Human Resource Management :
How Groups Behave Differently
From Individuals
ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND ANALYSIS COURSE
ASSIGNMENT QUESTION 2 IN WHAT WAYS DO GROUPS
BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY FROM INDIVIDUALS? This essay will
attempt to answer the above question by not only studying the conduct of
individuals and groups in a work context, but also by looking at the causes of
behaviour. Organisational behaviour theories, experiments and case studies
will be used to investigate the behaviour of first the individual and then the
group in a work environment. The term “group” for the purposes of this
assignment as been defined as a formal group which has been established by
an organisation at a point in time in with the purpose of achieving a specified
goal. Although it is noted that many friendship and informal groupings do
develop. When both the behaviour of the individual and the group have been
assessed, a discussion will be made as to how these behavioural patterns
differ, why they differ and to what extent they differ. Individual Behaviour
There are many theories of human behaviour used for the purposes of
management and these are constantly being updated. Traditional management
thinking focuses on the idea that in order to understand how a person will act
in a given set of circumstances, individuals motives have to be assessed. A
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Current status and issue Yellowfin Restaurant is located in the city centre. Its personnel is well qualified and experienced in providing an excellent service to the travellers who visit the town but also to the business people who work in that area. After carrying out a market analysis, the owners – Carlos and Sophia – identified an opportunity to expand their business by opening a ...
more modern approach looks at the individuals: abilities, personality,
personality traits, ethics and culture. Traditional View In earlier models it was
first assumed that people were basically the same, that they had the same
wants and needs. Leavitt [1] suggested that there are certain generalisations,
which are useful in predicting human behaviour. In order to illustrate these
generalisations he asked this question, “What are the fundamental,
unexceptionally truths of human behaviour?” Some of the answers he found
included: People are products of their environment. People want security. All
people want is bread and butter. People are fundamentally lazy. People are
fundamentally selfish. People want the chance to show what they can do.
Although many of the answers that were received were contradictory, Leavitt
believed that at another level the contradiction disappears and that there are
three basic assumptions that can be made about human behaviour. Firstly that
human behaviour is caused by outside influences this is termed as causality.
Secondly is the idea of directness, which assumes that a person’s behaviour
when caused is directed towards something, i.e., it is goal orientated. Thirdly
is the belief that underlying behaviour there is always a motivation, a need or
a want. By using these assumptions a model can be developed for
understanding an individual’s conduct. It was thought that if motive influences
a behaviour, which allows an individual to arrive at a goal, when the goal is
reached the motive no longer exists and so a new motive is created. This has
been illustrated in the diagram below. Basic Model of Behaviour Stimulus
Need Goal Want Tension Discomfort behaviour Individual Source Leavitt [1]
This idea is related to Maslow’s hierarchy theory [2] were there are two
basic premises. Firstly that people have needs such as: security, social
interaction and self esteem, secondly that these needs are arranged in a
hierarchical form. A person will attempt to attain each need in order from the
bottom (the most immediate) need to the top need. Maslow’s ideas were
The Term Paper on Impact of Culture on the Ethical Reasoning Behaviour of an Individual
Sequential steps involved in ethical reasoning of an individual are cross examined on the basis of cultural dimensions. Further, difference in ethical perceptions is analyzed using various cultural dimensions. Table of Contents Abstract1 Ethical Attitudes3 Culture3 The Kohlberg stages of moral development4 Rest’s model of moral action5 Culture and the identification of an ethical dilemma6 Culture ...
generally accepted in business, however they were solely based on
observations and never actually proved by empirical, statistical or
experimental data. Mangers thought the model to be true because it
“sounded” logical. The Hierarchy Theory has since been updated and
improved most notably by Murry H A who suggested that needs are not
necessarily arranged in a hierarchical form, his model is more flexible in
describing people. Contemporary View Another way of studying behaviour is
through individual differences, Steers [3] believes that these differences are
the main components that will affect the way a person behaves. If we
consider this from work perspective the main elements of behaviour are an
individual’s distinct: abilities, personality, values and ethics and culture. A
worker’s ability, refers to their capacity and desire to respond to any given
situation or problem. Capacity to respond include elements such as mental
and physical skill, perception capability and stress tolerance, while desire to
respond refers to motivation. It could be argued that the characteristic of
ability refers more to performance than to behaviour, this maybe true
however performance effects behaviour. A good definition of personality for
the purposes of organisational behaviour is made by Salvatore Maddi [4]
who states that it is – a stable set of characteristics and tendencies that
determine those commonalties and differences in psychological behaviour
(thoughts, feelings and actions) of people that have continuity in time and that
may not be easily understood as the sole result of social and biological
pressures of the moment. How personality effects behaviour Influences on
Personality Personality Differences Development e.g. Work- – Physiology –
Self esteem Related – Culture – Locus of control – Family/Group –
Introversion/ Behaviour – Role Extroversion – Situation – Authoritarianism –
Dogmatism – Dependability Source Steers [3] From the above chart it can be
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Think about your personality and work habits. What type of person (in terms of personality and work habits) do you think you’d work well with and what type of person do you think you’d be in constant conflict with? Answer: Personally, I am an outgoing person, I am known for being blunt and direct among my friends. When I am working, I become a well-organized people, and I always have a written ...
seen that there are a number of different elements, which can effect an
individual personality, these are called determinants and effect personality
differences. There are many personality differences, recent research has
found over 17,000; the most important ones in the context of work are
shown above, these are often referred to as traits. These traits when taken
together can provide an insight into how an individual will behave. Traits are
identified as measurable and tend to remain relatively stable over time. It is
easy to make comparisons of individuals using these tangible qualities.
Self-esteem is defined, as one’s own opinion or belief about yourself and your
self-worth. It is therefore a key variable in determining work behaviour.
According to Ellis and Taylor [5] people with high self esteem often find it
easier to give and receive affection, set higher goals for personal achievement
and exert energy to try and attain them. Locus of control refers to the
tendency among individuals to attribute the events affecting their lives to their
own actions or external forces. People with an external locus are said to
attribute successes and failures to outside influences and internal locus
individuals attribute them to themselves. People with more of an internal locus
are said to have: greater work motivation, stronger expectations that effort
will lead to actual high job performance and perform better on tasks requiring
problem solving or learning. The personality trait, which defines introversion
and extroversion, refers to the extent to which a person maybe shy or socially
out going. It is generally accepted that extroverts perform better in first-line
management jobs using superficial people skills e.g. sales representatives.
Introverts perform better in positions that require more reflection, analysis
and sensitivity, e.g. accounting, personnel or computing. Authoritarianism
refers to an individual’s orientation towards authority. A high authoritarian
believes that it is right and proper for there to be clear status and power
differences among people in the work place. Adorno T W [6] states that a
The Essay on Organizations group jobs and work functions into groups
1. Chapter 7 addresses organizational structures (how organizations group jobs and work functions into groups). For example, a hospital may have hundreds or thousands of employees while a private physician’s office may have just a few employees. For the organizations below, describe which organizational structure they would likely use and why: • A small physician’s office Smaller hospitals tend to ...
high authoritarian would typically: be directive to subordinates and submissive
to supervisors, intellectually rigid, fearful of change, highly judgmental and
distrustful. Dogmatism refers the extent to which a person maybe close
minded and inflexible This trait is highlighted in the decision making process.
Taylor [7] found that dogmatic mangers tend to make decisions quickly
based on only limited information and with a high degree of confidence in the
correctness of their decisions. The last trait, dependability refers to the fact
that people can be assessed with respect to their behavioural consistency. An
individual who is dependable is generally seen as self-reliant, responsible and
consistent. Personal values and ethics are an important influence on behaviour
they serve as: standards of behaviour for determining the correct course of
action, guidelines for decision making and conflict resolution and influences on
employee motivation. It is interesting to note that many firms have now
started to conduct integrity and honesty tests. This is based on the idea that
honest or dishonest behaviour is a direct result of a person’s underlying
values. Culture refers to the norms and values, which have been installed into
an individual by the society in which they live. It generally affects how a
person sees the world and can virtually influence every aspect of behaviour.
An example of this would be cultures such as those of Japan and Korea; both
of these nations value the importance of hard work. The chart below
highlights these differences. Differences in work habits Source [8] Steers In
conclusion there are many different aspects which can effect how a person
behaves, the contemporary view looks at all of these main elements, and it
also incorporates some of the ideas put forward in the more traditional view.
The ideas on motivations, wants and needs can be examined by looking at an
individual’s ability, personality, values and ethics and culture because these
are the elements which influence them. Therefore from this point on the
contemporary view of individual behaviour shall be used to compare it with
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This study seeks to explore the factors of consumers’ behavior and its influence on consumers’ investment decisions as a panacea for national transformation in Nigeria. The consumer is the most elemental basis for any business organization and the economy; hence, their core behaviour is also of great significance for a successful economy and financial affluence. Different factors are responsible ...
group behaviour. group behaviour Since a group is made up of a number of
individuals it seems logical that the behaviour of a group would reflect the sum
of its members. If this were true a group’s actions could be determined by
using the same techniques described previously. Instead of evaluating the
importance culture has on an individuals work habits, we would assess the
importance it has on the group as a whole. (This would be easier if all the
members of the group came from the same background, with they did not we
could simply sum the estimated work ethic of each group member and then
divide by the number of members.) To a certain degree this may work, it
seems reasonable that a group would be effected by it’s accumulated abilities,
personality, values and ethics and culture. However there are other processes
which take place when people interact with one another. These processes
can effect the performance and behaviour of a group in a positive or negative
way. In an organisational behaviour context 2 + 2 does not always
necessarily equal 4. There are two main reasons why a formal group maybe
created. One is that it would be physically impossible to complete a task
without using different individual’s skills or effort. The second reason is that
while an individual maybe able to perform a job alone, by working in a group
the results maybe improved. An example of this can be taken from the
Organisational Behaviour and Analysis class tutorial sessions. In this case
each student is given a case study to read and make an evaluation on before
the tutorial takes place. During the tutorial students discuss their findings and
a group answer is decided upon. In most cases the group answer is better
than any one of the separate individual students answer. The reason for this is
should high school student work part-time?
Nowadays, there are more and more students work part-time job in their free time. Actually, a part-time job can provide money and working experience to them. But it partly disturbs their study as well. So the high school students should not be encouraged to have a part-time job because of the following reasons. Firstly, most high school students are too young to work. Specifically, they still lack ...
quite simply that when groups talk things over, the logical strengths and
weaknesses of certain opinions become clearer to all concerned. Another
reason is that more information and knowledge is available from a group then
from an individual. When this process of a group being able to outperform it’s
best members has taken place, it is referred to as synergy. This term is often
illustrated by “2 + 2 = 5.” However synergy does not always take place. In
1981 Meredith Beblin conducted a study to determine the characteristics of
effective groups. During management courses mangers had to make an
analysis of case studies. Beblin used tests to find the most intelligent people
and then arranged for them to be in the same group. Instead of out
performing the other groups the most intelligent group performed terribly.
Beblin found that the mix of individual personalities was to blame. He
believed that in order for a group to perform well individuals must have
certain team roles. Another negative aspect of group behaviour is that certain
group pressures can effect the logical thinking of group members. When this
happens groupthink is said to have occurred. The term groupthink was first
coined by Irving Janis [9] who refers to it as a mode of thinking in which the
pursuit of agreement or consensus among members becomes so dominant
that it overrides any realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action. Janis
discovered groupthink whilst studying the high level policy decisions made by
the US Government, most notably the Bay of Pigs Fiasco which occurred
during the Kennedy administration. Here he found the development of group
norms. Different psychologists have developed the idea of group norms over
several years. They can be defined as a standard set of rules that are shared
by the individuals in a group; these rules will effect the individual’s behaviour.
They may or may not be rules that have been formal drawn up and written
down. An example of normal rules of behaviour or norms can be seen during
a typical student group assignment. The students in the group would expect
group members to behave in a certain way for example: arrive to meetings on
time, provide an acceptable level of effort, and complete work on time.
Group norms therefore have the ability to change a person’s behaviour. For
example an individual may, due to their personality traits and/or culture, put
little emphasis on arriving to student group assignment meetings on time.
However if this student were to arrive late to group meetings the other
members of the group would exert pressure on them to stop. Group norms
exist to: facilitate group survival and performance, simplify expected
behaviour, help avoid embarrassing situations and express the group’s identity
and values. People often comply with group norms when they may not
necessarily be in the in their own best interests. Situations can arise when an
individual is swept along by the group in ways that they would prefer not to.
The classic study of this phenomenon was made Solomon Asch. Asch
proved that under the correct circumstances individuals would accept the
thinking of the group even when they knew it was wrong. In the experiment
Asch asked an individual which of the lines (drawn below) was the longest.
Asch Experiment A B C D E Source [10] Amazingly 32% of people asked
said that line A was the longest after group pressure was exerted on them.
Asch believed that an individual could either conform or comply with the
group. When an individual conformed in this incidence they actually believed
that line A was the longest, when an individual complied they suppressed their
feelings of what they thought was right. When an individual fails to conform or
comply with the group, other members will try to bring the “deviant” back into
the acceptable group boundaries. An example of this from Janis’s study of
Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, is when Arthur Schlesinger, an advisor to
President Kennedy, expressed opposition to the plan at a meeting, even
though no one else expressed similar doubts. After listening to his opposition
for a while, Robert Kennedy took Schlesinger aside and told him, “You may
or may not be right, but the President has made up his mind. Don’t push it any
further. Now is the time for everyone to help as much as they can.” This
pressure that is applied to anyone who deviates from the group norm can be
applied explicitly, as shown in the case above or implicitly. Implicit methods
may include exclusion and ridicule. Hence this is what causes groupthink. It
should be noted that an individual doe not always necessarily give into the
group, compliance and conformity occurs to lesser degrees when an
individual’s own personality has traits of high self esteem and low
authoritarianism. In a business context groupthink can have a seriously
negative effect. It can cause the group to: limit the search for alternative
solutions, fail to consider all the evidence available, fail to seek out new
information, ignore expert advice, ignore ethical principals, fail to make
contingency plans and ignore the risks of a plan or project. An interesting
component of groupthink is the concept of polarisation. This was investigated
by a postgraduate student in Boston (Stoner, 1961) and refers to the idea
that when decisions are compared or discussed they become polarised. So
risky decision would become riskier and a cautious decision would become
even more cautious. In summary the main processes that would effect how a
group will behave include team roles, group norms, groupthink and
polarisation. The Differences During this assignment I hope that it has been
established that there are a number of aspects which effect an individuals
behaviour, and that when a group is formed certain group processes can
override an individuals personal behaviour patterns, thus creating an entirely
new group behaviour pattern. To highlight how an individual may behave
differently from a group we can consider the case of Citibank [3]. Davis
Edwards was a senior manager at Citibank. For over two years, Edwards
had gone to his bosses to tell them of tax evasion and currency-trading
violations within his department. He had discovered that his bank was making
bogus transfers of foreign deposits to shift bank profits to countries with low
tax rates. Edwards also uncovered kickback schemes associated with the
illegal monetary transfers. Since the regulations were ambiguous in this area
the bank officers involved in the scheme failed to see either the ethical, legal
or public relations consequences of the practise. Groupthink was in practise
and it was believed that the bank was right and that Edwards was wrong.
Edwards noted that it was, “…bad for business, We risk being thrown out of
these countries.” When the bank regulators finally investigated, Citibank
received heavy fines for back taxes in several European countries and the
bank’s reputation was damaged and hence it lost business. Edwards who has
not a part of the group involved in the shady practice, saw the problems it
would create. He as an individual behaved differently from the group.
Edwards’ own individual traits effected how he behaved in the situation. He
had the ability to see there was a problem and that it could be bad for
business, he had the personality traits which gave him the confidence to raise
the issue with his superiors and he also had the honesty which made him
believe that the practise was wrong. Does this mean that Edward was morally
superior and more intelligent or more aware of the risks then every other
single person in top management who was involved? This is extremely
unlikely. The main reason why he as an individual behaved differently from
the group was because he was not a part of it; hence the group processes did
not affect him. Perhaps if he had been a part of the group when the decisions
were being made and discussed he would have behaved differently. It is
interesting to note that after the investigation the bank changed its behaviour
but Edwards was still sacked. It should be remembered that, although most
organisational behaviour literature focus on group behaviour from a decision
making perspective, there are other general behavioural patterns which are
important. If we take for example The Southwestern Company [11], a US
direct sales company. It recruits college and university students to sell
educational books door to door in North America and Europe. The student
receives a week of sales training and then works independently in a specified
sales area on a commission basis during the summer break. By the early
1980’s average sales per student had been falling since the 1960’s. The
company’s sales manger Dan Moore decided that in order to increase sales
levels each students work habits needed to be improved; they needed to
work longer hours and at a greater intensity. In order to increase the number
of hours worked and the number of sales demonstrations made, groups were
constructed. These groups were generally made up of students from the same
universities. Rewards were given for groups with the highest total sales and
average sales per student. Therefore within the groups norms began to form
for acceptable levels of work, for example; a minimum of 70 hours of work a
week and 30 sales demonstrations a day. Individuals who met these targets
received recognition and were accepted by the group. Anyone, who did not
reach these targets, while not formally punished, was subjected to sarcasm
and ridicule. Also a sense of loyalty and identity developed which in turn
increased motivation. Although other factors may have also contributed to the
dramatic rise in average sales figures, it was generally believed that the
formation of formal groups, was the fundamental reason for the increase in
work habits and hence the rise in sales. In this example we can see a clear
indication that when a group is formed it can behave very differentially than
it’s separate individuals. In many cases a student’s own individual traits;
ability, personality, values and ethics and culture, the elements which would
normally govern their work behaviour have been cancelled out by the group
process of norms. In the Southwestern example – before the introduction of
sales teams, there was a large variance in output. After group pressures
effected behaviour, the majority of students conformed to the new level of
work habits and conduct, and the variance in sales levels decreased and the
average sales levels increased. Hopefully this essay has now highlighted that
groups can behave differently from individuals, showed the ways in which the
behaviour can vary and the reasons for this. However one aspect that has not
yet been mentioned is to what extent the behaviour differs. This is very
subjective and difficult to assess. Can you put an actual figure on the benefits
or disadvantages of working in a group? This is maybe an area for future
research.
Bibliography
Bibliography Brewer M and Miller N (1996) Intergroup Relations Fincham
and Rhodes (1999) Principals of Organisational Behaviour Huczynski and
Buchanan (1991) Organisational Behaviour Hunt J (1992) Managing People
at Work Leavitt H (1972) Managerial Psychology Makin P, Cooper C, Cox
Bibliography
Bibliography
Bibliography Brewer M and Miller N (1996) Intergroup Relations Fincham
and Rhodes (1999) Principals of Organisational Behaviour Huczynski and
Buchanan (1991) Organisational Behaviour Hunt J (1992) Managing People
at Work Leavitt H (1972) Managerial Psychology Makin P, Cooper C, Cox
