BU288 Midterm 1

What research type should be used to determine cause and affect?

Experimental Research

What are the goals of organizational behaviour?

To predict, explain, and manage behaviours in organizations

What research type should be used to determine cause and affect?

Experimental Research

What are the goals of organizational behaviour?

To predict, explain, and manage behaviours in organizations

What is an Organization?

Social invention for accomplishing common goals through group effort

Why do we study Organizational behaviour?

• It's important to managers, employees, and consumers
• It makes a difference for employees and organizations

What is the Hawthorne effect?

The Hawthorne effect refers to a type of reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to the knowledge they are being observed

Define management. What do managers do to accomplish goals?

Management is the art of getting things accomplished through others in organizations.

Managers acquire, allocate, and utilize physical and human resources to accomplish goals.

Describe the contingency approach to management.

The contingency approach to management suggests that the most effective management styles and organizational designs are dependent on the demands of the situation.

What are the characteristics of work engagement?

Vigour,
Dedication
Absorption.

What are the four basic types of activities managers engage in?

Routine communication.
Traditional management.
Networking.
Human resource management.

What are the steps of the research process?

Question
Literature Review
Hypotheses
Design Study
Collect Data
Interpretation

What are the 3 research methodologies?

Observational
Correlational (most common)
Experimental

What is observational research?

Research that examines the natural activities of people in an organizational setting by listening to what they say and watching what they do.

What is experimental research?

Researcher manipulates a variables and holds other variables constant then measures the outcome

Uses statistics to examine whether manipulated variable (X) changed outcome (Y)

What is correlational research?

Researcher Measures 2 or more variables

Uses stats to examine relationships among variables

What is a control group?

A group of research participants who have not been exposed to the experimental treatment

What things are important when making sure you are using reinforcement correctly?

Contigent
Personalized
Continuous
Clear

What is random assignment?

Randomly assigning participants to the experimental and control conditions of an experiment.

(Improves internal validity)

What is internal validity?

Extent to which a researcher can be confident that changes in a dependent variable are due to the independent variable.

(improved by random assignment)

What are the threats to internal validity?

Factors that are alternative explanations for the results of an experiment.

What is the difference between Direct observation and participant observation?

Direct observation: just watching
Participant observation: do the work and feel it first hand

What 2 elements ensure an accurate measurement of a variable?

Reliability and Validity

What is a moderating variable?

A moderating variable is a variable that affects the nature of the relationship between an independent and dependent variable such that the relationship depends on the level of the moderating variable

(eg family wealth in pay satisfcation)

What is a mediating variable?

A mediating variable is a variable that intervenes or explains the relationship between an independent and dependent variable.

(if lower age means worse driving a mediating variable would be driving experience since lower age means less driving experience worse driving)

What do reliability and validity mean in a survey?

Reliability:
Are responses consistent

Validity:
The extent to which a measure(survey) truly reflects what it is supposed to measure.

What is convergent validity vs discriminant validity?

Convergent:
Good measures should be strongly related to other measures of the same thing.

Discriminant:
good measures should not be related to measures of different variables

What is evidence based management?

Making management decisions based on the
BEST AVAILABLE EVIDENCE such as scientific literature or professional experience

What are the steps of evidence based management?

AAA
Acquire (evidence from sources)
Appraise (evaluate trustworthiness)
Apply

What is personality?

Relatively stable set of psychological characteristics that influences the way an individual interacts with the environment

What are the 3 approaches to organizational behaviour?

Dispositional Approach
Situational approach
Interactionist Approach

What is talent management?

An organization's processes for attracting, developing, retaining, and deploying people with the required skills to meet current and future business needs

What is the dispositional approach to OB?

Individuals characteristics influence people's attitudes and behaviours

Person is Responsible

What is the Situational Approach to OB?

Characteristics in the work environment influence people's attitudes and behaviour.

Situations is responsible

What is the interactionist approach to OB?

Posits that organizational behaviour is a function of both dispositions and the situation.

What are the 5 elements of the 5 factor personality model? (the big five)

OCEAN
Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness (high: dependable)
Extraversion,
Agreeableness (high: friendly)
Neuroticism / Emotional Stability

What are some characteristics of Extraversion?

Sociable, talkative, assertive vs Withdrawn, shy

In what jobs would extraversion be important?

Jobs that require a lot of interpersonal interaction, such as sales and management

What is Neuroticism / Emotional Stability?

Degree to which a person has appropriate emotional control

What are some characteristics of high Emotional Stability? (big five)

High emotional stability are self-confident, high self-esteem, stable vs low emotional stability who are depressed, anxious

What is agreeableness? (big five)

Extent to which person is friendly and approachable

How would you describe agreeable people?

Agreeable people are warm, considerate, altruistic, friendly, sympathetic, cooperative, tolerant vs argumentative, inflexible, uncooperative, uncaring, intolerant, cold, rude

What is conscientiousness? (big five)

Degree to which a person is responsible and achievement-oriented

How would you describe conscientiousness people?

More conscientious people are hard-working, dependable, positive, orderly, self-disciplined, responsible vs. irresponsible, lazy, impulsive, careless, impulsive

What is openness to experience? (big five)

Extent to which a person thinks flexibly and is receptive to new ideas.

What does trait activation theory state?

personality traits lead to certain behaviours only when the situation makes the need for that trait salient/called for

What are the important personality traits other than the big 5?

• Locus of Control
• Positive & Negative Affectivity
• Proactive Personality
• Core Self-evaluations
• Self-monitoring
• Self-esteem
• General Self-efficacy

What traits make up the Core Self-Evaluations?

Self-esteem
General self-efficacy
Locus of control
Emotional Stability / Neroticism

(self-worth or worthiness, competence, and capability)

What has research on the Core Self-Evaluations found?

That they are among the best dispositional predictors of job satisfaction, job performance, and organizational commitment.

What is Locus of Control?

Set of beliefs about whether one's behaviour/ results is controlled mainly by internal or external forces

(High internal vs High external)

What is Self-Monitoring?

Extent to which people observe and regulate how they appear and behave in social settings and relationships

(High to Low)

When do high self-monitors perform well?

Jobs that require a degree of role-playing, self-presentation skills., flexibility, and adaptiveness

(Sales, law, public relations, and politics)
Weak innovators

What is behavioural plasticity theory?

People with low self-esteem are more susceptible to external and social influences than those who have high self-esteem

What is Self-Esteem?

Degree to which a person has a positive self evaluation

(High to Low)

How does self esteem help in an organization?

More fulfilling career decisions, exhibit higher job satisfaction and job performance

Positive Affectivity

Tendency to view the world, yourself, and others in a positive light

(creative, happy, engaged)

Negative Affectivity

Tendency to view world in negative light

(absent, depressed, unengaged)

What is Proactive Behaviour?

Taking initiative to improve current circumstances or creating new ones

What is Proactive Personality?

A stable personal disposition that reflects a tendency to take initiative across a range of activities and situations.

Very positive trait associated with job satisfaction and performance.
(identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, persevere)

General Self-Efficacy Trait

Individual's belief in their ability to succeed in a variety of challenging situations.

Considered to be a motivational trait rather than an affective trait

(higher job satisfaction and job performance)

What are the four factors that influence self-efficacy belief?

Performance Mastery (experience, past performance)
Observation
Verbal Persuasion
Physiological state

What are self-efficacy beliefs?

Beliefs people have about their ability to successfully perform a specific task.

Whats the difference between self-efficacy beliefs and the general self-efficacy personality trait?

The general trait is an individuals belief in their ability to succeed in a variety of challenging situations. Whereas self-efficacy beliefs are beliefs regarding an individuals ability to succeed in a specific task.

(I can do anything vs I can do that)

What is self-regulation?

The use of learning principles to manage personal behaviour, thus reducing the need for external control

(Can improve learning and result in a change in behaviour.)

How does self-regulation occur?

Collecting self-observation data (phone use)
Observing models (what do peers do)
Goal setting
Rehearsing
Self-reinforcement.

• Observe one's own behaviour (self-observation)
• Compare the behaviour with a standard (self-evaluation)
• Reward oneself if the behaviour meets the standard (self-reinforcement)

High General Self-Efficacy allows individuals to ….

better adapt to novel, uncertain, and adverse situations

Research has found that the Big Five are related to…

job performance, motivation, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and career outcomes

What is operant learning?

Learning by which the subject learns to operate in the environment to achieve certain consequences

(pull lever get reward (food))

How do you know if something is a positive reinforcer?

If by introducing/adding it, it causes a behaviour to continue

For an employee recognition program to be effective you must specify…

How a person will be recognized
The type of behaviour being encouraged
The manner of the public acknowledgement
A token or icon of the event for the recipient.

What is Positive Reinforcement?

Application of a stimulus that increases or maintains the probability of some behaviour

How do you know if something is a negative reinforcer?

If it causes a behaviour to start/continue when it is removed

What is negative reinforcement?

The Removal of a stimulus that increases or maintains the probability of some behaviour

How do you use reinforcers to achieve fast acquisition of behaviours?

Make sure reinforcers are continuous and immediate

How do you use reinforcers to achieve behaviours that persist?

Conditions of partial and delayed reinforcement.

(this reduces reliance on reward as its not immediate)

What does it mean to Neglect Diversity in Preferences for Reinforcers?

Reinforcers must be personalized to the employee to be successful

How are rewards confused with reinforcers?

pay, promotions, and vacations can server as rewards without being reinforcers if they are not contingent on some behaviour.

Do positive reinforcers have to be pleasant?

Is giving employees a turkey at Christmas a good
application of positive reinforcement?

No, whether or not something is a positive reinforcer depends only on whether its application increases or maintains some behaviour.

No. because it doesn't affect behaviour. It is not contingent to a specific behaviour. It simply occurs on a certain date.

What is extinction?

Terminating the reinforcement that is maintaining some unwanted behaviour

(The gradual dissipation of unwanted behaviour following the termination of reinforcement)

When does extinction work best?

when coupled with the reinforcement of some desired substitute behaviour

What are the steps of the behaviour modelling training?

Describe behaviours (skills) to be learned.
Model their effective use
Provide opportunities for practise
Provide feedback and social reinforcement
Maximize transfer to job skills.

What is the behavioural training model?

Trainees observe a model performing a task followed by opportunities to practise

What is punishment?

Following an unwanted behaviour with some unpleasant/aversive stimulus

How do organizations make sure punishment is used effectively?

Make sure the chosen punishment is truly aversive.
Punish immediately.
Do not reward unwanted behaviours before or after punishment.
Do not inadvertently punish desirable behaviour.

What are distinctiveness cues?

Extent to which a person engages in some behaviour across a variety of situations

(At their last job the same thing happened, low/not distinctive)

Low distinctiveness -> Dispositional attribute
High distinctiveness -> Situational attribute

What are consensus cues?

Extent to which a person's behavior differs from others

(She's always late but so is everyone else, high consensus)

Low consensus -> Dispositional attribute
High consensus -> Situational attribute

What are consistency cues?

How consistently a person engages in a behaviour over time.

(She's late for work but usually isn't, low consistency)

High consistency -> Dispositional attribute
Low consistency -> Situational attribute

How does social cognitive theory believe we learn?

By observing others

What are the steps of the bruner model? Give an example of each.

What is bruner's model a model of?

Perception

Where in the bruner model can stereotypes come into play?

Step 3: Familiar Cues Encountered
and
Step 4: Target Categorized

What are the 3 key features of bruners model?

Selective (perceivers do not use all available cues)
Constancy (perception tends not to change)
Consistency (we make cues consistent with image)

Why do inaccurate stereotypes persist, and how does this
relate to Bruner's model of the perceptual process?

Bruners model explains that Selective perception reinforces inaccurate stereotypes to maintain a constant and consistent image of the target based on the original stereotypical categorization.

What is the purpose of steps 1-3 in the bruner model?

To Learn

What is the purpose of steps 4-6 in the bruner model?

To Confirm

What are the basic biases in Person Perception?

PRRIPS

Primacy

Recency

Reliance on Central Traits

Implicit Personality Theories

Projection

Stereotyping

What is perception?

Process of interpreting the messages of our senses to provide order and meaning to the environment

What is the primacy effect?

Tendency for a perceiver to rely on early cues or first impressions

What is the recency effect?

Tendency for a perceiver to rely on recent cues or last impressions

What is Reliance on central traits?

Tendency to organize the perception of others based on traits and personal characteristics that matter to the perceiver

What are Implicit Personality Theories

Personal theories that people have about which personality characteristics go together

• Ex: hardworking and intelligent

What is Projection/False Consensus?

Tendency for perceivers to attribute their own thoughts and feelings to others