1. Carefully read the attached : Dual Concern Model, Interdependence and Group Conflict and the Case Study, " A New Brand for Senior Health Plus". 2. Then complete the five questions outlined. Make

INTERGROUP CONFLICT:

SOURCES OF CONFLICT: WITH A FOCUS ON CONFLICT RELATED TO INTERDEPENDENCE OF GROUPS ON EACH OTHER

1. INTERDEPENDENCE OF GROUPS ON ONE ANOTHER FOR ORGANIZATIONAL FUNCTIONING:

• Sequential and Reciprocal Interdependence are most relevant to this Case Study;

• Conflict may be related to pure interdependence, role ambiguity, and conflict over difference in group time sense, work orientation, or group work culture.

1. To translate this into some of the types of conflict you discussed recently, note the following examples of Intergroup Conflict related to Interdependence:

• Conflicts over Role Ambiguity: Who is responsible for taking the lead on certain tasks or issues? Who has the authority to take this responsibility?

• Conflicts over the Timeframes it takes to do specific types of work, or whole groups of tasks: disagreements over scheduling of work hand-offs and delivery of work from one group to another. This includes conflicts over the Pace at which work is done and then handed on from one group to another.

• Conflicts over what is defined as a Quality work product. Does one group, for instance, feel that the work which it receives from another group, and which must then be further processed, is of low quality, when in fact the first group thinks it is just fine?

• Conflicts over Communication: Is information critical to the processing and hand-off of work from one group to another incomplete, not timely, missing, etc.?

• Conflicts over Change and Adaptation: To what extent are groups that rely on each other for the completion of crucial organizational tasks more or less likely to try new ways of solving problems? To what extent is one group stuck with its own GroupThink, while another is more creative, flexible, and open to change and innovation in its problem-solving?

• Conflicts over Other Work Norms: To what extent do interdependent groups disagree with each other over unwritten rules of proper work performance?

3. Three Types of Interdependence in an Organizational Structure

by LaToya J. Murray, Demand Media

In the 1967 book Organizations in Action sociologist James D. Thompson defined three types of interdependence to describe the intensity of interactions and behaviors within an organizational structure. The study of interdependence helps business owners understand how the different departments or units within their organization depend on the performance of others.

Pooled Interdependence

Pooled interdependence is perhaps the loosest form of the three. In this type of interdependence, each organizational department or business unit performs completely separate functions. While departments may not directly interact and do not directly depend on each other in the pooled interdependence model, each does contribute individual pieces to the same overall puzzle. This creates an almost blind, indirect dependence on the performance of others wherein one department’s failures could lead to the failure of the overall process.

Sequential Interdependence

Sequential interdependence occurs when one unit in the overall process produces an output necessary for the performance by the next unit. Perhaps the most obvious example of sequential interdependence is an assembly line. According to the Proven Models website, the demand for coordination to prevent slowdown is greater than for pooled task interdependence. Scheduling and planning your organization’s resources in a sequential interdependence model is essential to efficient operations.

Reciprocal Interdependence

Reciprocal interdependence is similar to sequential interdependence in that the output of one department becomes the input of another, with the addition of being cyclical. In this model, an organization’s departments are at their highest intensity of interaction. Reciprocal models are the most complex and difficult to manage--the Business Intelligence website notes that a unit can change the rules and affect everyone else at any time.

A cyclical situation where the output of one organizational division or team is regularly used as the input for another organizational division/team. When used in a business context, reciprocal interdependence means that affected corporate divisions need to communicate and interface closely with each other.

In Summary: at least some of the activities of small group/team are fully dependent on the activities of another team, so that each team’s performance influences the performance of the other group/team.

Coordination

Thompson theorized that the correct way to get departments within an organization working together effectively is to structure respective work tasks by intensity of interdependence, and then manage each of those interdependencies with different coordination methods. For example, a pooled interdependency requires standardization in rules and operating procedures, while the coordination methods for the other two interdependencies are slightly more flexible. A sequential interdependency is managed through mildly adaptive planning and scheduling, while reciprocally interdependent departments are managed through constant information sharing and mutual adjustments.