Define Groupthink Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Define Groupthink - Essay Example In groupthink consensus overrides common sense and inhibits the urge to present critique, unpopular opinion or alternatives to whatever is viewed as the commonly agreed ground (Wikipedia, 2013). In groupthink the urge to remain loyal to the team and maintain cohesion makes the team members to desist from raising alternative solutions or controversial issues. As a result, independent thinking, uniqueness in thought and individual creativity are lost at the expense of cohesion and loyalty to the group. The eventual outcome is poor problem solving and decision-making. The failed team dynamics of the â€Å"in-group† presents illusions that the appropriate decisions have been attained. Therefore the ‘in-group’ greatly overrates their decision-making abilities, and excessively downplays the decision-making ability of the ‘out-group’ or opponents. As such, team members tend to think or feel that they are more inclined to making the right decisions and offer better ideas and solutions than people from without the group. This happening often hinders the reception of contribution of ideas from non-group members or other groups (Wikipedia, 2013). This source uses the Swissair collapse and the Bay of Pigs Invasion as examples of events in which groupthink was at play when they took place. In the corporate sector suboptimal and ineffective decision-making may negatively impact on the good performance of any company and cause significant losses. Swissair had been a successful airline to the extent that at times it was referred to as the ‘Flying Bank (Hermann & Rammal, 2010).’ However, during this period of success the airline had two symptoms of groupthink (Wikipedia, 2013). These symptoms included the belief in group morality and invulnerability. Additionally, before the collapse fiasco the airline’s board was significantly reduced and people with expertise were eliminated. The board reduction action contributed to groupthink by leaving behind only