Group Process and Productivity

by Worchel, Stephen; Wood, Wendy; Simpson, Jeffry A.

• ISBN13: 9780803942264
• ISBN10: 0803942265
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1991-10-29
• Publisher: Sage Pubns

Summary

How is the increasing diversity of the workforce likely to affect productivity? What can be done to remedy the negative consequences of 'groupthink'? And what steps can be taken to improve the quality of group decisions? This volume discusses these and other questions associated with productivity and functioning in small groups. Among the topics explored are group productivity, problem identification, group decision making, behaviour technology and group dynamics. The contributors, leading scholars from a cross-section of disciplines, challenge many current beliefs about groups.

Table of Contents

Introduction - Jeffry A Simpson and Wendy Wood

Where Is the Group in Social Psychology?

An Historical Overview

PART ONE: SMALL GROUP DECISION MAKING - Charles D Samuelson

Section Preface - Richard L Moreland and John M Levine

Problem Identification by Groups - Garold Stasser

Pooling of Unshared Information During Group Discussion - Norbert L Kerr

Issue Importance and Group Decision Making

PART TWO: GROUP MEMBER ATTRIBUTES AND STATUS - Nancy Rhodes

Section Preface - Charlan Jeanne Nemeth

Minority Dissent as a Stimulant to Group Performance - Hermann Brandst[um]atter and Klemens Waldh[um]or

Social Exchange Orientation Versus Social Reinforcement Orientation in Controversial Discussions - Susan E Jackson

Team Composition in Organizational Settings

Issues in Managing an Increasingly Diverse Workforce

PART THREE: GROUP DEVELOPMENT, PRIVILEGE AND POWER - Katherine A Hannula

Section Preface - Stephen Worchel, Dawna Coutant-Sassic and Michele Grossman

A Developmental Approach to Group Dynamics

A Model and Illustrative Research - Lawrence A Mess[ac]e, Norbert L Kerr and David N Sattler

`But Some Animals are More Equal Than Others'

The Supervisor as a Privileged Status in Group Contexts - David Kipnis

Does Behavior Technology Change Practitioners' Behavior as Well as the Behavior of People They Are Trying to Change?

PART FOUR: WORK GROUP NORMS AND OUTCOMES - John E Sawyer

Section Preface - Robert D Pritchard and Margaret D Watson

Understanding and Measuring Group Productivity - Paul S Goodman and Samir Shah

Familiarity and Work Group Outcomes