HCM 433 MANGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR.pdf

Besides, there are also other classifications of groups that are important to the study of O.B. Tow
important distinctions are between membership and reference groups, and between in- groups and
out- groups. These differences can be described as follows:
Membership groups are those to which the individual actually belongs, while reference group is
one with which the individual identifies or to which he would like to belong. The in- group
represents a christening of individuals holding prevailing values in a society or at least having a
dominate place in social functioning. The out- groups are the conglomerated looked upon as
subordinated or marginal in the culture. All these types of groups have relevance to the study of
organization behaviour but the formal and informal types are most directly applicable.
Formal groups are created (usually by managers), to fulfil specific tasks clearly related to the
enterprise’s purpose. They can be permanent like departments in an organization, or temporary,
like committees or task forces, which are often formed to achieve a purpose and then disband.
Two very common examples of formally designated groups in modern organization are the
command and task group.
A command group consists of superior and the immediate subordinates. The members and
structure of command groups are formally determined and are represented in the organization
chart. The superior is granted authority over the members of the command group. Formal groups
are formed by their members and may either did in achieving organization objectives or serve
other needs of the members (such as social needs). There are three types of information group (or
cliques).
1. The horizontal clique i.e. a group of people who work in the same area and are of the same
rank and status for example, all supervisors.
2. The vertical clique is a group of people of different rank and status within the same
department for examples lecturers starting from Asst. lecturer to a chief lecturer.
3. The mixed clique is a group of people of different rank and status from different
departments in different locations e.g. NASUP.
The latter two (II & III) types of groups may form because their members have known each other
in the past or know each other off the job.
3.4 THE PURPOSE OF A GROUP
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