Synergy,
in general, may be defined as two or more things functioning together to
produce a result not independently obtainable.
Etymology
Definition and Uses
In the context of organizational behavior, following the view that
a cohesive group is more than the sum of its parts, synergy is the ability of a
group to outperform even its best individual member. These conclusions are
derived from the studies conducted by Jay Hall on a number of laboratory-based
group ranking and prediction tasks. He found that effective groups actively
looked for the points in which they disagreed and in consequence encouraged
conflicts amongst the participants in the early stages of the discussion. In
contrast, the ineffective groups felt a need to establish a common view
quickly, used simple decision making methods such as averaging, and focused on
completing the task rather than on finding solutions they could agree on.
In a technical context, its meaning is a construct or collection
of different elements working together to produce results not obtainable by any
of the elements alone. The elements, or parts, can include people, hardware,
software, facilities, policies, documents: all things required to produce
system-level results. The value added by the system as a whole, beyond that
contributed independently by the parts, is primarily created by the relationship among the parts; that is, how they are
interconnected. In essence, a system constitutes a set of interrelated
components working together with a common objective: fulfilling some designated
need.
If used in a business application it means that teamwork will
produce an overall better result than if each person was working toward the
same goal individually. However, the concept of group cohesion needs to be considered. Group cohesion
is that property which is inferred from the number and strength of mutual
positive attitudes among members of the group. As the group becomes more
cohesive, its functioning is affected in a number of ways. First, the
interactions and communication between members increase. Common goals,
interests and small size all contribute to this. In addition, group member
satisfaction increases as the group provides friendship and support against
outside threats.
There are negative aspects of group cohesion which have an effect
on group decision-making and hence on group effectiveness. There are two issues
arising. The risky shift phenomenon is the tendency of a group
to make decisions that are riskier than those that the group would have
recommended individually. Group Polarisation is when individuals in a group begin
by taking a moderate stance on an issue regarding a common value and, after
having discussed it, end up taking a more extreme stance.
A second, potential
negative consequence of group cohesion is group think. Group think is a mode of
thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in cohesive group,
when the members' striving for unanimity overrides their motivation to appraise
realistically the alternative courses of action. Studying the events of several
American policy "disasters" such as the failure to anticipate the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (1941) and the Bay of Pigs fiasco (1961), Irving Janis argued
that they were due to the cohesive nature of the committees that made the
relevant decisions.
That decisions made by committees lead to failure in a simple
system is noted by Dr. Chris Elliot. His case study looked at IEEE-488,
an international standard set by the leading US standards body; it led to a
failure of small automation systems using the IEEE-488 standard (which codified
a proprietary communications standard HP-IB). But the external
devices used for communication were made by two different companies and the
incompatibility between the external devices led to a financial loss for the
company. He argues that systems will be only safe if they are designed, not if
they emerge by chance.
The idea of a systemic approach is endorsed by the United
Kingdom Health and Safety Executive: The
successful performance of the health and safety management depends upon the
analyzing the causes of incidents and accidents and learning correct lessons
from them. The idea is that all events (not just those causing injuries)
represent failures in control, and present an opportunity for learning and
improvement. This book
describes the principles and management practices, which provide the basis of
effective health and safety management. It sets out the issues which need to be
addressed, and can be used for developing improvement programs, self-audit or
self-assessment. Its message is that organizations need to manage health and
safety with the same degree of expertise and to the same standards as other
core business activities, if they are to effectively control risks and prevent
harm to people.
The term synergy was refined by R. Buckminster Fuller who analyzed some of its implications
more fully[9] and coined the term Synergetics.
Synergy can be understood as the opposite of the concept entropy.
Hence it was perhaps more of a "discovery"etymologically speaking.
§ A
dynamic state in which combined action is favored over the difference of
individual component actions.
§ Behavior
of whole systems unpredicted by the behavior of their parts taken separately,
known as emergent behavior.
§ The
cooperative action of two or more stimuli (or drugs), resulting in a different
or greater response than that of the individual stimuli.
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TumugonBurahin*please change the word stuffs to stuff... Because it is a uncountable noun. Thank you..