Group Behavior In Gung Ho

Group Behavior in GUNG HO

OUTLINE OF REPORT

I. Introduction

II. Research Question

III. Discussion of the Main Framework: Group Behavior Model

IV. Analysis and Interpretation

V. Conclusion

I. INTRODUCTION

In the movie Gung Ho, Hunt Stevenson is sent to Tokyo to convince the Assan Motors Corporation to take over the recently closed Hadleyville auto plant. The Japanese company agrees, and upon the arrival of their management team in the US many changes are introduced, among them lower wages and seemingly impossible standards of efficiency and quality. The lackadaisical attitude of the American workers toward quality only adds to the cultural strain.

Kazihiro, the Japanese executive in charge of the Hadleyville plant, gives Stevenson a large pay increase on the condition that he work as their liaison to convince the American workers to conform to the new management style. More concerned with keeping his promotion than with the long-term welfare of his fellow workers, Stevenson does everything he can to trick the American workers into compliance, but the culture clash becomes too great and he begins to lose control of the men.

In an attempt to solve the problem, Stevenson makes a deal with Kazihiro: if the plant can produce 15,000 cars in one month, thereby matching Assan Motors' current record, then the workers will all be given the raise they've been asking for. When Stevenson calls an assembly to tell the workers about the deal, they balk at the idea of making so many cars in so short a time. Under pressure from the crowd, Stevenson lies and says that if they make 13,000 they will get a partial raise. After nearly a month of working long hours toward a goal of 13,000 -- despite Stevenson's pleas for them to aim for the full 15,000 -- the truth is discovered and the workers strike.

Because of the strike, Assan Motors plans to discontinue using the factory. Stevenson responds by announcing to the workers that the real reason they are facing such difficulties is because the Japanese have the work ethic that too many Americans have abandoned. While his audience is not impressed, Stevenson, hoping to save the town and atone for his deception, and Kazihiro, desperate to show his worth to his superiors, went back into the factory and began to build cars by themselves, trying to meet the goal of 15,000. They succeed in inspiring the rest of the workers to return to the factory and at the deadline, though they come up a few cars short, their cooperation and dedication so impressed the strict Assan Motors CEO that he congratulates Kazihiro and declares the plant a success. As the end credits roll, the workers and management have compromised with the latter agreeing to partially ease up on their requirements while the workers agree to be more cooperative (Wikipedia).

II. RESEARCH QUESTION

What explains the improvement in the performance of the Hadleyville workers (Americans)?

III. FRAMEWORK: GROUP BEHAVIOR MODEL

The main framework utilized in this paper to delineate the cause of the improvement in the performance of the American workers is the Group Behavior Model (Robbins 2000, pp.223-239). In this particular model the following variables are identified as determinants of a work group's performance and level of satisfaction: (a) external conditions imposed on the group, (b) group member resources, (c) group structure, (d) group processes, and (e) group task.

A. External Conditions Imposed on the Group

A work group is influenced by conditions imposed from the outside. These external conditions include the organization's overall strategy, its authority structures, formal regulations, resources, employee selection process, performance evaluation and reward systems, culture, and physical work setting.

Goal setting model. Supplementing the manner in which an organization's overall strategy and formal regulations influences group behavior is the Goal Setting Theory of Edwin Locke (Kreitner and Kinicki 2005, pp.305-308). Locke's model proposes that setting goals enables and encourages an individual to direct one's attention, regulate one's effort, increase one's persistence, and develop strategies to attain one's goals. This particular model proposes that specifying goals motivates an individual to work towards accomplishing one's goals and thereby increases one's performance.

Feedback and rewards model. Under the Rewards Systems as an Externally Imposed Condition to A Work Group's Performance is the model which links feedback and rewards to job performance (Kreitner and Kinicki 2005, pp.325-331). In this particular model, an individual's abilities and efforts determine the stability of and performance in one's job, which are enhanced through timely and instructive feedback and properly administered rewards and positive reinforcement.

B. Group Member Resources

Intrinsic to a work group's potential level of performance are the resources that each member can bring to the group, particularly, knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). Knowledge statements refer to an organized body of information usually of a factual or procedural nature which, if applied, makes adequate performance on the job possible. Skill statements refer to the proficient manual, verbal or mental manipulation of data or things. Skills can be readily measured by a performance test where quantity and quality of performance are tested, usually within an established time limit. Ability statements refer to the power to perform an observable activity at the present time. (Kreitner and Kinicki 2005, pp.453-455)

Part of a group's performance can be predicted by assessing the KSAs of its members, but a group's performance is not merely the summation of individual KSAs. Nonetheless, these KSAs set parameters for what members can do and how effectively they will perform in a group. Good team players have the right KSAs. Teamwork KSAs can be divided into interpersonal KSAs such as conflict resolution and collaborative problem solving; and self-management KSAs such as performance management, planning and coordinating.

C. Group Structure

The