How groupthink affects the effectiveness of groups - Essay Example

This study shall outline relationship between groupthink and group effectiveness. Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon which is observed within a group. This approach focuses on establishing harmony and it significantly affects decision making process. Conflict minimization is the major objective of groupthink. This eventually reduces scope of critical evaluation before framing a particular decision. Group loyalty influences group members to avoid any form of controversial issues and this adversely affects creativity of individuals. There exist some typical symptoms of groupthink like overestimations of group members in terms of morality and power, closed-mindedness and excessive pressure towards uniformity. In this study, impact of groupthink on group effectiveness would be thoroughly examined. Group effectiveness is closely knitted with designing high performance workplace environment. Teamwork can be stated as a result of group effectiveness, whereby team members work in collaboration with one another so as to accomplish common goals. Discussion Relationship between groupthink & group effectiveness In 1952, William H. Whyte, had coined a unique term in Fortune magazine, known as “groupthink”. This term reflected conformity culture that has shaped many business organizations. Groupthink has both positive and negative impacts on group effectiveness. The major goal of groupthink is to achieve consensus through conflict eradication. This approach tends to change workplace environment by shifting focus towards minimizing conflict rather than obtaining desirable results. Groupthink influences group members to act in harmony and this adversely affects individual thought process. Innovation is not a prime concern as per the concept of groupthink. This negatively affects formulation of high performance group. Group effectiveness is mainly dependent on two aspects such as working as a team and facilitating high productivity level. High productivity level can be correlated with efficiently responding to fluctuating market demand and acquiring knowledge on technological advancements. Group effectiveness is high only when group members are capable enough to understand external conditions and accordingly formulate strategic decisions. However there are certain positive effects of groupthink in relation to sustaining harmony within a group (Schafer and Crichlow, 2010). Group conflict can be considered as one of the reasons behind decreased team productivity. Groupthink attempts to eliminate this cause by cultivating a common ground of interests. Performance of a new organization is positively affected by groupthink. This is simply because groupthink tends to align all team members towards a common goal. Decision making process is enhanced through groupthink since all group members collaboratively undertake a specific decision. Groupthink is all about reducing conflict amongst team members. Team conflict has a negative impact on decision making process and organizational performance as highlighted in figure 1. Figure 1: Team conflict and organizational performance (Source: Forsyth, 2009) Team consensus is achieved through groupthink. Groupthink enables team members to collaboratively implement a decision. This team work enhances degree of organizational performance. On the contrary, decision quality can be associated with team conflict. Innovative thoughts emerge when inclination is towards achieving high performance standards rather than following groupthink approach (Baron, 2005). Organizational performance can be improved either through innovation or by resolving conflicts. It is important to understand that there is a relationship between conflict intensity and work performance. Figure 2 further demonstrates the relation between these two components. Figure 2: Conflict intensity & work performance (Source: Forsyth, 2009) According to figure 2, when conflict intensity is high then work performance is relatively low. On the other hand, work performance is highest when intensity of conflict is at a moderate level. Hence it is clearly evident that to certain extent conflict is necessary so as to develop a high performance workforce. High performance of a group indicates group effectiveness. When conflict level is moderate it is assumed that group members can explore more innovative ideas. Decision quality can be regarded as another dimension which establishes a link between groupthink and group effectiveness. Groupthink’s strict interpretation states that high cohesion or high threat leads to low quality decision making. Additive interpretation is another perspective of groupthink. This indicates that poor decision making results due to addition of antecedent. Groups in high threat or high cohesion are expected to perform poor in comparison to those who are at low threat or low cohesion. Liberal interpretation of groupthink outlines that performance of a group or cell is dependent on situational properties. The quality level of decision making process can be enhanced only when there is high cohesion. Cohesive groups are observed to accomplish their goals more quickly in relation to non-cohesive groups. High performance can also be initiated through threat. Threat motivates group members to perform well. Theorists states that groupthink results into defective decisions. In overall context, decision making process forms the basis of high performance team. To certain extent, group effectiveness and groupthink are negatively correlated (Haslam, Knippenberg, Platow and Ellemers, 2014). Group effectiveness means acquiring all possible skills which improve performance level of team members and helps in goal accomplishment. Decision quality in groupthink would suffer because team members are expected to adopt bargaining approach or win-lose approach. These approaches undertaken for resolving problem tends to eliminate external conditions which are essential for framing strategic decisions. There are two different perspectives of groupthink in context of group effectiveness. Morality and invulnerability facilitate performance level of team members, and this in turn promotes confidence and morale of team members. Group identity is closely knitted with cognitive inclinations, high morale and emotional solidarity. Positive impact of groupthink is in terms of group identity and collective efficacy. Collective efficacy can be stated as perception about team member’s capability to perform in a given scenario. Social identity is maintained when positive view is shared amongst group members through groupthink. Positive group image can be considered as one of the perspectives of groupthink. This image enhances motivational level of group members. Motivated group members are more likely to work in collaboration. Group effectiveness is enhanced when groupthink facilitates a positive group identity. Group confidence can be induced through such group identity. Confident team members are able to take criticisms from external source Team performance and group identity also can possess an inverse relationship. Implementation quality is more strongly related to team performance in comparison to decision making quality. This is because implementation is directly related to outcome. Group members are likely to experience groupthink in two different ways such as subjective and behavioural (Rose, 2011). On the basis of some factors, groupthink is expected to affect team performance. These factors are goals, tasks, hierarchical position of group, group development stages, norms, etc. There needs to be further study on team level crisis management with the support of groupthink. In the problem solving stage, collective efficacy and enhanced group identity are critical elements. These elements are encompassed within the approach of group think. However external conditions are not taken into consideration which influences crisis management. Group effectiveness is also dependent on striking a balance between external and internal parameters. It is not only about resolving conflicts but transforming work culture into a high performance workplace environment. Team performance can be upgraded only when focus is on external activities as well as on internal relations. Impact of groupthink on group effectiveness outlines dynamics between behavioural and cognitive functions. These functions are witnessed in any group or team. Feelings or behavioural norms are given more importance in groupthink. This affects group effectiveness because team members value one another and look towards a common goal. Groupthink results into high understanding level amongst team members. Apart from motivation and group identity, groupthink influences team members to agree upon a common view without indulging into any kind of conflict or disagreement. Conflict resolution is one of the key objectives of groupthink. Work performance level is decreased when rate of conflict is high within a group. Decision making process is also disrupted due to disagreements amongst group members. Alternative options are not scrutinized so as to avoid any kind of conflict between team members. Dysfunctional decisions due to groupthink are not productive in long run. In individual context, satisfaction level is high only when group members are able to contribute their innovative ideas (Levine and Moreland, 2008). Creativity is restricted in case of groupthink in order to preserve group harmony. Positive impact of groupthink on group effectiveness is in the form of reducing conflict through eradicating contradictory views, focusing on goal accomplishment, efforts to retain a pleasant environment and achievement of team consensus by preserving time as well as other resources. Conclusion As per this study, groupthink plays a vital role in suppressing contradicting views and accomplishing group harmony. Group conflict tends to drastically affect group performance. Team members have to be well aligned with common goal or objective. Groupthink encompasses restricting opinions and facilitating harmony within a group. It is more of a psychological tendency and possesses both positive as well as negative impact on group effectiveness. Group effectiveness level is high when high performance team is formed through encouraging employees to contribute their innovative ideas. Groupthink has a common objective of increasing cohesion, reducing tension and formulating decision in least time possible. This concept can also be denoted as peer pressure. It can then be stated as creating negative impact on group effectiveness. Team members might perform in harmony but creativity level amongst individuals diminishes. References Baron, R. S., 2005. So right its wrong: groupthink and the ubiquitous nature of polarized group decision making. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 37, pp. 219–253. Forsyth, D., 2009. Group dynamics. New York: Cengage Learning. Haslam, S.A., Knippenberg, D., Platow, M.J. and Ellemers, N., 2014. Social identity at work: developing theory for organizational practice. New York: Psychology Press. Levine, J.M. and Moreland, R.L., 2008. Small groups: key readings. London: Psychology Press. Rose, J. D., 2011. Diverse perspectives on the groupthink theory – a literary review. Emerging Leadership Journeys, 4 (1), pp. 37–57. Schafer, M. and Crichlow, S., 2010. Groupthink versus high-quality decision making in international relations. New York: Columbia University Press. Read More