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Effective Management Decision MakingChapter 7The group sits back, perplexed that they together decided to take a trip which none of them wanted. Theyeach would have preferred to sit comfortably, but did not admit to it when they still had time to enjoy theafternoon.”This is a famous example of another failure of group decision making which is related to, but not the same as groupthink(discussed shortly). In this case, this is an example of a non conflict oriented problems where organisations can take decisionsseemingly in contrast to what they are actually aiming to do. In short, as Harvey (1988) states there is an organisationalinability to manage agreement. This is evidenced by a number of organisational symptoms:1) Members in the group activity agree as individuals, with an issue or experience facing them2. Members in the group activity agree as individuals, what would need to be undertaken to address the issue orexperience facing them3. Members of the group activity as individuals, fail to communicate effectively with each other regarding theissue or experience facing them – and in doing so, a misperceived construct of the issue or experience facingthem is generated.4. Members of the group activity perpetuate and sustain the misperceived constructs leading them to take actionswhich individually contradict their views of the issue or experience facing them, but collectively seem to supportthe emergent group concensus.5) Upon realization that an action was not undertaken for either individual or organisational benefit, anger anddissatisfaction arise and which can reoccur if the issues concerning the poor communication, are not addressedby the group.Please click the advertDownload free ebooks at bookboon.com222
Effective Management Decision MakingChapter 7Harvey (1988) identifies a number of individual psychological drivers and factors from the group dynamic for this paradox(the occurrence of an event which seems to contradict expected logic).1) Action anxiety – that individuals feel anxiety as they prepare to take actions to initiate what they feel needsto be done in a given situation. In some situations then this can result in individuals choosing to not act inthis manner, but instead accept alternative (and inferior) actions to what they believe. Action anxiety arisestherefore from:a) Negative fantasies – that confront the issue with the perceived correct course action will surface otherdifficulties that need resolution and which are perceived to be equally, if not more so, unpalatable.Negative fantasies arise from:• Real risks – that individuals perceive the impact of negative fantasies will result in personalinjury or loss and is to be avoided.• Fear of separation – that individuals who choose to state what they believe to be right in a givensituation, have the real risk of being perceived by others as different and ‘not a team player – thusthey could be alienated or separated from the group.b) Risk reversal – by following the actions in (1,a, I and ii above), individuals do in fact run the high risk ofbeing separated from the group (and which Harvey (1988) identifies as the paradox within the paradox). Thisis believed to occur as organisations (and people therein), by virtue of the lack of stressed emotion (chapter6) as valuable to the operation of the organisation, find it very difficult to connect with other parts (people)of the organisation. Instead, when the ‘Abilene paradox’ manifests in organisation, stress, anger and irritationwith colleagues occurs.To address the paradox in organisations, Harvey (1988) recommends that there is a significant culture change requiredwhere highly charged language is negated (and in doing so, the perceived existential risk associated with fear fantasies isalso negated). So words and supportive actions such as victim, collusion, conflict, confrontation, reality and knowledgeare redeveloped and redefined so that effective and open communication is developed. For example Schulz –Hardt et al(2002) stress the importance of viewing conflict as a productive factor in organisations, to mitigate biased informationseeking in group decision making.7.5 Convergent thinking emergence in groups- The Groupthink phenomenonGroup decision making defects can also arise through other defects in the group dynamic. Perhaps the most famousexample of this comes from Janis (1982) with ‘Groupthink’. In this particular context, the defect in the decision makingprocess arises when concurrence thinking between group members arises, before a problem or solution has been sufficientlyanalysed or evaluated (Chapman, 2006). Groupthink defects do not arise with all group decision making activities, justas the previously discussed ‘Abilene Paradox’ management outcomes, can also arise for certain organisational contexts.For Janis (1972 cited by Chapman, 2006), groupthink defects emerge when group members are operating in provocativesituations with high levels of moral dilemmas or risks of materials losses. Group members strive for emotion agreementbetween them, which leads to concurrent thinking and high levels of cohesiveness between those group members. Thisthough, is not a sufficient context for the emergence of groupthink – as in essence all groups reaching meaningful decisionoutcomes, must have reached some form of cohesiveness.223Download free ebooks at bookboon.com
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