PREDICTING GROUP DECISION PROCESSES AND PROCESS OUTCOMES IN THE CONTEXT OF MUTUAL INTEREST

32663

Group processes have been researched as vital components of decision making mechanisms in organizational contexts. We investigate the group decision outcomes; namely decision quality, commitment to decision, process satisfaction in relation to their determinants (processes), and the interaction of mutual interest. The main framework for our research is Deutsch’s (1949, 1962) Social Interdependence Theory which postulates that interdependence among individuals in a group can help achieve one’s goal and promote competition. Drawing from the literature on decision making paradigms, we construct our study on “conflict model” (Coombs, 1987) and “accountability model” (Lerner Tetlock, 1999). Therefore, we posit three distinct group decision making processes as determinants of outcomes: Personal task participation, negative socio-emotional behavior, and information domination. We develop and test a process model in which the group decision outcomes could be predicted by three decision making processes. Survey data (N=166), which was collected from the employees and students of a higher education institution in İzmir, was analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling based Partial Least Squares. Results show that processes and their interactions with mutual interest have mixed impacts on the outcomes; both contributing to and deteriorating the quality, commitment and satisfaction. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed

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Group decision making processes , group decision quality , commitment to decision

Celal Bayar University Journal Of Social Sciences

388

Celal Bayar University Journal Of Social Sciences