Exam 3 BUSN-301 Organizational Behavior

Personality

the sum of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with the world around them

Personality traits

enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior

Personality-job fit theory

identifies six personality types and proposes that the fit between personality type and occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover

Personality-organization fit theory

suggests that people are attracted to and selected by organizations that match their values and leave when there is no compatibility

Person-group fit theory

suggests that people who fit well with their department will be more satisfied and productive.

Person-supervisor fit

suggests that people who get along well with their boss will be more satisfied and productive.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

most widely used personality framework; classifies individuals as extroverted/introverted (E/I), sensing/intuitive (S/N), thinking/feeling (T/F), and perceiving/judging (P/J)

Big Five Model

grades individuals based on their conscientiousness, emotional stability, extroversion, openness to experience, and agreeableness

Dark Triad

Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy

Machiavellianism

the degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means

Narcissism

the tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive admiration, and have a sense of entitlement

Psychopathy

the tendency for a lack of concern for others and a lack of guilt or remorse when their actions cause harm

Core Self-Evaluation

bottom line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities, competence, and worth as a person

Self-Monitoring

measures an individual’s ability to adjust their behavior to external, situational factors

Proactive Personality

people who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs

Trait activation theory (TAT)

predicts that some situations, events, or interventions “activate” a trait more than others; similar to job-personality fit

Ability

an individual’s current capacity to perform the various tasks in a job

Intellectual abilities

abilities needed to perform mental activities

Physical abilities

the capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics

Motivation

the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal; level varies both between individuals and within individuals at different times

Three key elements of motivation

Intensity, direction, and persistence

Intensity

concerned with how hard a person tries

Direction

the orientation that benefits the organization

Persistence

a measure of how long a person can maintain their effort

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

has received wide recognition, particularly among practicing managers; intuitively easy to understand and some research has validated it; however, most research does not, and it has not been frequently researched since the 1960s

McClelland’s Theory of Needs

Need for achievement (nAch), need for power (nPow), and need for affiliation (nAfl)

Need for achievement (nAch)

drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive to succeed

Need for power (nPow)

need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise

Need for affiliation (nAfl)

desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships

Self-concordance theory

if goals are consistent with self-interests and core values, people are likely to follow those goals strongly; extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivaiton

For individuals:

choose your job for reasons other than extrinsic rewards

For organizations:

provide intrinsic as well as extrinsic incentives

Reinforcement theory

behavior is a function of its consequences; reinforcement conditions behavior

Operant conditioning theory

people learn to behave to get something they want or to avoid something they don’t want

B.F. Skinner’s behaviorism

argues that behavior follows stimuli in a relatively unthinking manner; people will most likely engage in desired behaviors if they are positively reinforced for doing so; rewards are most effective if they immediately follow a desired response; behavior that is not rewarded or is punished is less likely to be repeated

Expectancy theory

a tendency to act in a certain way depends on an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual; Individual effort → Individual performance → Organizational rewards → Personal goals

Effort-performance relationship

probability perceived by the individual that exerting a given amount of effort will lead to performance

Performance-reward relationship

the degree to which the individual believes that performing at a particular level will lead to the attainment of a desired outcome

Rewards-personal goals relationship

the degree to which organizational rewards satisfy an individual’s personal goals or needs and the attractiveness of those potential rewards for the individual

Equity theory

argues that individuals make comparisons of their job inputs and outcomes relative to those of others and then respond to any inequities

Responses to inequity

change inputs, change outcomes, distort perceptions of self, distort perceptions of others, choose a different referent, or leave the field

Organizational justice

overall perception of what is fair in the workplace

Distributive justice

perceived fairness of outcome

Procedural justice

perceived fairness of process used to determine outcome

Interactional justice

sensitivity to the quality of interpersonal treatment

Job Characteristics Model (JCM)

proposes that any job may be described by five core job dimensions: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback

Experienced meaningfulness of the work

Skill variety, task identity, and task significance

Skill variety

the degree to which the job requires a variety of different activities, so the worker can use a number of different skills and talents

Task identity

the degree to which the job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work

Task significance

the degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other people

Experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work

autonomy

Autonomy

the degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out

Knowledge of the actual results of the work activities

feedback

Feedback

the degree to which carrying out the work activities required by the job results in the individual obtaining direct and clear information about the effectiveness of their performance

Motivating potential score (MPS)

the core dimensions of the job characteristics model (JCM) can be combined into a single predictive index called the __________.

Job rotation

periodic shifting from one task to another; referred to as cross-training

Benefits: reduces boredom, increases motivation, and helps employees

Drawbacks: creates disruptions, requires extra time for supervisors addressing questions and training time, and reduced efficiencies

Job enrichment

increasing a job’s high-level responsibilities to increase intrinsic motivation; involves adding another layer of responsibility and meaning

Relational job design

to make jobs more prosocially motivation: connect employees with the beneficiaries of their work and meet beneficiaries firsthand

Telecommuting

working from home or anywhere else the employee chooses that is outside the physical workplace

Telecommuting advantages

positively related to objective performance and job satisfaction, reduced work-family conflict, and reduced carbon emissions

Telecommuting disadvantages for employer

social loafing, difficulty coordinating teamwork, and difficulty evaluating non-quantitative performance

Telecommuting disadvantages for employee

increased feelings of isolation, reduced coworker relationship quality, and may not be noticed for their efforts

Employee involvement

a participative process that uses employees’ input to increase their commitment to the organization’s success

Types of employee involvement programs

participative management and representative participation

Participative management

joint decision-making; studies have yielded mixed results

Representative participation

workers are represented by a small group of employees who actually participate in decision-making; two most common forms are works councils and board representatives

Flexible benefits

individualize rewards by allowing each employee to choose the compensation package that best satisfies their current needs and situation

Variable-pay programs

piece-rate plans, merit-based pay, bonuses & profit sharing, and employee stock ownership plans (ESOP)

Piece-rate pay

workers are paid a fixed sum for each unit of production completed

Merit-based pay

workers are paid based on performance appraisal ratings

Bonuses & profit-sharing plans

distribute compensation based on some established formula centered around the company’s profitability

Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)

company-established benefit plan in which employees acquire stock, often at below-market prices, as part of their benefits

Employee recognition programs

plans to encourage specific employee behaviors by formally appreciating specific employee contributions