Online Content

1. Bakken, Bent E., "A System Dynamics Approach to Group Formation and Productivity"

Type:
Document
Date Created:
1987
Collection:
System Dynamic Society Records
Collecting Area:
University Archives
Collection ID:
ua435
Parent Record(s):
23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8, 83d7d84d4a906b77a877f50ccddf0ccd, and ef456d2a6c943c510d5169405dfd9416
Thumbnail Path Ss:
/downloads/n583zd13m?file=thumbnail
System Modified Dtsi:
2020-01-02T18:40:51Z
Description:
Based on previous work on Group formation, in particular on the classic “The Human Group” by Homans (Homans 1950), we develop a System Dynamics model to portray the growth of two social subgroups within a larger work group. The work-group is the people working in the bank wiring room of the Western Electric facilities in Hawthorne, Illinois as described in Homans work (op.cit). Working with concepts taken from Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger 1957) we describe the dynamic interaction pattern of a synthetic group consisting of five individuals. Depending on hypothetical time constraints describing the participants willingness to change, we get a distinct subgroup formation process before the development of a common set of beliefs for the entire group or just development of a “group culture” without the prior formation of the subgroups. Further research is suggested, notably the inclusion of antagonism in the model. It is also suggested that such SD models can be used to integrate knowledge of personalities to simulate the impact of a person on the performance and behavior of a work-group.