ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND ANALYSIS COURSE ASSIGNMENT QUESTION 2 IN WHAT
WAYS DO GROUPS BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY FROM INDIVIDUALS? This essay will attempt to
answer the above question by not only studying the conduct of individuals and
groups in a work context, but also by looking at the causes of behaviour.
Organisational behaviour theories, experiments and case studies will be used
to investigate the behaviour of first the individual and then the group in a
work environment. The term "group" for the purposes of this assignment as been
defined as a formal group which has been established by an organisation at a
point in time in with the purpose of achieving a specified goal. Although it
is noted that many friendship and informal groupings do develop. When both the
behaviour of the individual and the group have been assessed, a discussion
will be made as to how these behavioural patterns differ, why they differ and
to what extent they differ. Individual Behaviour There are many theories of
human behaviour used for the purposes of management and these are constantly
being updated. Traditional management thinking focuses on the idea that in
order to understand how a person will act in a given set of circumstances,
individuals motives have to be assessed. A more modern approach looks at the
individuals: abilities, personality, personality traits, ethics and culture.
Traditional View In earlier models it was first assumed that people were
basically the same, that they had the same wants and needs. Leavitt [1]
suggested that there are certain generalisations, which are useful in
predicting human behaviour. In order to illustrate these generalisations he
asked this question, "What are the fundamental, unexceptionally truths of
human behaviour?" Some of the answers he found included: People are products
of their environment. People want security. All people want is bread and
butter. People are f...