The identification of traits related to managerial success.

To evaluate the effectiveness of a test battery in discriminating between successful and unsuccessful managers, a comprehensive battery was administered to 76 supervisors of an autonomous, medium-sized operating division. Results from the Guilford-Zimmerman Aptitude Survery, California Test of Mental Maturity, and Structured-Objective (S-O) Rorschach Test were related to ratings of overall performance, promotability, and versatility by peers and superiors. The test battery showed significant correlations with peer ratings in all three of these areas (.46-.68), but showed a significant correlation (.44) only with the supervisors' evaluation of versatility. The S-O Rorschach Test proved to be the most effective test in the battery. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cooperative outcome interdependence, task reflexivity, and team effectiveness: A motivated information processing perspective.

A motivated information processing perspective (C. K. W. De Dreu & P. J. D. Carnevale, 2003; see also V. B. Hinsz, R. S. Tindale, & D. A. Vollrath, 1997) was used to predict that perceived cooperative outcome interdependence interacts with team-level reflexivity to predict information sharing, learning, and team effectiveness. A cross-sectional field study involving management and cross-functional teams (N = 46) performing nonroutine, complex tasks corroborated predictions: The more team members perceived cooperative outcome interdependence, the better they shared information, the more they learned and the more effective they were, especially when task reflexivity was high. When task reflexivity was low, no significant relationship was found between cooperative outcome interdependence and team processes and performance. The author concludes that the motivated information processing perspective is valid outside the confines of the laboratory and can be extended toward teamwork in organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quality of decision making and group norms.

Two studies investigated the impact of group norms for maintaining consensus versus norms for critical thought on group decisions in a modification of the biased sampling paradigm (G. Stasser & W. Titus, 1985). Both studies showed that critical norms improved the quality of decisions, whereas consensus norms did not. This effect appeared to be mediated by the perceived value of shared and unshared information: Consensus norm groups valued shared information more highly than critical groups did, and valence was a good predictor of decision outcome. In addition, the 2nd study showed that the group norm manipulation has no impact on individual decisions, consistent with the assumption that this is a group effect. Results suggest that the content of group norms is an important factor influencing the quality of group decision-making processes and that the content of group norms may be related to the group's proneness for groupthink. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some effects of decision and discussion on coalescence, change, and effectiveness.

Differential effects of group decision, group discussion, and their interaction were examined, using discussion-no decision, decision-no discussion, discussion-decision and no discussion-no decision treatments. 20 groups of 5 Ss per group were divided randomly into the 4 treatment categories. "The results… . coalescence was increased by group discussion, group decision and most of all by the combination of both treatments." Greatest opinion change also occurred when both discussion and decision were permitted. The findings are consistent with the assumption that changes and effectiveness in groups primarily result from interaction among members. 15 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting group task effectiveness from member characteristics.

Studies relating premeasures of member characteristics to small-group task performance are reviewed. The individual traits used to predict performance are grouped into 6 categories: ability, adjustment, extraversion, dominance, authoritarianism, and "other characteristics." 2 member characteristics have been used as predictors in a sufficient number of studies to permit a tentative conclusion, namely, that member ability (both specific and general) and member adjustment are significantly related to group effectiveness. It is less clear however, whether extraversion, dominance, and authoritarianism would be useful for predicting group task performance. Both the requirements of the situation and social structural constraints must be taken into account when predicting group effectiveness from member traits. Specifically the type of group task and the organization of the group are seen to have a decided influence on the relationship. (26 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal knowledge and individual and group effectiveness.

"Measures of discrepancy between an objective group preference hierarchy structure of members and an individual estimate of this preference hierarchy structure were obtained for members of infantry rifle squads who had scored high and low on a criterion field problem." It was found that the appointed leaders, popular individuals, and members of effective groups were better able to estimate the preference hierarchy structure than were non-leaders, less popular individuals, and members of ineffective groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The differential effectiveness of group psychotherapy: A meta-analytic perspective.

The differential effectiveness of group psychotherapy was estimated in a meta-analysis of 111 experimental and quasi-experimental studies published over the past 20 years. A number of client, therapist, group, and methodological variables were examined in an attempt to determine specific as well as generic effectiveness. Three different effect sizes were computed: active versus wait list, active versus alternative treatment, and pre- to posttreatment improvement rates. The active versus wait list overall effect size (0.58) indicated that the average recipient of group treatment is better off than 72% of untreated controls. Improvement was related to group composition, setting, and diagnosis. Findings are discussed within the context of what the authors have learned about group treatment, meta-analytic studies of the extant group literature, and what remains for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Four techniques of group decision making under uncertainty.

4 techniques of group decision-making—authoritarian, leader suggestion, census, and chairman—under risk and uncertainty were compared using a survival situation with 45 aircrews. "1. In a conflict situation, when a group discussion method… is involved, the members' reactions to the alternatives are relatively undifferentiated in contrast to the condition in which the leader alone makes the decision… . 2… . the groups appear to be least favorably disposed toward the authoritarian technique of decision-making… . 3. When the decision-making procedure is group centered the group reaches a decision involving greater personal risk to the members." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some effects of individually prominent behavior upon group effectiveness and member satisfaction.

"An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that in unstructured situations, behavior oriented toward individual prominence in the group is negatively correlated with group performance and positively correlated with member satisfaction… . Twenty-two four-person groups were observed… . Groups were required to solve five problems… . After completion of the problem, Ss rated their satisfaction with the group, the degree to which group members cooperated, and group performance… . It was concluded that in the undifferentiated situation behavior oriented toward individual prominence interferences with effective group action." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A meta-analytic review of the effectiveness of inpatient group psychotherapy.

The effectiveness of inpatient group therapy was estimated in a meta-analysis of 24 controlled and 46 studies with pre-post-measures published between 1980 and 2004. Diagnosis, theoretical orientation and the role of the group in the particular treatment setting were used to examine differential effectiveness. Beneficial effects were found for inpatient group therapy in controlled studies (d = 0.31) as well as in the studies with pre-post-data (d = 0.59). Differences in the homogeneity of patient improvement effect sizes were found across different diagnostic categories. Furthermore, greater improvement was exhibited in mood disorder patients when compared to mixed, psychosomatic, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and schizophrenic patients replicating recent findings from meta-analyses of outpatient group treatment. A comparison between controlled studies and pre-post-measure studies indicated no improvement for waitlist patients which contradicts previous reports. Implications for therapy and future research are discussed within the context of methodical considerations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of group participation on brainstorming effectiveness for 2 industrial samples.

Problems were presented for brainstorming to 48 research scientists and 48 advertising personnel employed with the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. Within a counterbalanced experimental design, each S brainstormed certain problems individually and other equated problems as a member of a 4-man team. Individuals produced not only more ideas than groups, but they accomplished this without sacrificing quality. The net superiority of individual performance over group participation is highlighted by the fact that 23 of 24 groups produced a larger number of different ideas under the individual condition. The superiority of individual brainstorming over group brainstorming was relatively greater when it was preceded by group participation. Apparently, group participation is accompanied by certain inhibitory influences even under conditions (e.g., brainstorming) which place a moratorium on all criticism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethnic diversity and distributed information in group decision making: The importance of information elaboration.

Ethnic diversity may impede groups' use of distributed information in decision making. This is not so much because diversity interferes with groups' ability to reach agreement, but because ethnic diversity may disrupt the elaboration (exchange and integration) of distributed information. The authors find evidence for this proposition in an experiment (N = 63 groups) in which ethnically diverse groups are shown to benefit more from instructions emphasizing information integration than ethnically homogeneous groups when dealing with distributed information, whereas neither ethnic diversity nor information integration instruction affected decision making performance in groups with fully shared information. These effects were mediated by a behavioral measure of group information elaboration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knowing others' preferences degrades the quality of group decisions.

Results from 4 experiments demonstrate that learning the other group members' preferences at the beginning of a discussion impedes the solution of hidden profiles. In Experiments 1–3, participants who were not informed about their fellow group members' preferences were more likely to solve a hidden profile than those who received bogus information about the others' preferences. The negative effect of learning the others' preferences on decision quality was mediated by participants paying less attention to the information exchanged when they had been made aware of the others' preferences. Experiments 1 and 2 further ruled out that the effect of learning the others' preferences is due to participants bolstering their position or due to an increase in informational load. Experiment 3 showed that learning the other group members' preferences impedes the solution of hidden profiles even if one of the other members favors the correct alternative. Finally, Experiment 4 replicated these results in face-to-face interacting 3-person groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On racial diversity and group decision making: Identifying multiple effects of racial composition on jury deliberations.

This research examines the multiple effects of racial diversity on group decision making. Participants deliberated on the trial of a Black defendant as members of racially homogeneous or heterogeneous mock juries. Half of the groups were exposed to pretrial jury selection questions about racism and half were not. Deliberation analyses supported the prediction that diverse groups would exchange a wider range of information than all-White groups. This finding was not wholly attributable to the performance of Black participants, as Whites cited more case facts, made fewer errors, and were more amenable to discussion of racism when in diverse versus all-White groups. Even before discussion, Whites in diverse groups were more lenient toward the Black defendant, demonstrating that the effects of diversity do not occur solely through information exchange. The influence of jury selection questions extended previous findings that blatant racial issues at trial increase leniency toward a Black defendant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

提高质量管理小组活动有效性探讨

介绍了唐钢通过发挥领导作用、坚持培训教育、健全管理体系、缩短质量管理小组活动周期、着眼实际保证成果质量、有效地实施“三结合”,提高了质量管理小组活动有效性的工作探讨。     

Effects of decision making by group members on recall of finished and unfinished tasks.

The hypothesis is suggested that as a result of decision making, motivational energy tends to be channeled into action which may be indexed by the tendency to recall unfinished tasks; and in the absence of decision making, motivational energy tends to be channeled into wish fulfillment which may be indexed by the tendency to recall finished tasks. The data presented tend to support this hypothesis. 20 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of participatory and supervisory leadership on group creativity.

This study compares the creativity of 4-man groups under 2 conditions of leadership. The Ss were 90 freshmen and sophomore Navy ROTC midshipmen and 30 NROTC seniors who served as group leaders. In 15 of the groups, the leaders acted as chairmen who directed the group discussions and contributed to the task solution. In the other 15 groups, leaders acted in a supervisory capacity: they directed and guided group discussion and they were allowed to encourage members or to reject ideas, but the leaders were prohibited from contributing to the solution of the task. Groups having participatory leaders were generally superior in quantity of output while groups under supervisory leaders were superior in the quality of the product. Although leaders in the 2 conditions did not differ in their satisfaction with the group product, the participatory leaders were more satisfied with their own individual contribution to the task. The leadership styles did not produce differences in the members' esteem for the leader or in the members' morale and satisfaction with the task. Differences were found in the influence of the leader intelligence and ability scores on group creativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supervisor perception of work group morale.

Objectives were to determine the degree to which an "accuracy" measure of supervisory empathy is influenced by unrealistic estimation tendencies common among factory supervisors and to determine whether "group" empathy exists among supervisors. Subjects (Ss) were 38 supervisors and 190 subordinates in 3 plants. Measures were group morale (GM), predicted group morale (PGM), accuracy (ACC), typicality of prediction (TYP), and general effectiveness. ACC was negatively related to PGM (r = -.38, p     

Managerial talent.

"I have come to the conclusion that important to managerial success are the traits of intelligence, supervisory ability, initiative, self-assurance and perceived occupational level." Self-assurance and initiative seem "to be of lesser importance than intelligence, supervisory ability, and perceived occupational level… . Self-realization and autonomy universally are more important to managers than prestige, social satisfactions, and even security." The "substratum of managerial talent is individuality and the desire for self-realization through creative activity." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Team reflexivity, development of shared task representations, and the use of distributed information in group decision making.

Decision-making groups often exchange and integrate distributed information to a lesser extent than is desirable for high-quality decisions. One important reason for this lies in group members’ understanding of the decision task—their task representations—specifically the extent to which they understand the importance of exchange and integration of information. The authors hypothesized that a group’s development of a (shared) understanding of the information elaboration requirements of their task is influenced by collective reflection on the task. When not all group members initially realize the importance of information elaboration, team reflexivity increases the degree to which the group understands the importance of information elaboration. In an experiment, the authors showed that team reflection fostered the development of task representations emphasizing information elaboration and subsequent information elaboration and decision quality. When all members initially already held representations emphasizing information elaboration, team reflection promoted elaboration and performance to a lesser degree. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)