Leadership in extreme contexts: A groupthink analysis of the May 1996 Mount Everest disaster

Burnette, Jeni L.; Pollack, Jeffrey M.; Forsyth, Donelson R.

doi:10.1002/jls.20190

Cited by 34 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…A social action group, such as the COVID-19 protesters, may include people who do not know one another that well, but they do know they share a common goal: resisting civil authority’s attempts to regulate their social interactions. When task cohesion increases, members’ engagement in the group increases not because they like one another but out of their shared commitment to the group’s goals (Burnette, Pollack, & Forsyth, 2011).…”

Section: Groups That Make Mistakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Group-level resistance to health mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic: A groupthink approach.

Forsyth

2020

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice

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Public health interventions, such as mandated vaccinating or quarantining during an epidemic, are necessary to limit the spread of communicable diseases, but in many cases, certain groups resist these initiatives. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, antiquarantine groups protested the mandate to socially distance and remain at home, claiming these directives violated their right to assemble, travel, and work. The current analysis examined media descriptions of these antiquarantine groups to determine if these groups' divergent responses to a legally and medically warranted health initiative resulted from groupthink: the deterioration of judgment and rationality that sometimes occurs in groups. In support of this possibility, accounts of these groups indicated that (a) the conditions that cause groupthink, including high levels of cohesion and isolation, were present and potent within these groups and that (b) the groups exhibited many of the symptoms of groupthink, including group illusions and pressures to conform. Given the ubiquity of these groups-for centuries, public health interventions have generated opposing antiregulation reactions-no amount of planning may be sufficient to prevent such groups. However, a theory-driven approach based on groupthink suggests that group-level interventions that directly address the processes that cause groupthink, such as isolation, conformity pressure, and cohesion, could reduce the influence of such groups on their members and on society. Highlights and Implications• Groups that protest public health interventions that mandate vaccinating or quarantining during an epidemic may be experiencing groupthink: the deterioration of judgment and rationality that sometimes occurs in highly cohesive groups.• The group-level processes that are associated with groupthink, such as high levels of cohesion and isolation, were in evidence in the antiquarantine groups that protested medical directives during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. • Group-level interventions that limit groupthink in such groups could reduce the number of individuals who take part in group activities that are inconsistent with legally and medically warranted health initiatives. • Groupthink theory provides a general explanation for decision-making in groups, but additional research is needed to determine the validity of the extension of this theory to groups that engage in unusual actions, such as health protests.

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Section: Groups That Make Mistakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Group-level resistance to health mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic: A groupthink approach.

Forsyth

2020

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice

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“…Non-fiction literature can be especially effective in teaching leadership theories because it allows students to empathize with those affected, analyze a situation, and solve the problem by applying classroom theory. Burnette, Pollack, and Forsyth (2011) used this type of literature to demonstrate the dangers of groupthink.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching Moral Theories Using Lone Survivor

Boyd¹

2015

JOLE

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Four members of SEAL Team 10 faced a moral dilemma during Operation Redwings in 2005. Their mission was compromised when three goat herders discovered their position. They had to decide if they should kill the herders and continue their mission or release them, thus terminating their mission unsuccessfully. Students in an applied ethics class were asked which moral theories applied to their eventual decision.

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“…Rather, when one considers a range of specific factors that can impede early recognition, evaluation, intention or action relative to emergent ethical situations, one finds that these very same factors can also inhibit early recognition, evaluation, intention or action relative to crisis situations. For example, a number of factors including the use of cognitive heuristics (Hayibor and Wasieleski, 2009), implicit attitudes or other processes occurring below the level of conscious awareness (Banaji et al, 2007), moral courage (Kidder, 2005), certain types of compensation systems (Kurland, 1991), groupthink (Sims, 1992) and organizational culture or climate (Tenbrunsel et al, 2003) have all been identified as potential barriers not only to ethical decision-making and action but also to crisis decision-making and action (Burnette et al, 2011;Fischoff, 1989;Pauchant and Mitroff, 1992;Kidder, 2005;Schwartz, 1987;Spector, 2004). Therefore, by learning to identify and overcome a range of individual, group or organizational-level factors that can inhibit recognition, evaluation, intention and action relative to ethical situations, individuals will also develop a strong foundation through which to identify and overcome these same factors relative to crisis situations.…”

Section: Rationale For Developing Crisis Management Skills Through Business Ethics Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching corporate crisis management through business ethics education

Simola

2014

European Journal of Training and Development

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Purpose – The purpose of this research was threefold, including to provide a four-point rationale for teaching corporate crisis management as a module within a course on ethical decision-making in business and organizations; to provide evaluative data supporting this approach; and to highlight the implications of this approach for human resource development and training. Design/methodology/approach – Thirty-four undergraduates in a required course on ethical decision-making in business and organizations completed pre- and post-course assignments assessing their knowledge about crisis/management, as well as their skills in crisis recognition, evaluation and action planning. Participants also completed a survey on their perceptions of the crisis management module and its placement within the ethics course. Findings – Statistical analyses demonstrated significant knowledge acquisition on crisis/management; significant skill development on crisis recognition, evaluation and action planning; and significantly greater “true positives” and significantly fewer “false negatives” in post-course identification of crisis warning signs. Perceptions of the crisis management module and its placement within the course on ethical decision-making were positive. Research limitations/implications – Although the sample size was relatively small, small samples are associated with a greater risk of failing to detect an effect that is present, rather than the greater predicament of erroneously concluding that an absent effect is actually present. This information, coupled with the fact that the results demonstrated not only statistical significance but also large effect sizes using Cohen’s d, inspires confidence. Nonetheless, additional assessment with larger samples would allow for the possibility of convergent evidence. Similarly, additional assessment within different organizational contexts, including applications in human resource training and development is warranted. Future research should also include assessment of specific underlying teaching strategies and evaluation of whether certain models are associated with greater learning on a broader range of crisis management skills. Practical implications – Programs in business ethics education and training comprise one useful context in which to teach corporate crisis management. The program specified here addresses two training needs previously specified in the human resource development (HRD) literature on crisis management, including identifying specific methods of enhancing recognition or detection of crisis warning signs and also of providing tools and enhancing skills for assessing and containing crisis. Originality/value – Despite the centrality of both ethics and HRD to crisis management, there has been a dearth of research on whether ethics education is a useful context through which to teach this topic. This research addresses this dearth and suggests new avenues for HRD in this respect.

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Leadership in extreme contexts: A groupthink analysis of the May 1996 Mount Everest disaster

Cited by 34 publications

References 44 publications

Group-level resistance to health mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic: A groupthink approach.

Group-level resistance to health mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic: A groupthink approach.

Teaching Moral Theories Using Lone Survivor

Teaching corporate crisis management through business ethics education

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