Group Cohesiveness and Organizational Performance

Psychological Contract,Group Cohesiveness and OrganizationalPerformanceSHEN HongyanDepatment of Economics and Mangement Huahzong University of Science and Technology WuchangBranch, P.R. China, 430074Hi_shyly999@126.comAbstract: With the constant transformation in organizational management, psychological contract,group cohesiveness, and organizational performance become the organizational behavior and humanresources management hot spots. This paper reviewed the concept, the connation and application ofrelevant research about psychological contract and group cohesiveness, has discussed the interactiverelationships among psychological contract, group cohesiveness and organizational performance in themanagement practice.Key words: Psychological contract; Group cohesiveness; Organizational performance1 InstructionWith the constant transformation in organizational management, psychological contract, groupcohesiveness, and organizational performance become the organizational behavior and human resourcesmanagement hot spots. In the process of the organizational operation, there are cohesiveness andpsychological contract which are informal and implied in the heart of employee except for the formaleconomic contract kept by written. Though they have not strong sanctions as the economic and legalcontract, they are also dominant factors in determining the attitude and obligation of employees towardsorganization.2 Group Cohesiveness2.1 Summary of group cohesivenessThe group cohesiveness’s initial research is from Mr Dugu who called it "gathering" instinct .thelarge-scale studies began in the 1940s when K. Lewin began the research of the human behavior ofgroups. Compared with earlier studies, modern researches tend to take cohesiveness as a variable, andfocus on two categories of issues: First, the group behavior are affected by the various levels ofcohesiveness among the groups, second, the factors are to determine the size of group cohesiveness.Western psychologists often directly study the interaction and feelings of emotional between membersof groups and stress the cohesiveness’s emotion ingredients. For example, the U.S. social psychologistL. Festinger analyzes the community cohesiveness by the communication frequency and the intensity ingroups. The Soviet social psychologist's research stresses on group's joint activity, stresses thecohesiveness’s flash-awareness, and regards as the establishment above the joint activity processfoundation's group solidarity is the community cohesive force and regards the group solidarityestablished on the basis of joint activities as a group cohesiveness.2.2 The concept and integrant part of the group cohesivenessFestinger, who published "informal group of social interaction pressure" in 1950, proposes thecohesiveness’ three integrant parts: 1attraction among group members; 2group’s attractive targetsand tasks; 3the prestige which one can obtain from the group. About the 1960s, the communitycohesiveness's research mostly concentrated to between individuals and between individuals and groupsto the extent. In the 1970s, with the research's thorough, some scholars thought why the group membersin the group will be attracted by other people would be very important, and there are two kinds of366

easons: one is that people needs to work effectively diligently together with other people (taskcohesiveness force); second, needs to be together harmoniously with other people (contactcohesiveness).In the 1980s, the group cohesiveness force's research has made new progress, Zaccaro, et al,described cohesiveness as a dynamic process, not static. They advocated cohesiveness should be dividedinto two aspects at least: 1task cohesiveness, it is related to group's targets and performance indexes;2contact cohesiveness, it more involves interpersonal relations, such as friendship relations andemotional support.Some researches showed that the level of groups cohesiveness were affected by many factors,summarized in the following several: 1group's leadership way: Lewin et al, who did the classicexperiments that compared the each experiment group's cohesiveness and group atmosphere under theleadership of "democracy" and "autocratic" and "laissez-faire" The results showed that theDemocratic-leadership group members are more friendly than other groups, the member emotion ismore positive, the thought is more active, the cohesive force is stronger. 2Common traits betweenmember's: If the group members have the common goals, benefits, interests and hobbies as well as thedesires and so on, the group's cohesiveness is stronger. 3members of the groups dependence: thegreater dependence to the group the members were satisfied with their desires from the group, thestronger the group’s attractiveness. 4exterior influence: The external threat can strengthen the groupmember's common values, thus enhances the group cohesiveness. Groups such as the reasonableinter-group competition can strengthen the cohesiveness. 5reward way and the aim of the internalgroup: The different reward way has the different influence to the community member's emotion and theexpectation. The reward way which unifies with the community is advantageous to the enhancement ofthe group cohesiveness. The group member's mission organically integrated can enhance the collectiveideas and group cohesiveness. factors: the communication ways of information are different,the group members’ individual characteristics, interests and ideological level will also affect thecohesiveness.6other3 Psychological Contract and Group Cohesiveness3.1 Psychological contract3.1.1 Connotation of psychological contractThe term “psychological contract” was first used in the context of work organizations by Argyris in1960, as a footnote in Understanding Organizational Behavior. Levinson, Price, Munden, Mandl, andSolley elaborate the concept in a case study of a utility company. Levinson and colleagues appliedMenninger’s concept of the “psychotherapy contract,” which ascribes the intangible aspects of thecontractual relationship that exists between psychoanalysts and patients, to the work setting. They definethe psychological contract, or “unwritten contract,” as the sum of all mutual expectations between theorganization and the employee. It includes what both parties are entitled to receive and what each isobliged to provide to the other. The underlying idea is that an exchange relationship exists between theorganization and the worker, as previously conceptualized by Barnard and Simon and elaborated inequity theory and social exchange theory; Levinson and colleagues pointed out that psychologicalcontracts are largely implicit and unspoken, and they frequently antedate the formal relationshipbetween a person and an organization. Some of the expectations (e.g., regarding salary and workload)concern concrete issues, but others are related to less tangible matters (e.g., dignity at work, opportunityfor growth, and a sense of being cared for by the organization), which are revealed only indirectly.Nonetheless, all of these expectations are assumed to determine the relationship between theorganization and the employee.In this conceptualization, the psychological contract binds together individuals and organizations. Itmakes their actions predictable and helps them to realize their goals. The strategies, structures, and367

processes of organizations determine what they want from their employees and what they feel able tooffer to them, in addition to affecting the way that contract negotiations are conducted and the nature ofthe contracts that are reached collectively. Research by Kotter, which aimed to develop an operation formutual expectations, showed that organizational expectations are difficult to operation. Because there isno single organizational counterpart for the individual, and because the expectations of organizationalmembers are far from homogeneous, the two sets of expectations are difficult to balance. Rousseauintroduced a more focused view of the psychological contract, conceiving it as “an individual’s beliefsregarding reciprocal obligations” that arises within the context of the relationship between anorganization and an employee. Such contracts encompass the perceptions that employees have of theimplicit and explicit reciprocal promises that exist between them and their organizations, and theirperceptions of what each party is entitled to receive as a function of those promises. According to thisperspective, the psychological contract does not have two levels (individual and organizational); it is anintra-individual perception that exists in the eye of the beholder. The organization provides the contextin which the psychological contracts of its employees exist. The psychological contracts of employeesare assumed to develop from belief as individual employee feels obligated to make particularcontributions in exchange for particular benefits. According to Rousseau, psychological contracts areperceived obligations, and not merely expectations. Psychological contracts lend structure toexpectations concerning future exchanges, thereby reducing uncertainty. The contract also plays a rolein creating social units (e.g., partnerships, organizations, joint ventures), and managinginterdependencies between individuals, groups, and organizations.3.1.2 The characteristics of psychological contractPsychology contract has the subjective characteristic, the psychological contract content is the staffindividual cognition to the mutual responsibility, or is one kind of subjective sensation. Because theindividual has the unique experiences and the opinions for the reciprocity relationship between himselfand the organization, therefore, the individual psychological contract is possibly inconsistent with theemployment contract's content. Next, the psychological contract has the dynamic characteristic, thepsychological contract content is a dynamic and change process. Formal employment contract isgenerally stable, with little change. But the psychological contract is in a constant state of change andrevision. Any changes of organizational way, whether physical or social in nature, have an impact on thepsychological contract. The longer time people work in an organization, the more widely thepsychological contract content covers. Third, there is difference between the psychological contract andexpectation. The psychological contract not only has the expectation, but also includes the commitmentand reciprocity to the responsibility and obligation. Distinction in these two concepts have practicalsignificances, an unrealized expectations generated disappointment. One will be a strong negativeemotional response and follow-up actions when the psychological contract has been violated, its core isa kind of anger, the staff feels the organization to be perfidious and be unfair.3.2 The relationship between the psychological contract and the group cohesivenessNow the concept of learning organization proposed by Peter – Sain is very popular, in fact, the core ofa learning organization is not only a team learning atmosphere with knowledge management, but also isan organization with team’s vision. An enterprise wants to retain the outstanding talented person, how toestablish organization's mission, and instruct the staffs to establish their own aim, it is necessary.Now speaks of one competitive team, we can speak of the enterprise cohesiveness to be veryimportant, the cohesiveness formation is a process that can be divided into three stages: First, the goalattraction, namely the goal is attractive to the community members who have identically basic goals.Next, the power, that plays an important role when the both sides know each other in the process ofmutual reaction. Lastly, every group should have an strong emotional attribution to all employees.Drucker once said, for an enterprise, what to condense member’s spirit. There are several possibleanswers, but one of the most important things is the enterprise employees’ degree in shared of theorganization’s mission. Actually this sharing degree is the staff and organization's psychological368

contract. To establish the psychological contract between an enterprise and employees, the enterprise'sinternal training and the internal communication is very important, we know the world famousenterprises, such as General Electric, Procter & Gamble, after the new employees enter into thecompany, they will have a very long period of time to have company's training and learn the company'sidea. Such training is aim to make the employees clearly know their present locate position and checkwhether they are consistent with the organization's goals at any time. Many organizations haveoriginated from the failure of top management's lack of clear objectives and a clear vision. As a manager,must have forward-looking and strategic vision, and continue to implement the goals, becauseemployees want to work in a clear sense of direction.Many organization's failures result from the top management’s lack of clear objectives and a clearvision. As the superintendent, must have forward-looking and strategic vision, and continue toimplement the goals, because employees want to work in a clear sense of direction. The enterprisewhich has established psychological contract to staff will greatly enhance the team cohesiveness and theworking efficiency. The level of group cohesiveness will have an important impact on the enterpriseefficiency, long-term development and corporate staff’s development. The group cohesiveness is notonly the manifestation of the spirit of enterprise, but also is the comprehensive reflection of theenterprise’s competitiveness. The psychological contract theory helps enterprises to improve thecohesiveness.4 Group Cohesiveness and Organizational Performance4.1 The relationship between each dimension of cohesiveness and organizational performanceMullen& Copper believed that group cohesiveness including three essential factors: Interpersonalattraction, task commitment, sense of honor and pride to group. They pointed out that the exploration tothe mutual influence about the different elements of cohesiveness, which will make it be clear tounderstand some fundamental question about the mechanism that will affect team performance.Thus, in his study, he analysed respectively the relationships between interpersonal attraction, taskcommitment, sense of honor and pride to group and performance. The result showed that the taskcommitment is the most crucial elements of group cohesiveness, and the others are not significant. Weextrapolate that this is because Mullen & Copper who actually used the performance in working (task)performance, and interpersonal attraction, groups pride is a direct impact on the members of the group'spositive attitude.Compared with the Mullen & Copper research, Beal uses meta-analysis to divide the performance indetail. The performance is divided into behavior performance and result performance, performancevalidity effectiveness and performance efficiency. . And the validity index has not considered the cost.But the efficiency has considered the corresponding cost validity, that is, input-output ratio. The resultsindicated that in the type of performance, cohesiveness and the two types of performance are related, butthe relationship between cohesiveness and behavior performance is more significantly. At the sametime, the relevant between cohesiveness and efficiency standards is higher than that of the relevance ofthe effectiveness standard. In the dimensions aspect of cohesiveness, the interpersonal attraction, thetask commitment and the sense of sense of honor and pride to group obviously are related with theperformances.4.2 The causal relationship between group cohesiveness and organizational performanceOn the one hand, group cohesiveness can inspire and guide members to complete their missionssuccessfully. On the other hand, the prominent performance will also cause members to feel better togroup. Mullen& Copper has carried on the analysis through CLPC to timing pattern of thecohesiveness-team performance effect. CLPC is one kind of analysis technique, carries on the survey totwo variables in two time points and explores the variable through time points and the cross time points'correlation, analyses the possibility direction.369

Accordingly, Mullen & Copper pointed out, although the cohesiveness may bring the performanceimprovement, but the performance improvement would have greater influence to the cohesiveness.5 Psychological Contract and Efficiency5.1 The instructive value of psychological contract to efficiencyWith regulating people's interest relations, the instructive value of the psychological contract toefficiency are focused on two aspects: First, reducing the opportunism behavior, saving transaction costs;second, taking as a "moral capital", directly promoting the economic development, Improving theeconomic efficiency.5.1.1 Psychological contract’s system efficiency and cost-saving roleAny transaction costs are needed, especially the incomplete contract. As a conduct rule, Psychologicalcontract is an effective mechanism to overcome opportunism, to ensure cooperation, and to produce"cooperation surplus". The reason why the psychological contract can restraint the transaction costs isbecause it emphasized coordination interests and mutual benefit and the economic subject choose tocomply with morals, in fact, choose to respect other people's benefit to protect their own benefit, thuseffectively reducing the people to pay more expenses for preventing unethical moral behavior unethicalpractices by the cost. There are a large number of redundant transactions actions between the staffs andthe organization. Such mutual exchanges, including the mutual contact in the economic life, rely onsome kind of trust. The trust takes one kind of order as a foundation. In order to maintain such order,we must depend on rules to prohibiting all kinds of unpredictable behavior and opportunism. As aninformal rule, psychological contract, of course, should also be included.Psychological contract takes as a moral value targets, it is a good panacea that overcome one’snon-rational self-serving impulsion, tries to avoid all conflicts of interest caused by all kinds ofself-serving impulsion, enhances the people behavior certainty and predictability, and reduces thebusiness management cost. It uses the high moral behavior standard to reduce the opportunism and thephenomenon of escaping duty, simultaneously increases the group members and the stakeholders of theorganization's confidence.5.1.2 Productive efficiency of psychological contract as a form of social capitalAs a spiritual value system, Psychological contract changes the people’s belief, becomes become asignificant intrinsic motivation to enhance economic efficiency in people’s economic activities, andplays an important role.According to enterprises psychological contract theory, the enterprise's essence is organizing teamproduction. Enterprise team which forms according to the psychological contract rule, its workenthusiasm and initiative is bound to be increased, and forms remarkable superiority. The enhancementof group members’ contract consciousness may improve the utilization of resources, which can savemore production costs. Thus it can be seen, that the psychological contract which takes as an ethicalvalue system and one kind of social resource will become the driving force to economic development5.2 The psychological contract is the value measure and value goal of efficiencyEnterprise's survival and development take the social interaction relations as the background. Thesurvival and development of enterprises are in the context of social relationships. The contractualrelationship between the enterprise and the society are the key factors that would restraint or promotethe enterprise efficiency. The psychological contract attaches to the social economic efficiency, butmore emphasis on the distribution efficiency and overall long-term efficiency.6 ConclusionOrganization efficiency is just contracted and confirmed by social contract as the means of fulfillingtheir social obligations, the significance of the psychological contract’s value is to ensure the370

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