A 12 page research paper which examines how work groups are changing the way that American business is conducted. This concept has been accepted as the U.S. industry's best hope for keeping a competitive edge in today's marketplace. The writer examines how this concept is being implemented by some U.S. companies and how current research points the ways in which the concept continues to evolve. Bibliography lists 17 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_Workev.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
influenced by each other...and that members have differentiated roles" (Jennings, 1996; p. 425). Going further, it has also been stated that when group members interact, "they behave in some recognized
relationship to one another and this phenomenon can be labeled group process" (p. 425). As can be inferred from these rather vague definitions, while "work groups" are recognized as
necessary, exactly how they should be instituted, run and managed remains an area for debate and research. The whole concept continues to evolve as companies explore this new way doing
business. What appear to be obvious assumptions, sometimes, turn out to be false. Questions concerning this area still abound-how do incentives affect group performance, what promotes cooperation, what hinders it,
etc. It is still being examined as to how "work groups" are affected by traditional "work norms." Within the work environment, the individual encounters two work norms which directly
affect the area of job satisfaction-entitlement and obligation. The term "entitlement" refers to what the worker may expect to receive from the employer or from co-workers-salary, fair treatment, recognition (Weisberg;
Sagie, 1996). "Obligation" refers to what the worker perceives as their contribution-hard work, cooperation with co-workers, loyalty to the employer. These two factors are interdependent of each other and
in order for job satisfaction to remain positive, a subjective balance must be maintained between the two. This point of balance will differ from culture to culture, group to group
and even individual to individual (Weisberg; Sagie, 1996). For instance, oriental cultures such as the Chinese and Japanese are oriented more toward obligation and less toward entitlement when compared with
Western cultures. Recent research, such as that conducted by Pool (1997), has shown that cohesive work groups increase job satisfaction and improve productivity. This paper will provide an overview