Page 253 - DMGT402_MANAGEMENT_PRACTICES_AND_ORGANIZATIONAL_BEHAVIOUR

Management Practices and Organisational Behaviour

Notes 12.1.1 Types of Groups

Groups can be either formal or informal.
1. Formal Groups: A formal group is set up by the organisation to carry out work in support
of the organisation's goals. In formal groups, the behaviours that one should engage in
are stipulated by – and directed toward – organisational goals. Examples include a book-
keeping department, an executive committee, and a product development team. Formal
groups may be command groups or task groups.
(a) Command Group: A command group consists of a manager and the employees who
report to him or her. Thus, it is defined in terms of the organisation's hierarchy.
Membership in the group arises from each employee's position on the organisational
chart.
(b) Task Group: A task group is made up of employees who work together to complete
a particular task or project. A task group's boundaries are not limited to its immediate
hierarchical superior.
It can cross command relationships. A employee's membership in the group arises from
the responsibilities delegated to the employee – that is, the employee's responsibility to
carry out particular activities. Task group may be temporary with an established life span,
or they may be open ended.
2. Informal Groups: An organisation's informal groups are groups that evolve to meet
social or affiliation needs by bringing people together based on shared interests or
friendship. Thus, informal groups are alliances that are neither formally structured nor
organisationally determined. These groups are natural formations in the work
environment that appear in response to the need for social contact. Many factors explain
why people are attracted to one another. One explanation is simply proximity; when
people work near one another every day, they are likely to form friendships. That
likelihood is even greater when people also share similar attitudes, personalities, or
economic status.
(a) Friendship Groups: Groups often develop because the individual members have one
or more common characteristics. We call these formations 'friendship groups'. Social
alliances, which frequently extend outside the work situation, can be based on similar
age, same political view, attended the same college, etc.
(b) Interest Groups: People who may or may not be aligned into common command or
task groups may affiliate to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned.
This is an interest group.
(c) Reference Groups: Sometimes, people use a group as a basis for comparison in making
decisions or forming opinions. When a group is used in this way, it is a reference
group. Employees have reference groups inside or outside the organisation where
they work. For most people, the family is the most important reference groups.
Other important reference groups typically include co-workers, friends, and members
of the person's religious organisation. The employee need not admire a group for it
to serve as a reference group. Some reference groups serve as a negative reference;
the employee tries to be unlike members of these groups.
(d) Membership Groups: When a person does belong to a group (formal and informal
groups to which employees actually belong) the group is called a membership
group (or affiliation group) for that person. Members of a group have some collection
of benefits and responsibilities that go beyond the group serving as a reference
point. In a membership group, each member would be expected to contribute to the

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