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Group decision making vs individual
Essay paper on advantages and disadvantages of group decision in today society
Group decision making vs individual
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John Heywood once said, “Two minds are better than one”, and this just may be true when people need the best solution to a problem. In Suroweicki’s book, The Wisdom of Crowds, he expresses a common belief that if a group is working towards a mutual goal, than their results will by far surpass those of a single individual. The Law of Averages helps determine a group’s ability to collaborate its ideas into a single outcome, which confirms how Surowiecki’s ideas that a larger group of people can provide many accurate predictions. Throughout his book, Surowiecki discusses how predictions and probability are some of the many key ingredients to achieving good results (10). Similarly, the Law of Averages states that groups will predict the correct outcome after a series of trial and error, which supports Surowiecki’s ideas. Even though working in a group might provide better solutions in some situations, many characteristics can hinder that group’s success. More importantly, in order for any group to come to collectively wise decisions, some knowledge is one of the necessary characteristics needed amongst its members.
Another key factor that has sometimes contributed to the success of a group’s answer would be the fact that they may sometimes rely on a single individual to guide the group in the right direction to achieve results (30). Overall, no matter how brilliant a single individual maybe, large groups of people actually turn out to be smarter than a select few. Therefore, groups are better at solving problems, developing opinions, making informed decisions, and predicting the outcome (22). Surowiecki believes crowds are smarter when they work as a team even if it may seem more realistic to work individually (XVII). Surowiecki goe...
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...an actually become. Along the same lines, the Law of Averages has also been successful because probability of information is what makes it work. In fact, we can use Surowiecki’s concepts and the Law of Averages in the same way by taking people’s opinions and then averaging them out to get the best answer possible. Overall, my discussions of Suroweicki’s concepts and the Law of Averages are in fact addressing the larger matter of how both of these ideas relate to how a group processes information to achieve a solution. Even more important, I think the truth behind the Law of Averages and the wisdom of crowds is that the best results come from lots of independent individual decisions.
Works Cited
Surowiecki, James. The Wisdom of Crowds. New York: Random House, 2004. Print
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. Dir. Robert Greenwald. Brave New Theaters, 2005. DVD.
Mallaby admits Wal-Mart can treat their employees and other retailers unfairly, but as a result everyone can share in the 50 billion in savings that American shoppers consume annually. The pay that employees get is the price they must pay for low priced merchandise. Because of the minimal pay to employees, Wal-Mart strengthens its’ consumer buying power. Giving the American shoppers the savings they need, Wal-Mart’s has ultimately been them successful. Wal-Mart has potentially wiped out the middle class as an employer, but the employees can now work and ...
Within an excerpt from, “The United States of Wal-Mart,” John Dicker explains that Wal-Mart is a troubling corporation. Dicker begins his article by discussing why the store is so popular within the news in an age of global terrorism, coming to the conclusion that Wal-Mart has a huge scope in the United States and that it has more scandals, lawsuits, and stories than any other supercenter. Continually, he goes on to explain that Wal-Mart outsources jobs and their companies demands makes it hard for employees to have livable wages and good working conditions. Furthermore, Dicker addresses the claim that Wal-Mart provides good jobs, by destroying this perception with statistics showing how employees live in poverty and that their union scene
Quinn, Bill. How Walmart Is Destroying America (and the world), And What You Can Do About It. Third Edition. Ten Speed Press, 2005. Print.
Turman, P. (October 13, 2000b). Group Decision Making & Problem Solving: Group Communication [Lecture] Cedar Falls, IA. University of Northern Iowa, Communication Studies Department.
... that areas of expertise can be exploited, different people are good at different things. Groups can discuss material, and that discussion can improve the quality of the decision. Groups are less likely to suffer from judgmental biases that individuals have when they make decisions. People are more likely to follow through on decisions made by groups that they are connected to. Also, more monumental decisions can be made in groups, because one member will not be singled out for blame, making the entire group responsible.
Group formation or formation of cliques is typically seen as the stereotypical jocks, cheerleaders, geeks, or nerds. But what most do not necessarily take into consideration is that members of each group have an existing commonality between them even if most of the members do not know what that common trait is. Being a part of a group can have an impact on an individual. Through group discussion, individuals only strengthen their beliefs due to the fact that they know that they are not alone in those beliefs since they have friends
"Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices." Top Documentary Films. Web. 8 Aug 2011. .
In my opinion, I felt that this exercise revealed to us that it isn’t easy making decision in groups, and it could be very difficult. Furthermore it provided us with social and behavioral perceptions to shows us how we use them without even acknowledging it.
In conclusion, something happens to individuals when they collect in a group, they act differently to the way they would on their own, regardless of whether the group has gathered to solve problems, make decisions or have fun, and regardless of whether the members know each other. (Psychology in perspective, third edition, Tavris and Wade, 2001)
Hellerman, Caleb. 2004. “The Wal-Martization of Everywhere” & “Low Road/High Road.” Retrieved March 6, 2004 from: www.inequality.org.
Greenwald, Robert. "Walmart: The High Cost Of Low Prices FULL MOVIE." YouTube. YouTube, 01 November 2005. Web. 21 May 2013.
This not only relates to the overall idea of the individual’s actions based on group influence but also alludes to the sub idea of the group of the classroom and how the individual does not want to be seen as lesser by giving a wrong answer. In doing this the group influences the individual to go along with the main idea of the group. In this experiment when given three lines to decide which one is more closely related to the original line it was found that the individual, that was part of the experimental group, would often pick the wrong answer to go along with the group (Baron, 2012). The influence stems from the group all choosing the wrong answer then the individual begins to believe that there is something wrong with the answer they had originally chosen due to the fact that the group overall has made a majority answer. The group itself can present tangible influence when they look to the individual to answer. That moment when the group looks toward the individual is where the influence becomes more concrete and the individual’s own beliefs begin to waiver because they believe that perhaps they are wrong and the group is correct
Working in groups is challenging at times. Other times it is very rewarding. We are so focused on life that we do not take time to reflect on things as much as we should. Being in a Groups class has opened my eyes to a whole new world. I have begun to question, explore, and even understand how things work. I even get how they work sometimes. Not only is there a process involved in making individual decisions, process is involved in group decisions as well. This paper attempts give insight into my reflection of my group decision process.
A group can be define as ‘any number of people who (1) interact with one another; (2) are psychologically aware of one another and (3) perceive themselves to be a group’ (Mullins, L, 2007, p.299). Certain task can only be performed by combined effort of a group. Organisation can use groups to carry out projects, which will help to achieve its overall aim. However, for the group to be successful they must understand what is expected of them and have the right skill to complete the task. . (Mullins, L, 2006)
Several experiments and researches have been conducted that have focused on how people behave in groups. The findings have revealed that groups affect peoples’ attitudes, behavior and perceptions. Groups are essential for personal life, as well as in work life.