Group Decision Making

As with many choices or schools of thought, there is no right or wrong answer all the time. In some circumstances groups make better decisions than individuals; however, it can also be seen that in some circumstances individuals make better decisions than groups. As a group, there is an increased capability to develop alternatives to a problem, but due to the larger number of people involved in the rational decision making-process, evaluating and selecting the best alternative may take a larger amount of time. This increase in time may be due to internal conflicts and pressures of attempting to conform.

It can be seen that groups make better decisions based on the following concepts: the ability to utilize a greater amount of knowledge due to an aggregation of the resources of several individuals; the ability to develop a larger diversity of views; greater acceptance of a solution; and an increased legitimacy, due to a decision-making process that is consistent with democratic ideals (Robbins et al 2004, p. 261).

Likewise, it can be seen that groups make poor decisions based on the following concepts: an increased time consumption when dealing with a group decision making process, as opposed to one decision maker; the pressure to conform amongst individuals within the group cause a withholding of actual decisions; the domination by the few may block the good ideas of the many; lastly, ambiguous responsibility means that no one person is responsible for the end product (Robbins et al 2004, p. 261-2).

Group structure determines the behavior of members and makes it possible to explain and predict a large portion of individual behavior within the group. Some of the variables of a group structure include: ‘formal leadership, roles, norms, status, group size and composition of the group’ (Robbins et al 2004, p. 248).

Groupthink determines how a group deals with group norms, such as situations in which the high pressure for conformity deters the group from critically evaluating unusual, minority or unpopular views (Robbins et al 2004, p. 248-9). An example of this in a health organization may be a group of doctors trying to determine how to medically treat a patient who is both an alcoholic and a drug addict. Based on group perception, of these clients ‘bringing it all upon themselves.’ Thus, individuals within the group, in their need to conform to the group’s perception may not act appropriately or ethically, where as an individual may respond differently.

Group decision-making techniques include: interacting groups, brainstorming, and nominal group techniques (Robbins et al 2004, p.265). In interacting groups many participants censor their ideas; however, through brainstorming individuals are encouraged to develop all alternatives, reducing conformity and providing the most number of alternatives. Unfortunately, this may result in an overload of possible decisions. Lastly, the use of nominal group techniques relates to the concept of group decision-making in which individual members put forward their ideas and their alternatives in an objective manner, without the restriction of discussion and interpersonal communication.