Group behaviour in organisations: past paper questions
Real questions on group behaviour in organisations
The newest 20 of 96 written questions. Open one to see it on the real paper.
- 9990/31 · May/June 2026 · Q13[4]
Hari is the manager of a sales team and wants to help his workers to meet their ‘love and belonging (social)’ needs from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Suggest two ways that Hari could help his workers in the sales team to meet their ‘love and belonging (social)’ needs at work.
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · May/June 2026 · Q14a[2]
Outline what is meant by groupthink in relation to faulty decision making.
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · May/June 2026 · Q14b[2]
Explain one reason why groupthink is a situational explanation of faulty decision making.
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · May/June 2026 · Q15a[4]
A manager wants a new marketing team to design an advertising campaign. Using a ‘stages of group development’ model: Suggest two stages that the marketing team will go through as they work together on the advertising campaign.
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · May/June 2026 · Q15b[2]
Explain one weakness of a ‘stages of group development’ model.
See it on the paper → - 9990/33 · May/June 2026 · Q13[4]
Hari is the manager of a sales team and wants to help his workers to meet their ‘love and belonging (social)’ needs from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Suggest two ways that Hari could help his workers in the sales team to meet their ‘love and belonging (social)’ needs at work.
See it on the paper → - 9990/41 · May/June 2026 · Q12a[10]
Plan a study using a structured interview to investigate which type of accident due to human error is most common in a shoe factory. Your plan must include details about: • • sampling technique interview technique.
See it on the paper → - 9990/42 · February/March 2026 · Q7a[4]
Outline two conclusions from the study.
See it on the paper → - 9990/42 · February/March 2026 · Q11c(iii)[2]
Explain one reason for using behavioural categories in your study. Organisational Psychology
See it on the paper → - 9990/42 · February/March 2026 · Q12a[10]
Plan a study using a semi-structured interview to investigate which type of bullying is most common in a food factory. Your plan must include details about: • • question format analysis of data.
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · October/November 2025 · Q13[4]
Celeste is a member of a newly formed school council. This is a group of student representatives who make decisions, such as what should be on the school menu and whether to have recycling bins or a new drinks machine. Suggest the stages of group development that the school council could go through as they make decisio...
See it on the paper → - 9990/33 · October/November 2025 · Q13[4]
Celeste is a member of a newly formed school council. This is a group of student representatives who make decisions, such as what should be on the school menu and whether to have recycling bins or a new drinks machine. Suggest the stages of group development that the school council could go through as they make decisio...
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · May/June 2025 · Q13[4]
A manager has changed the working hours in a factory. Some workers are tired when they arrive at work due to this change and have made mistakes on the production line. Suggest how the manager could use two of Heifetz’s six principles in meeting adaptive challenges to help the workers at the factory adjust to the change...
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · May/June 2025 · Q15a(i)[2]
Suggest which one of Belbin’s team roles is most appropriate for Margot, who checks the leaflet. Justify your answer.
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · May/June 2025 · Q15a(ii)[2]
Suggest which one of Belbin’s team roles is most appropriate for Tricia, who designs the leaflet. Justify your answer. Do not use the team role you suggested in part (a)(i) in your answer.
See it on the paper → - 9990/31 · May/June 2025 · Q15b[2]
Explain one problem with Belbin’s nine team roles.
See it on the paper → - 9990/33 · May/June 2025 · Q13[4]
A manager has changed the working hours in a factory. Some workers are tired when they arrive at work due to this change and have made mistakes on the production line. Suggest how the manager could use two of Heifetz’s six principles in meeting adaptive challenges to help the workers at the factory adjust to the change...
See it on the paper → - 9990/32 · October/November 2024 · Q16a[6]
Describe what psychologists have discovered about group development and decision‑making: • stages of group development, and • Belbin’s nine team roles.
See it on the paper → - 9990/32 · October/November 2024 · Q16b[10]
Evaluate what psychologists have discovered about group development and decision‑making: • stages of group development, and • Belbin’s nine team roles, including a discussion about application to everyday life. Evaluation in your answer can include strengths, weaknesses and a discussion of issues and debates.
See it on the paper → - 9990/33 · October/November 2024 · Q13[4]
Koffi is the manager of an important project. The project is demanding and the team members have never worked together. Koffi knows about Forsyth’s cognitive limitations and errors. Suggest two cognitive limitations/errors that could cause problems for the team members.
See it on the paper →
What examiners said
Comprehensive responses • Many candidates correctly identified two conclusions from the three listed in the Swat study and often provided additional detail to clarify the conclusion. For example, ‘poor housekeeping’ is a correct conclusion which includes accidents like ‘falls and slips’. Limited responses • Some candidates could not identify any conclusion, instead giving findings. • Other candid...
— Examiner report, February/March 2026, 9990/42 Q7(a) (Cambridge)
Comprehensive responses • Many candidates explained that using behavioural categories standardised their observation and gave examples from their part (a) plan of what was included in their categories. Limited responses • Some candidates provided an appropriate reason for their use of categories without any link to their study or the categories they had used in their part (a) plan. • It should be...
— Examiner report, February/March 2026, 9990/42 Q11(c)(iii) (Cambridge)
Comprehensive responses • Candidates used a semi-structured interview which included some fixed, common-to-all questions and some additional questions. • Candidates explicitly addressed the question about types of bullying and included interview questions to find which type is most common. • Candidates included an appropriate range of ethical guidelines. Limited responses • Candidates did not use...
— Examiner report, February/March 2026, 9990/42 Q12(a) (Cambridge)
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