Summary Of When Does Power Disparity Help Or Hurt Group Performance

The article When Does Power Disparity Help or Hurt Group Performance?, published in 2015 by the Journal of Applied Psychology, discusses how power disparities and social hierarchies impact a group of individuals and whether they help or hamper group performance. Furthermore, the goal of this research is to examine and dissect the relationship between the power holder and those he or she asserts his or her power over. The researchers have one main hypothesis that they intend to test throughout the article: the power holder’s competence and leadership dictate how power disparity and group performance mesh with one another. To be more specific, the more competent a power holder proves to be, the more the power disparity incentivizes groups to work effectively and efficiently.

However, both of these conditions are quite difficult to achieve in the workplace. The implications of this research in the real world are evident and plenty. This research provides a general framework for how businesses and groups should operate. Instituting a hierarchy is an essential step to an organized and efficient firm. Based on the results and conclusion of this article, the researchers took the initiative of supplying more advice on effective business managing that had been extrapolated from their data. For example, power holders must aid and be accessible to all team members. Disgruntled team members who feel as if there is no transparency between hierarchies and feel unappreciated will prove problematic. Furthermore, a business should only divide power and form a chain of command if all group members are able to identify the most competent members themselves. Not adhering to this imperative will also provide disgruntled and undervalued