Gary, a relatively new and inexperienced leader, was assigned to a seasoned work group with established performance norms and strong cohesion. The group's norms and cohesion were so entrenched that Gary's efforts to implement change had little impact. This situation is known as:

The situation described is known as an instance of "leadership-member exchange (LMX) theory" challenges or "groupthink." Since the group has established performance norms and strong cohesion, it is likely that the group members have a strong in-group feeling where they value their ways of working and may resist change from an outsider, including a new leader.

• When a leader like Gary is not able to implement change despite his role, it implies that the informal power and social structures within the group are strong and resistant to new leadership attempts at change. This phenomenon may be associated with a low degree of acceptance of the leader, which can be further understood within the framework of LMX theory, where leaders tend to develop different kinds of relationships with different members. In an entrenched group with existing norms, forming high-quality leader-member exchanges can be particularly challenging for new leaders. Consequently, the group may continue operating as per its established norms, essentially ignoring the leader's initiatives.