Investigation of Groupthink in Project Management

This research study explores the concept of groupthink in project teams and its impact on decision-making. It investigates the causes and effects of groupthink and examines the role of project managers in mitigating its harmful effects. The study aims to bring awareness to the negative impacts of groupthink on project management and recommends ways to prevent it. The research findings can contribute to positive social change by improving decision-making processes in project teams.

Running head: INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Abstract
Most projects works require team effort. Team work involves working collaboratively to achieve
a common goal. Project teams therefore means combining together individual from diverse fields
and skills in order to work together to achieve a related objective. The common goal that a
project team has is to successfully accomplish a task where a single individual would not thrive
well. This research study involved exploring how the concept of groupthink was observed in
project teams, looking at it from a project manager’s perspective. The driving factor behind this
research was to find out and explore why project teams are likely to fail as a result of groupthink
and what precautions should project management leads have to take to circumvent this aspect.
To successfully carry out this research, Janis’ concept of groupthink was used by the researcher
to develop conceptual framework. For the purpose of this paper, reviews on existing literature
were done to develop an understanding of groupthink while investigating its impact in project
management. This research was mainly driven by two key research questions: 1) how does
groupthink occur in project management teams and 2) what ways do project managers use to
prevent groupthink in project teams? From the reviews of existing research, it was found out that
groupthink occurs in almost all projects and project managers often play a role in causing
groupthink to occur. This research work may impact a positive social change through bringing to
light the harmful nature of groupthink with respect to decision making in project management
and hence positively impacting the society. The study suggests that future research be carried out
on the effective ways that project managers may employ to mitigate groupthink in project teams.
Key words: Groupthink, Project, Project Manager, Decision Making

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................2
CHAPTER ONE..............................................................................................................................5
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
1.1 Background............................................................................................................................7
1.2 Research aims and objectives..............................................................................................10
1.3 Research questions...............................................................................................................10
1.4 Expected outcomes and contributions.................................................................................11
1.5 Rationale of the study..........................................................................................................11
1.6 Structure of the report..........................................................................................................12
CHAPTER TWO...........................................................................................................................13
Literature review............................................................................................................................13
Overview of Groupthink............................................................................................................13
Production Unit Case Study.......................................................................................................14
Everest tragedy Case Study.......................................................................................................15
NASA Case Study.....................................................................................................................17
Athletes Case Study...................................................................................................................18
Groupthink and Temporary Organization.................................................................................18
Groupthink and Focus Groups...................................................................................................19
Groupthink and Cohesion..........................................................................................................20
Dysfunctional Teams and Groupthink.......................................................................................23
Project teams, decision making, and groupthink.......................................................................24
CHAPTER THREE.......................................................................................................................27
Research design/Methodology.......................................................................................................27
3.1 Conceptual framework.........................................................................................................28

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3.2 Data collection.....................................................................................................................30
3.3 Analysis methods.................................................................................................................30
CHAPTER FOUR.........................................................................................................................31
Research Findings..........................................................................................................................31
CHAPTER FIVE...........................................................................................................................33
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................33
CHAPTER SIX..............................................................................................................................35
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................35
6.1 Further research...................................................................................................................36
6.2 Limitation of the research....................................................................................................36
References......................................................................................................................................38

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CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
The success of any task involves in one way or another, bringing together ideas from different
individual. For instance, conflict resolution would not be successful if team effort is not called
for. Project works involve dealing with tasks that one single individual would not achieve on
their own. It is like problem solving or conflict resolution. Decisions have to be made from one
phase of the project work to another. Decision making is therefore crucial if only one person gets
involved. Therefore, the help of other individuals is desirable. This is what is referred to as
teamwork. Teamwork has shown that indeed two or more individuals outperform a single
individual (Brennan & Enns, 2015). Better results are achieved through combining individual
efforts of team members. Teamwork involves a situation where team members would freely
communicate and thus are able to share their confidence in every judgment they make (Koriat,
2012). According to Masumoto and Inui (2012), two people carrying an object would not only
produce complementary forces on the object they are carrying but also work in synchrony.
However, team decision-making calls for the need to have careful deliberation among team
members, who confidently make suggestions or air out their ideas without having prejudice
(Schulze & Newell, 2016). It should be noted however, that not all situations call for group-
decision making. These situations require minimal discussions or decision from more than one
individual. Individuals would in most cases make reasonable decisions according to their own
understanding and often have to revisit these decisions or ask for assistance from others to help
them make better decisions (Wright & Meadows, 2008).

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In a person’s live, he/she experiences being part of a team in one way or another. Teamwork can
happen at home, school or workplace. The purpose of a team can vary depending on the nature
of the intent of any given team. There are various team categories; those that carry out actions,
those that recommend actions and those who are assigned an activity or task. However, the
ultimate goal of each team is to achieve a common objective (Mach, 2019). This research study
was focused on investigating how groupthink affects project teams.
Most project teams deliver desirable outcomes when they critically analyze various ideas from
every team member. In problem solving context, project teams often examine ideas without
discouraging the communication from others hence avoiding conflict (Hassan, 2013). Project
team refers to a group of individuals who have been brought together to perform a given task,
and to deliver desirable outcomes to an organization (Roy & Fernandez, 2015).
Groupthink is a concept that refers to a team coming together to collaboratively make a decision
for which is harmful to a teamwork. In 1972, Irving Janis first described the concept of
groupthink as a situation that occurs when the pursuit of agreement among members of a team
dominates to an extent that it overrides any alternative course of action. In this description, Janis
highlighted eight symptoms of groupthink in any project team. The result of this aspect is more
often harmful than not. One such effect is that it makes a member of the team to refrain from
deviating from a group’s point of view resulting to self-censorship.
According to Janis’ classification, groupthink possesses the following characteristics;
i. Collective rationalization- decisions are often rationalized to minimize objections
ii. There is a belief of what is referred to as absolute goodness of the group. The group
ignores ethical and moral considerations of their actions

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iii. Self-refrainment – any member avoids his/her own opinion to avoid deviating from
the group’s opinion.
iv. Denial of weakness/vulnerability – group members not willing to declare and
acknowledge their vulnerability
v. Great dislike of outsiders – extreme dislike of outsiders by those in the group makes
them think the opposing group is incompetent and lack capabilities
vi. Strong peer pressure - peer pressure for those in the group to conform to opinions of
the group and making it clear to them that divergent ideas are not welcomed
vii. Belief of unanimity – there is a belief that all the members of the group are cohesive
even if some of them object the group’s opinion.
viii. Group protectors – some individual members spontaneously emerge to control
decision making process hence preventing conflicts.
It is important to acknowledge that the success of any project team lies in the ability of the
project managers to control the project team and to direct in the decision making process.
1.1 Background
Groupthink is a concept that refers to collectively making decisions by a group or team in a way
that discourages individual responsibility over a given opinion. This concept was defined by
Psychologist Irving Janis, who described it as a phenomenon in which members of a team strive
for consensus within the team (Cherry, 2019). Members of the group more often set aside their
own beliefs and choose to remain quite or adopt the opinions of others to avoid causing conflict
within the team

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Project team refers to a group of individuals that collaboratively perform an assigned task to
achieve a given goal. It can be used to refer to an assembly of people with different abilities and
skills to work on a given task to achieve a desirable goal.
Project management is the act of controlling project activities and guiding in the decision making
process that aids in successful accomplishment of a given task
A project manager is the person who oversees project management. He/she is a project lead, and
is responsible for giving directions of how a project has to be implemented. A project manager
provides leadership for any given project.
This research study is focused on the aspect of groupthink, how it occurs in project teams and the
causes of groupthink. Furthermore, the study focuses on the role of project managers in
mitigating the occurrence of groupthink in project teams. It is important therefore that these
aspects are understood in detail. As mentioned in the introduction section, the concept of
groupthink was formulated by Irving Janis, who described the various characteristics of
groupthink. Most notably, individuals in a groupthink would fear that their objections towards
certain opinions might cause an upset in the harmony of the group, and that the other team
members may reject them as a result (Lunenborg, 2010). Groupthink, according to Janis, is most
prevalent in work conditions or environments where members portray high degree of cohesion,
situational aspects that make individuals to opt for groupthink and or existence of structural
issues e.g. impartial and biased leadership (Beber, 2012).
Groupthinks can be beneficial if the desire of the whole team is to achieve desirable goals of an
organization. If groupthink could be qualified to teamwork, it becomes a significant aspect as far
as project management is concerned. This is because by working in a team environment,

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decision-making becomes fruitful, tasks are completed efficiently and thus a project would be
completed efficiently and of quality. However, the concept of groupthink does not in many cases
involve teamwork. This results in harmful effects to a project work. The suppression of an
individual’s opinion often deters a group beneficial opinions and ideas and thus leading to poor
decision making. Poor decisions in project management lead to project failures (Virain &
Trumper, 2016).
Project managers are the spearheads of a project, ensuring that a given project is completed
within a given time frame (Gillart, 2009) A project manager provides the team with a vision and
closely monitors their focus in order to ensure complete attention to various project’s aspects. A
project manager works closely with the team to ensure that their focus is rooted to the project
being worked on (Kijji, Dainty, & Tuuli, 2013). The main role of project managers involves
planning, laying down a roadmap of actions that should be accomplished. The project managers
are also responsible for organizing project works. An essential aspect of project management is
providing leadership. This involves coordinating with the different persons making up a team,
ensuring that they meet set deadlines and are following certain guidelines (Keegan & Denhartog,
2004). Project management faces a number of risks. It is the responsibility of project managers to
identify likely threats to project management. Threats may emanate from within the environment
of project execution including the members of project team or come from outside. One example
of such a threat is the aspect of groupthink.

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1.2 Research aims and objectives
Aim
To critically analyze the concept of groupthink and how it affects decision-making among
project teams.
Objectives
Research objectives refer to an outline of steps a researcher undertakes to achieve the research
aim. The objectives of this research study are as follows;
i. To understand the causes of groupthink in project teams
ii. To investigate the effects of groupthink in decision-making process in project teams
iii. To explore the role of project managers in project management and on mitigating
groupthink
iv. To recommend ways in which project managers mitigate groupthink from causing
harmful effects in project teams
1.3 Research questions
This research study was guided by the following research question; why does groupthink lead to
project failure? How does groupthink affect decision-making among project teams? The
objectives can further be specifically outlined as follows;
i. How does groupthink occur in project teams?

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ii. What are the effects of groupthink in decision-making among project teams?
iii. What role do project managers have in mitigating groupthink?
1.4 Expected outcomes and contributions
Research study is primary conducted to bring a certain change in the business environment and
on the social status of those involved. A research study has impact positively on the lives of
those who feel the influence of the results of a given research study.
Project management is an important aspect in project works. Projects affect the people and the
society as a whole. This research study involves studying groupthink as an aspect that is
attributed to many project failures. Project failures are undesirable as they affect organizations
and those that rely on the project. This study therefore is expected to cause an impact of social
change to project teams. Besides, the study will result in organization environments with great
sense of awareness, aiding project managers to detect groupthink in project teams and to develop
appropriate precautions to prevent the harmful flaws that groupthink cause on project works.
1.5 Rationale of the study
From the reviews of existing literature, the researcher was motivated to find why projects fail as
project teams would often be considered to succeed in project management. Many projects today
fail and various scholars have done research works clearly calling for the need to examine
groupthink with regards to decision making. Despite the existing literature works, there is still a
big gap that needs to be filled as most project works fail as a result of poor decision making. The
existence of this gap motivated the researcher to formulate this research study as to create more
awareness of the negative impacts that groupthink has in decision making processes. This
justifies the need fro this particular study.

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1.6 Structure of the report
This structure of this report is explained as follows;
 Chapter one: Introduction – in this chapter, the concept of groupthink is explained. The
root causes of groupthink were addressed based on existing research works. The aspect of
project management has also been explained and the role of project mangers in project
management elaborated. Research aim and objectives were outlined here as well
 Chapter two: Literature Review- this chapter entails previous literature works on
regarding groupthink. This chapter has been divided into several subsections that together
explain the various aspects of groupthink in project management
 Chapter three: Research Design – in this chapter, research design has been discussed. It
focuses on the application of specific research tools that aided in this research study. In
this chapter, conceptual framework has been developed, data collection discussed
analysis methods presented.
 Chapter four: Research Findings -This chapter presents the research findings based on
the analysis of various case studies and literature reviews
 Chapter five: Conclusion - This chapter concludes the findings of research, discussing
whether the research objectives were met. Conclusion is based on the research findings
from the preceding chapter
 Chapter six: Recommendation- The researcher gives recommendations based on the
research findings and conclusion and guiding on the future research works.

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CHAPTER TWO
Literature review
Overview of Groupthink
According to Janis (1982), the presence of certain conditions increases the likelihood that
groupthink occurs among project teams. The prevailing defects and characteristics within the
members of project team will often lead to defects in decision making processes and often result
in poor quality problem solving decisions (Leana, 1985). This concept of groupthink was based
on theoretical insights and not on empirical evidence. Despite this, the concept of groupthink
gained mass appeal among scholars from various fields including science, sociology, and
psychology and in periodicals. The various literature reviews have warned on the dangers of
groupthink in management and other fields while attempting to propose ways of mitigating those
dangers. This research study has taken focus on case study on existing literature reviews to
establish the relationship between groupthink and failure in project teams.
The concept of groupthink can be better understood when a team is subjected to a decision-
making context. The team can be subjected to groupthink and the impact on decision-making
examined. Today, most projects involve execution in team contexts and the decision making
processes from these groups are highly consequential. Therefore, therefore understanding this
concept of groupthink will be very beneficial to project management.

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Production Unit Case Study
Collaboration among individuals in an organization is crucial for the growth of an organization
since it defines how decision- making is efficiently carried out (Faraj, Sayegh, & Rouleau, 2017).
This concept has been witnessed in production and manufacturing operations and in disaster
management (Riccobono, Bruccoleri, & Gr€oßler, 2015). In the context of production
operations, group meetings were meant to discuss production problems and team member
problems for instance absenteeism were addressed. According to this case study, during one of
the meetings, a member of the group suggested that work shift hours be altered. The group
members responded quickly to the issue raised by giving reasons that tried to dismiss the
‘deviant’s’ opinion. In the process of decision-making, a number of symptoms of groupthink
were portrayed.
Firstly, the group team leader together with the team members had to apply direct pressure on
the other member’s opinion, which let to the dropping of the idea without first examining it.
Secondly, the team leader made an assumption that all the rest of the members were in
agreement. This is another symptom of groupthink. A third observation was on self-censorship.
It was evident from the decision making process that though the other members were silent of the
opinion; their anger was demonstrated on their frowns and gestures. These three symptoms are
common in today’s project teams. In most project teams, a member’s opinion might be seen to be
a way to prevent the team from achieving a certain result in time. Since the project team has to
achieve a certain goal in time, they are under pressure to deliver it the way they think is best
without analyzing the possible alternatives. Furthermore, since the project leader is seen to be
responsible to ensure the success of the project, he/she puts pressure to the other members

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without giving them an opportunity to express their opinions (Geramian, Abraham, & Nozari,
2019).
In another case study within the production unit, a section of the group carried out laboratory
tests for use in the production process. According to Manz and Sims(1982), during the meeting,
one of the team members raised a concern that one of the other team within the production unit
were putting a blame on them that they were delaying production process. During a decision-
making process that lasted long, no decision was reached. The group believed that they were
making the right decision. This is another symptom of groupthink (Janis & Mann, 2012). In the
third case study, a group of individuals concerned with quality control within the production unit.
The discussion went on smoothly during the first session, where members freely aired their
opinions. However, things later changed as the leader took to stands and mentioned the steps he
wanted the group to follow. Although the group did not object his stand, the anger expressed in
their faces was evident that they were not happy as a result. According to Janis’s concept, this
symptom is presence of group protectors.
Everest tragedy Case Study
Groupthink would not only occur as a result of high cohesion in a project team (Burnette,
Jeffrey, Pollack, & Donelson, 2011). Through a research they conducted on the events that led to
the May 1996 Everest disaster, the researchers attributed the occurrence of groupthink to
cohesion as a result of shared common goal rather than from strong interpersonal bonds
(Burnette, Jeffrey, Pollack, & Donelson, 2011). From the research finding, a project team united
by a collaborative desire to achieve a common goal, while under guidance of a directive leader
may experience decision-making breakdowns which could lead to project failure. This review

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examines the role of a team leader in project management context. In this case study, two teams
carried out expeditions on Mt. Everest. One team was led by New Zealand’s Rob hall while the
other team was led by an American, Scott Fischer (Kayes, 2006). Though both teams managed to
reach the summit of Mt. Everest, the journey was met with disaster as some of the climbers,
including Fischer and Rob perished. This is one of the detrimental effects of groupthink; results
in loss of live (Kayes, 2006). The antecedents of groupthink involve high interpersonal cohesion,
directive leadership style and existence of provocative context. The Everest climbers were not
cohesive in terms of their interpersonal skills but they were cohesive with respect to their shared
motive to achieve their goal. As with many project teams, task cohesions may exist in place of
interpersonal bonds among team members, and where form of directive leadership prevails
Mapping the eight symptoms to the events that transpired from the Everest tragedy, various
aspects of groupthink are derived and how those aspects reflect the present-day project teams.
Cohesion among the team was depicted when the group was motivated by a single goal to reach
the summit of the mountain however inexperienced some of them were (McMullen & Dicastro,
2011). The consequence of this inexperience led to the overreliance on the expedition leaders
and Sherpas for decisions. This is a true situation of today’s project works among organizations
in which gathering around a common goal creates a form of cohesiveness within the group
(Cheng-Chen, Lin, & Peng, 2010). During the expedition, the two groups were isolated from
each other although they were both pushing to reach the summit simultaneously (Kayes, 2006)
This is a form of structural insulation. This resulted in a situation in which there were no mutual
arrangements that would ensure interdependence between the groups in case of emergencies. In
today’s organizational setting, groups tend to follow their own independent paths as they seek
recognition for the work they do. The two expedition leaders, Rob and Fischer desired some

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form of promotional leadership (Kier & McMullen, 2016). They pushed their clients to make
them reach the summit so as to secure future businesses, resulting in taking of unnecessary risks.
In current project teams, leaders express pressure for success (Boga & Ensari, 2009)
NASA Case Study
Admittedly, groups frequently unconsciously or consciously make unprincipled decisions;
though, groupthink does not inevitably lead to wrong conclusions. Groupthink was further
described as the pursuit of unanimity among group members, so prevailing that personalities
submit their right to monitor decisions in an argument for a contract crucially, even if the
decision sounds to be leading to a negative outcome, and the choice is unethical (Őnday, 2016).
The legitimate example of that matter is the 1986 inauguration of the competitor space shuttle.
Documentation was also done regarding the same citing the doctrines and the principles at
NASA and the open defiance for diverse opinions or views on exactly how the inception of
groupthink empowered the opponent disaster (Heracleous, 2018). What made the challenger
tragedy to take place was a letdown of the O-ring on the shuttles precise adjacent solid skyrocket
rooter at lift-off. O-ring was one of the current or the newly launched scheme that NASA had not
made any trial with under low temperatures. The employees at NASA conveyed this matter,
besides with scheduling constraints and budgetary to the leadership of NASA. If the management
at NASA had taken some of these concerns into regards (Brown, 2016). They might have
circumvented the opponent disaster. Further studies were conducted by scholars who recognized
the opponent disaster to NASA's stabilization of different actions, like NASA's management
being fully mindful of deficiency of trying O-ring in cold environmental conditions

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Athletes Case Study
Another case where groupthink showcased in action is when a trainer, coach, or physician sends
a maimed sportsperson back against the arena with the idea that the injured person might pose
long term consequences for the sportsman (Allen, 2016). The trainers or the coaches can
succumb to the compelling issues raised by the fans and the financiers who treasure emerging the
winners in the game overvaluing the health condition if an athlete. A study was also done that
eventually reviewed the information from all football players who are in colleges though they
have committed suicide while still learning: the information depicted the repetitive
deteriorations, and concussions of the brain nerves were the core issues that made the college
football players to commit suicide at tender age (Tucker, 2015). Several studies were later
conducted to confirm if athletes in the sports arena always continue to play despite the injuries
which they may have in their bodies.
Then the study concluded that there is a link in between interpersonal and social circumstances
which may be able to lead to simple behavior adjustments (Shi, 2018). Most of the athletes do
not always want to disappoint their team members when they see hurt or injured when playing.
Hence, they will continue to play in the field even though they have the injury. Just like
groupthink collective rationalization that discounts warning signals, may make any group to
revisit most of their decisions or the decisions they had made prior
Groupthink and Temporary Organization
The literature that can address issues of groupthink and temporary organization are scarce.
Educators engaged in further researches that established that temporary organization structures
nurtured groupthink, which is the reason I chose to examine groupthink in transitory project
teams (Zongo, 2019). Investigations of defective group procedure are significant since ephemeral

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organizations are progressively common. The eight symptoms work by Janis was used by other
scholars to make further investigations on the 1996 Mt. Everest peril and concluded that three of
eight aspects of groupthink existed in the scenario at Mt Everest (Stingl, 2017). Therefore it is
upon each group to pay detail attention to groupthink in specific, and group dynamics in overall.
The recent studies which have just been established the relationship between groupthink and
temporary organization, though groupthink doesn’t existing temporary organization (Handy,
2017). Some aspects of Janis investigation about the elements of groupthink were observed in
permanent organizations. More questions were not solved or not answered about the issue as to
whether temporary organizations have high value over the stable organization to establish
groupthink. Therefore, one significant probability of conducting another research is to examine
the differences and similarities in groupthink in a permanent and temporary organization
(Kalkman, 2017). Continuous analyses should be done to establish whether groupthink can be
productive some times. The investigations primarily focused on the issues of project teams, to
give a clear considerate as to whether team members can antithesis the hostile impacts of
groupthink afore they hinder the members from achieving its primary goal
Groupthink and Focus Groups
The main agenda of a focus group is to symbolize a different population and indulge in
structured debates before making judgments. It is also evident as per the hypothesis of Boateng.
Groupthink can influence information attained by focus group debate sessions. Since data
illustrated, that two focus group debates imperatively leaves the information which has been
gathered from face to face qualitative interrogation or grilling (Green, 2018). The variance which
was identified demonstrated that most of the focus group debate sessions are not at liberty from
groupthink influence. The combination of groupthink and attention group debate sessions gives a

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
greater understanding of one on one versus cybernetic projects (Ramazani, 2015). A scholar by
the name Boateng further pinpointed that post center group debates, a short and precise interview
to capture the attention of the participant's general opinion on the issue which is being debated or
discussed. This is a follow up which gives the respondents the prospect to air out their views.
Most of the opinions they need to express are those view or views which they never expressed
during their earlier debates (Homburg, 2017). The procedures where team members go through
the follow-up assessment can confidently impact the excellence of data (Badewi, 2016). The
limitation of focus group debates is that the team members may affect some accomplices to stay
vigil in the team members’ orientation even after the completion of the focus group.
Groupthink and Cohesion
Interrelation always takes place within a group when people share common interests and link
because of group collaboration. Some scholars further discovered that group cohesion is a
primary forebear for groupthink inside a group. Project team members override on any accurate
evaluation of substitute courses of accomplishment to prevent confrontations with group leaders
or other group team members. Groupthink was further linked or associated with organizational
theory, management fields, social psychology, and decision-making sciences (Rodríguez-
Sánchez, 2017). An establishment was made that groupthink is a psychological menace that
always happens within a group of individuals when the primary interest or desire is conformity
and harmony. Indeed, that leads to wrong decisions or incorrect results. The concepts and the
fundamentals of groupthink practices were examined, and some of its structural impacts on
decision making specifically managers. The project team members will always toil to work
together to limit and reach consensus without bearing in mind critically evaluated issues or
multiple sides.

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Indeed, they are common issues within political parties. Honestly, political pundits and media
once asserted in the year 2016 that Hillary Clinton would win the presidential election. She had
acknowledged the same type of elevation in the past poll which had been conducted in 2008, and
all the candidates who vied ended up defeat. On the other hand, his opponent who was the flag
bearer of the Republican Party made his ways to reach all the disfranchised people in the society;
this is one of the moves that made Donald Trump outshine Hillary Clinton for the presidential
seat (Major, 2018). Hillary Clintons Campaign teams blatantly rejecting the movement or the
idea of reaching out to most of the available substitute groups played an essential responsibility
in her downfall. Clinton's campaign team simplified warning signals or symptoms like
resentment from some of the eligible voters from the states of Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin,
and lastly shortage of responsive commitment from the followers of the project management
teams. Groupthink was asserted to be an illusion of Unanimity (Heritage, 2018). Some of the
aspects or features associated with groupthink are like the ones Hillary Clinton employed in her
campaigns. That made an assumption that each had the same opinion or view and also construing
quietness as an agreement, with the articulated ideas of other project team members. Groupthink
also offers clarifications on flawed decision making.
Researchers also found out that groupthink always takes place when urge or desire for team
consensus supersedes common sense craving to present substitutes; group cohesion or
togetherness meritoriously drives out learned a problem-solving skill and upright decision
making (Carbonell, 2019). Coherence, on the other hand, was established to be one of the
significant administrative phenomena that influence the degree of supervisory citizenship trait
demonstrated in various workgroups. Investigation on the same issue was continuous conducted;
it led to the deliberations that inverse relationship existed between absenteeism and group

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
cohesion. Admittedly, the critical challenge to all the managers who are managing projects face
is the inability to foster cohesion in various workgroups. Theoretical conversations or debates
were made that aligned group-level and numerous individuals to emulate group cohesion. People
who pose extraordinary levels of mutual self-esteem are likely to experience satisfaction, social
integration, and assurance to perform various group tasks. It is worth noting that social groups
are imperative in the process of describing group personality and made an assertion organization
or firms can build conditions that can influence the establishment of cohesive groups (Johnson,
2018).
Group awareness exists in a diversity of forms. Groupthink also applies or amount of pressure to
project team members' proposal that all the left-handed people are the discernable minority from
team members with design perspective and team diversity. Several authors further emphasized
that groupthink is a distinctive upshot from the functioning group. It will be upon the group
members to apply all amounts of pressure and force to their members who have deviated from
their agreed norms and regulations (Pillai, 2017). Group diversity is closely related to groupthink
that enhances high levels of quality decision making. Pressures of conformity which do exist in
the groupthink can be dealt with by basically, collaborating with the left-handed partakers with
other group members in the group. In some of the organizational, research review which had
been conducted about the 7 Meta-analysis performed to examine the affiliation between group
performance and cohesion.
Honestly, a clear line of distinction was drawn to mark the critical relationship between task
cohesion and social cohesion, and group performance. Though the contact in the cohesion-
performance mottled depending on group setting, an example is between business setting, and

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
sports got no imperative disparity established on other hitherto scrutinized moderators, entailing
study design, group sizes, performance measurement, team tenure, and level of analysis. The
recommendation was made regarding both performance and cohesion at group level standards
and offered a counterpoint to the groupthink simulations by demonstrating exactly how
productivity and group cohesion may lead to performance maximization. Presentation of both
theoretical and practical measurement of team performance was conducted by the articles that
were to determine the truth of the matter (Pandit, 2019)
Dysfunctional Teams and Groupthink
The research was conducted to investigate most of the rogue groups that do indulge in secretive
or discreet behaviors that are against the ethics or the moral values of the organization they are
working for (Lvina, 2018). The research was developed from the field of sociology, institutional
economics, and behavioral psychology. The study which was conducted found, that most of
these rogue groups which are available in our organizations are destructive and ethically
problematic in most of the commercial settings they do exist in (Taylor, 2018). Most of these
rogue individuals in these groups do share common idiosyncratic skills that an organization can
utilize as human capital or labor to destabilize some of the illegal activities done by the group.
Subsequently, game theory was developed by the researchers to measure the degree of
commitment and reliability of a person in a group. As the main agenda of this theory was to
uncover the regimes of whistleblowing and fill the space which was occupied by the dissenting
groups in the team management.
Group dynamics were also found to be one of the causes of several complications in the analysis
of groupthink. The rogue groups did the work of incentivizing the establishment of group
associated human capital, entailing creative thinking, though loyalty is something that cannot be

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
compromised as it remains to be one of the group's secrecy (Entman, 2018). Teams mainly
process alterations and prioritize personnel over the so-called structural changes like role
specialization, and reward structures which can be used. Strategies had to be established to
develop the performance of teams that do rely upon themselves to make some vital decisions.
The significance of group autonomy has been highlighted so that the team members may get well
acquainted with what it entails or pertains. These advantages of the said, group autonomy require
having the ability to swiftly modifying some of the take strategies and also address issues related
to performance deficiencies. Investigations to establish some of the changes endorsed by some
of these self-managed teams or groups need to be done to extricate between dysfunctional
change, and functional change (Valentine, 2015). Using obvious example, undergraduate
students were categorized under structurally misaligned organizations or groups to accomplish
an assigned task. Groups and teams were given the opportunity of making structural changes,
and personnel process to improve performance efficiency. The main issue that brought the bond
of contention was process-related problems that were caused by the so-called dysfunctional
alterations that hampered performance (Wu, 2018). Most of the teams, which chose the option of
making structural alterations in the manner they do things, however, progressed in their future
task performance. Am establishment was further done to illustrate the potential weakness of the
self-managed teams and the common signs of groupthink; teams may find it challenging to
identify some operational misalignment. Thus the performance of the group may be improved
through an intervention by the upper level or senior managers in the organization.
Project teams, decision making, and groupthink
The opposite of most of the groupthink as far as project teams are concerned is collective
intelligence, where all the members in an organization work together to solve most of the

25
INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
problems faced in the company or organization (Geramian, Abraham, & Nozari, 2019). Indeed,
based on some of the findings that have been received from investigations which have been done
regarding groupthink. The argument illustrates that groups outperform the character traits of
individuals when the diversity of ideas, decentralization, aggregation, and independence exist.
Matzler, who was one of the intellects who are studying issues of groupthink, made some
clarifications about his findings (Lefley, 2018). Most of the people in project teams must always
have the feeling of empowerment or encouragement for them to be able to make a knowledge
contribution to his or her colleagues or superiors. The scholar argued passionately that
management interventions are required to create or establish group intelligence built on informed
speculation relatively theoretical study. This scholar provided a solution which could be used to
mitigate the potential grounds of groupthink. He also made some of the recommendation like
promoting independence, creation of cognitive diversity, and lastly efficiently amassing
knowledge which will feign collective intelligence. He also pointed out the significance of the
intellectual capital of a team.
A dangerous element of group subtleties is an association with other team members,
stakeholders, and investors who make the group. Interactions do need mutual trust from all
project team members acting purposely on behalf of the team members, and other creatures of
making resolutions for the team. Those are the external issues which embrace the performance of
various project teams depending on the ethos of the project team members. Members who pose a
high degree of group attachment nervousness may always thrive in implementing external tasks;
a group member with a high degree of group attachment evasion may become an obligation in a
comparable situation. The group attachment theory can give a prediction which is probably too
of the team members' potential success. It concludes that trust is indeed mandatory as it entails

26
INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
dependability, transferability, and credibility. According to groupthink studies, people's
objectives and goals alternate to give a reflection of the urge to adapt to the group. Abilene and
groupthink do influence the worst group decision
According to Hassan (2013), groupthink can be avoided by having an important process in a
project team that checks the fundamental assumptions in various decision-making scenarios
among project teams. This process will aid in validation of decision-making process, guiding the
project team and project manager in the process and also in the evaluation of risks involved. The
project team therefore is expected to exhibit the following traits;
i. The team has to explore objectives- Clearly tabled objectives will ultimately guide the
project towards success
ii. Actively explore existing alternatives –The team should not rely on one specific
approach to conducting project work but should be open to other possible alternatives
iii. The project team should encourage challenging of ideas and opinions without reprisal
iv. The project team should not make assumptions that a choice selected by the group is
void of risks. The team should therefore examine the possible risks associated with
that particular choice
v. The project team should be flexible enough to revisit previous alternatives to enable
them attain quality decisions
vi. The team should actively gather outside information relevant to their task at hand and
be in a position to objectively process information.

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER THREE
Research design/Methodology
A research design refers to the strategy that a researcher employs to bring
together the various components of the research as to ensure a logical and
coherent flow of research study process that ensures that the research study
is efficiently carried out (Neuman, 2013). In any given research, the nature of
research problem that a researcher is investigating determines the type of
research design to be adopted. Research design is broadly categorized into
two: Qualitative research design and Quantitative research design. However,
Kumar (2019) asserts that other types of research designs exist including
descriptive statistics, experimental design, correlational design and
diagnostic research design. Researchers therefore need to understand the
various research designs so as to select the most appropriate design to be
implemented in the research.
For the purpose of this research, qualitative research design was employed
that utilized document reviews. The researcher reviewed a number of
existing literature reviews to enable in deriving the concept of groupthink
and in answering the research questions. There are a number of reviews that
exist that justify the existence of groupthink in project teams.

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
3.1 Conceptual framework
A conceptual framework in research study shows a researcher’s understanding or synthesis of the
relationship exhibited by various research study variables. A conceptual framework clearly maps
a researcher’s actions in carrying out research, while acknowledging the literature of other
researchers with respect to the research study phenomenon.
This research study was based on Janis’ conceptual framework. This framework highlights eight
symptoms of groupthink. The conceptual framework can be demonstrated as follows;

[A]
DECISION MAKERS
(Cohesive Group)
[B-1]
Structural Faults
Insulation of team
Lack of tradition of
impartial leadership
Homogeneity of team
No methodical procedures
[B-2]
Provocative Control
Moral dilemma
Low self-esteem
Excessive complexity
Recent failures
[C]
Symptoms of Groupthink
1). Overestimation of Team
-illusion of invulnerability
-Belief of Morality of Team
2). Closed-Mindedness
- Collective rationalization
-stereotypes of outputs
3). Uniformity of pressures
-Self-censorship
- Illusion of Unanimity
-Direct Pressure
-Mindguards
[D]
Symptoms of Defective
Decision-Making
1. Incomplete survey of
existing alternatives
2. Incomplete survey of
objectives
3. Poor information search
4. Selective information
bias
5. Failure to examine risk
associated with selected
choice
Concurrence-Seeking GT
ANTECEDENTSOBSERVABLE CONSEQUENCES
29
INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Figure 1: Janis' Conceptual Framework
According to Janis, for groupthink to occur, the group has to feel an impulse to distance away
from disrupting the group’s harmony. To minimize conflicts, group members would often
suppress objections that could cause others to feel dejected (Pratkanis & Turner, 2013). From the
discussion presented in chapter one of this research report, Janis highlighted eight symptoms of

30
INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
groupthink (see chapter 1). When a group exhibit one or more of the symptoms, it is said to show
existence of groupthink that would often cause flawed decision-making.
However, it has been found out that group cohesion is not a necessity for groupthink to occur.
Groupthink may arise from a great desire of a team to achieve a certain goal. From the above
model, the antecedents to groupthink include directive leadership, provocative situations and the
group exhibiting high cohesiveness.
3.2 Data collection
For the purpose of this study, reviews of existing literature formed the research methodology.
The researcher used secondary data to collect research data. The sources adopted included
journal publications, conference proceedings and case studies. The main source of secondary
data for this report was case studies extracted from internet sources.
3.3 Analysis methods
After collecting necessary data from the various case studies, the researcher made inferences
from the different case studies regarding the concept of groupthink, its causes and the impact that
it has on decision-making among project teams.

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER FOUR
Research Findings
After compiling the various data sources, precisely the case study reviews, the research found out
the relationship that exists between groupthink and defective decision-making. The case study of
the Everest disaster found out that though other researches had attributed the disaster to a number
of possible causes, the disaster that befell the mountain climbers could be attributed to
consequences of groupthink. According to that case study, Rob and Fischer operated two
different groups that had a sole goal; to reach the summit of Mount Everest. A failed
communication resulted to some of the climbers losing the direction to Camp IV, which later
resulted to their demise. From this case study therefore, the researcher found out that cohesion
can be an antecedent to groupthink which later brought loss of lives.
From the other case study that involved production unit groups, it is clear that there was a
decision-making breakdown. Aspects of groupthink were exhibited by not only the team
members but also the team leaders. The existence of such antecedents was seen to cause poor
decision making which resulted in improper communication among the teams.
Nevertheless, the research study found out that project managers play a key role in preventing
groupthink from occurring since they are the key players in project teams. The researcher also
found out that once a groupthink has occurred, the situation would not be easily reversed
therefore calling for the need to address groupthink before it impacts on decision making.

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
These research findings would aid the researcher in deriving the conclusion and in making
recommendations as to how groupthink can be prevented and the role that project managers play
towards mitigating the undesirable effects that groupthink has on decision-making.

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER FIVE
Conclusion
The research study results can increase the awareness of groupthink in decision-making
processes among project teams. Projects are what drive the current world, with the developing
countries depending on various project implementations to better the lives of the citizens. The
project objectives were met as follows;
The first objective was to understand the causes of groupthink in project teams. Through the
analysis of the various literature reviews, various contexts have been derived over which
groupthink occurs. It was found out that the concept of groupthink results from one or more of
the antecedents to groupthink. It was established that there are various causes of groupthink
which had been suggested by the conceptual framework that was adopted for this research. The
various literature reviews shared a common conclusion, that groupthink has root causes
attributed to the antecedents mentioned by Janis.
The second objective, to investigate the effects of groupthink in project management, was
successfully achieved. The analysis of the various reviews acknowledged that teamwork would
be beneficial if the right decisions are made by the group. However, the existence of groupthink
symptoms was seen to bring harm to the project works. The impacts could be detrimental to an
extent of leading to loss of lives as evident in the Everest disaster case study. The research
therefore concludes that it has successfully established the undesirable effects of groupthink

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
which would create awareness among project teams, making them to be fully aware and to take
appropriate precautions to mitigate groupthink from impacting their decision making.
The third objective, to explore the role of project managers in mitigating groupthink was also
established. Although the reviews suggested that the project managers would be key contributors
to groupthink, adopting Janis’ suggestion of ways to prevent groupthink would guide in the
interpretation of the role of project managers in mitigating this harmful aspect. This would be
further elaborated in the recommendation section of this research study, together with the fourth
objective

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER SIX
Recommendation
This research study would be beneficial to organizations if the study is used in examining the
context of teamwork in today’s business environments. Many projects exists that are more often
than not accomplished by ad hoc teams, collaboratively brought together to achieve a common
goal. Since ad hoc groups in project works involve short term works, their groupthink would not
exhibit high interpersonal cohesion, but would exhibit high cohesion with respect to their desire
to achieve a common goal.
This study therefore recommends that the concept of groupthink is used by organizations to
examine the possible situational occurrence of groupthink that could lead to poor decision
making which often results in most project failures. Project failures in most organizations could
be attributed to a number of factors including poor budgeting, poor planning etc. but there is
need to examine the concept of groupthink as a social change that results in these failures.
Project leaders have been found to play a role in the occurrence of groupthink in a project team.
Sometimes they are motivated to achieve results in time as the look for professional appraisal.
By understanding how this could bring about defective decision-making, project managers have
to take precautionary actions to ensure that every team member’s opinion is respected in order to
arrive at the most appropriate and quality decision-making process. This study suggests that
project leaders should avoid stating their opinions when assigning tasks or giving instructions to

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
their team members. Project managers should abstain from directive form of leadership since it
curtails the opinions of others that would be beneficial to the success of a given project.
The study recommends that project managers become keen in projects that involve project teams.
They should be keen to observe the antecedents of groupthink discussed herein, and to develop
ways of preventing faulty decision-making from occurring. To accomplish this, project managers
have to adopt leadership styles that accommodate for individual inputs from team members.
Organizations should adopt shared form of leadership to facilitate project teams. This involves
distributing leadership roles to every team member so as to avoid directive form of leadership
which leads to an environment in which team members openly air their opinions leading to better
and quality decision making (Carson, Tesluk, & Marrone, 2007).
6.1 Further research
The research study proposes that more research has to be done to come up with more efficient
and effective ways that project managers may adopt to effectively mitigate the occurrence of
groupthink, given their desire to achieve project goals. The concept of shared leadership
introduced in the recommendation section above has to be researched on to ensure that other
antecedents to groupthink are also prevented.
6.2 Limitation of the research
Limitations of research study are research design’s characteristics that impacted in the
interpretation of research findings. This research study suffered from the following limitations

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
a. Scope of discussion- the researcher does not possess many years of experience in
research work compared to other researchers fro this particular research study. This has
an impact on the collection, analysis and interpretation.
b. The methodology- The researcher used the previous literature works on groupthink
concept. These works were based on theoretical perspectives and not on empirical
findings. This limits the research findings. Besides, the researcher had no defined way of
sampling the case studies selected for reviews.

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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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