Assignment Content Resource: Ch. List of the Advantages of Group Decision Making 1. And the research supports the notion that group performance is heightened when and where: the group members differ in skills and abilities. In startup companies, the chief executive officer typically makes all the big decisions, but as companies grow, managers often make decisions collectively. The desire by group members to be accepted and considered an asset to the group can result in squashing any overt disagreement. A single executive can make a decision in minutes, while a group decision requires meetings and discussion. Groupism: The very word has negative connotations. Another major strength of group decision-making is the relative ease of implementing decisions. Group members, such as those in the marketing team at Messy Chocolates, tend to want solidarity and usually think alike. A group decision made by an elected group leader or expert may happen relatively quickly, while it can take much longer for a group to arrive at a consensus. This reduces the scope of accountability to one person. Explain how groupthink can harm effective group decision making. Thus it is always preferable that the discussion shared with more than the two individuals. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker. This research paper aims at discussing the numerous strengths and weaknesses associated with making decisions as a group. Employees often make jokes about all the meetings that they have to attend and how much time is wasted by attending the meetings. We face decision making almost every day and some of the decision will lead to something that would affect our surroundings. The group decision-making process is more of collective participation so it is, in turn, democratic in comparison to the individual decision making which is more autocratic. Weaknesses of Group Decision Making. Sometimes decisions made by the group members are simply a compromise between the various options offered by the group members. Often the decisions necessitate much discussion and debate, and this tends to increase with group size. You will receive more diversity in the availability of opinions. Time constraints also lead to groupthink because the failure to develo… Time constraints also lead to groupthink because the failure to develo… What Are The Strengths And Weaknesses Of A Group Decision Support System 1096 Words | 5 Pages. Also, the process does not typically include the exploration of alternatives. This … Describe the five types of teams. These meetings may be enhanced using a Group Decision Support System. There are strengths and weaknesses to each of these social decision schemes. Thus, it is not possible to suggest that "group decision making is always better" or "group decision making is always worse" than individual decision-making. The group decision making is more democratic in nature, while individual decision making is perceived to be more autocratic in nature. With group decision making, managers can bounce ideas off one another and take advantage of differences in knowledge and perspectives to come up with more possible solutions. I need each of the following questions answered in a 300 word essay with works cited One essay per question 1) Discuss strengths and weaknesses of group decision making. In view of above disadvantages, there is a need to improve group decision. Researchers have found that this is generally the leadership style that leads to the lowest productivity among group members. In the compilation … One of the biggest weaknesses of group decision making is the development of groupthink. This content was COPIED from BrainMass.com - View the original, and get the already-completed solution here! 10 of Organizational Behavior Write a 200- 250 word paper in which you: Contrast groups and teams. To support this opinion, I have analyzed the various strengths and weaknesses of group decision making. Some members of a group may start harbouring a feeling that they are different from the others. Laissez-faire leadership, also known as delegative leadership, is a type of leadership style in which leaders are hands-off and allow group members to make the decisions. A weakness of group decision making is that it generally increases the amount of time it takes to make decisions. A group has potential of collecting more and full information compared to an individual while making decisions. Differences in age, experience, culture, skill, and knowledge are things that determine if group decision making will be effective or not. Strengths:  The basic advantage of group decision making is the diversified people who have different conceptions and perceptions, and have different experiences of the issues combine their skills and experiences for the decision making. Group decision-making is quite expensive in terms of time, money, energy and man-hours. He has a Bachelor of Arts in economics from St. Olaf College. Groupthink can reduce knowledge sharing and creativity, thereby diminishing some of the key benefits of group decision making. Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. In case of failure - to achieve desired outcome nobody takes the responsibility of … So, if a better solution exists, it may never be discovered. ⇒ While there are a number of advantages to using groups to make decisions in organisations, there are a number of shortcomings: There may be some more documents on Strengths and Weaknesses of Group Decision-Making , this article is written by taking the help from Internet and other resources like Books, journals etc. Groups offer a greater diversity of views than individuals because of the heterogeneous nature of the group. This is a process where the judgment, mental alacrity, and effectiveness of the group’s decision making is hampered by pressures from the group. A single manager might not be aware of all the different considerations that could impact a complex business decision; by including several people in the process, managers can form a well-rounded view of a problem that can lead to a more sound decision. When you understand the advantages and disadvantages of group decision making, you can more easily choose a course of action that's best for your company's growth, which ultimately is the top priority. Contrast strengths and weaknesses of group decision making. the group members have a memory for facts; individual judgments can be combined by weighting them to reflect the expertise of the various members. In the case of individual decision making, responsibility is on a single person. Individual decisions are more focused and rational as compared to group. But in the case of group decision making, the whole group is involved and responsibility is not clear. Group decision making is a formal process by which several managers work together to make a decision. University of Waterloo: Group Decision Making, BrandonGaille: 8 Pros and Cons of Group Decision Making. One of the biggest weaknesses of group decision making is the development of groupthink. Group decisions are time-consuming. 1  There is a greater chance of acceptability of that decision which is made in group as people would think that the decision should be valid as whole group has come with this. The weaknesses are that assessing outcomes is difficult, decision making process is not rational and difficulty when small tasks need to be identified. It is a way to assign accountability to multiple parties in a group, manage conflict escalation, and identify alternatives that may not be possible with individualized choices. Influence groups usually manipulate the group decision in a direction of their liking and interest. Add Remove. The first category of weakness for decision making groups, slowness and expensiveness, is probably the most common perception of committees. Analyze the characteristics of effective teams. 3. Our strengths and weaknesses can affect how well we can do the decision making. A main strength of making decisions from policy is uniformity in procedure and results. The most important weakness of the group decision making is that it can create a diffusion of responsibility. Animations and backgrounds are all original. Group decision making can allow a business to generate more ideas and facilitate greater creativity in problem-solving. Delegation saves time and is a good method for less important decisions, but ignored members might react negatively. For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. It is difficult for a single person to approach a problem from many different angles and to generate numerous good ideas. A single executive can make a decision in minutes, while a group decision requires meetings and discussion. For example, picking a number between 1 and 10 or flipping a coin. Reviewed by: Hashaw Elkins, MSPM, PMP, CSM, CSPO, PMI-PBA, LSSBB. The democratic processes are more easily acceptable and are consistent with the democratic ideals of our society. 7. Solution for Contrast the strengths and weaknesses of group decision making. Strengths and Weaknesses of Group Decision Making In school, at home, or at work, it is unavoidable that we will exchange ideas and opinions with a group of people to reach a decision that will affect each person in a variety ways. Also, there are economies of scale, enabling more efficient processes. 6. Group decisions have conformity pressures in groups. Even if a group leader ultimately makes the decision, sharing of information can help the leader choose more wisely. Gregory Hamel has been a writer since September 2008 and has also authored three novels. This is a process where the judgment, mental alacrity, and effectiveness of the group's decision making is hampered by pressures from the group. From this, it has been proposed that group decision making has significant setbacks. Strengths and Weaknesses of Group Decision-Making Techniques. The answer to that question is yes. Some Strengths were defender, peacemaker, and some weaknesses were she was out of touch with emotions Strength and weaknesses of group Decision making? Cons of Individual Decision Making. A strength of group decision making is that it gives managers the opportunity to share knowledge about a decision that needs to be made. Strengths and weakness of 5 decision making processes. These can take hours or much longer, depending on the formal decision method used. 3. An individual while making any decision uses his own intuition and views. Copyright 2020 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. The group leaves the choice to chance. Hamel maintains a blog focused on massive open online courses and computer programming. Decision making as a group has numerous strengths and weaknesses. Group Decision Making Learning Objectives 1. Graphics and photos are from stock libraries. Disadvantages of Group Decision Making: There are certain drawbacks in group decision making also. The choice of one technique will depend on what criteria you want to emphasize and the cost/benefit trade-off. Strengths And Weakness Of Decision Making Decision making, something that so simple yet troublesome if we were too careless on doing it. Explain factors that can lead to process gain in group versus individual decision making. Group members, such as those in the marketing team at Messy Chocolates, tend to want solidarity and usually think alike. ⊕ Weaknesses of Group Decision-Making: ⇒ While there are a number of advantages to using groups to make decisions in organisations, there are a number of shortcomings: Group decisions are usually more time consuming . If managers have fundamental disagreements about how to approach a decision, it may be difficult -- if not impossible -- for a group to reach a consensus, which is a result that everyone can agree to even if it represents the lowest common denominator of all ideas offered. The tendency to conform to the group and avoid raising potentially unpopular ideas is called groupthink. They typically take more time to reach a solution than making the decision alone. 2. The people involved in a group decision understand the rationale behind it, are more likely to accept it and are capable of communicating the decision to their work groups or departments. Another disadvantage of decision making is that responsibility is not clear. There are some disadvantages to group decision making that can be overcome. Although it is very quick, it does not satisfy the organizational need for complete information. While group decision making involves lot of time, money and energy. Aug 21 2015 05:37 PM This can be lead to lack of accountability - of the team members and ultimately hinder the achievement of team goal. There are some disadvantages to group decision making that can be overcome. 2. Given the strengths of group decision-making, can we conclude that the groups actually do make higher-quality decisions than individuals do? Despite the fact that there are many situational factors that affect the functioning of groups, scholars offer some general guidance about the relative strengths and weaknesses of group decision making. A detailed discussion of the merits and demerits of individual decisions has also been undertaken. Group decision-making is a time consuming process. Please review the 5 different decision making processes most prevalent in the 5 different organizations. These can take hours or much longer, depending on the formal decision method used. Group decision-making can be defined as a participatory process that collectively involves more than one person in decision-making. A weakness of group decision making is that it generally increases the amount of time it takes to make decisions. Groups can use different methods to arrive at decisions, such as voting, consensus and electing a leader to make the final decision, but all methods have advantages and disadvantages. Each of these group decision-making techniques has its own strengths and weaknesses. Hello Respected Researchers and HR managers, In this section we …, Strengths and Weaknesses of Group Decision-Making, Organisational Structure with Different Models, Empowerment-Definition, Guidelines for implementing and impact. Often the decision quality is higher in groups, because the group as a whole can generate more complete information and knowledge. 2) Explain the four-step process that charismatic leaders use to influence followers. A group decision made by an elected group leader or expert may happen relatively quickly, while it can … In addition, groups tend to generate more ideas than individuals, and they can evaluate ideas better than individuals. There is also a theory which says that the larger a group gets, the less is the individual contribution from each member. Contrast strengths and weaknesses of group decision making. CiteSeerX - Document Details (Isaac Councill, Lee Giles, Pradeep Teregowda): Ideally, meeting evaluations hsould enable a facilitator to diagnose a group’s strenghts and weaknesses and select appropriate interventions to help the group improve its effectiveness. The strengths and weaknesses of group decision making Stephen B. Bates Holy Family University ABSTRACT Focusing on five models of committee effectiveness for purposes of this assessment will lend insight into the strengths and weaknesses of utilizing a structured action plan as a guide to achieving and maintaining optimum committee effectiveness in higher education. There are several advantages and disadvantages of group decision making to consider before finalizing any choice. The desire for consensus also can cause decision makers to avoid conflict and the presentative of alternatives. Group decision-making enables several people to combine their knowledge, skills, and experience, to reach some better decisions. There is also generally an increased acceptance of and commitment to the decision, partly because of the diffusion of responsibility across the members of the group. 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