Barriers and Factors That Define Effectiveness - Research Paper Example

Department Supervisor Define what is meant by group effectiveness and explain how this could be assessed in an organisation. Identify the factors which can be barriers to group effectiveness and explain what can be done to overcome them. By: October, 2008 Table of Content. 1.0 General Introduction 1.1 Question one 1.1.1 What is group effectiveness 1.1.2 Identifying Group Effectiveness at the work Place 1.1.3 Assessing Group effectiveness at ASDA 1.1.4 Conclusion 2.0 General Introduction 2.1 Question 2 2.1.1 Barriers to Group effectiveness with reference to ASDA 2.1.2 Proposed Solutions to Overcome Barriers to Group Effectiveness 2.1.3 Conclusion 1.0 General Introduction The soft side of any organisation here in referred to as the people are critical resources in organisations. People are at the centre of all the other organisational resources and consequently, effectively utilisation of these resources should be a central management focus. This has given rise to notion such as the human capital concept. Thus, within the past decades, Pfeffer (1995) argues that embracing the human capital concept shifts the primary human resource functions and focus from tasks to people. In order to facilitate work group integration process, one greatest challenge human resource management is how to maintain the sense of continuity for the group. Having said this, this part of the paper is aim at finding and assessing group effectiveness in the work place. 1.1.1 What is Group Effectiveness In defining group effectiveness, Hackman (1990) proposes three dimensions of group effectiveness: productive output: the degree to which the group's output meets the standards of those using the output; Capability to work interdependently: the degree to which the group's members are able to work together in the future; and growth and well-being of members: the degree to which the experience of being in the group enhanced the individual members through the common goal (Hackman, 1990). Thus group effectiveness refers to the work quality of a work group. This will be illustrated using ASDA an international retail company with headquarters in the States. 1.1.2 Identifying Group effectiveness at Work Place According to the work group model developed by Hackman (1990), the group that performs its assigned task well but is not able to work together in the future is not a truly effective group. ASDA is WALMART in the United Kingdom. At the stores, employees are defined within the roles they occupy and by departmental functions all working for a common goal. These group members, though working as a group are able to work independently in the absence of a group member. While, groups in ASDA are defined within various functions (e.g., Stocking group, cash department group, teller functions, security group etc) these are all indicative of the effectiveness of the various groups. Group effectiveness at ASDA supermarket, is further identified through a collective sense of "We" feelings amongst the group members. Thus at ASDA the life of a group and it members must be accounted for in determining the effectiveness of the group. This again can be seen from the common a shared common goal. For example, ASDA UK sales have increased in the past two years. Again, return on assets and return on capital employed has also increased. Thus, based on Hackman (1990) argument that a group is effective once the output of the group is acceptable and satisfied those who consume it. 1.1.3 Assessing Group effectiveness at work Place According to Hackman (1998) review, group effectiveness can be assessed from different dimension. The researcher cited Hackett (1995) who illustrated the role of self-efficacy in career choice and development, she illustrates that self-efficacy plays a strong role in individual career choices. To assess the effectiveness of the group, attention should be paid at group commitment and output. At ASDA, employee's group effectiveness is assessed through, output, communication and corporation with other groups. Evidence of scapegoating, evidence of strong feelings of love or comradeship. Also, at ASDA, group effectiveness is also assessed through the number of new responsibilities, and evidence of other inhouse members seeking membership in that particular group. Hackman (1998) further postulates that in assessing group effectiveness, attention should be based on output. What Hackman (1998) meant here is that individuals who experience high efficacy will be fairly certain that they are able to meet the performance requirements of the task ahead of them. Their interest in the group should grow over time. At ASDA, group task must be completed within defined time frame. From social identity perspective, assessing effective work group will mean looking for that evidence such as common identities identified through the salience of the existing membership or introducing shared task membership, or introducing shared task subgroups comprising and getting response from group members. This will foster more harmonious relations developed by common goal, mutual success and achievement of tasks, which could mediate and promote common bond and identity within group members (Hogg & Terry 2005). 1.1.4 Conclusion Drawing from the work of Jackson and Shultz (1992). The researchers contend that, effective HR management ensures a strategic fit amongst a subset of strategically relevant variables while simultaneously seeking to build generic organizational capabilities. Cobb Gnyawali & Offstein (2006) refers to human resources as unique stores intangible assets that influence the way firms compete. To support the importance and strategic role of an effective human resource planning Cobb Gnyawali & Offstein (2006) went further to postulate that human and social capital of a firm, particularly those at the upper level of organisation hierarchy , contribute to the firm's awareness of the competitive environment, technical capabilities and its ability to undertake numerous, complex, and forceful competitive actions. By examining how human capital, intra-firm social capital, and executive compensation influence firm competitiveness, Cobb Gnyawali & Offstein (2006) advance strategic human resource policies as cornerstones for an organisation competitive edge. These will ensure and promote group effectiveness and assessment. 2.0 Introduction The field of human resource (HR) management is one of the many interesting area of research that has witnessed a paradigm shift within the last few decades (Huselid, . 1995 Doty &Delery 1996). Within this area of research, an increasing body of literature contains the argument that, high performance work practices, including comprehensive employee's recruitment, selection procedures, incentives compensation and performance management systems, and extensive employee's involvement and training can improve the knowledge, skills and abilities of firms. Motivation for joining group can be explained using conversion theories which include role, commitment and social process theory. This part of the paper seeks to address barriers to group effectiveness while proposing solutions with reference to ASDA. 2.1.1 Barriers to Group effectiveness with reference to ASDA Organisations are internally structured groups and like every group, have its membership and those who lead and manage the groups. Leadership is all about how shared sense of "us" is created, coordinated and controlled to facilitate inter-group integration (Hogg & Terry 2005:167). According to social psychologist Hogg & Terry (2005) and as evident and supported by the management of ASDA stores in Manchester an important barrier of group effectiveness at the ASDA store is that of multiple role identity. Roles are integrated, and as such role blurring may result in more confusion and anxiety about which role should be most salient at a particular time. (Hogg & Terry 2005). For example workers with a strong family identity at home may be unable to focus on his job when a child is at home sick. In contrast to role integration, Hogg & Terry (2005) for instance argued that an executive with a large discrepancy between the worker and family role may have trouble displaying nurture at home when he or she has worked all day. Ashforth et al. (2000) lay emphasis on this when they argued that the role segmentation-role integration continuum is important impact to individual and group behaviour. This is true as supported by Lobel & Claire (1992) when they found out that, those with a high level of career identity salience were willing to work harder and tended to receive higher merit increases than those with more salient family identities. Other barriers to work group effectiveness found evident at ASDA include, the lack of a formal structure in some of the work groups like the shopping attendant. Failure of the organisation to defined a career path per job functions. In addition, poor communication was also identified as evident from the diversity of the work force. In addition, ineffective communication and dominance by one person will be negative on the group effectiveness. Other problems also included poor working hours, ineffective group motivation. 2.1.2 Proposed Solutions to Overcome Barriers to Group Effectiveness According to social identity theory, there are a number of strategies that can be done by management and members of a group to overcome barriers to group effectiveness. Management should create and encourage group members to engage in individual mobility. Members in this group may engage in in-group oriented or collective strategies (Hogg & Terry 2005pg.231). "Social creativity is another collective oriented strategy that is a cognitive response that involves making intergroup comparism that favour the in-group (also referred to as in-group bias and in-group favouritism)" (Hogg & Terry 2005pg.231). Group members in a disadvantaged position may in turn used new dimensions for comparism so as to place their self in to equal status with the majority group. The pursuit of positive in-group differentiation on irrelevant dimensions to the status hierarchy could assist in this situation. (Hogg & Terry 2005pg.231). Trust has been defined as a psychological state that encompasses an individual "expectations, assumptions, or beliefs about the likelihood that another's future actions will be beneficial, favourable, or at least not detrimental to one's interests" (Hogg & Terry 2005:167, Cerulo, 1997). According to social psychologist Hogg & Terry (2005), group effectiveness could be further improved upon and barriers overcome through the promotion of in-group cooperation and intergroup competition. Through the encouragement of intergroup competition that is competition between one sub group and the others, role identity become pronounced. "Social categorisation reflects the fact that when people define themselves as members of a self inclusive social category (eg., sex, class, team, organisation), distinction between in-group and out group members are accentuated, whereas differences among individual in-group members are minimised" (Hogg & Terry 2005:231). Thus cooperation should be encouraged within sub groups and competitions between inter subgroups. Contact hypothesis further suggest that successfully reduced bias in group effectiveness, certain qualities of contact: equal status between the groups, cooperative rather than competitive inter group interaction, opportunities for personal acquaintance between members and supportive norms by authorities within and outside of the contact situation should exists. That is common in-group identity may be achieved by increasing the salience of existing common super ordinate memberships (Hogg and Terry, SIPOC chapter 16-17). in a supportive normative environment that encourage co-operative interdependence is one way this can be achieved as many efforts to increase the salience of relevant out group or competitor, such that "us" reflects the super ordinate identity and "them" resides outside rather than within the group (Hogg and Terry, SIPOC pg.247). Jackson et al, (1994) concluded that, without incentive to maximise the value of the owners investment, the hired manager may act to enhance their own utility by consuming extra perquisites (Expense preference), pursuing personal prestige and power (empire building), rejecting positive net present value projects that have particularly bad outcomes in some state of nature (risk aversion) or simply expending low amount of effort. 2.1.3 Conclusion In terms of more practical implications, Friedman, Christensen and DeGroot (1998) made it clear and requested that managers should identify where work falls in the spectrum of an individual's and group priorities in life and experiment with the way in which work is done so that not only the group effectiveness is enhanced but organizational performance is enhanced and consequently more time is created for an individual's personal pursuits. Indeed, if research supports the notion that individuals vary in preference for the degree to which role boundaries are segmented versus integrated within a group then to support existing arguments, I will call on companies not to force individuals to blend work and family roles (e.g., working at home so that one can take care of children), force individuals in groups with no roles or group identity without considering the individual needs of the workers (Ashforth et al., 2000). References Ashforth, B., Kreiner, G. & Fugate, M. (2000). All in a day's work: Boundaries and micro role transitions. Academy of Management Review, 35, 472-491. Burke, P. J. & Reitzes, D. C. (1981). The link between identity and role performance. Social Psychology Quarterly, 44, 83-92. Cerulo, K. A. (1997). Identity construction: New issues, new directions. Annual Review of Sociology, 23, 385-409. Cobb T.A, Gynyawali R.D, & Offstein H.(2006) A strategic human resource perspective of firm competitive behavior. 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