This paper develops a theory of how groups meet their members' demands. It is argued that the members of social units obtain satisfaction of their economic, cultural, and political needs through participation in social groups, including states or nations. It posits that changing environmental...

Does it seem feasible to attempt acceleration of the development of basic knowledge about organizations by utilizing the methodological advances which have occurred in the study of small groups? Specifically, how might the small group laboratory procedures of the social psychologist and...

Bavelas, Smith and Leavitt (Bavelas, A. 1950. Communication patterns in task-oriented groups. J. Acoustical Soc. Amer. 22 725-730.) have posed the problem: what effect do communication patterns have upon the operation of groups? To study this problem they designed a laboratory situation that is...

Concepts which may be useful in research on executive performance stem from a variety of sources and are expressed in a variety of vocabularies. Administrators themselves have developed a complex jargon which is likely to be as mystifying to the social scientists as is the latter's to them....