THE TENDENCY TOWARD DEFECTIVE DECISION-MAKING WITHIN SELF-MANAGING TEAMS - THE RELEVANCE OF GROUPTHINK FOR THE 21ST-CENTURY

Groupthink theory has continued relevance to organizations because of the organizational trend toward self-managing work teams. A typology i s developed linking the key differentiating characteristics of self-ma naging teams to groupthink antecedents of group cohesion, structural f aults of the organization, and provocative situational context. Buildi ng upon this framework, we more specifically examine variables that wi ll impact the occurrence of groupthink within self-managing teams. Imp lications for the prevention of groupthink in self-managing teams are discussed. (C) 1998 Academic Press.