Misplaced Pages

#788211

132-441: From as early as the 1920s, scholars have been exploring the idea of increasing employee participation and involvement. They sought to learn whether including employees in organizational decision-making would lead to increased effectiveness and productivity within the organization. According to Lewin, individuals who are involved in decision-making also have increased openness to change. Different participative techniques can have either

264-560: A humanist concept of business, a philosophy of participation and solidarity, and a shared business culture. The culture is rooted in a shared mission and a number of principles, corporate values and business policies. Over the years, these links have been embodied in a series of operating rules approved on a majority basis by the Co-operative Congresses, which regulate the activity of the Governing Bodies of

396-655: A "closed" leadership style—an unwillingness to respect dissenting opinion. The same study indicates that level of group cohesiveness is insignificant in predicting groupthink occurrence. Park summarizes a study performed by Callaway, Marriott, and Esser (1985) in which groups with highly dominant members "made higher quality decisions, exhibited lowered state of anxiety, took more time to reach a decision, and made more statements of disagreement/agreement". Overall, groups with highly dominant members expressed characteristics inhibitory to groupthink. If highly dominant members are considered equivalent to leaders with high power motivation,

528-598: A 1986 study of plywood companies in the USA found democratic workplaces lost productivity due to them hiring more workers who were not given equal democratic rights compared to original workers. Another study looking at evidence of construction companies in the 1980s indicated that democratic workplaces had equal or lower productivity compared to other workplaces. According to an analysis, businesses with democratic workplaces in British Columbia , Alberta , and Quebec in

660-567: A 2004 study, a diverse team of problem-solver outperformed a team consisting of best problem solvers as they start to think alike. Psychological safety, emphasized by Edmondson & Lei and Hirak et al., is crucial for effective group performance. It involves creating an environment that encourages learning and removes barriers perceived as threats by team members. Edmondson et al. demonstrated variations in psychological safety based on work type, hierarchy, and leadership effectiveness, highlighting its importance in employee development and fostering

792-448: A 3 year survival rate of 87%, compared to 48% of all Italian businesses. In 2005, 1% of German businesses failed but the statistic for businesses with democratic workplaces was less than 0.1%. A 2012 study of Spanish and French businesses with democratic workplaces found that they “have been more resilient than conventional enterprises during the economic crisis." In France, the three year survival rate of businesses with democratic workplaces

924-560: A back-up plan. Irving Janis identified three antecedent conditions to groupthink: Although it is possible for a situation to contain all three of these factors, all three are not always present even when groupthink is occurring. Janis considered a high degree of cohesiveness to be the most important antecedent to producing groupthink, and always present when groupthink was occurring; however, he believed high cohesiveness would not always produce groupthink. A very cohesive group abides with all group norms ; but whether or not groupthink arises

1056-401: A consensus quickly and at a low energy cost; however, over time this process of decision-making may decrease the members' ability to think critically. It is, therefore, considered by many to be important to combat the effects of groupthink. According to Janis, decision-making groups are not necessarily destined to groupthink. He devised ways of preventing groupthink: The devil's advocate in

1188-515: A culture of learning within organizations. A similar term to groupthink is the Abilene paradox , another phenomenon that is detrimental when working in groups. When organizations fall into the Abilene paradox, they take actions in contradiction to what their perceived goals may be and therefore defeat the very purposes they are trying to achieve. Failure to communicate desires or beliefs can cause

1320-686: A democratic environment may also develop a greater concern for the common good, which also transfers to fundamental citizenship. Philosopher Robert Dahl claims that, "If democracy is justified in governing the state, it must also be justified in governing economic enterprises." Some political scientists have questioned whether the state-firm analogy is the most appropriate way to justify workplace democratization. Workers working for democratic leaders report positive results such as group member satisfaction, friendliness, group mindedness, 'we' statements, worker motivation, creativity, and dedication to decisions made within an organization. When workplace democracy

1452-660: A democratic vote. Compared to similar jobs at local industries, Mondragon managers' wages are considerably lower (as some companies pay their best paid managers hundreds of times more than the lowest-paid employee of the company) and equivalent for middle management, technical and professional levels. Lower wage levels are on average 13% higher than similar jobs at local businesses. Spain's progressive tax rate further reduces any disparity in pay. These comparatively low wages can make it very difficult to recruit managers from investor-owned firms. Mondragon Corporation operates in four areas: finance, industry, retail, and knowledge, with

SECTION 10

#1732772260789

1584-500: A dual focus: education-training and innovation, which have both been key elements in the development of the corporation. Training-education is mainly linked to the dynamism of Mondragon University , the significant role that Politeknika Ikastegia Txorierri, Arizmendi Ikastola and Lea Artibai Ikastetxea play in their respective areas and the activity of the Management and Co-operative Development Centre Otalora. Mondragon University

1716-413: A fundamental role in the development of the sectors of focus. In 2009 they employed 742 people and had a budget of €53.7 million. In 2013 its network of technology centers and R&D units provided employment for 1,700 people and the commitment to R&D&I matters amounted to 136 million Euros, 8.5% of added value. Mondragon has 479 families of Patents for Inventions, which accounts for 25% patents in

1848-400: A group may provide questions and insight which contradict the majority group in order to avoid groupthink decisions. A study by Ryan Hartwig confirms that the devil's advocacy technique is very useful for group problem-solving. It allows for conflict to be used in a way that is most-effective for finding the best solution so that members will not have to go back and find a different solution if

1980-719: A key inspiration. In 2312 , a science fiction novel by Kim Stanley Robinson , the Mondragon Corporation has evolved into a planned economy system called the Mondragon Accord . The Mondragon Accord is controlled by means of a network of AIs running on quantum computers , and rules large parts of the Solar System , including Mercury and most of the moons of the gas giants ; only part of Earth , and its colonies in space, retain remnants of capitalist economies, while Mars has withdrawn from

2112-530: A larger scale and in more capital-intensive industries than hierarchical workplaces. A 1987 study of democratic workplaces in Italy, the UK and France found that workplace democracy has a positive relationship with productivity and that democratic firms do not get less productive as they get larger. A report on democratic workplaces in the USA found that they can increase worker incomes by 70-80%, that they can grow 2% faster

2244-508: A live lesson, and the possible mention by president Ronald Reagan in the State of the Union address, were opportunities NASA deemed critical to increasing interest in its potential civilian space flight program. The schedule NASA set out to meet was, however, self-imposed. It seemed incredible to many that an organization with a perceived history of successful management would have locked itself into

2376-519: A market system and they still exploit workers in South America, and they do things that are harmful to the society as a whole and they have no choice. If you’re in a system where you must make a profit in order to survive, you're compelled to ignore negative externalities, effects on others . Vicenç Navarro wrote that, from a business perspective, Mondragon is successful in matching efficiency with solidarity and democracy. However, he writes that

2508-901: A modern language service, manufactures educational equipment, and provides graphic arts services (mccgraphics S.Coop). In 2013, 71.1% of turnover came from international sales. Sales resulting from the export of products abroad and production generated in the 122 subsidiaries located in several different countries: China (15), France (17), Poland (8), Czech Republic (7), Mexico (8), Brazil (5), Germany (4), Italy (4), United Kingdom (3), Romania (3), United States (4), Turkey (2), Portugal (2), Slovakia (2), India (5), Thailand (1) and Morocco (1). Overall, in 2013 these 122 plants provided work for more than 11,000 people. The corporate industrial park in Kunshan , close to Shanghai houses seven subsidiaries. In 2012, it opened 11 new subsidiaries abroad, employing around 14,000 people. Its international sales that year marked

2640-773: A number of countries. The first was the Copreci plant in Mexico in 1990, followed by many others: up to 73 by the end of 2008, and 122 at the end of 2013. The goals were to increase competitiveness and market share, bring component supply closer to customers' plants, especially in the automotive and domestic appliance sectors, and to strengthen employment in the Basque Country by promoting exports of co-operatives' products by means of new platforms. Between 2002 and 2007, Fagor and Eroski issued bonds ( aportaciones subordinadas ). While they were commercialized as safe deposits ,

2772-413: A perennial failing of mankind. What we are talking about is a rationalized conformity – an open, articulate philosophy which holds that group values are not only expedient but right and good as well. Groupthink was Whyte's diagnosis of the malaise affecting both the study and practice of management (and, by association, America) in the 1950s. Whyte was dismayed that employees had subjugated themselves to

SECTION 20

#1732772260789

2904-443: A problem. There was a recognized downside to group problem solving in that it takes groups more time to come to a decision and requires that people make compromises with each other. However, it was not until the research of Janis appeared that anyone really considered that a highly cohesive group could impair the group's ability to generate quality decisions. Tight-knit groups may appear to make decisions better because they can come to

3036-469: A record number of 69% of its total sales (€5.8 billion, with a 2% fall compared to the previous year). Mondragon also participated in 91 international R&D projects. In 2014, the industrial cooperatives created 1,000 jobs, and internationalization continued with 125 production subsidiaries abroad – 3 more than the year before. Mondragon runs Eroski , one of the leading retail groups all over Spain and in southern France, and maintains close contacts with

3168-460: A schedule it had no chance of meeting. In the corporate world, ineffective and suboptimal group decision-making can negatively affect the health of a company and cause a considerable amount of monetary loss. Aaron Hermann and Hussain Rammal illustrate the detrimental role of groupthink in the collapse of Swissair , a Swiss airline company that was thought to be so financially stable that it earned

3300-513: A strong hold on political decisions and military operations, which may result in enormous wastage of human and material resources. Highly qualified and experienced politicians and military commanders sometimes make very poor decisions when in a suboptimal group setting. Scholars such as Janis and Raven attribute political and military fiascoes, such as the Bay of Pigs Invasion , the Vietnam War , and

3432-429: A stronger impact on morale than productivity, while others have the reverse effect. Success of the employee-owned and operated Mondragon suggests economic benefits from workplace democracy. Workplace democracy may encourage public participation in a government's political process. Skills developed from democracy in the workplace can transfer to improved citizenship and result in a better functioning democracy. Workers in

3564-610: A successfully democratic national labor union in the United States are the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America , known throughout the labor movement as the UE. An independent trade Union, the UE was built from the bottom-up, and takes pride in its motto that "The Members Run This Union!" The Menshevik led Democratic Republic of Georgia experimented with workplace democracy by promoting cooperatives in

3696-643: A tenured Project leader can also create conditions for groupthink to prevail. Presence of an ‘experienced’ project manager can reduce the likelihood of groupthink by taking steps like critically analysing ideas, promoting open communication, encouraging diverse perspectives, and raising team awareness of groupthink symptoms. It was found that among people who have Bicultural identity, those with highly integrated Bicultural identity as opposed to less integrated were more prone to groupthink. In another 2022 study in Tanzania, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions come into play. It

3828-425: A working model of an alternative to the capitalist mode of production . In an April 2012 interview, Noam Chomsky said that, while Mondragon offers an alternative to capitalism, it was still embedded in a capitalist system which limits Mondragon's decisions: Take the most advanced case: Mondragon. It’s worker-owned, it’s not worker managed , although the management does come from the workforce often, but it’s in

3960-483: A year than other businesses and have 9-19% greater levels of productivity, 45% lower turnover rates and are 30% less likely to fail in the first few years of operation. A 1995 study of workplace democracy in the timber industry in the Northwest United States found that productivity increased by 6 to 14% with workplace democracy. A 2006 meta-study on workplace democracy found that it can 'equal or exceed

4092-472: Is 80%-90%, compared to the 66% overall survival rate for all businesses. During the 2008 economic crisis, the number of workers in businesses with democratic workplaces in France increased by 4.2%, while employment in other businesses decreased by 0.7%. A 2018 study from South Korea found that workers had higher motivation in democratic workplaces. A 2014 study from Italy found that democratic workplaces were

Workplace democracy - Misplaced Pages Continue

4224-557: Is a co-operative university, which combines the development of knowledge, skills, and values, and maintains close relations with business, especially Mondragon co-operatives. Technological innovation is generated through the co-operatives' own R&D departments, the Corporate Science and Technology Plan, the corporation's 12 technology centers and the Garaia Innovation Park. The 15 technology centers play

4356-537: Is a large worker cooperative based in Spain, legally considered to be corporation. The Marxian economist Richard D. Wolff describes it as "a stunningly successful alternative to the capitalist organization of production". Marland Mold was a company started in 1946 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, by Severino Marchetto and Paul Ferland. The company at first, designed and built steel molds for plastic products throughout

4488-474: Is a preferred management style followed in many companies for its simplicity, speed and low process overheads. London Business School chief, Nigel Nicholson, in his 1998 Harvard Business Review paper: "How Hardwired is Human Behavior?" suggested that human nature was just as likely to cause problems in the workplace as in larger social and political settings, and that similar methods were required to deal with stressful situations and difficult problems. He held up

4620-453: Is dependent on what the group norms are. If the group encourages individual dissent and alternative strategies to problem solving, it is likely that groupthink will be avoided even in a highly cohesive group. This means that high cohesion will lead to groupthink only if one or both of the other antecedents is present, situational context being slightly more likely than structural faults to produce groupthink. A 2018 study found that absence of

4752-468: Is difficult to conduct, groupthink has many independent and dependent variables, and it is unclear "how to translate [groupthink's] theoretical concepts into observable and quantitative constructs". Nevertheless, outside research psychology and sociology, wider culture has come to detect groupthink in observable situations, for example: To make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight symptoms indicative of groupthink: Type I: Overestimations of

4884-671: Is done through Staff and Worker Representative Congresses (SWRCs), composed of workers directly elected by all workers in the workplace to represent them. As of the 1980s and 1990s, SWRCs were, in theory, broadly similar to continental European and Japanese workers' workplace councils in terms of rights and powers and consensus building, as opposed to the Anglo-American model "adversarial model" relating management and workers. Findings from interviews in 1997 suggested that in practice, SWRCs did have some real power, including some cases of dismissing managers. Mondragon Cooperative Corporation

5016-769: Is expected to pursue an alternative strategy or goal "for real". Testing groupthink in a laboratory is difficult because synthetic settings remove groups from real social situations, which ultimately changes the variables conducive or inhibitive to groupthink. Because of its subjective nature, researchers have struggled to measure groupthink as a complete phenomenon, instead frequently opting to measure its particular factors. These factors range from causal to effectual and focus on group and situational aspects. Park (1990) found that "only 16 empirical studies have been published on groupthink", and concluded that they "resulted in only partial support of his [Janis's] hypotheses". Park concludes, "despite Janis' claim that group cohesiveness

5148-470: Is functioning nominally. Morton Thiokol engineers who designed and built the Challenger ' s rocket boosters ignored warnings that cooler temperature during the day of the launch could result in failure and death of the crew. The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster grounded space shuttle flights for nearly three years. Ironic that this particular flight was to be a demonstration showing confidence in

5280-555: Is often measured by number of ideas/solutions generated within a group, but there is no uniform, concrete standard by which researchers can objectively conclude groupthink occurs. The studies of groupthink and groupthink antecedents reveal a mixed body of results. Some studies indicate group cohesion and leadership style to be powerfully predictive of groupthink, while other studies indicate the insignificance of these factors. Group homogeneity and group insulation are generally supported as factors predictive of groupthink. Groupthink can have

5412-503: Is often perceived as masking managerial mistakes, but also preventing transparency and facilitating fraud, as in the case of Enron . Had managers been more accountable to employees, it is argued, owners and employees would not have been defrauded. In the equity model, employees own voting shares of their company, most commonly through an employee stock ownership plan. The equity model of workplace democracy exists when bottom-up practices, such as participatory management , are combined with

Workplace democracy - Misplaced Pages Continue

5544-593: Is one of four case studies analyzed in Capital and the Debt Trap , which summarized evidence claiming that cooperatives tend to last longer and are less susceptible to perverse incentives and other problems of organizational governance than more traditionally managed organizations. The founders of Cooperation Jackson , a network of worker cooperatives in Jackson, Mississippi in the United States, cite Mondragon as

5676-478: Is sometimes stated to occur (more broadly) within natural groups within the community, for example to explain the lifelong different mindsets of those with differing political views (such as " conservatism " and " liberalism " in the U.S. political context or the purported benefits of team work vs. work conducted in solitude). However, this conformity of viewpoints within a group does not mainly involve deliberate group decision-making , and might be better explained by

5808-526: Is the major necessary antecedent factor, no research has shown a significant main effect of cohesiveness on groupthink." Park also concludes that research does not support Janis' claim that cohesion and leadership style interact to produce groupthink symptoms. Park presents a summary of the results of the studies analyzed. According to Park, a study by Huseman and Drive (1979) indicates groupthink occurs in both small and large decision-making groups within businesses. This results partly from group isolation within

5940-499: Is this: "The more amiability and esprit de corps there is among the members of a policy-making ingroup, the greater the danger that independent critical thinking will be replaced by groupthink, which is likely to result in irrational and dehumanizing actions directed against outgroups". Janis set the foundation for the study of groupthink starting with his research in the American Soldier Project where he studied

6072-471: Is used the effect typically is raised employee potential, employee representation, higher autonomy , and equal power within an organization (Rolfsen, 2011). Workplace democracy theory closely follows political democracy, especially in larger workplaces. Democratic workplace organization is often associated with trade unions , anarchist , and socialist (especially libertarian socialist ) movements. Most unions have democratic structures at least for selecting

6204-509: The BRIC markets increased to 20% compared to the previous year. In 2013, international sales grew by 6.7% and accounted for 71.1% of total sales. On 16 October 2013, domestic appliance company Fagor Electrodomésticos filed for bankruptcy under Spanish law to renegotiate €1,1 billion of debt, after suffering heavy losses during the eurocrisis and the 2008–2014 Spanish real estate crisis putting 5,600 employees at risk of losing their jobs. This

6336-708: The Basque region of Spain . It was founded in the town of Mondragón in 1956 by Father José María Arizmendiarrieta and a group of his students at a technical college he founded. Its first product was paraffin heaters . It is the seventh-largest Spanish company in terms of asset turnover and the leading business group in the Basque Country . At the end of 2016, it employed 74,117 people in 257 companies and organizations in four areas of activity: finance, industry, retail and knowledge. By 2019, 81,507 people were employed. In 2024, it had over 70,000 workers, 30,660 in

6468-476: The Cuban Missile Crisis using "vigilant appraisal". During meetings, he invited outside experts to share their viewpoints, and allowed group members to question them carefully. He also encouraged group members to discuss possible solutions with trusted members within their separate departments, and he even divided the group up into various sub-groups, to partially break the group cohesion. Kennedy

6600-566: The European Economic Community in 1986, it was decided in 1984 to establish the "Mondragon Co-operative Group", the forerunner of the current corporation. In-service training for managers was strengthened by creating Otalora, dedicated to training, and the dissemination of co-operatives. The Group consisted of 23,130 workers at the end of 1990. On the international stage, the aim was to respond to growing globalisation , expanding abroad by establishing production plants in

6732-840: The Pointy-haired Boss , a nameless and clueless social climber. The Dilbert principle has been accepted as fact by some. Much management philosophy has focused on trying to limit manager power, differentiate leadership versus management, and so on. Henry Mintzberg, Peter Drucker and Donella Meadows were three very notable theorists addressing these concerns in the 1980s. Mintzberg and Drucker studied how executives spent their time, Meadows how change and leverage to resist it existed at all levels in all kinds of organizations. Adhocracy , functional leadership models and reengineering were all attempts to detect and remove administrative incompetence. Business process and quality management methods in general remove managerial flexibility that

SECTION 50

#1732772260789

6864-674: The Soviet Union in 1941, the Watergate scandal and others. Despite the popularity of the concept of groupthink, fewer than two dozen studies addressed the phenomenon itself following the publication of Victims of Groupthink , between the years 1972 and 1998. This was surprising considering how many fields of interests it spans, which include political science , communications, organizational studies , social psychology , management, strategy, counseling, and marketing. One can most likely explain this lack of follow-up in that group research

6996-492: The Spanish Civil War . In 1943, Arizmendiarrieta established a technical college which became a training ground for managers, engineers and skilled labour for local companies, and primarily for the co-operatives. Arizmendiarrieta spent a number of years educating young people about a form of humanism based on solidarity and participation, in harmony with Catholic social teaching , and the importance of acquiring

7128-455: The Watergate scandal , to the effect of groupthink. More recently, Dina Badie argued that groupthink was largely responsible for the shift in the U.S. administration's view on Saddam Hussein that eventually led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States. After the September 11 attacks , "stress, promotional leadership, and intergroup conflict " were all factors that gave rise to

7260-522: The 1950s and 60s. In 1969 the owners sold the company to VCA which was later bought by The Ethyl Corporation. The Marland Mold employees voted to join the International Union of Electrical Workers , because of a dispute that took place over health insurance. The plant's manager started to pay less attention and put less time into the Pittsfield plant so the profits declined. The plant was put up for sale in 1992. The employees ended up buying out

7392-474: The 2000s were almost half as likely as businesses with hierarchical workplaces to fail in ten years. According to an analysis of all businesses in Uruguay between 1997 - 2009, businesses with democratic workplaces have a 29% smaller chance of closure than other firms. In Italy, businesses with democratic workplaces that have been created by workers buying a business when it's facing a closure or put up to sale have

7524-510: The Abilene paradox. The Watergate scandal is an example of this. Before the scandal had occurred, a meeting took place where they discussed the issue. One of Nixon's campaign aides was unsure if he should speak up and give his input. If he had voiced his disagreement with the group's decision, it is possible that the scandal could have been avoided. After the Bay of Pigs invasion fiasco, President John F. Kennedy sought to avoid groupthink during

7656-561: The Accord in the century preceding the story. The Mondragon Corporation already appeared in Robinson's earlier Mars trilogy , as one of the Terran groups involved in the colonization and terraforming of Mars ; the coop is also portrayed as the inspiration of both the bogdanovist movement and the libertarian-leaning Praxis Corporation two of the main forces leading the revolution for

7788-694: The Basque Country, 29,340 in the rest of Spain and around 10,000 abroad. Mondragon cooperatives operate in accordance with the Statement on the Co-operative Identity maintained by the International Co-operative Alliance . In 1941, as a young Catholic priest, Arizmendiarrieta settled in Mondragón, a town with a population of 7,000 that had not yet recovered from the poverty, hunger, exile, and tension of

7920-514: The Basque Country, participating in more than 30 R&D cooperation projects at the European level. In 2012, Richard D. Wolff , an American professor of economics, hailed the Mondragon set of enterprises, including the good wages it provides for employees, the empowerment of ordinary workers in decision making, and the measure of equality for female workers, as a major success and cited it as

8052-678: The Cubans by failing to question the CIA about its many false assumptions, including the ineffectiveness of Castro's air force , the weakness of Castro's army , and the inability of Castro to quell internal uprisings. Janis argued the fiasco that ensued could have been prevented if the Kennedy administration had followed the methods to preventing groupthink adopted during the Cuban Missile Crisis , which took place just one year later in October 1962. In

SECTION 60

#1732772260789

8184-948: The French group Les Mousquetaires and the German retailer Edeka , with whom it set up the Alidis international purchasing group in 2002. The worker-owners and consumer-members participate in the co-operative's decision-making bodies and management of Eroski. At the end of 2013, Eroski posted a turnover of €6.6 billion, operating 2.069 stores made up of 90 Eroski hypermarkets, 1,211 Eroski/center, Caprabo , Eroski/city, Aliprox, Familia, Onda and Cash & Carry supermarkets, 155 branches of Eroski travel agencies, 63 petrol stations, 39 Forum Sport stores and 221 IF perfume stores. In southern France Eroski had 4 hypermarkets, 16 supermarkets and 17 petrol stations, and 4 perfume stores in Andorra. Retail includes

8316-505: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 as his two prime case studies. Later studies have evaluated and reformulated his groupthink model. Groupthink requires individuals to avoid raising controversial issues or alternative solutions, and there is loss of individual creativity, uniqueness and independent thinking. The dysfunctional group dynamics of the " ingroup " produces an "illusion of invulnerability" (an inflated certainty that

8448-449: The Pittsfield plant was shut. In the 1980s, Brazilian businessman Ricardo Semler , converted his family firm, a light manufacturing concern called Semco, and transformed it into a strictly democratic establishment where managers were interviewed and then elected by workers. All managerial decisions were subject to democratic review, debate and vote, with the full participation of all workers. This radical approach to management got him and

8580-466: The Sovereignty of Labour, Instrumental and Subordinate Nature of Capital, Participatory Management, Payment Solidarity, Inter-cooperation, Social Transformation, Universality and Education. This philosophy is complemented by four corporate values: Co-operation , acting as owners and protagonists; Participation , which takes shape as a commitment to management; Social Responsibility , by means of

8712-404: The USA found that democratic workplaces tended to over-report accidents whilst conventional capitalist ones would under-report them. Contrary to theoretical expectations of democratic workplaces, they were not safer for workers than conventional capitalist workplaces. Mondragon Corporation The Mondragon Corporation is a corporation and federation of worker cooperatives based in

8844-608: The USW, Mondragon, and the Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC) announced their detailed union co-op model . The industrial sector ended 2012 with a new record of €4 billion in international sales, beating sales figures from before the financial crisis of 2007–2008 . Mondragon opened 11 new production subsidiaries. International sales that year accounted for 69% of all sales, a 26% increase from 2009 to 2012, and with 14,000 employees abroad. Mondragon's share in

8976-992: The Voluntary Social Welfare Body Lagun Aro , which had an asset fund totaling €5,566 million at the end of 2014. The yield obtained from this fund is used to cover long-term retirement, widowhood, and invalidity benefits, complementary to those offered by the Spanish social security system. The corporation's companies manufacture consumer goods, capital goods , industrial components, products, and systems for construction, and services. The latter includes very diverse business groups such as Abantail: Adaptive design optimization, Alecop: Engineering training, LKS Consultores: Attorneys etc., KREAN: Architects and engineers. MCCTelecom: Telecommunication engineering. Mondragon Lingua: Translation and language schools, Mondragon Sistemas: Automation, Industrial Computing and Telecommunications. Ondoan: Turnkey projects in

9108-477: The Wobbly Shop, in which recallable delegates were elected by workers, and other norms of grassroots democracy were applied. This is still used in some organizations, notably Semco and in the software industry. Spanish anarchists, Mohandas Gandhi's Swadeshi movement, and farm and retail co-operative movements, all made contributions to the theory and practice of workplace democracy and often carried that into

9240-413: The board members lacking expertise in the field and having somewhat similar background, norms, and values, the pressure to conform may have become more prominent. This phenomenon is called group homogeneity, which is an antecedent to groupthink. Together, these conditions may have contributed to the poor decision-making process that eventually led to Swissair's collapse. Another example of groupthink from

9372-426: The business. Manz and Sims (1982) conducted a study showing that autonomous work groups are susceptible to groupthink symptoms in the same manner as decisions making groups within businesses. Fodor and Smith (1982) produced a study revealing that group leaders with high power motivation create atmospheres more susceptible to groupthink. Leaders with high power motivation possess characteristics similar to leaders with

9504-433: The catering industry, cold stores, and refrigeration equipment. Specifically focusing on the automotive sector, the corporation also manufactures a wide variety of dies, molds and tooling for casting iron and aluminium, and occupies a leading position in machinery for the casting sector. In Industrial Components, Mondragon posted a turnover of €1.5 billion in 2009, a sector in which it operates as an integrated supplier for

9636-421: The collective confirmation bias of the individual members of the group. The term was coined in 1952 by William H. Whyte Jr. Most of the initial research on groupthink was conducted by Irving Janis , a research psychologist from Yale University . Janis published an influential book in 1972, which was revised in 1982. Janis used the Bay of Pigs disaster (the failed invasion of Castro's Cuba in 1961) and

9768-440: The company a great deal of attention. Semler argued that handing the company over to the workers was the only way to free time for himself to go build up the customer, government and other relationships required to make the company grow. By giving up the fight to hold any control of internals, Semler was able to focus on marketing, positioning, and offer his advice (as a paid, elected spokesman, though his position as major shareholder

9900-495: The corporate world is illustrated in the United Kingdom -based companies Marks & Spencer and British Airways . The negative impact of groupthink took place during the 1990s as both companies released globalization expansion strategies. Researcher Jack Eaton's content analysis of media press releases revealed that all eight symptoms of groupthink were present during this period. The most predominant symptom of groupthink

10032-558: The corporation (Standing Committee, General Council), the Grassroots Co-operatives and the Divisions they belong to, from the organisational, institutional and economic points of view as well as in terms of assets. This framework of business culture has been structured based on a common culture derived from the 10 Basic Co-operative Principles , in which Mondragon is rooted: Open Admission, Democratic Organisation,

10164-413: The corporation's organisational levels and incorporated into the four-year strategic plans and the annual business plans of the individual co-operatives, divisions, and the corporation as a whole. At Mondragon, there are agreed-upon wage ratios between executive work and field or factory work which earns a minimum wage. These ratios range from 3:1 to 9:1 in different cooperatives and average 5:1. That is,

10296-415: The costs of workplace democracy. There are many management science papers on the application of democratic structuring to the workplace, and its benefits. Benefits are often contrasted to simple command hierarchy arrangements in which "the boss" can hire anyone and fire anyone, and takes absolute and total responsibility for their own well-being and also all that occurs "under" them. The command hierarchy

10428-501: The courts classed them as riskier debt instruments. When the yields fell during the financial crisis, bond-holders sued against the cooperatives. In 2008, the worker-owners of the cooperatives Ampo (metal casting) and Irizar (coaches) voted to leave the corporation. In October 2009, the United Steelworkers announced an agreement with Mondragon to create worker cooperatives in the United States. On 26 March 2012,

10560-472: The decisions occurred largely because of groupthink, which prevented contradictory views from being expressed and subsequently evaluated. After the publication of Janis' book Victims of Groupthink in 1972, and a revised edition with the title Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes in 1982, the concept of groupthink was used to explain many other faulty decisions in history. These events included Nazi Germany 's decision to invade

10692-505: The desire for cohesiveness, in a group may produce a tendency among its members to agree at all costs. This causes the group to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation . Groupthink is a construct of social psychology but has an extensive reach and influences literature in the fields of communication studies , political science , management , and organizational theory , as well as important aspects of deviant religious cult behaviour. Groupthink

10824-591: The distribution of wealth based on solidarity; and Innovation , focusing on constant renewal in all areas. This business culture translates into compliance with a number of Basic Objectives (Customer Focus, Development, Innovation, Profitability, People in Co-operation and Involvement in the Community) and General Policies approved by the Co-operative Congress, which are taken on board at all

10956-566: The economy. These cooperatives were ended when Georgia was annexed into the Soviet Union . In Sweden, the Swedish Social Democratic Party made laws and reforms from 1950-70 to establish more democratic workplaces. Salvador Allende championed a large number of such experiments in Chile when he became president of Chile in 1970. Many organizations began to realize by the 1960s that tight control by too few people

11088-597: The effect of extreme stress on group cohesiveness. After this study he remained interested in the ways in which people make decisions under external threats. This interest led Janis to study a number of "disasters" in American foreign policy , such as failure to anticipate the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (1941); the Bay of Pigs Invasion fiasco (1961); and the prosecution of the Vietnam War (1964–67) by President Lyndon Johnson . He concluded that in each of these cases,

11220-603: The energy and environmental sector. In the leisure and sports area, it manufactures Orbea bicycles, exercise equipment and items for camping, garden and beach. In capital goods, Mondragon posted a turnover of €976 million in 2009 and is the leading Spanish manufacturer of machining (Danobat Group) and sheet metal forming (Fagor Arrasate Group) machine tools. These machines are complemented by automation and control products for machine tools, packaging machinery, machinery for automating assembly processes and processing wood, forklift trucks, electric transformers, integrated equipment for

11352-625: The first 15 years, many co-operatives were established, thanks to the autarky of the market and the awakening of the Spanish economy . During these years, also with the encouragement of Arizmendiarrieta, the Caja Laboral ("Labor savings bank", 1959) and the Social Welfare Body Lagun Aro ("Friend/help time", 1966 were established that played a key role. The first local group was created, Ularco. In 1969, Eroski

11484-598: The first one fails. Hartwig also suggests that the devil's advocacy technique be incorporated with other group decision-making models such as the functional theory to find and evaluate alternative solutions. The main idea of the devil's advocacy technique is that somewhat structured conflict can be facilitated to not only reduce groupthink, but to also solve problems. Diversity of all kinds is also instrumental in preventing groupthink. Individuals with varying backgrounds, thought, professional & life experiences etc. can offer unique perspectives & challenge assumptions. In

11616-425: The food group Erkop , for catering, cleaning, stock-breeding, and horticulture with Auzo Lagun , a co-operative in group catering and cleaning of buildings and premises, and integrated service in the health sector. In 2008, worker-members voted to expand the cooperative transformation to the retail group as a whole, turning subsidiaries into co-operatives , and making salaried workers worker-members. This area has

11748-430: The general manager of an average Mondragon cooperative earns no more than 5 times as much as the theoretical minimum wage paid in their cooperative. For most workers, this ratio is smaller because there are few Mondragon worker-owners that earn minimum wages, because most jobs are somewhat specialized and are classified at higher wage levels. The wage ratio of a cooperative is decided periodically by its worker-owners through

11880-447: The group were found to predict groupthink while situational conditions did not. The structural conditions included group insulation, group homogeneity, and promotional leadership. The situational conditions included group cohesion. These findings refute Janis' claim about group cohesiveness predicting groupthink. Overall, studies on groupthink have largely focused on the factors (antecedents) that predict groupthink. Groupthink occurrence

12012-529: The group — its power and morality Type II: Closed-mindedness Type III: Pressures toward uniformity When a group exhibits most of the symptoms of groupthink, the consequences of a failing decision process can be expected: incomplete analysis of the other options, incomplete analysis of the objectives, failure to examine the risks associated with the favored choice, failure to reevaluate the options initially rejected, poor information research, selection bias in available information processing, failure to prepare for

12144-429: The groupthink phenomenon seems to rest on a set of unstated and generally restrictive assumptions: It has been thought that groups with the strong ability to work together will be able to solve dilemmas in a quicker and more efficient fashion than an individual. Groups have a greater amount of resources which lead them to be able to store and retrieve information more readily and come up with more alternative solutions to

12276-463: The happiness workers is generally positive”. A 1995 study from the United States indicates that “employees who embrace an increased influence and participation in workplace decisions also reported greater job satisfaction”. A 2008 study found mixed results for "spillover" effects on workers, where working in a democratic workplace doesn't increase the odds of voting but slightly increases the odds of community engagement. A 1986 study of plywood companies in

12408-501: The independence of Mars. In Robinson's book The Ministry for the Future , the Mondragon Corporation is introduced in chapter 58 as a model for a future, post-capitalist, cooperative economy. Groupthink Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness, or

12540-400: The individuals favored before the discussion, he recommends creating heterogeneous groups which contain people with different points of view. Sunstein also points out that people arguing a side they do not sincerely believe (in the role of devil's advocate) tend to be much less effective than a sincere argument. This can be accomplished by dissenting individuals, or a group like a Red Team that

12672-440: The industrialization of the construction process, including engineering and assembly services. The ORONA Group produces elevators. In services to business, sales totaled €248 million in 2008, including business consultancy services , architecture and engineering , property consulting, design and innovation (LKS Group), systems engineering for electromechanical installations, and integrated logistics engineering. It also offers

12804-562: The latter crisis, essentially the same political leaders were involved in decision-making, but this time they learned from their previous mistake of seriously under-rating their opponents. The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, is a prime example of groupthink. A number of factors such as shared illusions and rationalizations contributed to the lack of precaution taken by U.S. Navy officers based in Hawaii. The United States had intercepted Japanese messages and they discovered that Japan

12936-408: The latter distinguishing Mondragon from other business groups. In 2013, the corporation posted a total revenue of over €12 billion (roughly US$ 16 billion), and employed 74,061 workers, making it Spain's fourth-largest industrial and tenth-largest financial group. This area includes the banking business of Laboral Kutxa (successor of Caja Laboral ), the insurance company Seguros Lagun Aro , and

13068-481: The leader, and sometimes these are seen as providing the only democratic aspects to the workplace. Not every workplace that lacks a union lacks democracy, and not every workplace that has a union necessarily has a democratic way to resolve disputes. Historically, some unions have been more committed to workplace democracy than others. The Industrial Workers of the World pioneered the archetypal workplace democracy model,

13200-1050: The leading car manufacturers , offering from the design and development of a part to the industrialization and supply of components and assemblies. It has different business units such as brakes, axles, suspension, transmission, engines, aluminium wheel rims, fluid conduction, and other internal and external vehicle components. It also produces components for the main domestic appliance manufacturers in three business areas: white goods, home comfort, and electronics. And it manufactures flanges and pipe accessories for processing oil-gas, petrochemical plants and power generation, copper and aluminium electrical conductors, and components for conveyors. In construction, sales totaled €974 million in 2009. Mondragon has constructed buildings and important infrastructure projects. It designs and builds large metallic (URSSA), laminated wood and prefabricated concrete structures; supplies prefabricated parts in polymer concrete ; offers solutions for formwork and structures ( ULMA Group ) as well as public works machinery and

13332-425: The leave is a workforce drop by 13% and a 15% cut of the group's sales. As successful cooperatives they were contributing 10% of their profit to a common fund supporting ailing cooperatives. They will not contribute to the solidarity fund but they will keep insuring their workers with Lagun Aro and collaborate with Mondragon Unibertsitatea and other cooperatives in the group. Mondragon co-operatives are united by

13464-453: The likelihood of whether or not groupthink will impact the decision-making process. William H. Whyte Jr. derived the term from George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four , and popularized it in 1952 in Fortune magazine: Groupthink being a coinage – and, admittedly, a loaded one – a working definition is in order. We are not talking about mere instinctive conformity – it is, after all,

13596-482: The necessary technical knowledge before creating the first co-operative . In 1955, he selected five young people to establish the first company of the co-operative and industrial beginning of the Mondragon Corporation. The company was called Talleres Ulgor ("Ulgor workshops"), an acronym derived from the surnames of Usatorre, Larrañaga, Gorroñogoitia, Ormaechea, and Ortubay, known today as Fagor Electrodomésticos (Spanish for "Fagor electric appliances"). In

13728-420: The newspeak vocabulary George Orwell used in his dismaying world of 1984 . In that context, groupthink takes on an invidious connotation. Exactly such a connotation is intended, since the term refers to a deterioration in mental efficiency, reality testing and moral judgments as a result of group pressures. He went on to write: The main principle of groupthink, which I offer in the spirit of Parkinson's Law ,

13860-408: The novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. He initially defined groupthink as follows: I use the term groupthink as a quick and easy way to refer to the mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive ingroup that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action. Groupthink is a term of the same order as the words in

13992-549: The number of employees who are not owners has increased more rapidly than worker-owners, to a point that in some companies, for example in the supermarket chains owned by Mondragon, the first is a much larger group than the second. In Navarro's view, this establishes a two-tier system – for example, in terms of whom to save in the case the company collapses. In the collapse of Fagor, the relocation of employees to other companies belonging to Mondragon favored those who were worker-owners, which may affect labor relations: Actually, one of

14124-566: The occurrence of groupthink. Political case studies of groupthink serve to illustrate the impact that the occurrence of groupthink can have in today's political scene. The United States Bay of Pigs Invasion of April 1961 was the primary case study that Janis used to formulate his theory of groupthink. The invasion plan was initiated by the Eisenhower administration, but when the Kennedy administration took over, it "uncritically accepted"

14256-517: The only kind of workplace which increased trust between workers. A 2013 study from the United States found that democratic workplaces in the healthcare industry had significantly higher levels of job satisfaction. A 2011 study in France found that democratic workplaces “had a positive effect on workers’ job satisfaction.” A 2019 meta-study indicates that “the impact [of democratic workplaces] on

14388-691: The past is selecting teams from more diverse backgrounds, and even mixing men and women for groups (Kamalnath). Groupthink can be considered by many to be a detriment to companies, organizations and in any work situations. Most positions that are senior level need individuals to be independent in their thinking. There is a positive correlation found between outstanding executives and decisiveness (Kelman). Groupthink also prohibits an organization from moving forward and innovating if no one ever speaks up and says something could be done differently. Antecedent factors such as group cohesiveness , faulty group structure, and situational context (e.g., community panic) play into

14520-510: The plan of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). When some people, such as Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and Senator J. William Fulbright , attempted to present their objections to the plan, the Kennedy team as a whole ignored these objections and kept believing in the morality of their plan. Eventually Schlesinger minimized his own doubts, performing self-censorship . The Kennedy team stereotyped Fidel Castro and

14652-405: The plant, even though they weren't fans of employee ownership before, they needed to save their jobs. There immediately was a burst in production and they were able to produce molds that normally took the 3,000 hours to make in 2,200 hours. They had financial stake in the company now which gave them new motivation for the company's success. The other two ideas that were key components to their success

14784-487: The political arena as a "more participatory democracy." The Green parties worldwide have adopted workplace democracy as a central platform, and also often mimic workplace democracy norms such as gender equity, co-leadership, deliberative democracy applied to any major decision, and leaders who don't do policy. The democratic socialist parties have supported the notion of workplace democracy and democratically controlled institutions. The best known and most studied example of

14916-543: The productivity of conventional enterprises when employee involvement is combined with ownership' and 'enrich local social capital.' Another 2006 study reviewing existing evidence found that contrary to the popular idea that worker participation would decrease productivity, it actually increases it. A 1985 study in France that the typical increase to productivity from workplace democracy was about 5%. Another 2022 study using data from France found workplace democracy increases economic performance in knowledge-heavy sectors. However,

15048-500: The rest of the group. Group interactions tend to favor clear and harmonious agreements and it can be a cause for concern when little to no new innovations or arguments for better policies, outcomes and structures are called to question. (McLeod). Groupthink can often be referred to as a group of "yes men" because group activities and group projects in general make it extremely easy to pass on not offering constructive opinions. Some methods that have been used to counteract group think in

15180-439: The results of Callaway, Marriott, and Esser contradict the results of Fodor and Smith. A study by Leana (1985) indicates the interaction between level of group cohesion and leadership style is completely insignificant in predicting groupthink. This finding refutes Janis' claim that the factors of cohesion and leadership style interact to produce groupthink. Park summarizes a study by McCauley (1989) in which structural conditions of

15312-441: The right decision has been made). Thus the "ingroup" significantly overrates its own abilities in decision-making and significantly underrates the abilities of its opponents (the " outgroup "). Furthermore, groupthink can produce dehumanizing actions against the "outgroup". Members of a group can often feel under peer pressure to "go along with the crowd" for fear of "rocking the boat" or of how their speaking out will be perceived by

15444-490: The safety of the space shuttle technology. The Challenger case was subject to a more quantitatively oriented test of Janis's groupthink model performed by Esser and Lindoerfer, who found clear signs of positive antecedents to groupthink in the critical decisions concerning the launch of the shuttle . The day of the launch was rushed for publicity reasons. NASA wanted to captivate and hold the attention of America. Having civilian teacher Christa McAuliffe on board to broadcast

15576-409: The successes of Mondragon was its ability to create a sense of identity among the workers within the company, encouraging an environment of solidarity and collegiality among them, a feeling that also extended (although to a much lesser degree) to non-worker-owners. The connection felt by the latter group has somewhat weakened, however, exposing a vulnerable point for the cooperative. The Mondragon system

15708-399: The title the "Flying Bank". The authors argue that, among other factors, Swissair carried two symptoms of groupthink: the belief that the group is invulnerable and the belief in the morality of the group. In addition, before the fiasco, the size of the company board was reduced, subsequently eliminating industrial expertise. This may have further increased the likelihood of groupthink. With

15840-525: The top-down influence provided by their voting rights. German law specifically mandates democratic worker participation in the oversight of workplaces with 2000 or more employees. Similar laws exist in Denmark for businesses with more than 20 workers and France for businesses with more than 5000 workers. In China , a form of workplace democracy is mandated by law for state-owned enterprises and permitted in non-state-owned collectives and companies. This

15972-400: The tyranny of groups, which crushed individuality and were instinctively hostile to anything or anyone that challenged the collective view. American psychologist Irving Janis (Yale University) pioneered the initial research on the groupthink theory. He does not cite Whyte, but coined the term again by analogy with " doublethink " and similar terms that were part of the newspeak vocabulary in

16104-593: The workplace democracy model advanced by Ricardo Semler as the "only" one that actually took cognizance of human foibles. A meta-analysis of 43 studies on worker participation found there was no negative correlation between workplace democracy and higher efficiency and productivity. A report looking at research on democratic workplaces in the USA, Europe and Latin America found workplace democracy had staff working 'better and smarter' with production organized more efficiently. They were also able to organize more efficiently on

16236-600: Was arming itself for an offensive attack somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Washington took action by warning officers stationed at Pearl Harbor , but their warning was not taken seriously. They assumed that the Empire of Japan was taking measures in the event that their embassies and consulates in enemy territories were usurped. The U.S. Navy and Army in Pearl Harbor also shared rationalizations about why an attack

16368-691: Was deliberately absent from the meetings, so as to avoid pressing his own opinion. Cass Sunstein reports that introverts can sometimes be silent in meetings with extroverts ; he recommends explicitly asking for each person's opinion, either during the meeting or afterwards in one-on-one sessions. Sunstein points to studies showing groups with a high level of internal socialization and happy talk are more prone to bad investment decisions due to groupthink, compared with groups of investors who are relative strangers and more willing to be argumentative. To avoid group polarization , where discussion with like-minded people drives an outcome further to an extreme than any of

16500-475: Was encouraging groupthink , increasing turnover in staff and a loss of morale among qualified people helpless to appeal what they saw as misguided, uninformed, or poorly thought-out decisions. Often employees who publicly criticize such poor decision making of their higher management are penalized or even fired from their jobs on some pretext or other. The comic strip Dilbert has become popular satirizing this type of oblivious management, iconically represented by

16632-419: Was followed by the bankruptcy of the whole Fagor group on 6 November 2013. In July 2014, Fagor was bought by Catalonian company Cata for €42.5 million. Cata pledged to create 705 direct jobs in the Basque Country and to continue the brand names Fagor, Edesa, Aspes, and Splendid. In 2022, the worker-owners of ULMA Group (scaffolding) and Orona (elevators) voted to leave the corporation. Estimated impact of

16764-466: Was founded by merging ten small local consumer co-operatives . During the next 20 years, from 1970 to 1990, the dynamic continued, with a strong increase in new co-operatives promoted by Caja Laboral's Business Division, the promotion of co-operative associations, the formation of local groups, and the founding of the Ikerlan ("Research work") research centre in 1974. With Spain scheduled to join

16896-534: Was not so negotiable) as if he were, effectively, an outside management consultant hired by the company. Decentralization of management functions, he claimed, gave him a combination of insider information and outsider credibility, plus the legitimacy of truly speaking for his workers in the same sense as an elected political leader. A 2023 study in the United States found that the people surveyed generally support workplace democracy, even in survey experiments where respondents are exposed to question framings that emphasize

17028-406: Was observed that in high power distance societies, individuals are hesitant to voice dissent, deferring to leaders' preferences in making decisions. Furthermore, as Tanzania is a collectivist society, community interests supersede those of individuals. The combination of high power distance & collectivism creates optimal conditions for groupthink to occur. As observed by Aldag and Fuller (1993),

17160-548: Was the education of all members about their new roles, and building an ownership culture within the organization. In 1995, they had officially bought all ownership stock and buyout lenders and the company was completely employee owned. Through all of this employees were also able to gain a broader perspective on the company, like being able to understand others views of different conflicts in the workplace. In 2007, Marland Mold celebrated their 15th anniversary of employee ownership. In 2010, Marland Mold were acquired by Curtil. In 2017,

17292-546: Was the illusion of invulnerability as both companies underestimated potential failure due to years of profitability and success during challenging markets. Up until the consequence of groupthink erupted they were considered blue chips and darlings of the London Stock Exchange . During 1998–1999 the price of Marks & Spencer shares fell from 590 to less than 300 and that of British Airways from 740 to 300. Both companies had previously been prominently featured in

17424-432: Was unlikely. Some of them included: On January 28, 1986, NASA launched the space shuttle Challenger . This was significant because a civilian, non-astronaut, high school teacher was to be the first American civilian in space. The space shuttle was perceived to be so safe as to make this possible. NASA's engineering and launch teams rely on teamwork. To launch the shuttle, individual team members must affirm each system

#788211