Guagua National Colleges

Guagua, Pampanga

Written report
Submitted by:

Angela Diwa

Franchesca Dulu

Maricarl Gabriana

April Joy Garcia

Danica Mae Jingco

Shella Romano

Eric Joseph Canlas

Mark Ryan Lim

A decision maker's actions are guided by a goal. Each of several alternatives on the
likelihood that each outcome will occur and on the value of each outcome relative to the
goal. The decision maker chooses one alternative on the basis of his/her evaluation of the
information.

Decisions are made to bring about desired outcomes, but the information available about
those outcomes varies. The range of available information can be considered as a
continuum whose endpoints represent complete certainty when all alternative outcomes
are known - and complete uncertainty, when all alternative outcomes are unknown.
Points between the two extremes create risk- the decision maker has some information
about the possible outcomes and may be able to estimate the probability of the
occurrence.

Several approaches to decision making offer insights into the process by which managers
arrive at their decisions. The rational approach is appealing because of its logic and
economy. Yet these very qualities raise questions about this approach because actual
decision making often is not a wholly rational process. The behavioral approach,
meanwhile, attempts to account for the limits on rationality in decision making. The
practical approach combines features of the rational and behavioral approaches. Lastly,
the personal approach focuses on the decision-making processes individuals use in
difficult situations.

Interpersonal Nature of Organization

interpersonal relations and group process are a pervasive part of all organizations.

 Two Interpersonal relation in an organization

 Personal and Positive
 Personal and Negative
Interpersonal Dynamics.
Good interpersonal relations throughout an organization can be source of synergy. People
who support one another and work well together can accomplish much more than who do
not.

Outcomes of Interpersonal Behavior

defined as two or more person influenced by each other. If they do not interact, they are
not a group. The behavior of individuals both affects by the group.

Nature of group.
Types of groups
 Formal groups
 Informal groups

 Formal groups
are established by the orgabization to do its work.

Classification of Formal groups.

 Command group
Relatively permanent, usually included in the organizational chart.
 Task group
relatively temporary, established to do specific task.

 Affinity group
relatively permanent collections of employees from the same level of organization.
 Informal groups
established by its members.

Classification of Informal Groups.

  Friendship groups
is relatively permanent and informal and draw its benefits from the social relationship
among its members.
 Interest groups
relatively temporary and informal and is organized around a common activity of
itsmembers.

Stages of Group Development.

 Mutual Acceptance
characterized by members shring information about themselves and getting to know each
other.
 Communication and Decision Making
members discuss their feelings and more openly and agree on group decision.
 Motivation and Productivity
members cooperate, help each other and work toward accomplishing task.
 Control and Organization
the group is mature enough and members work together and flexible,adaptive and self
correcting.

Behavioural aspects of Decision Making Behavioral aspects

are very important in every decision making process. The inter-and multidisciplinary
decision-making theories distinguish two main typologies of research directions: The first
one consists of two lines: the normative and descriptive (behavioral). Under the direction
of the normative approach attention is taken to what and how to decide, with an emphasis
on decision-making methods and areas of application of these methods. It seeks also to
determine the optimal solution for the ideal decision-maker, which completely uses the
available information, determines the benefits of perfect accuracy and operates in a fully
rational manner.

 Descriptive approach to decision-making.

In the descriptive approach, the focus is on the analysis of human behavior in decision-
making, especially exposing the psychological and social aspects of decision-making.
Taking into account the psychological aspects is to draw attention to the decision-making
processes in the human brain and to study the impact of personality traits on decisions
such as the choice of subjective criteria or tendency to take risk. Social (sociological)
approach examine the social conditions: the place of decision maker in the organization,
decision-making in groups and conflicts related to this.

Interdisciplinary nature of decision-making process analyses

The interdisciplinary nature of decision support systems, involves social sciences,

cognitive psychology, behavioral decision theory, research on artificial intelligence,
economics, operations research, decision methodology, and other sciences.

Creativity, Problem Solving and Decision Making Creativity

is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity is characterized by
the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make
connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions.

The Creative Process

Consists of six working phases, inspiration, clarification, distillation, perspiration,

evaluation, and incubation.

 Inspiration

In order to generate a large number of different ideas you need to be deeply engrossed,
fearless and free: Spontaneous, risk-taking, joyful, ‘slap-happy’, intuitive and
improvisational. It is very common instead to be self-conscious and fearful, and to try to
use inappropriate logical thinking. There is also a common tendency to accept your first
decent idea, instead of exploring more fully.

 Clarification

In order to clarify what you are trying to achieve you need to be: strategic, unhurried and
impertinent: analytic, logical, and clear minded, and not afraid to ask difficult questions.
Many people fail to clarify, they fail to achieve their goals because they don’t know what
they are.

 Evaluation

In order to improve earlier work you need to be critical positive and willing to learn. Self-
critical (ruthlessly so sometimes), but positive about your vision of how the work could
be, and your ability to do this. You must see weaknesses as opportunities to improve, and
to learn. Instead creative people often see criticism as a threat, and so fail to improve their
work, and to learn.

 Distillation:

In order to choose your best ideas from the inspiration phase you need to be positive,
strategic, and intrepid. Judgmental, but optimistic about where each idea might take you.
Clear about where you want the ideas to take you, and daring enough to take on original
ideas. You need to be realistic but ready to take on challenges. Common mistakes are to
choose ideas which are familiar and well worked out instead of those that will best
achieve your intentions.

 Incubation

In order to leave work for your sub-conscious to work on you need to be unhurried,
trusting, and forgetful. You must expect difficulties, trust yourself to find a way round
them, and not be panicked into adopting a weak solution. Few people realize that some
ideas take time to hatch, and see difficulties and indecision as a sign of failure.
Perspiration: In order to bring your ideas to fruition you need to be: uncritical,
enthusiastic and responsive. You need to be positive and persistent, deeply committed
and engaged, and ready to respond positively to any shortcomings
4 Main Factors that Influence Group Performance within Organizations

 Group Composition
It refers to the extent of homogeneity in members of the group. If members of the group
are similar in one or more ways such as their age, teaching experience, qualifications,
expertise, cultural background and several other such variables which are important for
work performance, then the group is said to be homogeneous. In a command group it is
essential that the members are homogeneous in terms of expertise though they may be
differing in terms of age or teaching experience.

It has been empirically found that a group, heterogeneous in terms of age or experience,
exhibits frequent turnover in terms of changes in membership. Other researchers have
found conflicting results with reference to the age of employees.

 Group Size

It refers to the number of members in the group. The size of the group influences group
performance. If, on account of its size, the group has more resources at its disposal, it
may be able to perform many independent tasks. It may be able to generate more ideas
and solutions.However, if a group is very large, the interactions among the members
become complex and communication may become more difficult thereby leading to
disagreements. But if such a large group has prepared a formal procedure or agenda
discussions can be controlled and work may proceed smoothly.

 Group Norms

a norm refers to a standard against which the appropriateness of behavior is judged. Thus,
a norm determines expected behavior in a particular circumstance. A group determines its
norms during the second stage of its formation and continues it till the fourth stage.
Norms help in predicting other people’s behaviours and enable people to behave in an
acceptable manner. Norms prevent chaos.

Group Cohesiveness
It refers to a group’s commitment towards staying together resulting from the forces
operating on members to do so. The forces responsible for cohesiveness are attraction to
the group, motivation to stay in the group and resistance to leave the group.

Intergroup Dynamics

Intergroup dynamics refers to the behavioral and psychological relationship between two
or more groups. This includes perceptions, attitudes, opinions, and behaviors towards
one’s own group, as well as those towards another group. In some cases, intergroup
dynamics is prosocial, positive, and. In other cases, intergroup dynamics can create
conflict.

Interactions are the key to understanding intergroup dynamics.

Decision Making Process

Group Polarization

Group polarization refers to the tendency for a group to make decisions that are more
extreme than the initial inclination of its members. “risky shift”

According to the social comparison interpretation, group polarization occurs as a result of

individuals' desire to gain acceptance and be perceived in a favorable way by their group.
The theory holds that people first compare their own ideas with those held by the rest of
the group; they observe and evaluate what the group values and prefers. In order to gain
acceptance, people then take a position that is similar to everyone else’s but a little more
extreme. In doing so, individuals support the group’s beliefs while still presenting
themselves as admirable group "leaders".

Groupthink

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which

the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or
dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and
reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative viewpoints by
actively suppressing dissenting viewpoints, and by isolating themselves from outside
influences.

Group Problem Solving

Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which efforts are made to find a

conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed
by its members.

The nominal group technique (NGT) is a group process involving problem identification,
solution generation, and decision making. It can be used in groups of many sizes, who
want to make their decision quickly, as by a vote, but want everyone's opinions taken into
account.

Delphi is based on the principle that forecasts (or decisions) from a structured group of
individuals are more accurate than those from unstructured groups. The technique can
also be adapted for use in face-to-face meetings, and is then called mini-Delphi or
Estimate-Talk-Estimate (ETE).
Eric Joseph Canlas

Case Question:

1. In your experience, have you found that decision making groups tend toward
groupthink? If so, what factor contributed to this tendency? If not, What factors
helped to prevent it?
Yes, a central leader will emerge, not particularly he is bright but because
he is a talker and wants to express his opinion than the others.As the rest of the
group try to solve something the “leader” insists for a potential solution and every
quickly the rest of the group agreed with hm.

2. The test discusses four group performance factors-group composition, group size,
group norms, and group cohesiveness. How does each of these factors affect "the
conditions under which juries operate"? How might each contribute to "a
substantial risk of jury decisions being tainted by groupthink"?
In group composition a group of people working together with ideas
coming from all members. In group size the size of the group influence group
performance. In group norm the standard of behavior influence the group.In group
cohesiveness is a link arising from one member to another. The risk from group
composition is that all members of the group have different ideas.In group size if
it’s a bigger group, they make longer to decide. In group norms people have
different beliefs and behavior which will lead to disagreement. In group
cohesiveness the risk is not bonding as a social group.

3. A recent study found that racially mixed juries "deliberated longer, raised more
facts, and conducted broader and more eide-ranging deliberations" than either all-
white or all-black juries. Why do you think this was so? Do you think that
"mixed" juries are more likely to avoid groupthink than racially homogeneous
juries? Explain your reasoning.
No, Mixed Juries are more likely to be in a groupthink they may likely to
share information make fewer error and perhaps reach fairer verdicts.
April Joy Garcia

Case Question:

1. In your experience, have you found that decision making groups tend toward
groupthink? If so, what factor contributed to this tendency? If not, What factors
helped to prevent it?

Yes, whether an individual or a group decision is preferable will depend

on the specifics of the situation. For example, if there is an emergency and a
decision needs to be made quickly, individual decision making might be
preferred. Individual decision making may also be appropriate if the individual in
question has all the information needed to make the decision and if
implementation problems are not expected.

2. The test discusses four group performance factors-group composition, group size,
group norms, and group cohesiveness. How does each of these factors affect "the
conditions under which juries operate"? How might each contribute to "a
substantial risk of jury decisions being tainted by groupthink"?
For example, In group composition a group of people working together
with ideas coming from all members. The risk from group composition is that all
members of the group have different ideas. In a group that has different ideas that
will help all member to create a good outcome.

3. A recent study found that racially mixed juries "deliberated longer, raised more
facts, and conducted broader and more eide-ranging deliberations" than either all-
white or all-black juries. Why do you think this was so? Do you think that
"mixed" juries are more likely to avoid groupthink than racially homogeneous
juries? Explain your reasoning

Yes, simply because they have own opinion, so nothing to worry about
that. In fact they have an advantage to gain more in deliberation like information
or new ideas.
Maricarl Gabriana

Case Question:

1. In your experience, have you found that decision making groups tend toward
groupthink? If so, what factor contributed to this tendency? If not, What factors
helped to prevent it?
In my own experience, I do think groups tend to groupthink. I remember
when I was in high school being part of groups that commonly became ruled by
the confident and outspoken student involved. Decision making is stressful in a
group setting for the less outgoing students.

2. The test discusses four group performance factors-group composition, group size,
group norms, and group cohesiveness. How does each of these factors affect "the
conditions under which juries operate"? How might each contribute to "a
substantial risk of jury decisions being tainted by groupthink"?

Factors influencing performance of groups: Composition of the Group: It

refers to the extent of homogeneity in members of the group. If members of the
group are similar in one or more ways such as their age, teaching experience,
qualifications, expertise, cultural background and several other such variables
which are important for work performance, then the group is said to be
homogeneous Moreover, if the work group is heterogeneous in terms of opinions,
there could be positive benefits in that the group is forced to pay complete
attention to the activity, and proceedings and sometimes leads to creative
solutions to problems. A homogeneous group is likely to be more beneficial
when: (1) The tasks are simple (2) The tasks are arranged in a sequential order;
(3) Co-operation is necessary in task performance; and (4) The task is to be
completed in short time span. A heterogeneous group is likely to be more
beneficial when: 1. The tasks are complex; 2. The tasks require a collective effort;
3. The tasks require new and creative alternatives/solutions; and 4. There is ample
time to perform the tasks; A homogeneous group could have fewer differences of
opinions and conflicts, more interaction and better communication as compared to
a heterogeneous group. The foregoing discussion suggests that the extent of
homogeneity of a group, i.e., its composition and the nature of the task have an
interactive influence on work performance. If a group is culturally heterogeneous,
the principal could expect mutual distrust among the members of the group,
stereotyped labeling of each other as well as communication problems. Thus,
initially, such a group may not function effectively but as the group matures, its
functioning may improve. Size of the Group: It refers to the number of members
in the group. The size of the group influences group performance. it may be able
to perform many independent tasks. It may be able to generate more ideas and
solutions.

Some people may dominate the proceedings whereas the shy ones may remain in
the background. There are possibilities that in a group some people may not
contribute at all to the tasks and while away their time purely social interactions.
The effectiveness of work in a very large group, therefore, depends on the nature
of the task, characteristics of members of the group and the ability of the leader to
understand the problem and take action to make the group function effectively.
The optimum and effective group size depends on: Members’ interactions and
mutual influence; Maturity of individual members of the group; Task-it nature;
Maturity of the group; Ability of the manager in handling the group, managing
communications, handling conflicts and handling procedures, Norms:

According to Davis (1964), a norm refers to a standard against which the

appropriateness of behavior is judged. Thus, a norm determines expected behavior
in a particular circumstance. A group determines its norms during the second
stage of its formation and continues it till the fourth stage. Norms help in
predicting other people’s behaviors and enable people to behave in an acceptable
manner. Norms prevent chaos.
A norm is developed through an interaction of factors such as the traditions of the
group, the nature of tasks, the situation and the personality characteristics
members. If a norm is not conformed to by an individual, he/she may receive
verbal abuse or physical threat, boycott or removal from group. Functions of
Norms: There are four major functions fulfilled by norms: Norms enable group
 members avoid embarrassing situations. They help individuals in preserving their
self-image and help members in not hurting each other.

Norms help in a group’s survival by rejecting deviant behavior that do not help in
accomplishing the group’s goals. Following a norm implies that a group’s
survival is not threatened but ensured. An effective group is one which is more
tolerant towards deviant behavior.

Norms signify the values that are important to the institution and provide the
group with a unique identity. This identity could be expressed in the form of
clothes, behavior, mannerisms and so on.

Norms help group members in expecting other people’s behavior. This saves them
from analyzing other people’s behavior, attitudes or response. Members can
anticipate each other’s actions based on group norms which ultimately enhances
performance and goal accomplishment.
Cohesiveness: Group’s commitment towards staying together resulting from the
forces operating on members to do so. If the group is composed of homogeneous
individuals, has reached maturity in its development, its size is not vary large,
interactions among its members are frequent, its goals are clear, there is
competition with outsiders or threats from external factors and is concerned about
effectiveness with regard to reaching the goals enhance cohesiveness of groups.
High levels of cohesiveness lead to goal accomplishment, job satisfaction,
improved interactions and synergy. As opposed to this, group cohesiveness will
be low if the group is heterogeneous in composition, newly formed, large in size,
its members are dispersed physically, and its goals are ambiguous or have failed
in reaching its goals on levels of group cohesiveness leads to problems and
difficulties in attaining goals, more chances of the group getting broken down,
decrease in interactions, orientation towards self rather than the group and
reduced commitment to group goals.

3. A recent study found that racially mixed juries "deliberated longer, raised more
facts, and conducted broader and more eide-ranging deliberations" than either all-
white or all-black juries. Why do you think this was so? Do you think that
"mixed" juries are more likely to avoid groupthink than racially homogeneous
juries? Explain your reasoning.

I think that the statement of “racially juries have the longer deliberations,
raised more facts, and conducted broader and more wide-ranging deliberations
than either all-white or all-black juries” is true because there are different in
ethnics have the different type of arguments. Yes, I agree with that mixed juries
are more likely to avoid groupthink than racially homogeneous juries because less
of cohesiveness and differences of social background cause to reach a unanimous
decision. There are many advantages obtained in the deliberation such as more
information and knowledge are available, generate more and likely acceptable
alternatives, enhance communication of the decision may result, and generally
emerge better decision. Besides that, this is also known as nominal group which
group members do not see and talk freely to one another unlike interacting group
members and they are brought together in a face-to-face setting. Then, there is a
group of knowledgeable experts that often generate creative and innovative ideas.
Discussion is limited to simple clarification. After all alternatives have been
listed, more open discussion take place. Finally, the highest-ranking alternative
will be represent the decision of the group.
Angela Diwa

Case Question:

1. In your experience, have you found that decision making groups tend toward
groupthink? If so, what factor contributed to this tendency? If not, What factors
helped to prevent it?
For me I think group tend to groupthink. Especially at my age, decision
making can be stressful. For me factors contributed to this tendency is the size of
the group because the size of the group can influences the whole group perfornce,
the group has more resources of idea, it may be able to perform morr tasks. Size
of the group can able to generate more ideas or solutions if there are a problem.
But there are some possibilities that in a group some people may remain shy or
will remain in the background but it depends on the nature of the task, the
characteristics of the members itself and the ability of the leader to understand the
problem and how to make the group work more effectively.

2. The test discusses four group performance factors-group composition, group size,
group norms, and group cohesiveness. How does each of these factors affect "the
conditions under which juries operate"? How might each contribute to "a
substantial risk of jury decisions being tainted by groupthink"?
Group performance factors affect and have a big role in a group, group has
reached maturity in its development, and the size of the group is not vary large
and the interactions among the members are frequent and their group goals are
clear. The statement of racially juries have the longer deliberations and raised
more facts, and there have a different type of arguments. I agree with that mixed
juries are more likely groupthink.
3. A recent study found that racially mixed juries "deliberated longer, raised more
facts, and conducted broader and more eide-ranging deliberations" than either all-
white or all-black juries. Why do you think this was so? Do you think that
"mixed" juries are more likely to avoid groupthink than racially homogeneous
juries? Explain your reasoning.
Yes, I agree with that mixed juries are more likely to avoid groupthink
than racially homogenous juries because less of cohesiveness and a big
differences in social background to reach a unanimous decision. Discussion is
limited to simple clarification, besides that, this is also known as nominal group
and the highest ranking will be represent the decision of the group.
Mark Ryan Lim

Case Question:

1. In your experience, have you found that decision making groups tend toward
groupthink? If so, what factor contributed to this tendency? If not, What factors
helped to prevent it?
In my own experience, I think it is usual to a group to tend towards
groupthink. Especially a new group, it is simply because they do not know each
other very well and they may not know what each other thinks about. It is really
hard to share your ideas to a stranger.

2. The test discusses four group performance factors-group composition, group size,
group norms, and group cohesiveness. How does each of these factors affect "the
conditions under which juries operate"? How might each contribute to "a
substantial risk of jury decisions being tainted by groupthink"?
With this factors, the juries may know their co-workers very well. They
can tell who jury will work for a given task. They might have a good group if they
have this factors. As a group, they may help each other to prevent groupthink. A
jury tainted by groupthink can help himself by the use of his norms. A well build
man can control his emotion. Group cohesiveness is also important in a way that
our group mates will think that we are a good member, we should practice it.

3. A recent study found that racially mixed juries "deliberated longer, raised more
facts, and conducted broader and more eide-ranging deliberations" than either all-
white or all-black juries. Why do you think this was so? Do you think that
"mixed" juries are more likely to avoid groupthink than racially homogeneous
juries? Explain your reasoning.
I agree with mixed juries, because every races and individuals have their
own norms, way of living and point of view. They might have good ideas if they
will try to gather a lot of information by a mixed juries.
Case Question:

1 In your experience, have you found that decision making groups tend toward
groupthink? If so, what factor contributed to this tendency? If not, What factors
helped to prevent it?

2 The test discusses four group performance factors-group composition, group size,
group norms, and group cohesiveness. How does each of these factors affect "the
conditions under which juries operate"? How might each contribute to "a
substantial risk of jury decisions being tainted by groupthink"?

3 A recent study found that racially mixed juries "deliberated longer, raised more
facts, and conducted broader and more eide-ranging deliberations" than either all-
white or all-black juries. Why do you think this was so? Do you think that
"mixed" juries are more likely to avoid groupthink than racially homogeneous
juries? Explain your reasoning.
Case Question:

1. In your experience, have you found that decision making groups tend toward
groupthink? If so, what factor contributed to this tendency? If not, What factors
helped to prevent it?

2. The test discusses four group performance factors-group composition, group size,
group norms, and group cohesiveness. How does each of these factors affect "the
conditions under which juries operate"? How might each contribute to "a
substantial risk of jury decisions being tainted by groupthink"?

3. A recent study found that racially mixed juries "deliberated longer, raised more
facts, and conducted broader and more eide-ranging deliberations" than either all-
white or all-black juries. Why do you think this was so? Do you think that
"mixed" juries are more likely to avoid groupthink than racially homogeneous
juries? Explain your reasoning.