Group dynamics: The relation between working system, membership change & leadership, and group performances in the realisation of RSPO P&C in smallholder plantations

Abstract
Smallholders in Village Trimulya Jala, Air Emas, and Bukit Jaya have attained their RSPO certification in 2013. Following their engagement in this certification, certain practices might have to change to abide by the standard. The compliance, however, is highly influenced by the working system in the smallholder plantations. This case study explores the realization of the RSPO standard on the work floor, which is carried out by groups of casual workers, by examining the effects of the smallholder’s working system on the spraying and harvesting groups’ performance especially in the implementation of the RSPO standard. To investigate the relationship, I use the concept of group dynamics as an intervening variable that is influenced by the working system and hence influence the group performances. I argue that the use technography in this study has helped me deciphered the processes of spraying and harvesting, whose results are very useful in portraying the effects of the working system on group performances. It is found that the working system in smallholder plantations, depicted by its casual and kinship based employment, multiple employers and the scheme of smallholder-company partnership, the frequency of multilevel monitoring, and the characteristic of the tasks, is a crucial factor in determining the dynamics of membership and leadership within the task groups. This dynamics of membership and leadership affect the groups’ task re-distribution and role transfer, and ultimately the adjusted RSPO standard, which is challenging the main purpose of RSPO certification. Nevertheless, the engagement of smallholders in RSPO certification has contributed to the more organized task management and the knowledge diffusion of sustainable oil palm productions.