ABSTRACT
Our century has seen a dramatic transformation from paternalistic management to a more grouporiented style of decision making. Committees, task forces, work teams, quality circles, matrix designs, joint ventures, and so on—these are in vogue and show no sign of losing appeal. “Groupism” is supported by an assumption that groups make superior decisions and that membership in a cohesive group inspires confidence, sharing, coordination, and leads to higher motivation and identification. Decades of teambuilding consultants built a major industry on the concern of managers that group conflict is dysfunctional.
