter cash facilities to clients. The town's growth, however, has led to a tremendous increase in the bank's client base, challenging the current operational structure of the organization. The problem faced is threat to the organization's existence, owing to the fact that the bank, at present, is not up to the task of meeting the town's growing demands. ank management, comprising chiefly of family members, is unwilling to alter the existing operational structure as well as improving quality and increasing the number of personnel employed. This has been a major factor in the bank's inefficient, stagnated, and outdated structure. Apart from hiring fresh…… [Read More]

Social Inertia Quotation Analysis This

This is also true of defendants labeled as child molesters -- even if not convicted, the label or suspicion is so insidious, it is difficult for juries or even witnesses to apprehend the facts with an unbiased eye ("In the Supreme Court of the United States," 1990, IPT). There is also a psychological reason for labeling theory, suggested by this example of prejudice -- once a first impression is created, it is difficult to forget that first impression, as all subsequent actions are interpreted in relation to that first negative image or label.

orks Cited

O'Connor, T. (2005). "Labeling theory of crime." Retrieved 15 Oct 2007. http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/301/301lect12.htm

In the Supreme Court of the United States." (1990). IPT. 2.7. Retrieved 15 Oct 2007. http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume2/j2_2_7.htm

Resources: framing the issue." (2003). Youth in the Media: McKnight Foundation. Retrieved 15 Oct 2007. http://www.mcknight.org/hotissues/framing_youth.aspx… [Read More]

Abeline Paradox Solutions and Symptoms

Also, they may have new but valuable information that members of the core group of decision makers lack.

To encourage all workers to feel free to openly speak their mind in public rather than in private (another symptom of the paradox), an organization must make free expression part of its public culture. Routinely soliciting criticism and comments from everyone creates an idea that speaking up is encouraged, rather than discouraged. Top managers and CEOs must show that they respect diverse views by actually listening to managers who disagree with their own points-of-view. They must not feel threatened by a challenge, and set a good example through their own behavior for all managers to follow in a positive way.

All leaders must take responsibility for when their predictions and actions are wrong, to circumvent the tendency towards blaming one another that another symptom of the paradox. They must communicate to their…… [Read More]

Negative Group Roles and How I Dealt

negative group roles and how I dealt with the negative group member

My very first encounter with negative group roles was when I was seventeen years old and while working part-time at a local electronics store. At the electronics store, we were divided into various groups that were headed by different group leaders. Our salary was based on a basic pay as well as commission. This means that our earnings depended much on our push for more sales. The sales force of every individual was highly dependent on the amount of group cohesion and strategy which we put in place in attracting more clients to our stand as well as to our groups. In regard to the sales and promotion functions, we were allowed to engage potential clients via email, phone calls and direct conversations. This means that we had to work together in ensuring that our sales and marketing…… [Read More]

Organizational Behavior the Relevance of Understanding Group

Organizational Behavior

The relevance of understanding group behavior as well as group properties cannot be overstated. This is more so the case for those keen on becoming effective managers and/or members of various groups. Managers who happen to be familiar with group behavior within organizations are more likely to fast track the accomplishment of the various goals and objectives of their respective organizations by amongst other things using groups more effectively.

Nature of Groups and Group Behavior within Organizations

Key Definitions

A group according to Griffin and Moorhead (2011, p.240) "is two or more people who interact with one another such that each person influences and is influenced by each other person." It is however important to note that apart from this definition, several other definitions of a group have been proposed by various authors.

Types of Groups

In basic terms, groups can be divided into two. On one hand…… [Read More]

Management Approach That Offers the Best Outcomes

Management Approach That Offers the Best Outcomes

for Knowledge Development

Understanding business, and what that process contains, is extremely complex. It takes years of study and focus to gain even a rudimentary idea of all a company has to do to remain viable. A company has to have employees who understand their jobs, clear work goals for all concerned in the business, accounting practices that tell the actual financial workings of the company and keep government agencies happy, along with many other processes among the strata. Threads run through all of the working practices of an organization which tend to bind it together. These can be tangible communication channels (email, phone lines, other forms of information technology), or they can be intangible. These intangible communication lines are another layer of complexity which the organizations managers have to control and mold. How people deal with one another is the way an…… [Read More]

social psychology

.....starting point for research, I am selecting Scenario Two: Police Interrogations and False Confessions. The reason why I am selecting scenario two is that I have some degree of familiarity with the subject, and am fascinated by the ways people behave under pressure from authority figures, particularly law enforcement. I am also interested in scenario three related to the psychological aspects of disaster preparedness, but am more interested and concerned with criminal justice generally. Therefore, I narrowed down my selection of the scenarios mainly because of personal interest and curiosity about the subject matter, which motivates my desire to conduct the research necessary to write a proposal and complete the report.

Scenario Two described involving false confessions raises several points about the ethics of criminal justice, and how officers lie in order to extract information from suspects or witnesses. That information should not be admissible in court but sometimes is…… [Read More]

Risk Identification in Information Security

Phishing Spea Phishing and Phaming

The following is intended to povide a vey bief oveview of examples of some the most dangeous and pevasive secuity isks in the online and netwoked wold. One of the most insidious of identity theft is known as phishing. The tem 'phishing' efes to the pactice of "fishing fo infomation." This tem was oiginally used to descibe "phishing" fo cedit cad numbes and othe sensitive infomation that can be used by the ciminal. Phishing attacks use "…spoofed emails and faudulent websites to deceive ecipients into divulging pesonal financial data, such as cedit cad numbes, account usenames and passwods, social secuity numbes etc." (All about Phishing) . Thompson ( 2006) clealy outlines the basics of a phishing attack.

A typical phishing sends out millions of faudulent e-mail messages that appea to come fom popula Web sites that most uses tust, such as eBay, Citibank, AOL, Micosoft…… [Read More]

Team Communication Using Conflict Wisely

If this is present within a group of people, then their performance will be enhanced by their mutual support (both practical and moral)" (Blair 2008). Groups, and members of a group, must have strong interpersonal and managerial skills, to become self-managing units. A group must exercise collective leadership, not merely be lead by a single individual (Blair 2008).

Even if one person may be designated as a leader, the group must agree upon a particular way to organize meetings, plan, set goals, and monitor and review performance. Having a mission statement can help give clarification and focus to all of these duties. If the mission statement becomes a point of contention, it at least encourages the articulation of issues in a clear and directive fashion and may even establish that disagreement is 'okay' within the group, early on. Having a formal feedback procedure ensures not only that the group is…… [Read More]

Cliques in the Workplace The Strength of

Cliques in the orkplace: The Strength of orkplace Diversity

Many workplaces can be just as clique-ish as a high school. In the new global marketplace, an intolerant company is not simply immoral and illegal -- a lack of diversity is also economically unproductive for the business. Although having a diverse workplace can pose challenges in terms of employee communication and creating a cohesive sense of mission, ultimately the benefits of diversity outweigh any potential detriments.

First and foremost, a diverse workplace is more likely to mirror a company's client base. Diverse employees can provide insight about the needs of consumers. A workplace that is overrepresented by one gender, race, or class may forget needs or concerns that are specific to a particular demographic. For example, the painkiller Motrin was recently forced to 'pull' an advertisement which showed a woman carrying around her child, complaining about the pain that the baby…… [Read More]

Nature of Consensus This Is a Process

nature of consensus. This is a process through which a group of people can reach a common agreement on a course of action. It is important to note that the entire group comes to an agreed course of action. Here the ideas and contribution from all participants from within the group are viewed and then combined together to come to a final decision. This decision has to be acceptable to every member of the group. This process generally achieves a better solution to the problems that the group is facing, but also makes the group a stronger community and builds trust within them. While using consensus for achieving decision making in some instances, the group can us other methods at other times for achieving decisions and these can be through individual decisions, compromises, or through a majority decision. Yet in the process of a consensus, the discussions generally concern a…… [Read More]

Southwest Fosters Its Organizational Culture

Considering Kelleher's leadership of Southwest, I believe that he falls in the "team leader" quadrant for the simple reason that he emphasized the importance of both task and relationships, led by example and built an organizational culture, which encouraged people to realize their full potential.

4. Southwest believes that employees come first. However, unlike many other organizations, this is not merely a slogan at Southwest that the company pays lip service to. It lives, breathes and practices the philosophy through aligning its systems, structure, policies, and procedures so that employees know that they do truly come first. More important, the leaders at Southwest lead by example so that employees come to learn what the right thing is and that the company truly believes in encouraging its people to "do the right thing." Southwest also lets its people know that they come first through ensuring that they have all the information…… [Read More]

Employment and Labor Relations

mployment and Labor Relations

Key Legislation

The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (or Wagner Act) protects the rights of most workers in the private sector of the United States to organize unions, to engage in collective bargaining over wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment, and to take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands. The Act does not, on the other hand, cover those workers who are covered by the Railway Labor Act, agricultural employees, domestic employees, supervisors, independent contractors and some close relatives of individual employers.

The Wagner Act established a federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board, with the power to investigate and decide unfair labor practice charges and to conduct elections in which workers were given the opportunity to decide whether they wanted to be represented by a union. The NLRB was given more extensive powers than…… [Read More]

Pfeiffer Industries President Smith Re Optimizing Team

Pfeiffer Industries

President Smith

Re: Optimizing Team Performance

Creating teams has galvanized our employees together around common goals and led to greater level of achievement, yet there is much work still to be done. I agree with your assessment of team performance, and am writing to respond to the several questions and concerns you listed in your latest memo on this subject. I will also explain how I plan on fixing the situation in the R&D team that tends to lead to analysis-paralysis, and their continual shifting from one project to another, with development timeframes slipping as a result. In another team GroupThink has set in and everyone is afraid to disagree with each other. I will end this memo with my recommendations on how to proceed.

Questions on Creating and Sustaining Teams

Your questions relating to the size of each team, determining their staffing and skills composition, compensation, leadership…… [Read More]

Human Interaction Basic Concepts of Human Interaction

Human Interaction

Basic Concepts of Human Interaction

Conformity & Obedience

Human interaction is the phenomenon which takes place when two humans have a tendency to have an effect over one another. Individuals are mainly unaware of the fact that they are responding to the external factors and are adapting to the surroundings. Every situation requires the humans to react differently and thus demands a different mannerism altogether. A simple example of such behavior is individual's behavior which shows professionalism in the work-related settings whereas the same individual will exhibit different behavior when found with friends or family. Hence, every situation requires individual to consider the external factors requiring thorough analysis of what to say and how to respond. The two fundamental examples of such behavior are conformity and obedience. These two terms may sound the same however individuals exhibit these two sets of behavior differently in different situations.

Human behavior…… [Read More]

U S President Foreign Policy Decision

The research, methods will seek to establish a common basement of the U.S. President Foreign Policy Decision Making Process. Equitable regard will be accorded to the state of affairs that exist between the U.S.A. And Iran

Questionnaires

Questionnaires are samples of structured questions that will seek directive responses from the respondents in the field of study. In order to arrive at making decisions, there are several considerations that the president of the U.S.A. needs to know from the public and the secretary of state. Such questions will be included in the questionnaires. The questionnaires will be supplied to various respondents. These respondents are thought to have consistent information as regards the U.S. President Foreign Policy Decision Making Process matters in the world. Questionnaires are relevant when it comes to exhausting on the exiting trends of management in the country.

Interviews

Interviews refer to face-to-face approaches of seeking to elicit information…… [Read More]

Social Psychology Social Beliefs and

I have had friends that I've known since I was in grade school. Our initial interaction occurred because of our attraction toward one another. We had so many things in common, such as the same favorite television shows and the same favorite sports. Our proximity to one another also aided in the development of this attraction toward one another. We all lived on the same block and therefore had more opportunities to interact with one another outside of the school setting.

Although physical attractiveness did not necessarily influence our friendship, according to Myers (2012), it is usually the first step in any sort of relationship, even those that are platonic in nature. The theory of physical attractiveness is based on research conducted that tends to suggest that people who are viewed as being more physically attractive are seen as being more approachable (Myers, 2012). My relationship with my friends can…… [Read More]

Survival Exercise Leader Abdulhamid Albakoush Present All

Survival Exercise

Leader: Abdulhamid Albakoush

Present: All Members

Absent: None

The first group exercise we embarked upon was a 'survival exercise.' The group was given a hypothetical life-and-death situation in which we all had to work together to make effective decisions to benefit the group. All of us had a mutually shared objective (survival) even though we may have had differences about the best way to achieve that objective. The group exercise thus began with a common focus, a necessary component of group formation.

The hypothetical situation was that we had just crash-landed in the Canadian wilderness. First, we had to list items that were most useful to take with us to survive on an individual basis before coming together to reach a consensus as a group about what we should do. Much like the situation would be in 'real life' we began as a group of disparate individuals, but…… [Read More]

Teams Discussion Several Months Ago I Was

Teams: Discussion

Several months ago, I was amongst those elected into a team set up to look into ways of enhancing interdepartmental cooperation. The team comprised of 7 individuals -- each representing a department. The key mandate of the team was to come up with strategies of enhancing cooperation between departments so as to enhance overall organizational efficiency. With regard to the various types of teams Landy and Conte (2013) identify, this particular team could be described as a project team. A project team in the words of Landy and Conte (2013, p. 521) is that kind of a "team that is created to solve a particular problem or set of problems and is disbanded after the project is completed or the problem is solved."

In this particular team, I was the Human esource Department representative. Amongst other things, I was charged with soliciting views from member of my department…… [Read More]

Reflective Essay About Teamwork

CAPSIM

Team Ferris has not been overly successful thus far in our work, as reflecting in our current operating statistics. We have a negative return on sales, return on assets, return on equity and free cash flow, indicating that at present our company is not profitable. Asset turnover is a particular problem and leverage also contributes in our DuPont ratio to the negative ROE. But there is no one area where our company can be said to have excelled at the present time.

Of our five products, only one is profitable. This is the Feat product, which also happens to be far and away the leading generator of revenue. Our company has been forced to take an emergency loan in order to remain solvent. Modest performance on some balanced scorecard measures is the best that we can presently hope for. What this track record of poor performance means is that…… [Read More]

Virtual Office Disadvantages of Virtual

Security measures are available to minimize this effect, in fact an entire industry has emerged to address these needs, but control will never be the same as when the employees are under one roof and subject to scrutinizing eyes and ears and computers and cell phones are free from potential hackers.

To put virtual office security into perspective think about all the security measures that are taken in traditional offices to ensure the safety of a business' equipment and information (Lombardi, 1994). Closed circuit surveillance systems are installed, alarm systems, security guards are utilized to protect the physical plant while extensive firewalls, networking passwords, and layered access systems are used to protect the business information (Rodriguez, 1996).

A distributed workforce can cause problems relative to collaboration. Many work projects require the coordination of different skills and with the workforce being distributed this may be difficult. Specialization of knowledge-based work, falling…… [Read More]

Workplace Motivation in the Workplace

The answer is all of them. They all hold true at some time for certain individuals.

As an industrial psychologist the key task at hand is deciding which theory to apply in order to improve motivation at one's own workplace, or if working as a consultant, at the client's workplace. There is no clear answer or magic formula that will tell the industrial psychologist which theory to apply and at which time. In order to answer the question of which theory to apply, the industrial psychologist must be able to assess the climate and culture of the organization for which they are working. This can be done by several means. They can always take a survey, but this will only tell what the employees want the psychologist to know about them. There are many factors that can influence the outcome of survey results in the workplace. Employees may fear that…… [Read More]

Manager Was a Person Who

The vision should also provide a sense of motivation for the employees. In my experience, vision comes from the top down. Vision has been a successful guideline by which decisions are made. For the most part, the vision is broad and there is some room for interpretation, but most of the major strategy I have seen has come from the broad vision.

DQ4. There are a number of factors that determine team performance. The abilities of the team members play a role -- if the team members are incapable of achieving the objectives the team will fail. The team's cohesion and ability to communicate with each other is another factor. Having clearly delineated roles is another factor. Homogeneity can be a helping or hindering factor -- too much may lead to groupthink and narrow-mindedness, too little may lead to conflict. It is important for self-managed teams to have strong leadership…… [Read More]

Team to Team Which Is

The single greatest detriment and liability to communication in the company I work for right now is trust. No one trusts members of cross-functional teams because they take ideas and often present them as their own in larger staff meetings or cross-functional discussions with other departments. This has happened regularly in engineering and in marketing. As a result, communication is starting to come to a standstill in terms of brainstorming. The exception is the business development team, which everyone wants to work with, as they regularly win awards for performance, are positive, look out for each other, and are very inclusive in terms of working with virtual teams. In effect, the business development team needs to be a model for the rest of the company.

To alleviate the lack of trust in the company outside of business development, I would also concentrate on creating more effective task interdependence to force…… [Read More]