question
- Review Table 9.4 on page 223. Which one of the components do you think is the easiest for you to implement? Why? Which component is the most difficult for you to implement? Why? How can you use course concepts from chapters 1-10 to your benefit while implementing the components in Table 9.4?
- Review the six strategies identifying how a leader should respond to out-group members on pages 258 – 264. Which one of the strategies do you think is the easiest for you to implement? Why? Which strategy is the most difficult for you to implement? Why? How can you use course concepts from chapters 1-10 to your benefit while implementing these strategies?
- Discuss how you will implement the concepts in Chapters 9 and 10 as you develop your personal leadership style. Use past examples as well as list implications for future jobs you may hold.
Answer
1. Implementing Components from Table 9.4
A method through which all of the components in Table 9.4 could be implemented is via the school curriculum. Erasing the history of racism in the U.S. from the history books is not going to aid progress. An alternate approach was devised by educators from New Jersey who wrote up an Anti-bias law which required all the state’s public schools to infuse their curricula with lessons about diversity and tolerance. This is an example of an enforced law which would benefit both the superordinate goal and intergroup cooperation components while having the potential to change attitudes and beliefs for future generations. Any contact between groups needs to be done so they are of equal status and in a friendly context. An example of students from different racial groups voluntarily interacting, which is supervised by adults, was seen in the study by Rose and Shavelson (1996). The students spent time together while playing the role of fans from different international countries at a soccer World Cup tournament. This led to an increase in intergroup cooperation and the students’ attitudes were effective in reducing prejudice.
The easiest component to implement, according to the longitudinal data, is the Equal Group Status component. Equal Group Status is implemented when legislation, abolishing segregation in settings such as schools and busing programs, is enforced. Superordinate goals and intergroup cooperation are also components that are easier to influence. An example of when superordinate goals were implemented would be when competition for limited resources was switched to a cooperative effort to share and possibly increase the resources to go around. Robbers Cave (Sherif et al., 1961) provides an example of intergroup cooperation. The two groups were set a series of tasks to complete, and the results showed that more cooperative tasks between the groups resulted in a more friendly, less confrontational atmosphere. The final component, intergroup contact, is one which is relatively difficult to implement but also has the potential for huge success that would be well worth the effort.
1.1. Easiest component to implement
The easiest component to implement is training. This component is actually listed as both easy to implement and difficult. The reason for this is that the physical act of training is simple. There are many consultants who offer training sessions with all the instructions on a step by step basis. The difficult part of training lies in what the trainees will learn and then practice. The research the team is doing on change implementation will be used to locate training curriculums that are beneficial and those that are not. The team will then compare the use of this training component as well as comparing results using the facilitation component. This type of data is difficult to measure, but the team believes it extremely important to distinguish what makes good training and how much facilitation is required after training.
1.2. Most difficult component to implement
The most difficult component to implement would be when the target is an out-group that is very powerful. The power of the out-group could transcend into various difficulties and roadblocks that could bar implementation of change. The reason this would be most difficult is because when an out-group is more powerful, it is closer to the centre of the power and influence source in any given society. The target is usually weaker in comparison to the out-group in question. Due to the close proximity of power between the more powerful out-group and the target, the powerful out-group will be able to monitor actions of the target closely. This means they will be more aware of actions taken by the targeting group and thus more likely to quickly react to and take preventative measures to stop the implementation of change. An example of this could be a teacher or authority figure in a school aiming to stop bullying that is being caused by a more powerful group of students. Because the teacher is the target and the powerful group is the out-group, any actions the teacher can take to effectively stop the bullying, the powerful group can quickly find out about and take measures to counteract. Additionally, powerful out-groups are likely to have more resources and support available to them. This means they can utilize more tactics to protect their interests by attempting to slow down or stop implementation of change. This could force the target into changing the very strategy of implementation in order to outmaneuver the out-group tactics and with no guarantee that alternative strategies will work. A change in strategy might yield the same results. On the contrary, if the target is a weaker out-group, they would find the same strategy to be far more effective as the more powerful out-group would have little resources to mount a defense. This aligns with chapters 2 and 3, which state that the more belief the agent has in the capability of the strategy to produce desired effects and the more unified the implementing group, the more likelihood of success in achieving their goals. The teacher from the previous example may have to assemble a more unified coalition of other teachers and staff within the school and firmly believe in their new strategies to stop the bullying in order to match the coordination and effectiveness of the more powerful student group.
1.3. Using course concepts from chapters 1-10 to benefit implementation
The conspiracy codes rely on an ultimate attribution error. The tendency of group-serving bias and self-serving attributions away from the conspiracy core to prohibit intergroup harmony by producing negative images of significantly out-groups. This concept would be useful because by informing our group of the occurrence of ultimate attribution error when interacting with the other street-side, whether it be negative or positive, we would be able to detach these from stable and global attributions. This is important because they provoke a fear or aggression response from the other side, knowing that anything they do may be taken the wrong way and used against them. This would help to develop a more trusting relationship and positive attitudes, though politicking, between both sides as we would gradually alleviate the distrust and hostility resulting from predetermined negative misinterpretations of behavior. This is a parallel action with the propaganda black and white portrayals and stereotypes of enemy states, which often is an extension of the attribution error, and in understanding this at a global scale may ultimately help prevent unnecessary wars often based on misinformation and duty to eradicate a “threatening” opposition.
2. Strategies for Responding to Out-group Members
2.1. Easiest strategy to implement
2.2. Most difficult strategy to implement
2.3. Using course concepts from chapters 1-10 to benefit implementation
3. Implementing Concepts in Chapters 9 and 10 in Personal Leadership Style
3.1. Implementing concepts in personal leadership style
3.2. Using past examples for implementation
3.3. Implications for future jobs
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