It is the solved assignment of – “What is groupthink?” question. Student of SMU MBA MB0038 can use the solved assignment if it is useful for them. I have already shared classical era for evolution of organization behavior and factors of influencing perception.
According to Irving Janis, groupthink is “a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral resulting from in-group pressures”. Thus, the overemphasis on consensus and agreement leads members to be unwilling to evaluate group members’ ideas critically. This hinders decision-making and becomes an obstacle to group productivity. Certain conditions favour the development of groupthink.
1) The first condition is high cohesiveness. Cohesive groups tend to avoid conflicts and to demand conformity.
2) The second is other antecedents including directive leadership, high stress, insulation of the group and lack of methodical procedures for developing and evaluating alternatives.
A group suffering from groupthink displays recognizable symptoms.
Symptoms of Groupthink and how to prevent it:
Illusions of invulnerability: Group members feel they are above criticism. This symptom leads to excessive optimism and risk taking.
Illusions of group morality: Group members feel they are moral in their actions and therefore above reproach. This symptom leads the group to ignore the ethical implications of their decisions.
Illusions of unanimity: Group members believe there is unanimous agreement on the decisions. Silence is misconstrued as consent.
Rationalization: Group members concoct explanations for their decisions to make them appear rational and correct. The results are that other alternatives are not considered, and there is an unwillingness to reconsider the group’s assumptions.
Guidelines for Preventing Groupthink:
Ask each group member to assume the role of a critical evaluator by actively voicing objections or doubts.
Have the leader avoid stating his or her position on the issue prior to the group decision.
Crate several groups that work on the decision simultaneously.
Bring in outside experts to evaluate the group process.
A number of methods for countering social loafing exist, such as having identifiable individual contributions to the group product and member self-evaluation systems. For example, if each group member is responsible for a specific input to the group, a members’ failure to contribute will be noticed by everyone.
According to Irving Janis, groupthink is “a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral resulting from in-group pressures”. Thus, the overemphasis on consensus and agreement leads members to be unwilling to evaluate group members’ ideas critically. This hinders decision-making and becomes an obstacle to group productivity. Certain conditions favour the development of groupthink.
1) The first condition is high cohesiveness. Cohesive groups tend to avoid conflicts and to demand conformity.
2) The second is other antecedents including directive leadership, high stress, insulation of the group and lack of methodical procedures for developing and evaluating alternatives.
A group suffering from groupthink displays recognizable symptoms.
Symptoms of Groupthink and how to prevent it:
Illusions of invulnerability: Group members feel they are above criticism. This symptom leads to excessive optimism and risk taking.
Illusions of group morality: Group members feel they are moral in their actions and therefore above reproach. This symptom leads the group to ignore the ethical implications of their decisions.
Illusions of unanimity: Group members believe there is unanimous agreement on the decisions. Silence is misconstrued as consent.
Rationalization: Group members concoct explanations for their decisions to make them appear rational and correct. The results are that other alternatives are not considered, and there is an unwillingness to reconsider the group’s assumptions.
Guidelines for Preventing Groupthink:
Ask each group member to assume the role of a critical evaluator by actively voicing objections or doubts.
Have the leader avoid stating his or her position on the issue prior to the group decision.
Crate several groups that work on the decision simultaneously.
Bring in outside experts to evaluate the group process.
A number of methods for countering social loafing exist, such as having identifiable individual contributions to the group product and member self-evaluation systems. For example, if each group member is responsible for a specific input to the group, a members’ failure to contribute will be noticed by everyone.
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