Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter contains the statement of problem, objectives, hypothesis of the research
study and limitations encountered during collection and presentation of data and methods
of data collection.
Informal groups arises within formal structures and may be held together by such things
as friendship, longevity. Informal groups are ends in themselves and they exist only to
SHARE SOCIOAL VALUES AND ATTIRTUDES AND THEIR GROUP GIALS ARE
People join informal groups because of common interest\, social needs or friendships
which has an important role ion facilitating or inhibiting performance and organizational
According to Wbber and Awin (1986), people interact and communicate with others as
they carryout their jobs which reinforce positive feelings among themselves in
protection to individuals.
MEMBERS IOF THE GROUP ITSELF FOR THE PURPOSE THAT MAY OR MAY
NOT BE related to the organization, and it has an unspecified time horizon. Informal
organizational effectiveness./
According to Draft (1986) individuals join informal groups for a basic need for protection
from textural threats for example the possibility of being fixed by the boss, the fear of
being embarrasses in a new situation or anxiety about being alone. Groups are primarily
sources of security,. Society and they develop meaningful relationships. They also keep
individuals self-esteem and help individual to pursue their own economic self – interest.
organization but which ha been formed by a group of employees for their own purposes,
and has the power to work against organizational goals as well as to collaborate with
have informal groups in the organization the manager cannot be able to determine the
organizations performance.
The aim is to establish the relationship between informal groups and organization
performance.
performance.
- Enable the researcher to fulfill the requirements and acquire more skills and
knowledge ion the field of study thus completing the course; Diploma in Business
Administration.
effectiveness.
themselves in workplace.
The research was carried out in Nakuru municipality and Nairobi. The organizations
had more than 50 employees. The following are the organizations that the research
i) Limited time
The research had to be conducted in more than three organizations but was impossible
due to time.
The researcher was unable to carryout enough research due to lack of insufficient
resources.
iii) Expensive
collect data.
iv) Noise
Some organizations like Kenya Seeds Company is located in industrial area and also near
There was much sun (hot) and is hard to move from one organization to another.
One cannot go through some stages e.g. through security then secretary.
i)m Informal groups – a group of individuals who interact over a period of time to share
input in an organization.
Iv0 Threats – Fears that make an individual not to perform well a job ion the work place.
CHAPTER TWO
2.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter gives details of other related studies of the project. It gives an account of
what has been published by different authors and researchers about informal groups and
According to Dan and Steers (1986) informal groups evolve in response to the individual
and collective self interests of its members and are not the result of deliberate
organizational design. People join informal groups because of common interests social
needs or friendship. They develop their own norms and rules and establish unwritten
rules for their members. Study documented the important role of informal groups in
- Security- its is a source of security to social needs people associates with group to
pursue their own economic self –interest to develop self esteem and for social needs.
According to Kingston and Monday (1982) informal groups are important in an
organization in that;-
- Its appears good for people for example the satisfaction of important social and
appropriate behavior and effective ways to perform tasks and provide support for
Informal groups play an important role in most organizations Mil (1991), many people by
nature are gregarious and informal groups provide satisfaction of social needs. They may
form to satisfy employees needs that the organization or manager does not satisfy. The
friendship type if informal groups exist to satisfy social needs, naturally arise from
human interactions within the same and nearby work locations. Informal groups offer the
individual the opportunity to satisfy needs that are not satisfied by the organization. Mill
also suggested that to achieve co-retardation managers should recognize the existence of
informal groups, gather data about informal groups, train supervisors ion groups behavior
According to Curto (1986) interest groups are informal groups that gain and maintain
membership primarily because of a special concern each other posses about a specific
issue. We related an example of group of workers pressing management for better pay or
working conditions.
Interest groups are formed on the basis of other common interests i.e to seek ways to
satisfy grievances with the company. It exists to satisfy social needs and maturely arises
from human interactions with the same and nearbny6 work locations Mill (1991).
According to Bortil (1991), interest groups ias an informal group created to facilitate
employees \pursuit of common concern. According to her study, interest group can desire
to influence a company to offer some policy and can benefit the organization.
According to Misshauk (1979) interest groups are type of informal groups which come
together as a result of common interest. The group work as a unit in order to bring about
a mutually desired goal or objective. In his study he came up with the following
- Usually based in the perception that a common interest or desire can best be
- Goals or objectives is usually to bring out a certain state or condition within the
associate with each other and maintain certain social practice and standards. According to
Robbins (1988) interested groups in employees who band together to have their vocation
schedule altered, to support a peer who has been fired or to see increased fridge benefits
The study of friendship group According to Hellrieghel Slocom and Woodman (1983)
friendships group serves primary purpose of meeting their members personal needs of
Bartol (1992) studied friendship group as it evolves primarily to meet employees social
needs. They stem from mutual attraction often based on common characteristics for
example similar works background and or values members can benefit an organization by
enhancing the flow of information and reinforcing the willingness of employees to work
cooperatively. They can be detrimental, however, when employees place social concerns
above important work goals or when friends have a serious falling out. Thus managers
effectiveness.
Misshauk (1979) studied friendship groups and argued that formation is based on human
- Usually based on age, ethic background, marital status, sex or other social
characterizes shared.
organization hierarchy.
CVerto (1986) argue that friendship groups fporm because of personal affiliation
members have in one another. Membership tends to change as friendship dissolve or new
relatives most frequently exist in paid. This type of informal groups denote close
personalities as friends or relatives most frequently exist impairs. This type of informal
Benefits of informal groups have been stated by different authors. According to Certo
(1980) theirs;-
- States and social satisfaction that might not be enjoyed without group
membership.
and acceptance.
- An escape value – Provide emotional escape values for preserving employees self
- Complement for formal organizational – Fill in the gaps ion authority and
- Provide a means for accomplishing complex jobs beyond the capacity of any
single individual.
- It has its own objectives which may be \good or bad for the enterprise.
- Informal2 group can make a job of formal managers more difficult as it may be
subjective in nature or may act on mob psychology and as a catalyst for rumor
mongers.
According to Prasad (1985) it is useful to take into consideration the following points
informal groups.
ii) To influence informal groups in such a way that irts role is positive and its
iii) To consider allays the possible effect on any planned action on informal
groups.
The researcher used survey research design. This involves the use of questionnaires.
may be closed ended or open end type. This method allowed the researcher to acquire
The researcher surveyed three organizations; one in Nairobi and two in Nakuru M
UNICIPALITY NAMELY;-
IT was established on 1970;s. They engage in services such as ensuring medical services
are available in all; health centers and hospitals . They also monitored the extension to
which patients are treated and recruit nurses and doctors. The type of informal groups
they use commonly are making and grievance or conflict handling in the organization.
It was established in 1943. They engage in services such as counseling and guidance
services to offenders. The informal groups are welfare and interest groups. The informal
groups go well in organization thus leading to increase output or performance in the
organization.
It was established in 1936. They engage in economic activity of seeds growing and
processing./ This type of informal group they use are interest and friendship groups.
Informal groups help in some critical issues discussed in the organization which help in
organization performance.
- Questionnaires
- Interviews
- Library research
- Observations
3.4.1 QUETSIONNAIORES
These are a list of questions given to the respondent in order to obtain information about
the given issues. The researcher used the mode of hand delivery of the handwritten
questions.
Advantages of questionnaires
Disadvantages
- 3.4.2 INTERVIEWING
- Advantages
- The information us clear since one can ask if it is not understood well.
Disadvantages
- It is tiresome because some managers are so elaborate hence speaking all that
organization to another.
3.4.3 OBSERVATION
The researcher visited the organizations and was taken around to collect data required in
Advantages
- It is the accurate method of collecting data since the researcher observes for
herself.
Disadvantages
understudy.
observe.
The researcher collected information from sources such as books regarding informal
This section deals it the relationship between informal groups and organizational
performance as per objectives given by:- . Pie charts, tables and graphs are used to
summarized data obtained ion the visited organizations and the history behind the
organization performance.
This is a circle divided by radial lines so that the area of each action is proportional to the
size of the figure presented and constructed proportional to the figures concerned
totaling.
Advantages
3.5.2 GRAPHS
This is presentation of data by a continuous line or curve. The essence of graph is that
Advantages
- It is attractive
3.5.3 TABLES
These are data represented in columns and rows within clear stated units.
Advantages
Administration Company
Top Management 1 1 1
Middle management 17 15 10
Workers 484 990 289
TOTAL 502 1 006 300
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter contains the various methods of data analysis. Data analysis and
presentation was presented with the help of charts, bar graphs and tables
. Generally the chapter ill contain data analysis, findings and conclusion.
MINISTRY OF HELATH
It was established in 1970’s. They engage in services such as ensuring media services are
available in all health centers and hospitals. It also monitors the extend to which patients
arte treated and recruit nurses and doctors./ It has 51 employees and four departments.
It was established in 1943 bu7t was opened in 1970’s. It engages in services such as
It was established in 1956. They engage in activity of seed growing and processing. It
also sells seeds of different kinds e.g .maize, beans, sunflower, tomatoes, onions, spinach.
It has four departments namely; sales and marketing, Accounting, Research and
A. MINISTRY OF HELATH
Most employees in ministry of health used interest groups and friendship groups. When
interviewed they said the groups help in decision making and grievances or conflict
The most or commonly used type of informal group is interest group followed by
welfares group the friendship group which help the organization to go well thus leading
This means that the organization or management needs to improve their informal groups
The most commonly used type of informal group is i9nmterst group followed by
friendship groups.
The most common types of informal groups in Kenya Seeds Company Ltd are friendship
groups, interest groups and horizontal; groups. All these types are used by both
employers and employees. These groups are good to the organization as they help in
grievance handling.
FIGURE 3: Show the informal groups used in Kenya Seeds Company. The common type
of informal groups ids friendship, followed by interest groups then finally horizontal
groups.
ORGANIZATIONS
200
150 EXCELLENT
180
100
GOOD 140
50
AVERAGE 80
0
M .O.H. KSC
190 80
CONCLUSION
It was found that the Ministry of Health Organization uses the best type of informal
groups because they allow the employees to express their feelings followed by Rify
High response of the duties. Due to introduction in informal groups the organization the
Satisfaction. Die to the practice of informal groups, there is satisfaction to the employees
in the organization.
Good public image : Employee performance ahs led to good image un Rift Valley
Productivity:- The performance of the organization has led to high production because of
effective performance.
efficiency.
High productivity: The performance of employees in the company had led to high
performance
Kenya Seeds Company Ltd 6 500
Rift Valley Provincial 7 500
Administration
Ministry of Health 8 000
TOTAL 22 000
22 000
= 130.9
22 000
= 122.7
22 000
= 106.4
PIE CHART SHOWING INDICATORS OF EMPLOYEE PERFROMANCE IN THE
ORGANIZATION
M.O.H 130.9
R V P A 122.7
K.S. C. 106.4
CONCLUSION
It was found that there is high performance in the ministry of health because the
employees responded to the informal groups thus high production and development of the
organization.
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 FINDINGS
Throughout the research the researcher discovered that the proper provision of effective
use of informal groups has a lot of benefits to the organization hence increasing
the organization visited are interest groups and friendships groups and horizontal.
makes staff to be committed to their duties, thus quality output and also motivate
employees thus increase the morale in work place. Findings indicators is more
performance.
5.2 CONCLUSIONS
The organization visited by the researcher try all the best o use informal groups with their
on goals indicated by the organization performance, the researcher discovered that there
should be need of more use of informal groups in the productivity of organization and its
Lastly, the relationship that exists between informal groups and organizational
performance is that the more use of informal groups the more the productivity of an
organization. It creates good image to the organization and also adhere is existence of
harmonious relationships that exists between the [personnel and the managem4ent.
According to figure 4, Ministry of Health has effective informal group. There is use of
interest group where the performance is good. Rift Valley Provincial Administration is
fair and finally Kenya Seeds Company ltd is average standard thus the results are also
average. They types organization need to be challenged to use interest groups to boost the
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
For higher productivity, the top management should improve 2onm informally groups
and realize the need of using it. It is important for all organizations visited and in
typ[e of informal group in their day to day relations between employees and the
Since most of employees proposed on the use of interest groups as a type of informal
groups in Rift Valley Provincial Administration. The management should look into the
ways of encouraging employees to give feedback which will help in the relationship in
the organizations.
The workers in Kenya Seeds Company are not fully satisfied in their work thus it is
important for the management gaps and fill them and come up with ways of encouraging
the use of informal groups and understand their employees needs, and try to satisfy them.