UNDERSTANDING THE SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATION IN SMALL-GROUPS - MAKING THE MOST OUT OF GROUP MEMBER ABILITIES

This article provides a review of the literature on the relationship b etween small group process and what Steiner and Collins & Guetzkow hav e termed, respectively process loss and the assembly effect bonus. The se models make contradictory predictions about the influence of commun ication variables on group decision-making performance. The extant res earch on group decision making has supported the validity of both mode ls. The amount of ambiguity present in the decision-making situation i s posited as a factor giving rise to instances of process gain and los s. Ambiguity is incorporated into a revised version of the path-goal m odel of group performance. The model outlines the types of influences that group interaction may have in a group's arriving at a process gai n or loss.