Factors Affecting Group Behaviour

Groups are increasingly being used in organisations around the world. The intensifiying competition of organisations has led to the uptake of teams (Parris, 2013). It is the power of the group over the individual because of a ‘wider range of skills and abilities’ (Birdi, Clegg, Patterson, Robinson, Stride, Wall & Wood, 2008, p. 472) that groups can provide to organisational tasks. So as the focus shifts from the individual to the group, it becomes essential to understand how group behaviour and success is affected by different factors. This essay will define the term group and list the factors discussed in the literature that may affect group behaviour. Some factors will be exemplified by the example of Flight Centre, and detailed further. …show more content…
To avoid confusion, ‘group’ will also encompass ‘team’ due to the two terms being interchangeable in most of the literature (Stewart, 2006). Since group members are interdependent on each other, a distinct group behaviour can be observed separately from individual behaviour. Like individuals, groups are subject to many different factors that can influence behaviour. Factors that can influence overall group behaviour include norms and conformity (Pech, 2001; Robbins et al., 2012), heterogeneity of group members (Pech, 2001; Stewart, 2006), psychosocial factors (Duimering & Robinson,2007), leaders and management (Pech, 2001; Duimering & Robinson, 2007; Stewart, 2006), group size (Duimering & Robinson, 2007; Robbins et al., 2012; Stewart, 2006), roles (Robbins et al., 2012, member resources (Robbins et al., 2012; Stewart, 2006), status (Robbins et al., 2012), group structure (Robbins et al., 2012; Stewart, 2006) and external factors (Pech, 2001; Burnes, 2007; Duimering & Robinson, 2007; Robbins et al., 2012). Many of these factors are interrelated and may be considered as potential moderators for other