Exercise 1

Technological developments have affected formal organizations in a number of ways, among them the way in which information can be transmitted and work can be accomplished outside of the traditional office and beyond traditional office hours. Go to the reengineering.com Web site and read the article entitled “The Many Virtues of the Virtual Office” (http://www.reengineering.com/articles/apr96/VIRTOFC.htm) by Stephen Bouvet; then answer the following questions:

1. Does the rise of the virtual office affect the importance of the seven characteristics of Weber’s Ideal Bureaucracy? Does any characteristic become more important because of this change in where work is performed? Does any characteristic become less important?



2. Do you think a virtual office would encourage or discourage social loafing? Explain why you feel this way.

Exercise 2

There have been a number of instances in which groupthink has interfered with a group’s ability to make good decisions. The trick is to recognize the symptoms of groupthink and find ways to eliminate it even as one is participating in a group that is struggling with a difficult decision.

Log onto the Wikipedia’s explanation of groupthink (http://en.wikipedia.org/) and type “groupthink” into the search window on the lefthand side of the page. Review the conditions under which groupthink occurs and how members of a group may reduce its likelihood of developing. Use this information to answer the following:

1. If you were a leader of a group struggling to make a difficult decision, what warning signs would alert you to the possibility of groupthink occurring? Name three strategies you could use to eliminate groupthink.



2. How would your options change if you were merely a group member? What risks would you be taking if you tried to intervene and stop groupthink from forming if you weren’t the group leader?