Handbook of Organizations (RLE: Organizations)

CHAPTER 3	Small Groups and Large Organizations
	ROBERT T. GOLEMBIEWSKIUniversity of Georgia

Small-group analysis has proved more than a flash in the analytic pans of scholars from a wide variety of disciplines. This poor metaphor may be supported in diverse ways. Consider but three foci: the “scientific” advantages of small-group analysis, the explosive growth of the research literature, and the usefulness of the additions to our knowledge gleaned from the study of small groups.

There is no gainsaying, at least, that small-group analysis is congenial to the latter-day efforts toward a natural science of behavior. Thus, the small group offers the would-be scientist the opportunity to study systemic and significant behavior, and this ...