组织行为学：群体决策

组织行为学：群体决策

The belief—characterized by juries—that two heads are better than one has long been accepted as a basic component of North American and many other countries’legal systems. The belief has expanded to the point that, today, many decisions in organizations are made by groups, teams, or committees.

在工作群体内是采用个人决策还群体决策，主要取决于问题的性质。

Advantage of Groups

Individual and group decisions each have their own set of strengths. Neither is ideal for all situations. The following identifies the major advantages that groups offer over individuals in the making of decisions:

1.More complete information and knowledge

2.Increased diversity of views

3.Increased acceptance of a solution

4.Increased legitimacy

North American and many other capitalistic societies value democratic methods.The group decision making process is consistent with democratic ideals and, therefore, may be perceived as being more legitimate than decisions made by a single person.

When an individual decision maker fails to consult with others before making a decision, the decision maker’s complete power can create the perception that the decision was made autocratically and arbitrarily.

Disadvantages of Groups

1.Time consuming

2.Pressures to conform

As noted previously, there are social pressures in groups. The desire by group members to be accepted and considered an asset to the group can result in squashing any overt disagreement, thus encouraging conformity among viewpoints.

3.Domination by the few

Group discussion c an be dominated by the one or a few members. If this dominant coalition is composed of low- and medium-ability members, the group’s overall effectiveness will suffer.

4.Ambiguous responsibility

Group members share responsibility, but who is actually accountable for the final outcome? In an individual decision, it is clear who is responsible. In a group decision, the responsibility of any single member is watered down.

Effectiveness and efficiency: whether groups are more effective than individuals depends on the criteria you use for defining effectiveness. In terms of accuracy, group decisions tend to be more accurate. The evidence indicates that, on the average, groups make better quality decisions than individuals. However, if decision effectiveness is defined in terms of speed, individuals are superior. But effectiveness cannot be considered without also assessing efficiency. Groups are generally less efficient than individuals. In deciding whether to use groups, then, consideration should be given to assessing whether increases in effectiveness are more than enough to offset the losses in efficiency.

Summary

Groups offer an excellent vehicle for performing many of the steps in the decision-making process. They are a source of both breadth and depth of input for information gathering. If the group is composed of individuals with diverse