BUS 107 Midterm Review

Scientist-Practitioner Model

Bidirectional framework where scientific inquiry informs work practices and practical workplace problems drive research.

Kurt Lewin's Formula

B = f(P, E) — Behavior is a function of the Person interacting with their Environment.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable intentionally manipulated, changed, or tested as a cause.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The measured outcome or response criterion in research.

Mediating Variable

An explanatory mechanism bridging an IV and a DV (IV -> Mediator -> DV).

Moderating Variable

A factor that alters the strength or direction of the relationship between an IV and a DV.

The Hawthorne Effect

The phenomenon where worker performance returns to baseline levels over time despite ongoing observation.

Social Facilitation

An initial boost in performance resulting purely from the presence or observation of others.

Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCBs)

Voluntary, extra-role behaviors not part of formal job duties that support organizational effectiveness.

Four Dimensions of OCB

Helping (interpersonal-promotive), Sportsmanship (interpersonal-protective), Taking Charge (organizational-promotive), Compliance (organizational-protective).

Affective Commitment

An employee's emotional attachment to and identification with the organization ("want to stay").

Normative Commitment

An employee's feeling of moral duty or obligation to remain with the company ("ought to stay").

Continuance Commitment

An employee remaining due to the high financial or social costs and lost side bets of leaving ("need to stay").

Emotional Labor

Expressing organizationally mandated emotions during interpersonal work interactions.

Surface-Level Acting

Faking mandated emotional expressions without changing internal feelings; causes cognitive dissonance and burnout.

Deep-Level Acting

Actively managing and aligning internal feelings with the required external organizational display.

Schein's 3 Levels of Culture

Observable Artifacts (surface), Espoused Values (middle), and Basic Underlying Assumptions (deep core).

Observable Artifacts

Physical layouts, dress codes, jargon, ceremonies, stories, and logos that can be seen, heard, or felt.

Espoused Values

Stated philosophies, mission statements, and explicit beliefs expressed by management.

Enacted Values

The values that are actually converted into daily operational behavior by leaders and employees.

Basic Underlying Assumptions

Taken-for-granted, unconscious beliefs about human nature and reality that guide behavior automatically.

Fit Contingency Theory of Culture

Strong culture elevates performance in stable environments, but causes organizational blindness in volatile ones.

Psychological Contract

An employee's subjective beliefs regarding mutual obligations between themselves and the organization.

Rousseau's Maxim

"In promising, it is not what the maker intends but what the receiver believes."

Social Exchange Theory

Interactions driven by unspecified favors creating diffuse obligations, relying heavily on trust and reciprocity.

Idiosyncratic Deals (I-Deals)

Customized, non-standardized employment terms negotiated between an individual worker and their employer.

Foa & Foa Resource Model

Framework classifying exchange resources from concrete/tangible (money, goods) to symbolic/intangible (love, status).

Transactional Psychological Contract

Short-term, narrow, economically focused contract centered on tangible, easily defined exchanges.

Relational Psychological Contract

Long-term, broad, socio-emotional contract centered on dynamic, intangible resources like trust and growth.

Psychological Contract Breach

The cognitive evaluation that the firm has failed to meet one or more perceived promised obligations.

Psychological Contract Violation

The severe emotional and affective reaction (anger, betrayal) following a perceived contract breach.

Renege

The deliberate decision by an employer to break an established, recognized promise.

Incongruence

An honest misunderstanding where worker and employer hold divergent interpretations of what was promised.

Negative Reciprocity

Retaliatory or vindictive employee behavior aimed at "getting even" after perceived organizational mistreatment.

Nomothetic Approach

Trait-based personality framework identifying universal, measurable dimensions shared by all individuals.

Idiographic Approach

Personality framework viewing individuals as unique systems that cannot be captured by comparative trait scores.

Big Five - Openness

Personality trait capturing imagination, aesthetic sensitivity, intellectual curiosity, and exploration.

Big Five - Conscientiousness

Personality trait assessing persistence, organization, self-discipline, goal-directed focus, and reliability.

Big Five - Extraversion

Personality trait assessing social energy, assertiveness, talkativeness, and comfort in groups.

Big Five - Agreeableness

Personality trait assessing warmth, cooperation, compassion, empathy, and willingness to trust others.

Big Five - Neuroticism

Personality trait measuring emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, and susceptibility to psychological distress.

Agentic Narcissism

Self-centered, grandstanding narcissism focused strictly on personal power and dominance.

Communal Narcissism

Viewing oneself as an indispensable "saint" or team savior, seeking personal glory by taking credit for helping.

Dark Triad

The constellation of Psychopathy (no empathy), Narcissism (grandiosity), and Machiavellianism (ruthless calculation).

Corporate Psychopathy Moderator

Cognitive intelligence; intelligent psychopaths achieve executive success, whereas less intelligent ones fail.

Hurtz & Donovan (2000) Finding

Conscientiousness is the strongest predictor of task performance (rho=0.20), while Agreeableness predicts Interpersonal Facilitation (rho=0.17).

Ostroff (1992) Finding

Employee job satisfaction correlates strongly with objective organizational performance at the aggregated unit level (mean r=0.28).

Areche & Ofluoglu (2025) Finding

AI shifts organizational culture from centralized, rigid hierarchies to horizontal, data-driven, agile networks.

The Learning Focus Conflict

Clash between Nemeroff's espoused business values (efficiency/deadlines) and writers' basic assumptions (pedagogical perfection).

Rock Solid Management Dilemma

Choosing between Warren Davis (Relational Contract, tenure/loyalty) and Barry Steele (Transactional Contract, technical expertise).

Satisfaction-Task Performance Correlation

Weak individual-level correlation (r ≈ 0.15-0.20); happy workers are not automatically high task performers.

Organizational Boosterism

An extra-role OCB where employees voluntarily promote and speak favorably about the company to external parties.

OB Research Methods

Field studies, lab experiments, quasi-experimental designs, longitudinal designs, and daily diary studies.

Organizational Climate vs. Culture

Climate is a short-term shared perception; culture represents long-term, deeply embedded basic assumptions and values.

Subcultures

Departmental groups whose distinct values weaken overall cultural strength if they clash with dominant organizational norms.

Fit Contingency in Volatile Environments

In chaotic environments, strong culture creates organizational blindness, while adaptable cultures outperform.

Pay-to-Quit Policy

Amazon and Zappos offering new hires up to $5,000 to leave so misaligned employees self-select out immediately.

Lloyd's of London Artifacts

Steel-and-glass design reflecting hierarchy; new hires visit the 18th-century boardroom to absorb core assumptions.

SAS Institute

Benchmark high-investment culture driving innovation via on-site healthcare, subsidized childcare, and a 35-hour workweek.

Cognitive Schemata

Internalized mental maps shaping how employees interpret promises and employer signals.

Benevolents (Equity Sensitivity)

Employees who prefer giving more to the relationship than they receive in return.

Equity Sensitives

Employees who prefer a strict 1:1 balance in exchange relationships.

Entitleds (Equity Sensitivity)

Employees who prefer receiving far more from the organization than they contribute.

Breach-to-Violation Probability

Approximately 90% of perceived psychological contract breaches result in an emotional violation.

Capuchin Monkey Experiment

Frans de Waal's study demonstrating negative reciprocity and distress over unequal rewards for identical tasks.

Trait vs. State

Traits are enduring cross-situational tendencies; states are temporary, situation-driven emotional or behavioral shifts.

Personality Inheritance & Stabilization

40% to 50% of personality is inherited; personality stabilizes in early adulthood around age 25.

Rs40950 Gene

A biological genetic marker associated with an innate propensity to take charge and emerge as a leader.

Personality Performance Variance

Standard personality tests explain only ~10% of overall job performance variance due to isolated testing and faking.

Prevalence of Corporate Psychopaths

Approximately 10% of CEOs qualify as corporate psychopaths, compared to ~1% in the general population.

Corporate Psychopath Interpersonal Style

Operates as 'charming above, abusive below'—kisses up to authority and kicks down at subordinates.

Equal Opportunities vs. Managing Diversity

Equal Opportunities is reactive legal compliance; Managing Diversity is a proactive, business-driven strategy.

Ostroff (1992) Variance Explained

Teacher satisfaction explained an incremental mean of 10% in school performance variance above controls.

Hurtz & Donovan Emotional Stability Finding

Shows low but universal, stable operational validity across all jobs and performance dimensions (ρ = 0.13-0.16).

Hurtz & Donovan Extraversion Finding

Valid predictor for jobs requiring interpersonal influence and dominance like sales (ρ = 0.15) and management (ρ = 0.12).

Areche & Ofluoglu Structural Shifts

Work shifts to agile, autonomous teams while leaders transition from controllers to learning facilitators.

The Learning Focus Case Lesson

Management must establish operational boundaries while validating the pedagogical mission to protect tacit knowledge.

Rock Solid Case: Eliminating Davis Signals

Demonstrates that historical loyalty means nothing during budget cuts, triggering relational breach among tenured staff.

Rock Solid Case: Eliminating Steele Signals

Shows that technical innovation is secondary to tenure during restructuring, alienating high-performing talent.

The Managed Heart (1983)

Arlie Hochschild's pioneering study on emotional labor among Delta flight attendants managing fear and passenger aggression.

Cognitive Dissonance in Emotional Labor

Internal psychological conflict experienced when internal felt emotions clash with required external displays.

UPS Espoused Values Example

Thirty-seven explicit principles emphasizing integrity, diversity, safety, promoting from within, and fair treatment.

Hurtz & Donovan Predictor Criterion Matching

Big Five predictive validity improves when matching specific sub-facets to narrow criterion dimensions rather than broad traits to overall performance.

Interactionist Model of Personality

Genetic predispositions interact with environmental triggers (e.g., life stressors activating depression in serotonin-deficient individuals).

Firstborn Birth Order Effect

Firstborn children tend to display higher conscientiousness and achievement orientation due to parental socialization.

Sociocultural Personality Shift

Changes like higher divorce and crime rates from the 1950s to 1990s correlated with measurable societal rises in anxiety and neuroticism.

Perceived Psychological Contract Breach Outcomes

Drop in in-role performance, withdrawal of citizenship behaviors (OCBs), reduced organizational trust, and increased cynicism.

Areche & Ofluoglu Core Vulnerabilities

Performative adoption of AI without shifting core cultural values, leading to surveillance anxiety, bias, and worker alienation.

Blockbuster vs. Netflix Case Lesson

Example of how a strong, rigid culture creates organizational blindness, preventing adaptation to volatile industry shifts.