Group and Organizational Structuration Theory

Structurational Theory in Group Research

Most theoretical applications of structuration in group research have focused on aspects of group decision making. From a structurational perspective, group decision making is the production and [Page 451]reproduction of positions regarding group action, directed toward the convergence of members on a final choice. This occurs through the structuration of three elements of interaction—expression of preferences, argumentation, and tactics employed to garner assent.

Influences on structuration processes in groups include (a) immediate interaction in which interpretive schemes, norms, and power resources are invoked and reproduced through group communication patterns, decision rules, and the influence of members over one another; (b) features of the group's external system, including tasks and environment; and (c) structural dynamics, including the mediation of the elements of immediate interaction by other structures (e.g., when an economic “lens” is imposed on the discussion) and contradictions among structural features (e.g., the tension between pressure to act and the desire to make a reflective, rational decision). These factors, and member knowledge of them, also limit group and member agency, or freedom of action.

Groups acquire coherence through being structured and, as self-organizing systems, can channel the agency of their members into common projects. The members of groups are themselves formed and reformed through structuration. So rather than being prior to the group, members are positioned within the group through actions and discourse creating and sustaining various roles and arguments. Hence, groups may be the primary unit of analysis rather than individuals. Three theoretical tributaries flow from this basic framework—decision development, group argument, and use of information technology.