Rachel, the HR manager of a large publishing company, is considering if she should appoint a group to improve on the company's present diversity plan. The goal is to increase the diversity of the company's workforce. Summarize the advantages and disadvantages of using group decision making in this situation.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Managers should use practical guidelines to determine if group decision making will be helpful. These guidelines recommend use of groups when it can increase quality, when it can increase acceptance, or when it can increase development (see Table 7.3). If people can be developed through their participation, managers may want to involve those whose development is most important.

Advantages include a greater pool of knowledge, different perspectives, intellectual stimulation, a better understanding of decision rationale by participants, and a deeper commitment to the decision by participants.

Disadvantages include risks of a few people dominating or intimidating, groupthink, satisficing, and goal displacement.

Overall, groups take longer to make decisions. The larger the group, the lower the quality of the decision (some say seven people is the optimal size). Groups are more confident in their judgments than individuals are, though this confidence may not be warranted. Decision-making accuracy is higher when group members have a high level of knowledge about the relevant issues. Although groups don't make as high-quality decisions as the individuals acting alone, groups generally make better decisions than individuals acting alone.