Improving The Quality of Intergroup Relations
Superordinate goals are goals that are approved by all groups and that may require the groups to interact in a cooperative manner to achieve the goals (e.g., produce a product, prepare a report, and complete a service to customers). Superordinate goals may also be used to create a “common enemy” that increases the cohesion among group members to defeat the enemy.
Negotiation may facilitate communication of issues causing conflict between groups so that groups can form a resolution that is suitable to members within both groups. “Principled negotiation” refers to one style of negotiation so that members attempt to problem-solve until a resolution between groups is reached rather than focusing on which their individual positions. (Fischer and Ury, 1981)
Member exchanges allow group members to exchange roles with those of the other group members. These exchanges are intended to provide a new perspective.
Intergroup Team Development may be used to improve relations for members within the same group or between groups. One intervention developed by Blake, Shephard, and Mouton (1964) has members of both groups generate one list about how the group perceives the other group and one list that describes how they think the other group will describe them; the lists are then shared with both groups to reduce misperceptions.
Reducing the need for intergroup interaction may be necessary for work groups that cannot work well together. A “coordinating group” may be used as an intermediary between groups so that each group would communicate through the “coordinating group”. Organizations may create slack resources by adding additional inventory so that groups do not have to interact as frequently. Organizations may also reduce task interdependence between those groups that function under different time frames and deadlines (i.e., physically separate the groups).
The resource allocation process should be fair so that all groups have access to the process and political considerations between groups are minimized. Organizations should first reexamine the process to determine that groups have the resources needed to be effective.
Read more about this topic: Group Behaviour
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