The Evolution of Groups - Article Example

​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​Critique # ___ Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (1998). The experience and evolution of trust: Implications for cooperation and teamwork. Academy of management review,23(3), 531-546. Human beings are termed social animals; the reason for this is perhaps the fact that they are accustomed to gather and live together. How individuals join together to form groups is a very interesting phenomenon and involves a number of steps that finally result in a group of individuals whose co-existence is beneficial for the overall groups interest.

The article explains a series of steps which occur one after the other till a group form is achieved. It starts with an introductory stage when the members of a group start to interact with each other and allow others to know more about themselves while knowing about others too. The next stage arrives when the members of the group start to discuss their purpose of being together. Different members of the group may have their own purpose on mind; so this phase works to filter out those whose purpose differ from the majority of people in the group.

Then comes the stage of choosing a leader; as a group cannot be directed in any direction if there is no leader to take command of the group. This is followed by the phase in which the group members increase their level of cooperation due to increased trust. This cooperation helps to achieve the common goals of the group. The final phase arrives when the members of the group work in a synergistic way to form a team to back-up each other and result in total success (Jones & George, 1998). The writer has very skillfully simplified the complex concept of formation of groups.

It appears that the author has been studying the phenomenon very closely and in detail, since his interpretation is very practical and after reading his contribution one clearly feels that this has been going on in their life too; during formation of groups.