MIS - 604 Hackman, et al Page 1Anthony Townsend

Hackman, J. R., & Morris, C. G. (1975). Group tasks, group interaction process, and group performance effectiveness: A review and proposed integration. Advances in experimental social psychology, 8, 45-99.

Overview

“This study reports tests of the input-process-output model of small group systems.

Regression statistics analyzed associations between interaction process variables and

measures of group task products under two task conditions: an unstructured outcome

case study problem and a structured outcome rank-order decision task Results for the

unstructured task showed positive relationships between specific process (independent)

and output (dependent) variables: Agreeing and Optimism; Gives Opinion and Issue

Involvement; Disagrees and Originality; Asks for Information and Length (of written

product). Nonsignificant results for the Structured task indicated that ranking-task

products were positively associated with messages of positive regard for others and

requests for opinion and negatively related to personally disconfirmatory messages sent

to others. Findings are discussed in terms of the general model's conceptual adequacy

and methodological limitations associated with small group inquiry. (Science Direct,

2017)”

Key Points● Decision makers often assign important decision making tasks, like designing a

new policy, to groups for decisions.

● Group performance and performance improvement are a fields that could use

more research. This paper disagrees with pre-existing research that:

MIS - 604 Hackman, et al Page 2Anthony Townsend

○ Current research suggests groups should not be used to perform

important tasks.

○ Research also suggests noninteracting individuals are at task/decision

making an interacting group.

● The paper offers the idea that a solution may be found in examining and

challenging the ongoing communication within collective teams, called the

“ongoing interaction process”.

○ Identify issues in interaction

○ Measure

○ Change impediments (alteration of input)

○ Influence group performance

○ Issues may include: input-process relationships and process-performance

relationships, task type, analytics (coding systems), behavior categories

and the way communication is evaluated, stochastic processes,

inconsistencies, research settings, cultural norms

● Other issues with current research may lie in the existing “methodological and

conceptual tools”.

● Some pro-group social psychologist say groups can have a positive outcome of

identifying and helping one-another remedy errors but that they are slow and

inefficient. They also suggest that if “group think” occurs, error resolution may

lesson.

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● Positives: Member Effort, member knowledge and skill, strategies for

collaboration and communication, level of effort, member experience (positive)

will improve the initiative

● Steps for improvement: Process consultation, diagnosis feedback, task redesign,

strategic member effort allocation

● Motivation. Member knowledge and skill, self-management, outside team

assistance, and high personal energy impact groups and their success or failures

○ Task stimulus

○ Task moderator

○ Task classification systems

● Change oriented research may help with strategy intervention

● Elusiveness and general theory

○ “(a) the role of group interaction process as a major determinant of group

productivity; (b) some selected "input" variables which we see as powerful

influences on group performance and thus as useful points of leverage for

changing performance-whether directly, or through the group process; and

(c) three "summary variables" (effort, performance strategies, knowledge

and skill) which are proposed as devices for summarizing the most

powerful proximal causes of group task effectiveness. (Hackman, et al pp.

44)”

ConclusionTeam decision making is controversial and under-researched. Additional study could

involve diagnosing communication and team dynamic impediments to improve task

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management and allocation of team ideas, efforts, which could make teams perform

even better than individually or as teams.

“In sum, the research suggests that it is in fact possible to create new, non-

traditional norms in groups (at least having to do with matters of task

performance strategy) and to trace the effects of those norms on group

effectiveness. Moreover, observations of the interaction of the groups in this

study showed both that group process was powerfully affected by the

interventions made, and that changes in interaction process led directly to

measurable differences in group productivity. (Hackman, et al pp. 43)”

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Citations

Science Direct (2017), Publisher Summary,

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065260108602488