Stewart L. Tubbs McGraw-Hill© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 8 C H A P T E R Consequences

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 2 Consequences Solutions to Problems Changes in Interpersonal Relations Improved Information Flow Organizational Change Review of the Systems Approach

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 3 Solutions to Problems Quality of Solutions –Groups have the potential to make better-quality decisions than the same individuals would make if working alone. In those instances when group performance does not surpass individual performance, the group process has been counterproductive.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 4 Solutions to Problems Quality of Solutions –Teams can help increase value: By performing the same function at a lower cost. By increasing function while reducing costs. By increasing function while increasing costs by a proportionally smaller amount. By decreasing function while decreasing cost by a proportionally greater amount. –It has been found that groups are better at solving complicated tasks requiring reasoning and elimination of poor solutions.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 5 Solutions to Problems Quality of Solutions –Groups are altering their form with changes in geography, tighter budgets, increased technology, and the global search for the very best subject matter experts. –Virtual groups have evolved and specific teams skills and dynamics are necessary to achieve high quality solutions.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 6 Solutions to Problems Acceptance of Solutions –For solutions to be effective, they must be of high quality and they must be accepted by those who must carry them out.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 7 Solutions to Problems Acceptance of Solutions Three types of problem situations can be identified: –Problems requiring high quality but low acceptance are best solved by persons with a high level of technical knowledge and expertise. –Problems requiring high acceptance but low quality may include all individuals who may be affected by the results of the decision. –Problems requiring high quality and high acceptance should utilize problem-solving groups.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 8 Solutions to Problems Acceptance of Solutions –People generally are resistant to changes that affect their lives, especially if these changes are initiated by others. –Group decision making and “people involvement” can be powerful assets in increasing satisfaction and overcoming resistance to change.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 9 Solutions to Problems Acceptance of Solutions –There are several factors to remember in overcoming resistance to change. People will accept changes that they have a part in planning. Changes will be accepted if they do not threaten our security. Changes will be more readily accepted when people are involved in gathering the facts that indicate the need for change. Greater acceptance and commitment will result when the changes are kept open to further revision based on the success or failure of the new procedures.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 10 Solutions to Problems Acceptance of Solutions –For long-term success, teams must function in a responsible manner, and management must possess a high degree of trust and confidence in the system.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 11 Changes in Interpersonal Relations Meetings designed to share perceptions of one another to inform each other of particular problems can potentially clear up and reduce areas of misperception and misunderstanding. Cohesion is a result of group interaction, but it in turn influences other things Small group interaction has the potential of increasing interpersonal relations and cohesiveness.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12 Changes in Interpersonal Relations Team Building –Larson and LaFasto (1989) identified eight dimensions of team excellence: 1. Clear, evaluating goal 2. Results-driven structure 3. Competent team members 4. Unified commitment 5. Collaborative climate 6. Standards of excellence 7. External support and recognition 8. Principled leadership

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 13 Changes in Interpersonal Relations Team Building – Heathfield (2005) offers twelve tips for successful team building: 1.Clear expectations 2.Context 3.Commitment 4.Competence 5.Charter 6.Control

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 14 Changes in Interpersonal Relations Team Building – Heathfield (2005) offers twelve tips for successful team building: 7.Collaboration 8.Communication 9.Creative Innovation 10.Consequences 11.Coordination 12.Cultural Change

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 15 Changes in Interpersonal Relations Virtual Team Building – Virtual groups and teams can benefit fro team building. – Virtual teams cuts down on travel costs and saves money.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 16 Improved Information Flow Communication in small groups can result in an increased knowledge level and increased coordination among group members based on the sharing of information. Rogers (1995) finds that some people by nature are earlier adopters of new ideas whereas others are more resistant to change.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 17 Improved Information Flow Another factor is the tendency for subgroups to form so that information that passes between groups is restricted. –Lawrence and Lorsch (1969) have referred to problems of this nature as differentiation- integration problems.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 18 Improved Information Flow Adopter Categorization on the Basis of Innovativeness

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 19 Organizational Change The Ten Commandments of Implementing Changes: 1. Analyze the organization and its need for change. 2. Create a shared vision and common direction. 3. Separate from the past. 4. Create a sense of urgency. 5. Support a strong leader role.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 20 Organizational Change The Ten Commandments 6. Line up political sponsorship. 7. Craft an implementation plan. 8. Develop enabling structures. 9. Communicate, involve people, and be honest. 10. Reinforce and institutionalize change. Source: Jick, 1993, p. 195.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 21 Organizational Change Peter Drucker (1999) has offered the following advice for leaders on managing change: 1. Introduce change on a small scale. 2. Budget for change. 3. Balance change and continuity.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 22 Organizational Change

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 23 Organizational Change The Strategic Doom Cycle

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 24 Organizational Change— Practical Tips Hitchcock and Willard (1995) offer the following practical tips for using teams to help create organizational change. –The business concept must be viable. –Recognize that the right to make a decision is separate from the competency to implement it. –Clarify what decisions should be made at certain levels, and establish a mechanism to move decisions among these levels.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 25 Organizational Change— Practical Tips Hitchcock and Willard –Codify the principles that will guide you, and establish a mechanism to hold everyone accountable for carrying out those principles. –Devise a system for resolving conflicts and differences. –Establish an equitable way for distributing profits or rewards that is consistent with the egalitarian nature of democracy.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 26 Organizational Change Rogers (1995) and his colleagues found that people accept change along a distribution that is a bell-shaped curve. –Innovators –Early adopters –Early majority –Late majority –Laggards

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 27 Review of the Systems Approach Four potential consequences of group interaction are: (1) solutions to problems, (2) changes in interpersonal relations, (3) improved information flow, and (4) organizational change. Small group interaction must be viewed as a system of interrelated variables in which a change in any one variable creates changes in the other variables in the system.

McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 28 Review of the Systems Approach Information flow may be improved as a result of interaction; but with a highly structured communication network and authoritarian leadership, communication flow might actually diminish. Numerous studies have shown that it takes a comprehensive (systems) approach to successfully create large-scale organizational change.