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How do you improve decision-making when conformity is an issue?

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The CEO of your company has been extremely frustrated with what has been occurring within the organization lately. In a recent managers meeting he exclaimed, "Everyone around this place just follows the status quo. No one ever has any unique ideas on how we can make this organization better. You just sit here and wait for me to give you directions on what to do. Then you follow those directions word for word without asking any questions or making any improvements. We need to change this attitude and change it quickly". He then pointed out each of your group members and said, "You are in charge of fixing this and I want a strategy to fix this on my desk in one week!"

The CEO has created a group to analyze the possible causes and to identify recommendations to overcome what he sees as detrimental to the organizations success. YOU have been selected to be a member of this group.

You must do analysis, have discussions and come to a consensus to prepare a report (paper) that addresses the following:

Identify the decision theory or theories that your group believes best explains what is occurring within the organization (is the decision making behavior within the organization best explained by using groupthink, social comparison theory, conformity, group polarization, a combination of these concepts, or all of these concepts?).

What recommendations can you make regarding how people can avoid group or mob mentality (such as deindividuation or groupthink)?

Identify fully at least three recommendations your group can make to the CEO that can help him improve the current decision making conditions within the organization?

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Solution Summary

This solution discusses how conformity applies to the situation and how to improve the group's ability to function as a productive group in 1067 words with four references.

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First I will remind you that we are assisting you in your work and we cannot write your papers for you. I can however give you some basics of the paper and the direction I would choose to go. You can write the paper by adding your own examples, thoughts, and lessons or experiences. I can also use the APA format for some in text citations and I will supply you with some references as well, so you can follow up. Also, do not forget to use some of the information from your text and lectures to support the writing.

I would suggest a reading of the Challenger decision making process as one example where groupthink was a disaster with deadly outcomes. You can find information on it at: http://www.afirstlook.com/archive/groupthink.cfm

The CEO of this company is faced with a group that is mired in conformity. No one wants to step outside of the suggested pattern or beyond the suggested ways of doing things. Decision making is limited to what the boss says.

According to ChangingMinds.org (2008), conformity is based on the need to be seen as one of the in group, an insider as opposed to someone not accepted in the group. The group way of performing tasks in this situation is to wait until the CEO points out the problem, tells each person what to do, and then each person performs the task exactly as told. If there are any problems, situations where the task cannot work, it is either ignored or an attempt would be made to make it conform to the instructions as well. There also appears to be the attitude of groupthink involved, where the people involved choose to perform in a way that continues the appearance of unanimity rather than independence. Though the phrase was coined by William H. Whyte in 1952, it is Irving Janis who ...

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