MGT 250 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Groupthink, Job Satisfaction
9 May 2018
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MGT 150 Ch. 10: Managing Teams Nov. 14th, 2017
▪ 10-1: The Good & Bad of Using Teams:
➢ 91% of organizations are significantly improving their effectiveness by using work teams.
➢ Work Teams: consist of a small # of ppl w/ complementary skills who hold themselves mutually
accountable for pursuing a common purpose, achieving performance goals, & improving interdependent
work processes.
• 10-1a&b: The Advantages & Disadvantages of Teams:
➢ Advantages: improves customer satisfaction, product & service quality, speed & efficiency in
product development, employee job satisfaction, & decision-making.
o Cross Training: training team members to do all or most of the jobs performed by the other
team members.
o Work teams often receive proprietary business information that typically is available only to
managers.
➢ Disadvantages:
o Initially High Turnover: workers balk at the responsibility, effort, and learning required in
team settings.
o Social Loafing: workers withhold their efforts and fail to perform their share of the work.1
o Groupthink: members of highly cohesive groups feel intense pressure not to disagree with each
other so that the group can approve a proposed solution.
o Restricts discussion & leads to consideration of limited # of alternative solutions; usually results
in poor decisions.
o Team decision making takes considerable time, & team meetings can often be unproductive and
inefficient.
o Minority Domination: just 1 or 2 ppl dominate team discussions, restricting consideration of
different problem definitions & alternative solutions.
o Team members may not feel accountable for the decisions & actions taken by the team.
• 10-1c: When to Use Teams:
1. There is a clear, engaging reason/purpose for using them.
2. The job can’t be done unless ppl work together.
3. Rewards can be provided for teamwork & team performance.
4. Ample resources are available.
▪ 10-2: Kinds of Teams: teams can be classified in a # of ways, such as permanent or temporary, or
functional or cross- functional.
• 10-2a: Autonomy, the Key Dimension: degree to which workers have discretion, freedom, &
independence to decide how & when to accomplish their jobs.
➢ Traditional Work Groups: group composed of 2 or more ppl who work together to achieve a
shared goal.
➢ Employee Involvement Teams: have somewhat more autonomy, meet on company time on
weekly/monthly basis to provide advice/make suggestions to management concerning specific issues
such as plant safety, customer relations, or product quality.
➢ Semi-Autonomous Work Group: has authority to make decisions & solve problems related to
major tasks of producing a product/service.
➢ Self-Managing Teams: team members manage & control all of major tasks directly related to
production of product/service w/out first getting approval from management.
o Managing & controlling acquisition of materials, making a product, providing a service, &
ensuring timely delivery.
➢ Self-Designing Teams: a team that has characteristics of self-managing teams but also controls team
design, work tasks, & team membership.
• 10-2b: Special Kinds of Teams:
➢ Cross-Functional Teams: intentionally composed of employees from different functional areas of
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Document Summary
Mgt 150: 10-1: the good & bad of using teams: 91% of organizations are significantly improving their effectiveness by using work teams. Work teams: consist of a small # of ppl w/ complementary skills who hold themselves mutually accountable for pursuing a common purpose, achieving performance goals, & improving interdependent work processes: 10-1a&b: the advantages & disadvantages of teams: Traditional work groups: group composed of 2 or more ppl who work together to achieve a shared goal. Employee involvement teams: have somewhat more autonomy, meet on company time on weekly/monthly basis to provide advice/make suggestions to management concerning specific issues such as plant safety, customer relations, or product quality. Semi-autonomous work group: has authority to make decisions & solve problems related to major tasks of producing a product/service. Self-designing teams: a team that has characteristics of self-managing teams but also controls team design, work tasks, & team membership: 10-2b: special kinds of teams:
