United We Stand – Divided We Fall: A Standard Model of Unit Cohesion

Mikael Salo examines one of the key concepts of group dynamics and organizational psychology, cohesion. He traces its history and vicissitudes, and shows its importance in understanding phenomena such as leader effectiveness and group performance. Salo scrutinizes the various dimensions of cohesiveness and constructs a comprehensive general model. Although the empirical part of the study focuses on the dynamics of cohesion in military units, the results should have wide applicability in all kinds of organizations. The pre-examiners characterize this study as ”one of the most extensive reviews of the literature on cohesion in existence” which ”serves as a comprehensive primer in group cohesion generally, and more specifically, to the military.”