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Small group decision making: Communication and the group process
SMALL GROUP DECISION MAKING is informed by the late Aubrey Fisher's own theory of decision making and his perspective (pragmatist) on communication. These perspectives give the book a strong theoretical framework on which to build an understanding of group communication. The fourth edition of this book is a thoroughly updated version, with a review of the recent scholarly literature, organizational changes for clarity and increased coverage of important topics such as NGT, leadership, conflict and ethics.
- GenresPsychology
264 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
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December 13, 2023
I read 100 pages worth of the 4th edition (copyright 1994) recently.
This is a wide ranging textbook, but very portable 283 pages, no thicker than your thumb. It is readable for pleasure, starting on Page 1 saying: "We must inform you at the outset that we're well aware of many of the jokes concerning decisions made by groups and the process of group decision making generally. We know that the camel is a horse designed by a committee. And that group decison making has been defined as the confusion of the loudest-talking member multiplied by the number of members present..."
Such a defensive tone about the value of teams is a relic of the late 20th century. We get a whiff of what business books must have been like back then, like a Mad Men pyramid of autocratic men, chafing at the orders coming down upon them. Luckily times have changed, at least partly thanks to women arriving in leadership.
Nobody in 2023 would bother to convince people of the effectiveness of working in collaborative teams.
The book is not a relic though. It was ahead of its time and holds up today as a decent work which went through four editions and just got more concise. It's a textbook,
Here is a list of the chapters:
* How to think about group processes
* Social and Task Dimensions of the group process
* Structural Elements of Group Communication
* Communication in groups
* Behavioral standards: roles and norms
* The process of Group decision making
* Leadership and power
* Conflict and deviance
Anatomy of communication in decision-making groups: improving effectiveness.
This is a wide ranging textbook, but very portable 283 pages, no thicker than your thumb. It is readable for pleasure, starting on Page 1 saying: "We must inform you at the outset that we're well aware of many of the jokes concerning decisions made by groups and the process of group decision making generally. We know that the camel is a horse designed by a committee. And that group decison making has been defined as the confusion of the loudest-talking member multiplied by the number of members present..."
Such a defensive tone about the value of teams is a relic of the late 20th century. We get a whiff of what business books must have been like back then, like a Mad Men pyramid of autocratic men, chafing at the orders coming down upon them. Luckily times have changed, at least partly thanks to women arriving in leadership.
Nobody in 2023 would bother to convince people of the effectiveness of working in collaborative teams.
The book is not a relic though. It was ahead of its time and holds up today as a decent work which went through four editions and just got more concise. It's a textbook,
Here is a list of the chapters:
* How to think about group processes
* Social and Task Dimensions of the group process
* Structural Elements of Group Communication
* Communication in groups
* Behavioral standards: roles and norms
* The process of Group decision making
* Leadership and power
* Conflict and deviance
Anatomy of communication in decision-making groups: improving effectiveness.
Displaying 1 of 1 review