Impacts of Newcomers on Group Performance and Satisfaction of the Group Decision-making Process

• Main Authors: Wen- Shiu Chen, 陳玟秀
• Other Authors: Ti Hsu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/59780346277804379059

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 企業管理學系碩士班 === 94 === Since the environment of an enterprise changes rapidly nowadays, personnel change or turnover has become a normal event in organizations. There are two schools of thoughts in organizational behavior with regard to the influence of newcomer in organizations, namely a positive and a negative side. Theorists holding the negative opinion consider that, socializing newcomers may disperse the energy of old timers and make old timers less able to focus on the task. As a result, it may lead to a lower satisfaction toward both the group decision-making process and the group performance. In contrast, theorists with the positive thinking believe that newcomers may help promote a higher satisfaction toward the group decision-making process and performance due to the fact that newcomers may bring in different ideas, opinions and/or suggestions. The present study under a laboratory setting was intended to find answers to the following three research questions: 1) whether there was any differences between the control and the experimental groups in terms of their satisfaction toward the group decision-making process, perceived conflicts, and the group performance; 2) which of the following factors contributing the most toward the group performance: group gender composition, members perceived conflicts, and perceived satisfaction; and 3) whether there existed any correlation between perceived conflicts and perceived satisfaction of the group decision-making process. Based on a sample of 49 teams with three or four persons per team (totally164 participants), the present research had the following findings. Using a T-test, a correlation analysis and a regression analysis, findings of the study revealed that newcomers did produced a different satisfaction toward the group decision-making processes; satisfaction of the group decision-making process would contribute the group performance; and there were indeed some correlations between satisfaction of the group decision-making process and members perceived conflicts.