Does Groupthink Result in Poor Decision Making? Timothy Spencer Report submitted in partial fulfilment of the examination requirements for the award of BA (Hons) Tourism and Business Management. Awarded by the University of Hull. 5th May 2009 Abstract This report aimed to answer ‘Does Groupthink Result in Poor Decision Making?’ In order to do this research was carried out using the following methods: books‚ websites‚ journals and case studies (secondary sources); focus groups‚ team
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1. Groupthink 1.1 Definition Janis defines groupthink as “a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group‚ when members strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action.” His major proposition is that groups displaying most of the symptoms of groupthink are more likely to display symptoms of defective decision making‚ resulting in poor policy outcomes. The crucial determinant of groupthink
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Even though when we work in groups we usually strive for a harmonious and cooperative environment‚ this does not mean that an environment in which all members are in total agreement is desirable. The phenomenon termed groupthink describes the kind of situations in which each member of a group attempts to conform his/her opinion to what they believe to be the consensus of the group. Whereas this might be seen by some as a way of keeping the peace among group members‚ it is a rather negative attitude
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Using Problem Definition Techniques There are five tenets of people management‚ in this paper I will list them and illustrate the importance of defining a problem correctly. The first tenet is to focus on the performance‚ not personality. This provides a discussion that can lecture performance enhancement. The second tenet is to provide a base line that measures the key element in the change process. The third is to examine the environment and determine where the specific behaviors occur and
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situation‚ I can see that there are a couple of different examples of Groupthink occurring. First‚ Self-Censorship‚ which is when an individual decides not to say‚ or do something that may offend someone else. In our case‚ we didn’t want to get Susan going on a rant because we dared to oppose her. We were afraid of her. Trust me‚ we had seen it happen when someone clashed with her and it was not pretty. The second example of Groupthink as Irving Janus identified it is Illusions of Unanimity. In the
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Groupthink I have always had a different idea of what groupthink really means‚ to me I thought of it as a bad idea from someone amongst a group of people that had not been voiced seemingly because the person having this thought lacks confidence or backing. More like trying to proof to your business partners that an idea of using an outdated tactic to target a young crowd is not the best idea In its own definition Wikipedia(2013) describes groupthink as a psychological phenomenon that occurs within
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The Perils of Groupthink and How to Avoid It. Groupthink is defined as a "mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group‚ when the members ’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically alternative courses of action" (Janis 9). The Bay of Pigs invasion‚ the escalation of the Vietnam War‚ and the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger have all been attributed to groupthink. Unfortunately‚ groupthink is usually attributed
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Groupthink The Challenger space shuttle explosion. The Bay of Pigs invasion. The Korean War debacle (Janis 1-28). These are examples of situations where group communication failed. Group communication involves a shared identity among three or more people‚ a considerable amount of interaction among these people‚ and a high level of interdependence between everyone involved (Trenholm 196-97). It is essential to understand group dynamics for a variety of reasons. Everyone participates in groups throughout
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Groupthink Carol and Simpson are a popular cartoonist team whose main goal is to make light of the social injustice that takes place in corporate America through humor. This particular comic shows viewers how groupthink works. Groupthink is defined by psychologist Irving Janis as “The mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.” (Myers) The comic shows
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Erica Grover Tanza Bauer MBA 510 December 17‚ 2014 Question 2: Week 4 Groupthink Pitfalls of a group can be challenging to overcome but by learning from the past‚ assessing the current team‚ and preparing for challenges at team can overcome pitfalls and complete tasks and goals. Groupthink is the pitfall I worry our team my face. I worry about this one because doing this work online we are very isolated from each other and because we are not face to face maybe less inclined to challenge each other
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