Book Description
Although researchers and practitioners have long claimed a relationship between group process and performance, results of studies actually testing that relationship have been equivocal (Goodman, 1986). There seems to be little concrete evidence that intervening to improve a group's process actually enhances performance (Kaplan, 1979). Nor does it seem that general models of group behavior allow us to understand why some groups are more effective than others (Goodman, 1986; Hackman & Morris, 1975). Three factors appear to contribute to these equivocal results. First, models of group process often have failed to address the complete range of group behaviors, particularly those that describe how members of the group interact with others external to the group (Ancona, 1988). Second, researchers have often failed to take into account differences in the tasks that groups must complete (Goodman, 1986). Different tasks clearly require different processes for high performance (Herold, 1979). Third, researchers have often used global frameworks that are very general to predict performance rather than producing fine-grained models with clear variables and operational measures (Goodman, Ravlin, & Schminke, 1987). Together, these three factors may explain why group process often fails to covary with the performance of groups operating within organizations. Since the tasks of many groups within organizations require interdependent action, failure to consider the external interactions required and the lack of inclusive, fine-grained models of group process make it unlikely that the appropriate process variables related to performance will be measured...
