Investigation of Groupthink in Project Management

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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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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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INVESTIGATION OF GROUPTHINK IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
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,