There has been a large effort among scholars who study small group decision-making to find the means to ameliorate the negative aspects of group interaction. It is our contention that the specific content of the offered prescription is a logical outgrowth of the underlying assumptions that the author makes regarding the nature of group interaction. Thus, understanding whether the author sees the group as characterized by member consensus or dissensus and whether the group is perceived to be internally focused on group maintenance or externally focused on problem-solving is central to understanding the basis of the offered prescription. Based on this typology, we examine the prescriptions to group dysfunctions offered from three sets of literature, foreign policy analysis, social psychology, and business decision-making. The prescriptions offered are then classified as to the underlying view of group interaction which drives the proposed remedy. In doing so, we seek to understand the bases and implications of prescriptions already existing in the literature. Ironically, the effort to solve one set of decision-making troubles may lead the group to exhibit the problems associated with an alternative form of group interaction.
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