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Chapter 9 Foundations of Group Behavior Page
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
314
CHAPTER 9
Foundations of
Group Behavior
(Click on the title when connected to the Internet for Teaching Notes)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES (ppt 9-2)
After studying this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define group and distinguish the different types of groups.
2. Identify the five stages of group development.
3. Show how role requirements change in different situations.
4. Demonstrate how norms and status exert influence on an individual’s behavior.
5. Show how group size affects group performance.
6. Contrast the benefits and disadvantages of cohesive groups.
7. Understand the implications of diversity for group effectiveness.
8. Contrast the strengths and weaknesses of group decision making.
9. Compare the effectiveness of interacting, brainstorming, nominal, and electronic
meeting groups.
INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES
Instructors may wish to use the following resources when presenting this chapter:
Text Exercises
• GlOBalization: Forming International Teams in a Virtual World (p. 291, IM p.
344343)
• Myth or Science?: Asians Have Less Ingroup Bias Than Americans (p. 292, IM
p. 346344)
• An Ethical Choice: Should You Use Group Peer Pressure? (p. 294, IM p.
347346)
• Questions For for Review (p. 297, IM p. 348347)
• Point/CounterPoint: Affinity Groups Fuel Business Success (p. 298, IM p.
353352)
• Experiential Exercise: Wildness Survival (p. 299, IM p. 355354)
• Ethical Dilemma: Is Social Loafing Shirking? (p. 300, IM p. 358357)

315
Text Cases
• Case Incident 1 Negative Aspects of Collaboration (p. 300, IM p. 359358)
• Case Incident 2 Herd Behavior and the Housing Bubble (and Collapse) (p. 301,
IM p. 361360)
Instructor’s Choice (IM p. 362361)
This section presents an exercise that is NOT found in the student's textbook.
Instructor's Choice reinforces the text's emphasis through various activities. Some
Instructor's Choice activities are centered around debates, group exercises,
Internet research, and student experiences. Some can be used in-class in their
entirety, while others require some additional work on the student's part. The
course instructor may choose to use these at anytime throughout the class—some
may be more effective as icebreakers, while some may be used to pull together
various concepts covered in the chapter.
WEB
EXERCISES (IM p. 364363)
At the end of each chapter of this instructor’s manual, you will find
suggested exercises and ideas for researching the WWW on OB topics.
The exercises “Exploring OB Topics on the Web” are set up so that you
can simply photocopy the pages, distribute them to your class, and make
assignments accordingly. You may want to assign the exercises as an
out-of-class activity or as lab activities with your class.
SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS
Several implications can be drawn from our discussion of groups. The next chapter will
explore several of these in greater depth.
• Role perception and an employee’s performance evaluation are positively related.
The degree of congruence between the employee’s and the boss’s perception of the
employee’s job influences the degree to which the boss will judge that employee
effective. An employee whose role perception fulfills the boss’s role expectations will
receive a higher performance evaluation.
• Norms control behavior by establishing standards of right and wrong. The norms of a
given group can help explain members’ behaviors for managers. When norms support
high output, managers can expect markedly higher individual performance than when
they aim to restrict output. Norms that support antisocial behavior increase the
likelihood that individuals will engage in deviant workplace activities.
• Status inequities create frustration and can adversely influence productivity and
willingness to remain with an organization. Incongruence is likely to reduce
motivation and motivate a search for ways to bring about fairness (say, by taking
another job). Because lower-status people tend to participate less in group

316
discussions, groups with high status differences are likely to inhibit input from lower-
status members and reduce their potential.
• The impact of size on a group’s performance depends on the type of task. Larger
groups are more effective at fact-finding activities, smaller groups at action-taking
tasks. Our knowledge of social loafing suggests that managers using larger groups
should also provide measures of individual performance.
• Cohesiveness can influence a group’s level of productivity or not, depending on the
group’s performance-related norms.
• Diversity appears to have a mixed impact on group performance, with some studies
suggesting that diversity can help performance and others suggesting it can hurt it. It
appears the situation makes a difference in whether positive or negative results
predominate.
• High congruence between a boss’s and an employee’s perception of the employee’s
job correlates strongly with high employee satisfaction. Role conflict is associated
with job-induced tension and job dissatisfaction.
• Most people prefer to communicate with others at their own status level or a higher
one rather than with those below them. As a result, we should expect satisfaction to
be greater among employees whose job minimizes interaction with individuals lower
in status than themselves.
• The group size–satisfaction relationship is what we would intuitively expect: Larger
groups are associated with lower satisfaction. As size increases, opportunities for
participation and social interaction decrease, as does the ability of members to
identify with the group’s accomplishments. At the same time, having more members
also prompts dissension, conflict, and the formation of subgroups, which all act to
make the group a less pleasant entity of which to be a part.
The chapter begins with a vignette about the advantage of “Clickers.” These are people who are liked by
group members and are more effective in participating in-group tasks. To some degree, becoming a
‘clicker” is a matter of personality. Research has found many contributors to a person’s likeability in
groups, agreeableness, high core self-evaluations, and high self-monitoring among them. In fact
geographical location was also found to be a contributor. The more centralize the person’s office or dorm
room, the greater was his or her likeability among groups.
BRIEF CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Defining and Classifying Groups
A. Definition
1. A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent,
who have come together to achieve particular objectives.
2. Groups can be either formal or informal.
a. Formal groups—those defined by the organization’s structure, with
designated work assignments establishing tasks.

317
b. Informal groups—alliances that are neither formally structured nor
organizationally determined
B. Why do people form groups?
1. Our tendency to take personal pride or offense for the accomplishments of a
group is the territory of social identity theory.
2. There is no single reason why individuals join groups.
3. Social identity theory proposes that people have emotional reactions to the
failure or success of their group because their self-esteem gets tied into the
performance of the group.
a. When do people develop a social identity? Several characteristics make a
social identity important to a person:
i. Similarity.
ii. Distinctiveness.
iii. Status.
iv. Uncertainty reduction.
II. Stages of Group Development
A. The Five-Stage Model (Exhibit 9-1)
1. Forming:
a. Characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose,
structure, and leadership.
2. Storming:
a. One of intragroup conflict. Members accept the existence of the group, but
there is resistance to constraints on individuality.
3. Norming:
a. One in which close relationships develop and the group demonstrates
cohesiveness.
4. Performing:
a. The structure at this point is fully functional and accepted.
5. Adjourning:
a. For temporary committees, teams, task forces, and similar groups that
have a limited task to perform, there is an adjourning stage.
6. Interpretations of the five-stage model
a. Many assume that a group becomes more effective as it progresses
through the first four stages.
b. While generally true, what makes a group effective is more complex.
i. First, groups proceed through the stages of group development at
different rates.
ii. Those with a strong sense of purpose and strategy rapidly achieve high
performance and improve over time, whereas those with less sense of
purpose actually see their performance worsen over time.
iii. Similarly, groups that begin with a positive social focus appear to
achieve the “performing” stage more rapidly.
iv. Nor do groups always proceed clearly from one stage to the next.
Storming and performing can occur simultaneously, and groups can
even regress to previous stages.

318
B. An Alternative Model for Temporary Groups with Deadlines
1. Temporary groups with deadlines don’t seem to follow the usual five-stage
model. Studies indicate they have their own unique sequencing of actions (or
inaction):
a. Their first meeting sets the group’s direction;
b. This first phase of group activity is one of inertia;
c. A transition takes place at the end of this phase, which occurs exactly
when the group has used up half its allotted time;
d. A transition initiates major changes:
e. A second phase of inertia follows the transition; and
f. The group’s last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated activity.
This pattern, called the punctuated-equilibrium model, is shown in exhibit
9-2.
i. The first meeting sets the group’s direction.
ii. A framework of behavioral patterns and assumptions emerges.
iii. These lasting patterns can appear as early as the first few seconds of
the group’s life can.
iv. The midpoint appears to work like an alarm clock, heightening
members’ awareness that their time is limited and that they need to
“get moving.” A transition initiates major changes.
v. Phase 2 is a new equilibrium or period of inertia. In this phase, the
group accelerates plans created during the transition period.
III. Group Properties: Roles, Norms, Status, Size, and Cohesiveness
A. Introduction
1. “A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given
position in a social unit.”
B. Group Property 1: Roles
1. Introduction
a. “A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a
given position in a social unit.”
b. We are required to play a number of diverse roles, both on and off our
jobs. Many of these roles are compatible; some create conflicts.
2. Role Identity
a. People have the ability to shift roles rapidly when they recognize that the
situation and its demands clearly require major changes.
3. Role Perception
a. One’s view of how one is supposed to act in a given situation is a role
perception.
4. Role Expectations
a. How others believe you should act in a given situation.
b. When role expectations are concentrated into generalized categories, we
have role stereotypes.
c. The psychological contract is an unwritten agreement that exists between
employees and their employer.

319
d. If role expectations as implied are not met, expect negative repercussions
from the offended party.
5. Role Conflict
a. “When an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations.”
b. It exists when compliance with one role requirement may make more
difficult the compliance with another.
6. Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment
a. Conducted by Stanford University psychologist Philip Zimbardo and
associates. They created a “prison” in the basement of the Stanford
psychology building. They hired two-dozen emotionally stable, physically
healthy, law-abiding students who scored “normal average” on extensive
personality tests. Each student was randomly assigned the role of “guard”
or “prisoner.” To get the experiment off to a “realistic” start, Zimbardo got
the cooperation of the local police department: Police went, unannounced,
to the future prisoners’ homes, arrested and handcuffed them, put them in
a squad car in front of friends and neighbors, and took them to police
headquarters where they were booked and fingerprinted. From there, they
were taken to the Stanford prison. At the start of the planned two-week
experiment, there were no measurable differences between those assigned
to be guards and those chosen to be prisoners.
b. The guards received no special training in how to be prison guards. They
were told only to “maintain law and order” in the prison and not to take
any nonsense. Physical violence was forbidden. To simulate further the
realities of prison life, the prisoners were allowed visits. Mock guards
worked eight-hour shifts; the mock prisoners were kept in their cells
around the clock and were allowed out only for meals, exercise, toilet
privileges, head-count lineups, and work details. It took the “prisoners”
little time to accept the authority positions of the guards, or the mock
guards to adjust to their new authority roles. After the guards crushed a
rebellion, the prisoners became increasingly passive. The prisoners
actually began to believe and act as if they were inferior and powerless.
Every guard, at some time during the simulation, engaged in abusive,
authoritative behavior. Not one prisoner said, “Stop this. I am a student
like you. This is just an experiment!” The simulation actually proved too
successful in demonstrating how quickly individuals learn new roles. The
researchers had to stop the experiment after only six days because of the
pathological reactions that the participants were demonstrating.
c. The participants had learned stereotyped conceptions of guard and
prisoner roles from the mass media and their own personal experiences in
power and powerless relationships at home.
d. This allowed them easily and rapidly to assume roles that were very
different from their inherent personalities.
C. Group Properties 2: Norms
1. Introduction

320
a. All groups have norms—“acceptable standards of behavior that are shared
by the group’s members.” Norms tell members what they ought and ought
not to do under certain circumstances.
b. Performance norms
i. Provides explicit cues about how hard members should work, what the
level of output should be, how to get the job done, what level of
tardiness is appropriate, and the like.
c. Appearance norms (dress codes, unspoken rules about when to look busy).
d. Social arrangement norms (with whom to eat lunch, whether to form
friendships on and off the job).
e. Resource allocation norms (assignment of difficult jobs, distribution of
resources like pay or equipment).
2. The Hawthorne Studies
a. Experiments conducted between 1924 and 1932 by Elton Mayo at Western
Electric at the company’s Hawthorne Works in Chicago.
b. Studies conclude that a worker’s behavior and sentiments were closely
related.
c. As a follow-up the researchers began a second set of experiments in the
relay assembly test room at Western Electric.
d. In essence, workers in both the illumination and assembly-test-room
experiments were reacting to the increased attention they received.
e. A third study, in the bank wiring observation room, was introduced to
ascertain the effect of a sophisticated wage incentive plan.
f. Members were afraid that if they significantly increased their output, the
unit incentive rate would be cut, the expected daily output would be
increased, layoffs might occur, or slower workers would be reprimanded.
g. The norms the group established included a number of “don’ts.”
i. Don’t be a rate-buster, turning out too much work.
ii. Don’t be a chiseler, turning out too little work.
iii. Don’t squeal on any of your peers. How did the group enforce these
norms?
(a) The methods included sarcasm, name-calling, ridicule, and even
punches to the upper arm of any member who violated the group’s
norms.
(b) Members also ostracized individuals whose behavior was against
the group’s interest.
3. Conformity
a. There is considerable evidence that groups can place strong pressures on
individual members to change their attitudes and behaviors to conform to
the group’s standard.
b. The pressure that group exerts for conformity was demonstrated by
Solomon Asch. Groups of seven or eight people were asked to compare
two cards held by the experimenter. One card had one line; the other had
three lines of varying length. Under ordinary conditions, subjects made
less than one percent error. (Exhibit 9-3)

321
c. Individuals conform to the important groups to which they belong or hope
to belong.
4. Deviant Workplace Behavior
a. This term covers a full range of antisocial actions by organizational
members that intentionally violate established norms and that result in
negative consequences for the organization, its members, or both. (Exhibit
9-4)
b. Rudeness is on the rise and 12 percent of those who experienced it
actually quit their jobs.
i. Someone who ordinarily wouldn’t engage in deviant behavior might
be more likely to do so when working in a group.
c. A recent study suggests those working in a group were more likely to lie,
cheat, and steal than individuals working alone. (Exhibit 9-5)
D. Group Property 3: Status
1. Status is a socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members
by others. We live in a class-structured society despite all attempts to make it
more egalitarian.
2. What Determines Status?
a. Status characteristics theory – differences in status characteristics create
status hierarchies within groups.
i. Status derived from one of three sources:
(a) The power a person wields over others;
(b) A person’s ability to contribute to group’s goals;
(c) Individual’s personal characteristics.
3. Status and Norms
a. High-status members of groups often are given more freedom to deviate
from norms than other group members.
b. High-status people also are better able to resist conformity pressures.
4. Status and Group Interaction
a. Interaction is influenced by status
b. High-status people tend to be assertive
c. Status difference inhibit diversity of ideas & creativity
d. Lower-status members tend to be less active
5. Status Inequity
a. When inequity is perceived, it creates disequilibrium that results in
corrective behavior.
b. Hierarchical groups can lead to resentment among those at the lower end
of the status continuum.
c. Large differences in status within groups are also associated with poorer
individual performance, lower health, and higher intentions to leave the
group.
d. The concept of equity we presented in Chapter 6 applies to status.
e. Groups generally agree within themselves on status criteria; hence, there is
usually high concurrence in-group rankings of individuals.

322
f. Managers who occupy central positions in their social networks are
typically seen as higher in status by their subordinates, and this position
translates into greater influence over the group’s functioning.
g. Individuals can find themselves in conflicts when they move between
groups whose status criteria are different, or when they join groups whose
members have heterogeneous backgrounds.
h. When groups are heterogeneous or when heterogeneous groups must be
interdependent, status differences may initiate conflict as the group
attempts to reconcile the differing hierarchies.
i. Do cultural differences affect status and the criteria that create it? The
answer is a resounding “yes.”
E. Group Property 4: Size
1. The size of a group affects the group’s overall behavior, but the effect depends
on the dependent variables: Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks than
are larger ones.
a. If the group is engaged in problem solving, large groups consistently do
better.
b. Large groups—a dozen or more members—are good for gaining diverse
input.
c. Smaller groups—seven members—are better at doing something
productive with that input.
2. Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when
working collectively than when working individually.
3. A common stereotype about groups is that team spirit spurs individual effort
and enhances overall productivity.
a. In the late 1920s, a German psychologist named Max Ringelmann
compared the results of individual and group performance on a rope-
pulling task.
b. Social loafing:
i. Causes of Social Loafing
(a) A belief that others in the group are not carrying their fair share.
ii. Social loafing appears to have a Western bias.
(a) It’s consistent with individualistic cultures, such as the United
States and Canada that are dominated by self-interest.
iii. Preventing Social Loafing
(a) Set group goals, so the group has a common purpose to strive
toward;
(b) Increase intergroup competition, which again focuses on the shared
outcome;
(c) Engage in peer evaluation so each person evaluates each other
person’s contribution;
(d) Select members who have high motivation and prefer to work in
groups, and
(e) If possible, base group rewards in part on each member’s unique
contributions
F. Group Property 5: Cohesiveness (Exhibit 9-6)

323
1. Groups differ in their cohesiveness, “the degree to which members are
attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group.”
2. The relationship of cohesiveness and productivity depends on the
performance-related norms established by the group.
3. If performance-related norms are high, a cohesive group will be more
productive.
4. How to encourage group cohesiveness:
a. Make the group smaller.
b. Encourage agreement with group goals.
c. Increase the time members spend together.
d. Increase the status of the group and the perceived difficulty of attaining
membership in the group.
e. Stimulate competition with other groups.
f. Give rewards to the group rather than to individual members.
g. Physically isolate the group.
G. Group property 6: Diversity
1. The final property of groups we consider is diversity in the group’s
membership, the degree to which members of the group are similar to, or
different from, one another.
2. A great deal of research is being done on how diversity influences group
performance.
3. However, culturally and demographically diverse groups may perform better
over time—if they can get over their initial conflicts.
a. Surface-level diversity—in observable characteristics such as national
origin, race, and gender—alerts people to possible deep-level diversity—
in underlying attitudes, values, and opinions.
4. The impact of diversity on groups is mixed.
a. It is difficult to be in a diverse group in the short term.
b. However, if members can weather their differences, over time diversity
may help them be more open-minded and creative and to do better.
c. But even positive effects are unlikely to be especially strong. As one
review stated, “The business case (in terms of demonstrable financial
results) for diversity remains hard to support based on the extant
research.”
IV. Group Decision Making
A. Groups Versus the Individual
1. Strengths of Group Decision Making
a. Groups generate more complete information and knowledge.
b. They offer increased diversity of views.
c. This opens up the opportunity for more approaches and alternatives to be
considered.
d. The evidence indicates that a group will almost always outperform even
the best individual.
e. Groups lead to increased acceptance of a solution.
2. Weaknesses of Group Decision Making

324
a. It is time consuming.
b. There is a conformity pressure in groups.
c. One or a few members can dominate group discussion.
d. Group decisions suffer from ambiguous responsibility.
3. Effectiveness and Efficiency
a. Whether groups are more effective than individuals depends on the criteria
you use.
b. In terms of accuracy, group decisions will tend to be more accurate.
c. On the average, groups make better-quality decisions than individuals.
d. If decision effectiveness is defined in terms of speed, individuals are
superior.
e. If creativity is important, groups tend to be more effective than
individuals.
f. If effectiveness means the degree of acceptance the final solution
achieves, groups are better.
g. In terms of efficiency, groups almost always stack up as a poor second to
the individual decision maker. The exceptions tend to be those instances
where, to achieve comparable quantities of diverse input, the single
decision maker must spend a great deal of time reviewing files and talking
to people.
4. Summary
a. Groups offer an excellent vehicle for performing many of the steps in the
decision-making process.
b. They are a source of both breadth and depth of input for information
gathering.
c. When the final solution is agreed upon, there are more people in a group
decision to support and implement it.
d. Group decisions consume time, create internal conflicts, and generate
pressures toward conformity.
B. Groupthink and Groupshift
1. Groupthink is related to norms
a. It describes situations in which group pressures for conformity deter the
group from critically appraising unusual, minority, or unpopular views.
2. Groupshift
a. Groupshift, which describes the way of discussing a given set of
alternatives and arriving at a solution, group members tend to exaggerate
the initial positions they hold.
3. Groupthink
a. The phenomenon that occurs when group members become so enamored
of seeking concurrence is that the norm for consensus overrides the
realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action and the full expression
of deviant, minority, or unpopular views.
b. Symptoms of Groupthink include:
i. Group members rationalize any resistance to the assumptions they
have made.
ii. Members apply direct pressures on those who momentarily express

325
doubts.
iii. Those members who hold differing points of view seek to avoid
deviating from group consensus by keeping silent.
iv. There appears to be an illusion of unanimity.
c. Groupthink appears to be closely aligned with the conclusions Asch drew
from his experiments on the lone dissenter.
d. Groupthink does not attack all groups.
4. Group Shift and Group Polarization
a. There are differences between group decisions and the individual
decisions of group members.
b. What appears to happen in groups is that the discussion leads members
toward a more extreme view of the position they already held.
c. Group polarization can be viewed as actually a special case of groupthink.
d. Using the findings of groupshift?
i. Recognize that group decisions exaggerate the initial position of the
individual members, that the shift has been shown more often to be
toward greater risk, and that which way a group will shift is a function
of the members’ pre-discussion inclinations.
C. Group Decision-Making Techniques
1. Most group decision-making takes place in interacting groups.
a. In these groups, members meet face to face and rely on both verbal and
nonverbal interaction to communicate with each other.
b. Interacting groups often censor themselves and pressure individual
members toward conformity of opinion.
c. Brainstorming, the nominal group technique, and electronic meetings have
been proposed as ways to reduce many of the problems inherent in the
traditional interacting group.
2. Brainstorming
a. It is meant to overcome pressures for conformity in the interacting group
that retard the development of creative alternatives.
b. In a typical brainstorming session, a half dozen to a dozen people sit
around a table.
3. The nominal group technique:
a. Restricts discussion or interpersonal communication during the decision-
making process.
b. Group members are all physically present, but members operate
independently.
c. The chief advantage of the nominal group technique is that it permits the
group to meet formally but does not restrict independent thinking, as does
the interacting group.
4. The computer-assisted group or electronic meeting blends the nominal group
technique with sophisticated computer technology.
a. Up to 50 people sit around a horseshoe-shaped table, empty except for a
series of computer terminals.
b. Issues are presented to participants, and they type their responses onto
their computer screen.

326
c. Individual comments, as well as aggregate votes, are displayed on a
projection screen.
d. The major advantages of electronic meetings are anonymity, honesty, and
speed.
e. Early evidence, suggests electronic meetings don’t achieve most of their
proposed benefits.
5. Each of the four group-decision techniques has its own set of strengths and
weaknesses. The choice depends on what criteria you want to emphasize and
the cost–benefit trade-off. (Exhibit 9-7)
V. Summary and Implications for Managers
A. Several implications can be drawn from our discussion of groups. The next
chapter will explore several of these in greater depth.
1. Role perception and an employee’s performance evaluation are positively
related.
a. The degree of congruence between the employee’s and the boss’s
perception of the employee’s job influences the degree to which the boss
will judge that employee effective.
b. An employee whose role perception fulfills the boss’s role expectations
will receive a higher performance evaluation.
2. Norms control behavior by establishing standards of right and wrong.
a. The norms of a given group can help explain members’ behaviors for
managers.
b. When norms support high output, managers can expect markedly higher
individual performance than when they aim to restrict output.
c. Norms that support antisocial behavior increase the likelihood that
individuals will engage in deviant workplace activities.
3. Status inequities create frustration and can adversely influence productivity
and willingness to remain with an organization.
a. Incongruence is likely to reduce motivation and motivate a search for
ways to bring about fairness (say, by taking another job).
b. Because lower-status people tend to participate less in group discussions,
groups with high status differences are likely to inhibit input from lower-
4. The impact of size on a group’s performance depends on the type of task.
a. Larger groups are more effective at fact-finding activities, smaller groups
at action-taking tasks.
b. Our knowledge of social loafing suggests that managers using larger
groups should also provide measures of individual performance.
5. Cohesiveness can influence a group’s level of productivity or not, depending
on the group’s performance-related norms.
6. Diversity appears to have a mixed impact on group performance, with some
studies suggesting that diversity can help performance and others suggesting it
can hurt it.
a. It appears the situation makes a difference in whether positive or negative
results predominate.

327
7. High congruence between a boss’s and an employee’s perception of the
employee’s job correlates strongly with high employee satisfaction.
a. Role conflict is associated with job-induced tension and job
dissatisfaction.
8. Most people prefer to communicate with others at their own status level or a
higher one rather than with those below them.
a. As a result, we should expect satisfaction to be greater among employees
whose job minimizes interaction with individuals lower in status than
themselves.
9. The group size–satisfaction relationship is what we would intuitively expect:
a. Larger groups are associated with lower satisfaction.
b. As size increases, opportunities for participation and social interaction
decrease, as does the ability of members to identify with the group’s
accomplishments.
c. At the same time, having more members also prompts dissension, conflict,
and the formation of subgroups, which all act to make the group a less
pleasant entity of which to be a part.
EXPANDED CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Defining and Classifying Groups
A. Definition
1. A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent,
who have come together to achieve particular objectives.
2. Groups can be either formal or informal.
a. Formal groups—those defined by the organization’s structure, with
designated work assignments establishing tasks.
i. The behaviors that one should engage in are stipulated by and directed
toward organizational goals.
ii. An airline flight crew is an example of a formal group.
b. Informal groups—alliances that are neither formally structured nor
organizationally determined.
i. Natural formations in the work environment in response to the need
for social contact.
ii. Three employees from different departments who regularly eat lunch
together is an informal group.
B. Why do people form groups?
1. Our tendency to take personal pride or offense for the accomplishments of a
group is the territory of social identity theory.
2. There is no single reason why individuals join groups.
3. Social identity theory proposes that people have emotional reactions to the
failure or success of their group because their self-esteem gets tied into the
performance of the group.
a. Social identities help us understand who we are and where we fit in with

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other people, but they can have a negative side as well. Probably the
biggest downside is that social identities encourage in-group favoritism.
b. When do people develop a social identity? Several characteristics make a
social identity important to a person:
i. Similarity. Not surprisingly, people who have the same values or
characteristics as other members of their organization have higher
levels of group identification.
ii. Distinctiveness. People are more likely to notice identities that show
how they are different from other groups. Respondents in one study
identified more strongly with those in their work group with whom
they shared uncommon or rare demographic characteristics
iii. Status. Because people use identities to define themselves and increase
self-esteem, it makes sense that they are most interested in linking
themselves to high-status groups. Graduates of prestigious universities
will go out of their way to emphasize their links to their alma maters
and are also more likely to make donations.
iv. Uncertainty reduction. Membership in a group also helps some people
understand who they are and how they fit into the world.
II. Stages of Group Development
A. The Five-Stage Model (Exhibit 9-1)
1. Forming:
a. Characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose,
structure, and leadership.
b. Members are trying to determine what types of behavior are acceptable.
c. Stage is complete when members have begun to think of themselves as
part of a group.
2. Storming:
a. One of intragroup conflict. Members accept the existence of the group, but
there is resistance to constraints on individuality.
b. Conflict over who will control the group.
c. When complete, there will be a relatively clear hierarchy of leadership
within the group.
3. Norming:
a. One in which close relationships develop and the group demonstrates
cohesiveness.
b. There is now a strong sense of group identity and camaraderie.
c. Stage is complete when the group structure solidifies and the group has
assimilated a common set of expectations of what defines correct member
behavior.
4. Performing:
a. The structure at this point is fully functional and accepted.
b. Group energy has moved from getting to know and understand each other
to performing.
c. For permanent work groups, performing is the last stage in their
development.

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5. Adjourning:
a. For temporary committees, teams, task forces, and similar groups that
have a limited task to perform, there is an adjourning stage.
b. In this stage, the group prepares for its disbandment. Attention is directed
toward wrapping up activities.
c. Responses of group members vary in this stage. Some are upbeat, basking
in the group’s accomplishments. Others may be depressed over the loss of
camaraderie and friendships.
6. Interpretations of the five-stage model
a. Many assume that a group becomes more effective as it progresses
through the first four stages.
b. While generally true, what makes a group effective is more complex.
i. First, groups proceed through the stages of group development at
different rates.
ii. Those with a strong sense of purpose and strategy rapidly achieve high
performance and improve over time, whereas those with less sense of
purpose actually see their performance worsen over time.
iii. Similarly, groups that begin with a positive social focus appear to
achieve the “performing” stage more rapidly.
iv. Nor do groups always proceed clearly from one stage to the next.
Storming and performing can occur simultaneously, and groups can
even regress to previous stages.
B. An Alternative Model for Temporary Groups with Deadlines
1. Temporary groups with deadlines don’t seem to follow the usual five-stage
model. Studies indicate they have their own unique sequencing of actions (or
inaction):
a. Their first meeting sets the group’s direction;
b. This first phase of group activity is one of inertia;
c. A transition takes place at the end of this phase, which occurs exactly
when the group has used up half its allotted time;
d. A transition initiates major changes;
e. A second phase of inertia follows the transition; and
f. The group’s last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated activity.
This pattern, called the punctuated-equilibrium model, is shown in exhibit
9-2.
i. The first meeting sets the group’s direction.
ii. A framework of behavioral patterns and assumptions emerges.
iii. These lasting patterns can appear as early as the first few seconds of
the group’s life can.
iv. This is a period of inertia—the group tends to stand still or become
locked into a fixed course of action even if it gains new insights that
challenge initial patterns and assumptions.
v. Then a transition takes place when the group has used up half its
allotted time.

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vi. The midpoint appears to work like an alarm clock, heightening
members’ awareness that their time is limited and that they need to
“get moving.” A transition initiates major changes.
vii. This ends Phase 1 and is characterized by a concentrated burst of
changes, dropping of old patterns, and adoption of new perspectives.
The transition sets a revised direction for Phase 2.
viii.Phase 2 is a new equilibrium or period of inertia. In this phase, the
group executes plans created during the transition period.
(a) The group’s last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated
activity.
III. Group Properties: Roles, Norms, Status, Size, and Cohesiveness
A. Introduction
1. “A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given
position in a social unit.”
B. Group Property 1: Roles
1. Introduction
a. All group members are actors, each playing a role.
b. “A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a
given position in a social unit.”
c. We are required to play a number of diverse roles, both on and off our
jobs. Many of these roles are compatible; some create conflicts.
d. Different groups impose different role requirements on individuals.
2. Role Identity
a. There are certain attitudes and actual behaviors consistent with a role, and
they create the role identity.
b. People have the ability to shift roles rapidly when they recognize that the
situation and its demands clearly require major changes.
3. Role Perception
a. One’s view of how one is supposed to act in a given situation is a role
perception.
b. We get these perceptions from stimuli all around us—friends, books,
movies, television.
c. The primary reason that apprenticeship programs exist is to allow
beginners to watch an “expert,” so that they can learn to act as they are
supposed to.
4. Role Expectations
a. How others believe you should act in a given situation.
b. How you behave is determined to a large extent by the role defined in the
context in which you are acting.
c. When role expectations are concentrated into generalized categories, we
have role stereotypes.
d. The psychological contract is an unwritten agreement that exists between
employees and their employer.
i. It sets out mutual expectations—what management expects from
workers, and vice versa.

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ii. It defines the behavioral expectations that go with every role.
e. If role expectations as implied are not met, expect negative repercussions
from the offended party.
5. Role Conflict
a. “When an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations”
b. It exists when compliance with one role requirement may make more
difficult the compliance with another.
i. During mergers and acquisitions, employees can be torn between their
identities as members of their original organization and of the new
parent company.
ii. Organizations structured around multinational operations also have
been shown to lead to dual identification, with employees
distinguishing between the local division and the international
organization.
6. Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment
a. Conducted by Stanford University psychologist Philip Zimbardo and
associates. They created a “prison” in the basement of the Stanford
psychology building. They hired two-dozen emotionally stable, physically
healthy, law-abiding students who scored “normal average” on extensive
personality tests. Each student was randomly assigned the role of “guard”
or “prisoner.” To get the experiment off to a “realistic” start, Zimbardo got
the cooperation of the local police department: Police went, unannounced,
to the future prisoners’ homes, arrested and handcuffed them, put them in
a squad car in front of friends and neighbors, and took them to police
headquarters where they were booked and fingerprinted. From there, they
were taken to the Stanford prison. At the start of the planned two-week
experiment, there were no measurable differences between those assigned
to be guards and those chosen to be prisoners.
b. The guards received no special training in how to be prison guards. They
were told only to “maintain law and order” in the prison and not to take
any nonsense. Physical violence was forbidden. To simulate further the
realities of prison life, the prisoners were allowed visits. Mock guards
worked eight-hour shifts; the mock prisoners were kept in their cells
around the clock and were allowed out only for meals, exercise, toilet
privileges, head-count lineups, and work details. It took the “prisoners”
little time to accept the authority positions of the guards, or the mock
guards to adjust to their new authority roles. After the guards crushed a
rebellion, the prisoners became increasingly passive. The prisoners
actually began to believe and act as if they were inferior and powerless.
Every guard, at some time during the simulation, engaged in abusive,
authoritative behavior. Not one prisoner said, “Stop this. I am a student
like you. This is just an experiment!” The simulation actually proved too
successful in demonstrating how quickly individuals learn new roles. The
researchers had to stop the experiment after only six days because of the
pathological reactions that the participants were demonstrating.
c. What should you conclude from this prison simulation?

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d. The participants had learned stereotyped conceptions of guard and
prisoner roles from the mass media and their own personal experiences in
power and powerless relationships at home.
e. This allowed them easily and rapidly to assume roles that were very
different from their inherent personalities.
C. Group Properties 2: Norms
1. Introduction
a. All groups have norms—“acceptable standards of behavior that are shared
by the group’s members.” Norms tell members what they ought and ought
not to do under certain circumstances.
b. Performance norms
i. Provides explicit cues about how hard members should work, what the
level of output should be, how to get the job done, what level of
tardiness is appropriate, and the like.
ii. These norms are extremely powerful and are capable of significantly
modifying a performance prediction based solely on ability and level
of personal motivation.
c. Appearance norms (dress codes, unspoken rules about when to look busy).
d. Social arrangement norms (with whom to eat lunch, whether to form
friendships on and off the job).
e. Resource allocation norms (assignment of difficult jobs, distribution of
resources like pay or equipment).
2. The Hawthorne Studies
a. Experiments conducted between 1924 and 1932 by Elton Mayo at Western
Electric at the company’s Hawthorne Works in Chicago.
b. Studies conclude that a worker’s behavior and sentiments were closely
related.
i. The Hawthorne researchers began by examining the relationship
between the physical environment and productivity. Illumination and
other working conditions were selected to represent this physical
environment.
ii. The researchers’ initial findings contradicted their anticipated results.
c. As a follow-up the researchers began a second set of experiments in the
relay assembly test room at Western Electric.
i. Observations covering a multiyear period found this small group’s
output increased steadily.
ii. It became evident this group’s performance was significantly
influenced by its status as “special.”
d. In essence, workers in both the illumination and assembly-test-room
experiments were reacting to the increased attention they received.
e. A third study, in the bank wiring observation room, was introduced to
ascertain the effect of a sophisticated wage incentive plan.
i. The most important finding of this study was that employees did not
individually maximize their outputs.
ii. Their output became controlled by a group norm that determined what
was a proper day’s work.

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iii. Interviews determined the group was operating well below its
capability and was leveling output to protect itself.
f. Members were afraid that if they significantly increased their output, the
unit incentive rate would be cut, the expected daily output would be
increased, layoffs might occur, or slower workers would be reprimanded.
g. The norms the group established included a number of “don’ts.”
i. Don’t be a rate-buster, turning out too much work.
ii. Don’t be a chiseler, turning out too little work.
iii. Don’t squeal on any of your peers. How did the group enforce these
norms?
(a) The methods included sarcasm, name-calling, ridicule, and even
punches to the upper arm of any member who violated the group’s
norms.
(b) Members also ostracized individuals whose behavior was against
the group’s interest.
3. Conformity
a. There is considerable evidence that groups can place strong pressures on
individual members to change their attitudes and behaviors to conform to
the group’s standard.
b. The pressure that group exerts for conformity was demonstrated by
Solomon Asch. Groups of seven or eight people were asked to compare
two cards held by the experimenter. One card had one line; the other had
three lines of varying length. Under ordinary conditions, subjects made
less than one percent error. (Exhibit 9-3)
i. The experiment began with several sets of matching exercises. All the
subjects gave the right answers.
ii. On the third set, however, the first subject gave an obviously wrong
answer, the next subject gave the same wrong answer, and so did the
others until it got to the unknowing subject.
iii. The results obtained by Asch demonstrated that over many
experiments and many trials, subjects conformed in about 37% of the
trials; the subjects gave answers that they knew were wrong but that
were consistent with the replies of other group members.
iv. Has time altered the validity of these findings of nearly 50 years ago,
and are they generalizable across cultures?
v. There have been changes in the level of conformity over time. Levels
of conformity have steadily declined.
vi. Asch’s findings are culture-bound. Conformity to social norms is
higher in collectivist cultures than in individualistic cultures.
c. Individuals conform to the important groups to which they belong or hope
to belong.
i. However, all groups do not impose equal conformity pressures on their
members. Important groups are referred to as reference groups.
ii. The reference group is characterized as one where the person is aware
of the others; the person defines himself or herself as a member, or

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would like to be a member; and the person feels that the group
members are significant to him/her.
4. Deviant Workplace Behavior
a. This term covers a full range of antisocial actions by organizational
members that intentionally violate established norms and that result in
negative consequences for the organization, its members, or both. (Exhibit
9-4)
b. Rudeness is on the rise and 12 percent of those who experienced it
actually quit their jobs.
c. When deviant workplace behavior occurs it can affect employee
commitment, cooperation, and motivation. This could lead to performance
issues and a lack of job satisfaction.
d. Someone who ordinarily wouldn’t engage in deviant behavior might be
more likely to do so when working in a group.
e. A recent study suggests those working in a group were more likely to lie,
cheat, and steal than individuals working alone. (Exhibit 9-5)
f. Deviant behavior depends on the accepted norms of the group—or even
whether an individual is part of a group.
D. Group Property 3: Status
1. Status is a socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members
by others. We live in a class-structured society despite all attempts to make it
more egalitarian.
2. What Determines Status?
a. Status characteristics theory – differences in status characteristics create
status hierarchies within groups.
i. Status derived from one of three sources:
(a) The power a person wields over others;
(b) A person’s ability to contribute to group’s goals;
(c) Individual’s personal characteristics.
3. Status and Norms
a. High-status members of groups often are given more freedom to deviate
from norms than other group members.
b. High-status people also are better able to resist conformity pressures.
c. The previous findings explain why many star athletes, famous actors, top-
performing salespeople, and outstanding academics seem oblivious to
appearance or social norms.
4. Status and Group Interaction
a. Interaction is influenced by status
b. High-status people tend to be assertive
c. Status difference inhibit diversity of ideas & creativity
d. Lower-status members tend to be less active
5. Status Inequity
a. When inequity is perceived, it creates disequilibrium that results in
corrective behavior.
b. Hierarchical groups can lead to resentment among those at the lower end
of the status continuum.

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c. Large differences in status within groups are also associated with poorer
individual performance, lower health, and higher intentions to leave the
group.
d. The concept of equity we presented in Chapter 6 applies to status.
i. People expect rewards to be proportionate to costs incurred.
e. Groups generally agree within themselves on status criteria; hence, there is
usually high concurrence in-group rankings of individuals.
f. Managers who occupy central positions in their social networks are
typically seen as higher in status by their subordinates, and this position
translates into greater influence over the group’s functioning.
g. Individuals can find themselves in conflicts when they move between
groups whose status criteria are different, or when they join groups whose
members have heterogeneous backgrounds.
i. Business executives may use personal income or the growth rate of
their companies as determinants of status.
ii. Government bureaucrats may use the size of their budgets, and blue-
collar workers years of seniority.
h. When groups are heterogeneous or when heterogeneous groups must be
interdependent, status differences may initiate conflict as the group
attempts to reconcile the differing hierarchies.
i. As we’ll see in Chapter 10 this can be a problem when management
creates teams of employees from varied functions.
i. Do cultural differences affect status and the criteria that create it? The
answer is a resounding “yes.”
i. The French are highly status conscious.
ii. Latin Americans and Asians derive status from family position and
formal roles in organizations.
iii. In the United States and Australia, status is more often conferred for
accomplishments.
E. Group Property 4: Size
1. The size of a group affects the group’s overall behavior, but the effect depends
on the dependent variables: Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks than
are larger ones.
a. If the group is engaged in problem solving, large groups consistently do
better.
b. Large groups—a dozen or more members—are good for gaining diverse
input.
c. Smaller groups—seven members—are better at doing something
productive with that input.
2. Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when
working collectively than when working individually.
3. A common stereotype about groups is that team spirit spurs individual effort
and enhances overall productivity.
a. In the late 1920s, a German psychologist named Max Ringelmann
compared the results of individual and group performance on a rope-
pulling task.

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i. Ringelmann’s results showed that groups of three people exerted a
force only two-and-a-half times the average individual performance.
Groups of eight collectively achieved less than four times the solo rate.
ii. Increases in group size are inversely related to individual performance.
iii. Replications of Ringelmann’s research generally support his findings.
b. Social loafing:
i. Causes of Social Loafing
(a) A belief that others in the group are not carrying their fair share.
(b) The dispersion of responsibility and the relationship between an
individual’s input and the group’s output is clouded.
(c) There will be a reduction in efficiency where individuals think that
their contribution cannot be measured.
ii. Social loafing appears to have a Western bias.
(a) It’s consistent with individualistic cultures, such as the United
States and Canada that are dominated by self-interest.
(b) It is consistent with collective societies, in which individuals are
motivated by in-group goals.
(i) In studies comparing U.S. employees with employees from the
People’s Republic of China and Israel (both collectivist
societies), the Chinese and Israelis showed no propensity to
engage in social loafing and actually performed better in a
group than alone.
iii. Preventing Social Loafing
(a) Set group goals, so the group has a common purpose to strive
toward;
(b) Increase intergroup competition, which again focuses on the shared
outcome;
(c) Engage in peer evaluation so each person evaluates each other
person’s contribution;
(d) Select members who have high motivation and prefer to work in
groups, and
(e) If possible, base group rewards in part on each member’s unique
contributions.
F. Group Property 5: Cohesiveness (Exhibit 9-6)
1. Groups differ in their cohesiveness, “the degree to which members are
attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group.”
2. Cohesiveness is important because it is related to the group’s productivity.
3. The relationship of cohesiveness and productivity depends on the
performance-related norms established by the group.
4. If performance-related norms are high, a cohesive group will be more
productive.
5. If cohesiveness is high and performance norms are low, productivity will be
low.
6. How to encourage group cohesiveness:
a. Make the group smaller.
b. Encourage agreement with group goals.

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c. Increase the time members spend together.
d. Increase the status of the group and the perceived difficulty of attaining
membership in the group.
e. Stimulate competition with other groups.
f. Give rewards to the group rather than to individual members.
g. Physically isolate the group.
G. Group property 6: Diversity
1. The final property of groups we consider is diversity in the group’s
membership, the degree to which members of the group are similar to, or
different from, one another.
2. A great deal of research is being done on how diversity influences group
performance.
a. Some looks at cultural diversity and some at racial, gender, and other
differences.
b. Overall, studies identify both benefits and costs from group diversity.
c. Diversity appears to increase group conflict, especially in the early stages
of a group’s tenure, which often lowers group morale and raises dropout
rates.
d. One study compared groups that were culturally diverse (composed of
people from different countries) and homogeneous (composed of people
from the same country).
i. On a wilderness survival exercise (not unlike the Experiential Exercise
at the end of this chapter), the groups performed equally well, but the
diverse groups were less satisfied with their groups, were less
cohesive, and had more conflict.
e. Another study examined the effect of differences in tenure on the
performance of 67 engineering research and development groups.
i. When most people had roughly the same level of tenure, performance
was high, but as tenure diversity increased, performance dropped off.
There was an important qualifier: higher levels of tenure diversity
were not related to lower performance for groups when there were
effective team-oriented human resources practices.
f. Teams in which members’ values or opinions differ tend to experience
more conflict, but leaders who can get the group to focus on the task at
hand and encourage group learning are able to reduce these conflicts and
enhance discussion of group issues.
g. It seems diversity can be bad for performance even in creative teams, but
appropriate organizational support and leadership might offset these
problems.
3. However, culturally and demographically diverse groups may perform better
over time—if they can get over their initial conflicts.
a. Surface-level diversity—in observable characteristics such as national
origin, race, and gender—alerts people to possible deep-level diversity—
in underlying attitudes, values, and opinions.

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i. One researcher argues, “The mere presence of diversity you can see,
such as a person’s race or gender, actually cues a team that there’s
likely to be differences of opinion.”
ii. Although those differences can lead to conflict, they also provide an
opportunity to solve problems in unique ways.
iii. One study of jury behavior found diverse juries more likely to
deliberate longer, share more information, and make fewer factual
errors when discussing evidence.
iv. Two studies of MBA student groups found surface-level diversity led
to greater openness even without deep-level diversity.
(a) Here, surface-level diversity may subconsciously cue team
members to be more open-minded in their views.
4. The impact of diversity on groups is mixed.
a. It is difficult to be in a diverse group in the short term.
b. However, if members can weather their differences, over time diversity
may help them be more open-minded and creative and to do better.
c. But even positive effects are unlikely to be especially strong. As one
review stated, “The business case (in terms of demonstrable financial
results) for diversity remains hard to support based on the extant
research.”
IV. Group Decision Making
A. Groups Versus the Individual
1. Strengths of Group Decision Making
a. Groups generate more complete information and knowledge.
b. They offer increased diversity of views.
c. This opens up the opportunity for more approaches and alternatives to be
considered.
d. The evidence indicates that a group will almost always outperform even
the best individual.
e. Groups lead to increased acceptance of a solution.
2. Weaknesses of Group Decision Making
a. It is time consuming.
b. There is a conformity pressure in groups.
c. One or a few members can dominate group discussion.
d. Group decisions suffer from ambiguous responsibility.
3. Effectiveness and Efficiency
a. Whether groups are more effective than individuals depends on the criteria
you use.
b. In terms of accuracy, group decisions will tend to be more accurate.
c. On the average, groups make better-quality decisions than individuals.
d. If decision effectiveness is defined in terms of speed, individuals are
superior.
e. If creativity is important, groups tend to be more effective than
individuals.

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f. If effectiveness means the degree of acceptance the final solution
achieves, groups are better.
g. In terms of efficiency, groups almost always stack up as a poor second to
the individual decision maker. The exceptions tend to be those instances
where, to achieve comparable quantities of diverse input, the single
decision maker must spend a great deal of time reviewing files and talking
to people.
4. Summary
a. Groups offer an excellent vehicle for performing many of the steps in the
decision-making process.
b. They are a source of both breadth and depth of input for information
gathering.
c. When the final solution is agreed upon, there are more people in a group
decision to support and implement it.
d. Group decisions consume time, create internal conflicts, and generate
pressures toward conformity.
B. Groupthink and Groupshift
1. Groupthink is related to norms
a. It describes situations in which group pressures for conformity deter the
group from critically appraising unusual, minority, or unpopular views.
b. Groupthink is a disease that attacks many groups and can dramatically
hinder performance.
2. Groupshift
a. Groupshift, which describes the way of discussing a given set of
alternatives and arriving at a solution, group members tend to exaggerate
the initial positions they hold
b. Groups tend toward a risky shift.
3. Groupthink
a. The phenomenon that occurs when group members become so enamored
of seeking concurrence is that the norm for consensus overrides the
realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action and the full expression
of deviant, minority, or unpopular views.
b. It is deterioration in an individual’s mental efficiency, reality testing, and
moral judgment as a result of group pressures.
c. Symptoms of Groupthink include:
i. Group members rationalize any resistance to the assumptions they
have made.
ii. Members apply direct pressures on those who momentarily express
doubts.
iii. Those members who hold differing points of view seek to avoid
deviating from group consensus by keeping silent.
iv. There appears to be an illusion of unanimity.
d. Groupthink appears to be closely aligned with the conclusions Asch drew
from his experiments on the lone dissenter.

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i. The results were that individuals who hold a position different from
the majority are put under pressure to suppress or change their true
beliefs.
e. Groupthink does not attack all groups.
i. It occurs most often where there is a clear group identity, where
members hold a positive image of their group, which they want to
protect, and where the group perceives a collective threat to this
positive image.
f. How to minimize groupthink:
i. Encourage group leaders to play an impartial role.
ii. Appoint one group member to play the role of devil’s advocate.
iii. Utilize exercises that stimulate active discussion of diverse alternatives
without threatening the group and intensifying identity protection.
4. Group Shift and Group Polarization
a. There are differences between group decisions and the individual
decisions of group members.
b. What appears to happen in groups is that the discussion leads members
toward a more extreme view of the position they already held.
i. Conservatives become more cautious, and
ii. More aggressive types take on more risk.
iii. The group discussion tends to exaggerate the initial position of the
group.
c. Group polarization can be viewed as actually a special case of groupthink.
i. The decision of the group reflects the dominant decision-making norm
that develops during the group’s discussion.
ii. Whether the shift in the group’s decision is toward greater caution or
more risk depends on the dominant pre-discussion norm.
(a) The shift toward polarization has generated several explanations.
(i) It’s been argued, for instance, that discussion makes the
members more comfortable with each other and, thus, more
willing to express extreme versions of their original positions.
(ii) Another argument is that the group diffuses responsibility.
(iii)Group decisions free any single member from accountability
for the group’s final choice, so more extreme position can be
taken.
(iv)It’s also likely that people take on extreme positions because
they want to demonstrate how different they are from the out-
group.
(v) People on the fringes of political or social movements take on
ever- more extreme positions just to prove they are really
committed to the cause, whereas those who are more cautious
tend to take exceptionally moderate positions to demonstrate
how reasonable they are.
d. Using the findings of groupshift?
i. Recognize that group decisions exaggerate the initial position of the
individual members, that the shift has been shown more often to be

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toward greater risk, and that which way a group will shift is a function
of the members’ pre-discussion inclinations.
C. Group Decision-Making Techniques
1. Most group decision-making takes place in interacting groups.
a. In these groups, members meet face to face and rely on both verbal and
nonverbal interaction to communicate with each other.
b. Interacting groups often censor themselves and pressure individual
members toward conformity of opinion.
c. Brainstorming, the nominal group technique, and electronic meetings have
been proposed as ways to reduce many of the problems inherent in the
traditional interacting group.
2. Brainstorming
a. It is meant to overcome pressures for conformity in the interacting group
that retard the development of creative alternatives.
b. In a typical brainstorming session, a half dozen to a dozen people sit
around a table.
c. The process:
i. The group leader states the problem clearly
ii. Members then “free-wheel” as many alternatives as they can in a given
length of time.
iii. No criticism is allowed, and all the alternatives are recorded for later
discussion and analysis.
iv. One idea stimulates others, and group members are encouraged to
“think the unusual.”
3. The nominal group technique:
a. Restricts discussion or interpersonal communication during the decision-
making process.
b. Group members are all physically present, but members operate
independently.
c. Specifically, a problem is presented, and then the following steps take
place:
i. Members meet as a group but, before any discussion takes place, each
member independently writes down his or her ideas on the problem.
ii. After this silent period, each member presents one idea to the group.
Each member takes his or her turn.
iii. The group now discusses the ideas for clarity and evaluates them.
iv. Each group member silently and independently rank-orders the ideas.
(a) The idea with the highest aggregate ranking determines the final
decision.
d. The chief advantage of the nominal group technique is that it permits the
group to meet formally but does not restrict independent thinking, as does
the interacting group.
4. The computer-assisted group or electronic meeting blends the nominal group
technique with sophisticated computer technology.
a. Up to 50 people sit around a horseshoe-shaped table, empty except for a
series of computer terminals.

342
b. Issues are presented to participants, and they type their responses onto
their computer screen.
c. Individual comments, as well as aggregate votes, are displayed on a
projection screen.
d. The major advantages of electronic meetings are anonymity, honesty, and
speed.
5. Early evidence, suggests electronic meetings don’t achieve most of their
proposed benefits. They actually
e. Lead to decreased group effectiveness,
f. Require more time to complete tasks, and
g. Result in reduced member satisfaction compared with face-to-face groups.
6. Each of the four group-decision techniques has its own set of strengths and
weaknesses. The choice depends on what criteria you want to emphasize and
the cost–benefit trade-off. (Exhibit 9-7)
V. Summary and Implications for Managers
A. Several implications can be drawn from our discussion of groups. The next
chapter will explore several of these in greater depth.
1. Role perception and an employee’s performance evaluation are positively
related.
a. The degree of congruence between the employee’s and the boss’s
perception of the employee’s job influences the degree to which the boss
will judge that employee effective.
b. An employee whose role perception fulfills the boss’s role expectations
will receive a higher performance evaluation.
2. Norms control behavior by establishing standards of right and wrong.
a. The norms of a given group can help explain members’ behaviors for
managers.
b. When norms support high output, managers can expect markedly higher
individual performance than when they aim to restrict output.
c. Norms that support antisocial behavior increase the likelihood that
individuals will engage in deviant workplace activities.
3. Status inequities create frustration and can adversely influence productivity
and willingness to remain with an organization.
a. Incongruence is likely to reduce motivation and motivate a search for
ways to bring about fairness (say, by taking another job).
b. Because lower-status people tend to participate less in group discussions,
groups with high status differences are likely to inhibit input from lower-
4. The impact of size on a group’s performance depends on the type of task.
a. Larger groups are more effective at fact-finding activities, smaller groups
at action-taking tasks.
b. Our knowledge of social loafing suggests that managers using larger
groups should also provide measures of individual performance.
5. Cohesiveness can influence a group’s level of productivity or not, depending
on the group’s performance-related norms.

343
6. Diversity appears to have a mixed impact on group performance, with some
studies suggesting that diversity can help performance and others suggesting it
can hurt it.
a. It appears the situation makes a difference in whether positive or negative
results predominate.
7. High congruence between a boss’s and an employee’s perception of the
employee’s job correlates strongly with high employee satisfaction.
a. Role conflict is associated with job-induced tension and job
dissatisfaction.
8. Most people prefer to communicate with others at their own status level or a
higher one rather than with those below them.
a. As a result, we should expect satisfaction to be greater among employees
whose job minimizes interaction with individuals lower in status than
themselves.
9. The group size–satisfaction relationship is what we would intuitively expect:
a. Larger groups are associated with lower satisfaction.
b. As size increases, opportunities for participation and social interaction
decrease, as does the ability of members to identify with the group’s
accomplishments.
c. At the same time, having more members also prompts dissension, conflict,
and the formation of subgroups, which all act to make the group a less
pleasant entity of which to be a part.
GlOBalization
Forming International Teams in a Virtual World
This exercise covers Learning Objectives: Compare the effectiveness of interacting, brainstorming,
nominal, and electronic meeting groups; Learning Outcomes: Describe best practices for utilizing groups
and work teams in organizations; and AACSB Learning Goals: Reflective thinking skills.
As more organizations become global entities, the need for work groups that can
collaborate across national boundaries grows. Advances in technology that have
accompanied globalization lead us to a new type of working relationship: global virtual
teams. These are groups of individuals working together across national boundaries
through electronic communication media. Engineers in Germany might communicate
with production teams in China to produce components for assembly and marketing by
team members in Canada. Although some global teams occasionally meet in person,
geographically dispersed managers often must collaborate virtually.
Virtual global teams have certain liabilities. Traditional teams offer multiple
opportunities to work closely with colleagues and develop close personal relationships

Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content

“Hip! hip! hooray!” yelled Ned at the top of his healthy lungs.
The crash of the falling ladder and the sound of the hearty cheer
brought Herr Schmidt to the edge of the skylight.
“Donner vetter!” he wailed. “The ladder has fallen! How vee gedt
down?”
“It didn’t fall, it was pushed, Schmidt!” cried Ned exultingly, unable
to forego his delight in his triumph. “You can’t get down till the
police come and help you down.”
“Blitzen!” roared the German. “It’s der poy from der nafy!”
“That’s who it is,” cried Ned, “and next time, think it over before you
try to beat him! So long!”
As he vanished through the door leading to the passage, a howl of
fury and rage went up from the roof. Imprisoned upon it by the
Yankee lad’s ingenuity and grit were as choice an assortment of
rascals as ever were trapped by a strategist who was in years only a
lad.

CHAPTER VIII.
“MY ADDRESS IS THE ‘MANHATTAN’.”
Ned sprang into the hallway, locked the solid, iron-studded door
behind him and flung the key away.
“Bottled and corked!” he chuckled as he sped on toward the room in
which he had been made captive by Schmidt’s gang.
He stepped into the place and found to his delight that the naval
men he wanted were still there. A few of the loungers were likewise
seated about. At Ned’s sudden appearance the men-o’-war’s-men
leaped up as if they had been shot. Among them was young Childs.
He could not meet Ned’s eye but hung his head as the gunner’s-
mate made his unexpected entrance.
Ned’s eyes burned as they swept the room.
“Schmidt and his friends are prisoners on the roof of that outer
room,” he announced. “Within half an hour they will be in the hands
of the police. Outside this place I have a patrol. Are you men willing
to surrender, or shall I have to call in the picket to take you back
shackled to the ship?”
There was an instant’s hesitation while the men stared at the calm-
spoken Dreadnought Boy as if they could hardly believe their eyes.
Then old Harness Cask spoke up:
“We’ll go with you, sir. Will you make it easy for us when we get on
board?”
“I’m not committing myself,” spoke Ned grimly. “Forward march!”
Like lambs the stragglers formed in twos, looking foolish and
crestfallen. Out they marched with Ned behind them, while the

loafers in the place cowered in corners, meditating instant escape as
soon as Ned and his prisoners vanished.
Before they reached the street, Ned blew his whistle and sounded
the shrill summons to his patrol which he had notified them would
be the signal for them to join him. As they appeared at the top of
the steps, reënforced now by the two men who had taken Sharp and
Manners to the steamer, Herc shouted out:
“It’s all right, Ned. We’re coming to your rescue. Hold fast, old
fellow!”
“All right, boys,” hailed Ned; “it’s all over but the shouting. Just take
these fellows in charge and march them down to the steamer and
wait there for me. I’ve a little more work to do yet.”
To say that Ned’s patrol was astonished as they saw the sheepish
captives file out of the Fair Wind to the street, would be to put it
mildly. As Herc might have said, they were completely flabbergasted.
When Ned briefly rehearsed the circumstances of the capture,
modestly keeping himself in the background, their enthusiasm knew
no bounds. The rueful, woebegone captives were marched off to the
steamer, while Ned hastened to a telephone. He got Police
Headquarters and told the official in charge about the prisoners on
the roof of the “Fair Wind.”
“I’ll send a patrol wagon right down,” declared the official.
“Better send a big bunch of men, too. They’re a bad lot,” said Ned.
“I know all about them. We’ve been trying for a long time to land
Schmidt. Now, thanks to you, we’ve got him with the goods on.”
“I reckon you have,” rejoined Ned with a grin.
“By the way, what’s your name and address?” came the voice at the
other end of the wire.
“Ned Strong is my name, and my address is the Dreadnought
Manhattan, at anchor off Goat Island in the harbor.”

A marked note of surprise was in the official’s voice as he exclaimed:
“Strong, did you say?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Well, we’re looking for you!”
“Looking for me?”
“That’s right. We’re very anxious to get hands on you.”
“Gracious! What for?”
“Never mind. Can we get you on board the ship?”
“Of course. But what does this mean? Why do the authorities want
to see me?”
“That I am not at liberty to tell you. Will you summon the man on
post and tell him to guard the ‘Fair Wind’ till reënforcements arrive?”
Ned, sorely puzzled, promised to do so, and soon discovered the
patrolman in question. He explained the case to him and then
hurried down to the steamer. As he went, he turned the situation
over and over in his mind. What could he have done that the police
wanted to see him? And then they were coming out to the ship, too!
Even if it was some trumped up accusation, Ned knew that he would
have an awkward time of it. Had he had the leisure he would have
gone to Headquarters himself and demanded some explanation. But
his duty was to hasten back to the Manhattan with the stragglers at
once.
The knowledge that the police wanted to see him even though he
was conscious of having committed no offence, worried Ned
considerably. The very vagueness of the information that had been
vouchsafed to him made it worse. However, when he reached the
steamer, Ned found plenty to occupy him in the disposal of his
prisoners.
After that no time was lost in getting under way. Ned sat in the
stern, busied with his own reflections. He had had a lively time but

he had acquitted himself to his own satisfaction and carried out his
orders promptly and faithfully. Had it not been for that mysterious
police message, there would not have been a cloud in his sky.
The little steamer made quick time between the landing-stage and
the grim, gray dreadnought. Behind her, reaching as far as the
Golden Gate, spread a long line of Uncle Sam’s slate-colored sea-
fighters swinging at anchor. What a fine picture the array of
battleships presented! Strings of bright-colored bunting depending
from their signal halliards relieved the sinister monotone of battle
color, and from bridge to bridge the bright scarlet of the “wig-wag”
flags could be seen cutting circles and arcs as from ship to ship
flashed news and orders. It was an old picture to Ned, but it thrilled
him and inspired him just as much there in San Francisco Bay as it
had on that day that seemed so long ago when he and Herc stood in
Riverside Park in New York, raw recruits, and gazed their first upon
the huge fighting machine of which they were to become parts.
The steamer ran around to the port gangway and made fast. The
delinquents, a crestfallen unhappy-looking parade, were marched on
deck with the patrol guarding them in on each side. Ned couldn’t
help feeling a quick flush of pride as he noticed the astonished
glance of the officer of the deck when he saw Ned’s flock of black
sheep that had been so speedily rounded up.
“All present, sir!” said Ned, bringing his heels together with a smart
click, and saluting the functionary, who was distinguished by
carrying a telescope slung over his shoulder.
“What, you got them all?”
“Aye, aye, sir!”
“Take them before the master-at-arms. You will appear at the mast
at a time appointed by the commander and give your evidence
against them.”
“Carry on!”

The deck officer turned away and Ned and his patrol marched their
unhappy band of prisoners before the master-at-arms, who promptly
assigned them to the dreaded brig till such time as their trials at the
mast should be ordered.
“And now for some food,” exclaimed Herc; “I’m half famished.”
“Well, I could look a square meal in the face without feeling
embarrassed,” confessed Ned with a laugh.
“Well, if ever a lad deserved it, you’re the one,” declared old
Simpkins admiringly. “I guess we’ll have to call you ‘Ned the Giant
Killer,’ after this.”
“Not as bad as that, I hope,” laughed Ned good-naturedly.
“Humph,” snorted Herc, “I reckon ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ wouldn’t be
one, two, three beside Ned Strong. Eight at one fell swoop, not to
mention the party marooned on the roof, is a pretty good day’s
work. By the way, what was the name of that place?”
“‘The Fair Wind.’ Why?”
“They ought to change its name to ‘Look Out for Squalls.’”

CHAPTER IX.
ANCHORS A’TRIP.
“The captain wishes to see you at once.”
An orderly had just stepped up to Ned and given the above
message. Ned hastened aft at once. Such orders were to be obeyed
in a hurry. As he went along the decks he wondered what the import
of the summons might be.
“I’ll bet it is something to do with that police business,” he thought
to himself uneasily as he quickened his steps.
The captain was seated at his desk writing, when Ned entered and
stood bareheaded and upright, respectfully waiting till the captain
addressed him. At last Commander Dunham looked up from his
desk.
“Well, you got them all, I hear, Strong.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Excellent work. Any trouble?”
“Nothing to speak of, sir.”
The captain smiled.
“You hardly do yourself justice, Strong. A wireless from the shore
has just been placed in my hands highly commending your work.
Incidentally, there was a reward of three hundred dollars for the
capture of that tea smuggler you trapped on the roof.”
“Three hundred dollars, sir!”
Ned could hardly believe his ears.

“Yes, and from what I hear, you have fully earned it. Of course, you
won’t object to taking it?”
“Well hardly, sir.”
“Sit down now and tell me all about your adventures ashore, Strong.
I am interested in knowing the details of such a meritorious
performance as yours has been.”
Ned, with a very red face, seated himself at his superior’s orders and
launched into his story. He mentioned himself as little as he could,
but it was impossible for the captain not to read between the lines of
Ned’s plain, unembroidered story and recognize him for the plucky,
gritty young tar that he was.
He was half through his narration when the orderly entered the
cabin.
“Officer of the deck reports a police launch approaching, sir.”
Poor Ned! His heart began to beat thick and fast. He hardly dared to
look up. Suppose that some charge should be made against him,
how could he face the captain who had just been complimenting him
so highly? His embarrassment was not lessened by his knowledge
that he actually had no reason to fear anything.
“Report to me when they make fast,” ordered the captain. “Now go
on, Strong. You had hidden behind a barrel, I think you were
saying.”
Ned went on with his narrative, but he related it haltingly. His mind
was on the police launch and what its possible mission might be.
The orderly came back.
“The launch has made fast, sir. The British Consul and the Chief of
Police of San Francisco are on board. They wish to see you.”
“Show them in. You may remain, Strong.”
Ned got to his feet and took up a standing position in a corner of the
cabin. In a few minutes the orderly returned with the Chief of Police,

a fat, pompous-looking man with a large, straw-colored moustache
and goatee, and the British Consul, a tall, sun-burned man with a
kindly countenance and affable manner.
After the preliminaries of introduction were over, the Chief of Police
plumped out the question that Ned had been dreading to hear.
“You have a man named Strong on board this ship?” he asked.
“Yes, Gunner’s-Mate Strong,” was the rejoinder. “In fact, he is here
now.”
The captain waved a hand toward Ned, who swallowed hard and
prepared to take calmly whatever was to come. What game was
this? The British Consul, quite forgetting his official dignity, crossed
the cabin in two jumps and seized Ned’s hand and began wringing it
as if it had been a pump handle.
“Let me thank you, although no words can express my gratitude,” he
exclaimed, “for the noble act you performed in the Park when you
saved my daughter from almost certain death on a runaway horse.”
“Eh? What’s this?” exclaimed Captain Dunham.
“Simply, sir, that you have in your crew one of the most modest
heroes I ever heard of,” cried the consul enthusiastically. “He
rescued my daughter when her horse ran away with her and would
almost certainly have dashed her to death had it not been for this
lad’s bravery. I want to express my admiration for the nation that
can produce such fine types of young manhood.”
“I—I—just grabbed the horse, that’s all, sir,” replied Ned. “You see
on the farm I’d been used to horses and so it was really no trick at
all. I hope the young lady is recovered?”
“Yes, and I have here a letter from her asking you and your
companion who assisted you in your brave deed to come to dinner
with us to-morrow night. I also wish to express in some more solid
manner the full burden of my gratitude.”

“Thank you very much, sir,” replied Ned, “but the fleet sails to-
morrow at noon and all shore leave will be stopped to-morrow.”
“Too bad! Too bad!” exclaimed the consul. “My daughter was so
anxious to thank you personally for your bravery. Had it not been for
the fact that your cap was picked up on the drive, we should never
even have known who it was that performed such a brave deed.”
“How was that?” inquired Captain Dunham, very much interested.
“Why, right after the horse had been stopped, the two young men
hurried away. But Mr. Strong’s cap was picked up by a policeman on
the drive, and the fact that his name was inside it made it easy to
trace him,” said the Chief of Police. “And, incidentally, I also want to
shake this young man’s hand. His marooning of that gang of rascals
on the roof of the ‘Fair Wind’ was the cleverest bit of work I’ve heard
of in many a long day. They are all in for long terms in jail, too.”
“What about the reward, Chief?” asked the captain.
“That, of course, is a Federal matter, as the smuggling charges are
not under our jurisdiction. And now, if I may, I would like to take this
young man’s deposition, inasmuch as the fleet is to sail to-morrow.”
“Very well. There need be no delay,” said the captain.
“But pardon me, sir, I must take it before a notary public.”
“Is that so? Well, in that case, Strong, I will give you shore leave till
midnight. You have earned it.”
“Thank you, sir,” rejoined Ned, his cup of joy brimful, “and—and, sir,
may——”
“May Taylor, your inseparable, accompany you? Yes, by all means.
This will give you lads an opportunity to accept the kind invitation of
Mr. Bretherton to dinner. Now be off, my lad, and you can go ashore
in the Chief’s launch. The steamer will be at the landing at midnight.
Don’t fail to be there.”
“Oh, no, sir!”

Ned saluted and hastened to get ready for his shore trip. What a
wonderful day it had been, he thought, as he looked about for Herc
to impart the news to him!

CHAPTER X.
ACROSS THE PACIFIC.
“Eight bells, sir.”
“Make it so,” responded the captain in the time-honored formula of
the navy to the petty officer who had just informed him that it was
high noon.
The Manhattan from stem to stern presented a busy scene. From
her tops and bridge stations the wig-wag flags were busily signaling
the orders of the flag-ship to the rest of the squadron. A stiff
northwest wind was blowing, and before it small white clouds were
scudding like clippers across a bright blue California sky.
From the stacks of each of the grim sea bulldogs, black clouds of
smoke were vomiting, and semaphore arms were jerking up and
down frantically. On the bridges of every ship of the squadron stood
the officers in full uniform. On the bridge of the Manhattan, of
course, was the rear-admiral, a bluff, hearty seaman known the
world over as “Fighting Bob.” From the after truck of the
dreadnought’s cage masts fluttered his insignia.
The steamer came off with the last mails from the shore and was
swung hastily into her davits. Below in the engine-rooms and boiler
spaces, the great vessels of the squadron throbbed and hummed
with pent-up energy. It was as if they were impatient to get to sea
once more after the royal time they had enjoyed in San Francisco.
From the gaff of each ship of the long line fluttered proudly Old
Glory.
“What a sight, eh, Herc?” remarked Ned to his red-headed chum as,
being temporarily unemployed, the two found a chance to look
about and to chat.

“Never could have seen anything like this if we’d stayed at home on
the farm,” grinned Herc. “Although, speaking of the farm, the ships
do remind me of a long line of gray geese with the old Manhattan,
the daddy gander, that shows ’em the way.”
“Well, I never saw geese that gave out black or any other colored
smoke,” chuckled Ned, “nor do geese have funnels sticking up out of
their backs. Otherwise your comparison is all right, Herc.”
A messenger came bustling up to them and thrust two packages into
their hands.
“Just come off on the steamer,” he said.
“Now what in the world can this be?” wondered Ned as he opened
his package, while Herc did the same. When the coverings were torn
off, within each was revealed a purple plush box. Within these, in
turn, nestling in beds of white satin, were two gold watches. On the
back of each was this inscription: “Presented in token of appreciation
of a gallant act. San Francisco, 19——.”
The boys’ eyes sparkled. No need to ask from whom the handsome
presents came. The consul at dinner the night before had hinted at
gifts, but that they were to be such magnificent ones had never
entered the boys’ heads.
They had small time to admire them, however. Orders came to take
stations, and each lad hastened to his turret to get everything in
readiness for the good-bye salute of twenty-one guns.
The decks were in what to a landsman would have seemed hopeless
confusion. Yet, underlying all was the system that has made our
navy what it is. Orders were passing rapidly, bos’uns’ pipes
screaming shrilly, and Jackies running hither and thither like so many
ants when their nest has been disturbed.
High up on the lofty bridge, Commander Dunham and the admiral
surveyed the scene.
“I think we are ready, sir,” said the admiral at length.

The captain saluted and turned to the executive officer who stood
beside him.
“All ready, Mr. Jenks,” he said.
The executive officer saluted, and then came a hoarse hail through
his megaphone while the wig-waggers on the Manhattan transmitted
the signal, “Up anchor,” to the other ships of the squadron.
“Up anchor!” bellowed Mr. Jenks.
The band crashed out into “The Girl I Left Behind Me,” swinging into
“Nancy Lee,” “Auld Lang Syne” and other favorites. The blue-jackets
grabbed each other around the waist and pirouetted about on the
foc’scle like schoolboys. Some sang with the band until “Boom!
Boom! Boom!” the stately measured farewell to San Francisco began
to boom from the steel mouths of the big guns.
“Anchors shipped, sir!” sang out a middy from the forepart of the
ship.
“Slow speed ahead!” ordered the captain to the ensign at the
engine-room telegraph.
“Both engines.”
The Manhattan slowly swung around and headed to sea, with her
big guns belching yellow smoke and flashes of scarlet flame. Ashore,
every whistle in the city sent up a deafening roar of screeching and
hooting. The wharves and tall buildings on the water-front, black
with people, added to the din.
Slowly, and in stately fashion, the huge dreadnought maneuvered till
her bow pointed straight for the historic Golden Gate. Each ship of
the squadron followed at a measured distance of four hundred
yards. From each came clouds of smoke, the fulminating roar of the
big guns and the crashing of bands.
Up on the signal halliards of the Manhattan went a string of bunting.

“Increase distance to sixteen hundred yards.”
Gradually and as perfectly measured as if they had been figures in a
minuet, the great fighting ships lengthened the distance between
each other.
Out through the Golden Gate they steamed “in column,” and as they
passed the twin headlands, the guns from the forts on either side
answered the barking throats of the fleet’s heavy artillery. Out past
the Farallones they steamed, keeping perfect distance or “interval,”
as it is called, between each ship.
“Say, Herc,” remarked Ned, when after the firing was over he
rejoined his chum on the foc’scle, “I’ve been doing some figuring. Do
you know how much water this fleet displaces?”
“I haven’t the smidge of an idea, ship-mate.”
“Well, just about five hundred thousand tons of water.”
Herc peered over the side and then looked around in a puzzled way.
“What’s become of it all?”
“Of what?”
“Of all that misplaced water.”
“Oh, it’s just distributed about. It is merely a technical term.”
“I suppose the misplaced water goes to the same place that your lap
goes to when you stand up,” commented Herc, grinning broadly.
“I reckon that’s about it, Herc. Isn’t it good to get to sea again,
though? They gave us a fine time in ’Frisco, but, after all, a sailor’s
place is out on the ocean.”
“That accounts for so many recruits being all at sea,” rejoined Herc
whimsically.
On the bridge of each ship stood a middy working a little instrument
of bars and glasses and wheels, graduated to a scale of figures and
called a stadimeter. It showed to a fraction of an inch the exact
distance each ship was from the one preceding her, and according to

the readings of this instrument the number of revolutions of the
ship’s propellers would be slowed down or speeded up.
This involved incessant watchfulness, and was calculated to keep the
bridge officers on the jump. Everything in Uncle Sam’s navy must be
done with a precision almost incomprehensible to a landsman, but
which forms a part of every seaman’s training.
Looking back and watching the long line of “gray geese,” as Herc
had called them, Ned gave a sudden exclamation. From the signal-
yard of the Louisiana, the third ship in line, there suddenly fluttered
a white triangular pennant with a red border.
“Oh, wow!” yelled Herc. “There’s the old Luzzy out of line again.”
“She’s the hardest ship to steer in the whole squadron,” rejoined
Ned.
The signal that the ship in question had just displayed meant that
she was more than forty yards out of the way. This was duly noted
against her on board the flag-ship, and it may be imagined that the
officer on duty hated to have to send that signal aloft.
The Farallones were mere tiny clouds on the eastern horizon, as the
sun went down with a glow of burnished gold in the west that
seemed like a benediction. Just as it sank below the horizon, the
rays shone on the sullen, lead-colored sides of the grim sea-fighters,
giving them a softened touch. To a landsman it would have
appeared a beautiful sight. But to Ned and Herc, and to most of the
sailors on board, that sunset bore a different significance.
“We’re in for a blow,” declared Ned.
“Storm of some sort, that’s as sure as shooting,” rejoined Herc.
Up on the bridge the officers were discussing the outlook.
“The glass is falling rapidly, sir,” reported the navigating officer to
Commander Dunham.
“Yes; we are in for some sort of bad weather,” was the response.
“Have all made snug.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”
As the sun dipped below the horizon, bugles began to sing, and on
the foremost main-truck, the stern and the sides of every vessel in
that long line, appeared simultaneously flashing lights. Night time
had shut down on the fleet as it rolled across the vast Pacific wastes.
Other lights began to twinkle and glimmer through the gloom like
the illuminated windows of a small city after night has fallen. Behind
the great ships streamed a dark, sullen storm cloud of black smoke.
The supper call came and the crew sat down to a meal of beef pot-
pie, jelly, bread and butter and tea. Conversation ran mainly on the
prospects of the voyage and the lands they were to visit. Many of
the old tars had been in the far East and the Mediterranean before,
and these regaled the youngsters with many stories of their
experiences. Naturally this talk only served to sharpen the appetites
of the sailors who awaited their arrival in the Orient with avidity.
Then, too, Ned’s rounding up of the recalcitrant stragglers was
discussed, and the sentences meted out to the culprits were
approved. Of course, Ned and Herc had to show their handsome
gold watches, also, and explain the story connected with them.
After supper the Jackies talked and lounged,—those that were off
duty, that is. Then came tattoo, and following that the long,
melancholy sweet notes of “Taps,” which is the bugle’s way of saying
good-night. The sky was heavily overcast and the sea was beginning
to heave and roll under the twenty-thousand-ton dreadnought as the
bugles sang plaintively the sailors’ bed-time call:
“Go to sleep! Go to sleep! G-o t-o s-l-e-e-p!”

CHAPTER XI.
IN THE GRIP OF THE STORM.
Before dawn, huge green seas were cascading over the forecastle
and the ponderous steel mass of the big dreadnought was wallowing
in the water-rows like a storm-tossed schooner. Occasionally a
mighty comber would strike the bow a glancing blow, and then the
spray flew high in a glistening waterspout over the bridge and high
up on the cage masts.
Tons of salt water swept across the quarter-deck from time to time,
burying it in a swirling, surging whirlpool, which gushed off in every
direction as the great ship rose once more, shaking herself like a
huge water animal.
The Jackies shouted with glee as each huge wave swept down on
the battlecraft, threatening to engulf even its titanic mass. A mighty
sea would tower majestically high above the forecastle like a great
wall of green water. The Jackies would scuttle to places of safety and
then burst into enthusiastic yells as it flooded the fore-decks, swept
around the forward turret, sent tons of spray dashing against the
bridge and upper works and finally swept on, to be followed by
another monstrous gray-back.
All watches were set, for in the spray and flying spume it was almost
as hard to see ahead as if a fog overhung the ocean. As the day
wore on the sea grew higher instead of moderating. Breakfast and
dinner were eaten out of tin pannikins, for nothing would have
stayed on the table. The blue-jackets thought all this fine fun, and
shouted every time the ship took an extra heavy plunge.
On the bridge a consultation was held. It was all very well for the
dreadnought, this plunging ahead through the mountainous seas at
a fifteen-knot clip, but the smaller vessels couldn’t stand it so well.

A wireless message was sent out to reduce speed to ten knots an
hour and extra men were ordered into the tops to help the other
lookouts. Ned was assigned to the after cage mast. He sprang upon
the iron-runged ladder leading aloft with agility. He was glad to have
something to do, for of course the ordinary routine work of the ship
was out of the question with the ship rolling till her indicator showed
twenty degrees of heeling.
Accustomed as Ned was to climbing in high places, his head swam a
bit as he paused half way up for breath and to dash the spray from
his eyes. He looked down. A hundred feet below him was a boiling,
foam-flecked sea, running mountains high. Viewed from that height,
the Manhattan looked to be very narrow and unseaworthy, and her
decks appeared to be constantly awash.
Now and then, when an extra big wave came along, she would
swing over till it seemed as if she never meant to come back on an
even keel again. Cinders and gases from the big funnels swept about
the boy at times, too, adding to his discomfort.
But Ned was pretty well hardened to most of these things by this
time, and his pause was mainly to get some of the salt water out of
his mouth, eyes and nose. Then up he went again, clambering on
the slippery rungs with such speed that from the bridge below came
a bellowed order through a megaphone:
“Careful aloft there!”
“Aye, aye, sir!” hailed back Ned at the top of his voice and waved a
hand to show that he was all right.
At length he reached the top, a small platform mounted by machine
guns and surrounded by a steel rail. At one place there was an
opening in this rail, across which a rope had been stretched. It
looked very thin, small and unsubstantial to guard an open space
more than a hundred feet above the ship’s deck, but it was quite
strong enough for the blue-jackets, who gave little thought to such
matters.

As he gained the top, Ned received a surprise. The other man aloft
was Sharp, the seaman he had taken out of the Chinese den in San
Francisco. He had received, thanks to Ned’s lack of malice, only a
short sentence in the brig and was now on duty again.
“Hullo, Sharp,” said Ned pleasantly, as he clambered into the top.
Sharp scowled at him but didn’t say anything at the moment.
“I’m glad to see that you’re out again,” pursued Ned. “I hope you
don’t bear any malice, Sharp. I was only doing my duty.”
“Oh, that’s what all you precious mamma’s babies say,” growled out
Sharp in a sullen tone.
His rage suddenly flared up.
“I’ve got it in for you, Strong,” he snarled.
“Don’t talk foolishly, Sharp. Only fools and children nurse a grudge.
It’s all over so far as I’m concerned, and you know I tried to let you
off as easy as I could at the mast.”
“What of that? My shore leave is being stopped, ain’t it? I don’t get
ashore at Honolulu.”
“Well, you must admit that that isn’t my fault,” said Ned.
“I don’t admit anything of the sort,” snarled Sharp. “If it hadn’t been
for your Sunday-school way of sneaking around, the fleet would
have sailed without me.”
“You’re a nice navy man, I must say,” said Ned contemptuously,
turning on his heel.
“Just as good as you are, and maybe better, Mister Know-it-all. I’ve
been in the service twenty years, and——”
“You are still where you started.”
Ned, ordinarily the most even tempered of lads, was beginning to
resent Sharp’s slurring tone and could not have foregone this thrust.

Sharp’s face grew as dark as the slate-colored sea racing by far
below them. He approached Ned with his eyes blazing like hot coals.
“So you’ll make game of me, eh, my young rooster? Well, you’ll
regret it to the last day you live; I tell you that right here and now.”
“Oh, don’t bother me, unless you can talk sense,” said Ned
impatiently.
“I’ll talk sense fast enough. I hate you, Strong.”
“Thank you. I am not aching for your friendship.”
A sudden frenzy of rage appeared to possess Sharp. He jumped
forward and seized Ned, shaking his fist. The other shook him off
with a quick movement.
“Are you mad, Sharp? Suppose any of the officers saw you?”
“I don’t care if they did. I’m through with the navy. I’m going to quit
it, first chance I get. The service has gone to the dogs when they
promote sugar-babies like you to be petty officers.”
Ned leaned over the edge of the top. He didn’t want to make the
man more furious by replying to him. It was plain that Sharp was
lashing himself into a malevolent rage.
“But before I quit the service, I’ll get even with you!” he roared.
Still Ned made no reply. He turned and walked across the top. He
was passing by the open space, which was only railed off by the
slender rope previously referred to, when the ship gave a sudden
lurch. At the same instant he felt a shove from behind.
Powerless to stop himself, Ned was sent staggering toward the rope.
He fell against it with all his weight. The stuff snapped like pack-
thread.
Ned plunged through the opening head downward, and it seemed
inevitable that he would fall into the boiling, leaping sea more than a
hundred feet below!

CHAPTER XII.
NED’S TERRIBLE PLIGHT.
Time seemed to stand still and the world to poise on its poles as Ned
shot through the narrow opening. A thunder boom sounded in his
ears and his soul appeared to be flying from his mouth.
With quick instinct—it was no conscious effort of will,—he had
spread his legs as he fell, turning his feet outward, as he had often
done in the gymnasium when hanging from a bar. It was that swift
movement, and that alone, that saved him from plunging straight
down to the depths of the sea or striking the iron decks so far below
him.
There he clung, head downward, sustained only by the grip of his
feet on two steel posts. Every muscle of his body was strained to its
utmost tension. His brain seemed bursting. With every heave and
roll of the ship he was swung far out and then back again, with
every likelihood that if his foothold was not broken his head would
be dashed against a steel brace.
Below from the bridge came a horrified cry:—
“Great Scott, sir! Look at that!”
“It’s Gunner’s-Mate Strong!” groaned the Captain.
“Look, sir, the other man, Sharp, his name is, has seen his plight.
He’s trying to haul him aboard.”
“Good heavens, they’ll both go! Man the mast there! Jump aloft!
Look alive, men! Poor boy! Poor boy!”
Up the ladder sprang a red-headed youth. It was Herc, and behind
him swarmed a half dozen Jackies who had seen the peril of their
ship-mate.

“Oh, they’ll never save him! Never!” cried the navigating officer with
a groan.
Suddenly a second horrified shout went up from bridge and deck.
Ned had made a frantic effort to grab the mast on one of his wild
swings. At the same instant Sharp appeared to be laying hold of his
feet to try and drag him back into the top. Those who had set up
that groan of dismay had seen Ned’s feet suddenly slip out of
position.
“He’s gone!” cried the captain, half turning away.
Some of the crew shut their eyes. Ned had lost his hold and was
doomed either to be drowned,—for in that sea it would have been
impossible to launch a boat,—or else to be dashed to atoms on the
steel decks of the dreadnought.
But the next instant a glad cry of renewed hope went up. It was a
yell, a frantic shout of encouragement and joy.
Ned had somehow managed, by the instinct of self-preservation, to
seize a stay, and there he hung, swaying wildly back and forth as the
ship rolled, but still gripping it in a firm grasp.
“Can he hang on?”
That was the question that agitated every man who was watching
the lad’s plucky battle for life.
“Stick to it, Ned!” cried the sailors encouragingly.
“Hang on, old boy! We’ll help you out of it in a brace of shakes.”
But these cries, meant to encourage Ned, were not practical of
execution. It was manifestly impossible to reach him. His salvation
lay in his own hands and he must work it out alone.
Herc had, by this time, reached the top and now hung over the rail
in an agony of apprehension. There hung his comrade, twenty feet
below him, dangling high above the decks on a slender wire stay
and he was as powerless to aid him as if he had been a hundred
miles away. But he shouted encouragement.

Suddenly there came a voice at his back. It was Sharp.
“He’s a goner for sure,” he muttered indifferently.
Herc faced around on him like a thunderbolt. His red hair bristled like
the hackles on an angry dog.
“Say that again, will you?” he demanded fiercely, his freckled fists
clenching.
“I only said that there wasn’t a chance for him to get away with it,”
rejoined Sharp, a leer spreading over his countenance. “He stands
no more chance of being saved than a snowball in a furnace.”
“Oh, you think so, do you? Well, just let me tell you one thing, Ned
Strong has got out of worse scrapes than the one he’s in right now.
If it’s humanly possible, he’ll save himself yet, in spite of such
croakers as you.”
Sharp slunk away before Herc’s broadside. He could not meet the
other’s eyes.
“I did all I could to keep him from falling, but I couldn’t get him in,”
he muttered.
A sudden shout from the decks attracted Herc’s attention at this
moment. He rushed to the edge of the top and beheld the most
amazing specimen of grit in the face of overwhelming odds that he
had ever witnessed.
The stay which Ned had caught stretched between the fore and the
after masts. From it were suspended the signal halliards, the nether
end of which ropes were on the bridge. Hand over hand, and
painfully slowly, Ned was working himself along this stay. He
appeared to have lost his presence of mind for the time being, for,
instead of coming back to the after mast, he began working his way
forward.
“Come back! Come back!” yelled Herc frenziedly.
“The other way! The other!” shouted officers and men, but Ned
appeared not to hear them.

“Oh, he’ll never make it!” groaned Captain Dunham. “Poor lad! Poor
lad!”
And now began a spectacle that none of those who beheld it ever
forgot. It was photographed indelibly on the minds of every witness,
officer and enlisted man.
It was seen that, provided Ned could hold on long enough, his
progress must bring him above the funnels, belching hot, suffocating
gases and blinding, cinder-laden smoke. Captain Dunham sent a
man below to order the fires smothered instantly so as to minimize
the amount of vapor issuing from the funnels.
“I don’t believe that the lad has one chance in a thousand,” he said
with an unaccustomed quaver in his voice, “but we’ll leave nothing
undone to help him out.”
“That’s just the trouble, sir,” rejoined the navigating officer, “there’s
so little we can do. It’s almost unbearable to have to stand here
helplessly and watch that brave struggle.”
Discipline for the time being was entirely forgotten. The sailors
crowded on the fore-decks, oblivious to showers of spray and water,
and shouted encouragement at the tops of their voices.
“Keep it up, boy! Oh, keep it up!” yelled a hundred hoarse throats.
“Come on! Come on! Not much farther now! Oh, stick to it, Ned!
Stick to it!”
“Ned! Ned, old boy, we’re all with you!” howled poor Herc, almost
beside himself. His face under the tan was ashen gray, and his
freckles stood out like ink spots on blotting paper.
With anxiety and interest keyed up to a pitch that was almost
unbearable, Ned continued to advance. The smoke from the funnels
was perceptibly lessened by this time. The engineers, apprised of
what was going on, had shut off all draughts, and if Ned could only
maintain his grip he would be able to make the passage above the
four huge smoke pipes without being suffocated.

His objective point was now plain. It was the signal halliards that he
was making for.
“Rig up a bos’un’s chair and send it aloft on those halliards,” roared
Captain Dunham.
In a jiffy the plank seat was attached to the halliards and sent aloft
to the stay along which Ned was slowly but surely advancing.
His head was quite clear now and his fighting spirit was up. He
would make those halliards. With every sense that was in him he
exerted his will to reach the goal he was aiming for.
All at once he let go with one hand for an instant.
A mighty groan, concentrated in a hundred voices, went up.
“He’s falling!”
But no, Ned had only paused for a minute to draw himself up on the
stay so that he could rest his aching muscles for the final spurt.
Then he resumed his torturingly slow progress.
“Oh, I can’t stand this much longer!” cried Herc, beside himself with
suspense and excitement.
“He’s coming ahead again!” went up the cry, as Ned began worming
himself along once more.
“So he is! Good boy!”
“Come on, ship-mate! You’re on the home-stretch!” shouted another
voice.
“We’ve got the tow-rope! Come on for the old Manhattan!”
A perfect babel of sound resounded along the decks. The officers
made no attempt to check it. They were as excited as the men
themselves.
Ned reached the signal halliards at last. A score of hands seized the
free end of the rope to which the bos’un’s chair was attached and
lowered the exhausted lad to the bridge, as soon as he had
clambered, with a Jackie’s dexterity, into the swaying contrivance.

What a roar arose then!
“He’s made it!”
“Hip! hip! hurray!”
In the after top Herc, tears streaming down his face, danced a wild
jig of jubilation, while on the fore-deck Jackies threw their arms
around each other and shook each other’s hands and performed a
hundred mad antics. On the bridge the officers stood with sternly
compressed lips, but from the captain there broke out a fervent:—
“Thank God!”
As Ned, white-faced but smiling bravely, touched the bridge, he was
hauled out of the bos’un’s chair by a score of hands, and for a
minute he needed the support. But he rallied as he faced the captain
and saluting said:—
“Come aboard, sir!”
“Great heavens, Strong, you gave us all the scare of our lives!” said
the captain, with a great sigh of relief.
“I’m sorry, sir,” rejoined Ned, “I somehow missed my footing and
——”
“That’s it. How did it happen?” demanded the captain.
“Just as I said, sir. I missed my footing and fell against that rope-
yarn. It carried away and I went through.”
“Strong, you are keeping something back.”
“No, sir. That’s how it happened to the best of my knowledge and
belief.”
“Very well, if there’s nothing further to report, I’m not going to
heckle you now. Mr. James, see that the ropes on the top openings
are replaced by pipe rails. We want no repetition of to-day’s
experience. As it is, I don’t believe that there is another man in the
fleet that would have come out of the ordeal alive. Where are you
going, Strong?”

Organizational Behavior 15th Edition Robbins Solutions Manual

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Organizational Behavior 15th Edition Robbins Solutions Manual