Human Relations in Organizations: Applications and Skill Building 8th Edition by Robert Lussier

Exercise 27

. Objective: To compare individual and group decision making to better understand when and when not to use a group to make decisions.
AACSB: The primary AACSB learning standard skills developed through this exercise are teamwork and leadership; in addition, communication and analytic skills are developed.
Preparation: You should have completed Application Situations 13-1 and 13-2, or the first 10 questions in the Objective Case, whichever your instructor assigned.
Experience: During class, you will work in a group that will make the same decisions, followed by an analysis of the results. Place your individual answers to Application Situations 13-1 and 13-2 in the "Individual Answer" column below.
Break into teams of five; make groups of four or six as necessary. As a group, come to an agreement on the answers to Application Situations 13-1 and 13-2. Place the group answers in the "Group Answer" column above. Try to use consensus rather than the voting technique.
Scoring: The instructor will give you the recommended answers to Application Situations 13-1 and 13-2; place the answers in column 4. In column 2, place the number of individual answers you got correct (1-10) on the total score line. In column 3, place the number the
group answered correctly (1-10) on the total score line. In column 5, place the number representing the gain/loss of individual versus group answers on the total score line. (For example, if you scored 8 correct and the group scored 6, you beat the group by 2-so put +2 on the total score line. If you scored 5 correct and the group scored 8, the group beat you by 3-so put ?3 on the total score line. If you tied, put 0.)
Averaging: Calculate the average individual score by adding all the individual scores and dividing by the number of group members. Average ______.
Gain or Loss: Find the difference between the average score and the group score. If the group's score is higher than the average individual score, you have a gain of ______ points; if the group's score is lower, you have a loss of _____ points.
Determine the highest individual score _____.
Determine the number of individuals who scored higher than the group's score _______.
Integration (4-8 minutes): As a group, discuss which advantages and/or disadvantages your group had while making the decisions in this exercise.
Advantages:
• Better decisions. Did your group make better decisions? Was the group's score higher than the highest individual score? If not, why not? Were the knowledgeable members nonassertive or just not listened to?
• More alternatives. Did the group get members to consider alternatives they did not consider as individuals? Did your group use the devil's advocate approach?
• Acceptance. Did group members accept the answers as a consensus?
• Morale. Were members more satisfied making the decisions and giving the answers in a group?
Disadvantages:
• Time. Did it take the group longer than it took individuals to make the decisions? Was the time spent worth the benefits?
• Domination. Did any one person or subgroup dominate the group? Did everyone participate?
• Conformity. Were members nonassertive in presenting their answers in order to be accepted or because of group pressure to agree with the majority?
• Responsibility. Because no one person was held responsible for the group's answers, did members take an "I don't care" attitude?
Improvements: Overall, were the advantages of using a group greater than the disadvantages of using a group? If your group continues to work together, how could it improve its problem-solving and decision-making abilities? Write out the answer below.
Conclusion: The instructor leads a class discussion and/or makes concluding remarks.
Application (2-4 minutes): What did I learn from this experience? How will I use this knowledge in the future?
Sharing: Volunteers give their answers to the application section.