preview

Orlj 4005 Final Exam

Decent Essays

ORLJ 4005 Final Exam
Question 1
Team cohesiveness is the degree to which the members are attracted to a particular group and resist separation from that group, almost as a “team spirit.” It can be distinguished into two kinds: interpersonal-based cohesiveness and task-based cohesiveness. The “happy hour” group has very high interpersonal cohesiveness, which is based on how much they enjoy and like each other. As indicated in the case, the four members, Guy Jones, Mark Richmond, Nancy Gradford, and Jeff Waltz, hangout together very often, and form this informal friendship clique. They go to the happy hour at a local bar 3 times a week, eat lunch together on the same table, and chit-chat for hours. On the other hand, since not all four of them …show more content…

Social Comparison Theory: Other workers who are working on the same project with members who are dissatisfied with their jobs, such as “happy hour group,” would also likely become dissatisfied and begin to slack off. This negative working attitude is contagious when people look at co-workers and catch the attitudes of them. That is why the members who work on Department of Transportation Project, Colbork Project, and computer based analysis projects are …show more content…

In particular, John Courtland has good administrative skills (budgeting and proposal writing) and Guy Jones has extremely strong computer skills, and is helping the rest of group developing the capability in this area. Thus, the group has a fairly good mix of task-related skills. The only thing missing is the management skill. Lawson himself, as the top leader of the group, is not comfortable with managing the group. Neither are the two group managers: John Courtland is not good at it, while Larry Gamble is being ostracized by some members. The group members are generally extrovert, active, sociable, but also aggressive. As Lawson put, “we were seen as the ‘wildmen’ since we were more aggressive, less conservative, and different in our own style of relating. I’m close personally with many of the people in the group.” The group is moderately conscientious: members are generally self-disciplined and dependable. Lawson described them as “self-starters” who can take care of themselves. But recently, especially within the low performance groups, members are not responsible and motivated enough. On the other hand, group members are not friendly, supportive, and tolerant enough—they complain about each other and even give dislike signals, so the group is low in agreeableness, and thus

Get Access