Organizational Behavior and Leadership Practice Flashcards

This set of flashcards covers vocabulary from industrial-organizational psychology lecture notes, including group dynamics, leadership styles, power structures, and organizational design.

Work group

two or more individuals engaged in social interaction to achieve some goal

Team

interdependent workers with complementary skills working toward a shared goal

Roles

patterns of behavior that are adopted based on expectations about the functions of a position

Role expectations

beliefs concerning the responsibilities and requirements of a particular position

Role differentiation

process by which group members learn to perform various roles

Role conflict

conflict that results when the expectations associated with one role interfere with the expectations concerning another role

Work-family conflict

cumulative stress that results from duties of work and family roles

Norms

rules that groups adopt governing appropriate and inappropriate behavior for members

Organizational Socialization

process by which new employees learn group roles and norms and develop specific work skills and abilities

Person-environment (P-E) fit

match between a worker’s skills, needs, and values and an organization’s demands, rewards, and values

Reciprocity Rule

tendency for persons to pay back those whom they are indebted to

Task Interdependence

degree to which an individual’s task performance depends on the efforts or skills of others

Social Loafing

phenomenon whereby individuals working in groups exert less effort than when working alone

Intraindividual conflict

conflict that occurs when two people are striving to attain their own goals, thus blocking the other’s achievement

Intragroup conflict

conflict that arises when a person or faction within a group attempts to achieve a goal that interferes with the group’s goal attainment

Superordinate goal

goal that two conflicting parties are willing to work to attain

We-they feeling

intragroup cohesiveness created by the existence of a common threat which is typically another group

Integration

amount and quality of collaboration among the divisions of an organization

Group Polarization

tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than those made by individuals

Groupthink

a syndrome characterized by a concurrence-seeking tendency that overrides the ability of a cohesive group to make critical decisions

Conformity

process of adhering to group norms

Wisdom of the crowd

phenomenon by which a diverse group of novices can outperform a homogenous group of experts because they can identify each other’s errors in judgments

Brainstorming

group process of generating ideas or solutions through a noncritical or nonjudgmental process

Shared mental models

team member’s shared understanding of important aspects of common work goals

Shared leadership

when leadership is shared among the group members rather than being centralized to one person

Lack of control

feeling of having little input or effect on the job and/or work environment

Team organization

non traditional organizational structure consisting of members organized around a particular project or product

Team building

type of team training focused on how to improve team performance by analyzing group interaction

Multiteam Systems

networks of multiple interdependent teams that work together toward a shared overarching goal

Influence

Ability to use social forces to affect the behavior of others

Power

Use of some aspect of a work relationship to compel another to perform a certain action despite resistance

Organizational Politics

Self-serving actions designed to affect the behavior of others to achieve personal goals

Organizational Power

Power derived from a person’s position in an organization and from control over important resources afforded in that position

Individual Power

Power derived from personal characteristics that are of value to the organization

Power Corollary

Concept that, for every exercise of power, there is a tendency for the subject to react with a return power play

Empowerment

Process by which organizational members can increase their sense of power and personal control in the work setting

Functional Politics

Political behaviors that help the organization to attain its goals

Dysfunctional Politics

Political behaviors that detract from the organization’s ability to attain its goals

Whistle-blowing

Political behavior whereby an employee criticizes company policies and practices to persons outside of the organization

Leadership

Ability to guide a group toward the achievement of goals

Universalist Theories

Look at major characteristics common in all effective leaders

Great Man/Woman Theory

Universalist theory that claims leaders are born, not made

Trait Theory

Attempts to discover the traits shared by all effective leaders

Behavioral Theories

Theories derived from studies at Ohio State University and University of Michigan that focus on the behaviors common in leaders

Initiating Structure

Organizing work, defining roles, and establishing goals

Consideration

Demonating concern for followers’ needs, feelings, and well-being

Task-oriented behaviors

Emphasize productivity, structure, and goal accomplishment

Relationship-oriented behaviors

Emphasize interpersonal support, trust, and employee well-being

Contingency Theories

Theories that look at the interaction of characteristics of both the leader and the situation

Relational Theories

Theories that look at the relationship between leaders and followers as central to the leadership process

Charismatic Leadership

Leaders possess exceptional characteristics that cause followers to be loyal to them

Transformational Leadership

Focuses on a leader’s ability to provide shared values and a vision for the future for the work group

Role Congruity Theory

Explains the leadership gender gap by the inconsistency between the female gender role of being communal and the stereotype that leaders are expected to be agentic

Inclusive Leadership

Effective leadership that encourages belonging while recognizing uniqueness

Organizational Structure

Arrangement of positions in an organization and the authority/responsibility relationships among them.

Organizational Culture

Shared values, beliefs, assumptions, and patterns of behavior within an organization.

Organizational Development

Process of assisting organizations in preparing for and managing change.

Bureaucracy

An organizational structure typified by a well-defined authority hierarchy and strict rules governing work behavior.

Line-Staff Organizational Structure

An organizational structure composed of one group of employees who achieve the goals of the organization (line) and another group who support the line (staff).

Matrix Organization

An organizational design that blends functional and product structures.

Artifacts

Elements of an organizational culture such as symbols, rituals, stories and shared narratives about founders, heroes and organizational history.

Change agent

A person/practitioner’s role as a catalyst who helps organizations through the process of change.

Action research

A model that applies social science research methods to collecting relevant organizational data that are used for solving organizational problems.

Job security

Employees’ perceptions that their employment will continue into the future without significant threat of job loss.

Organizational Consulting

Specialized field focused on using evidence-based methods to help organizations implement change and improve performance.

User experience research (UX)

Study of how users perceive, feel about, and interact with a product or system to inform design decisions.

Escalation of commitment

Tendency to continue investing in a failing course of action despite negative outcomes and uncertain prospects for success.

Follower-Leader Identity Integration (FLII)

Extent to which individuals perceive and mentally integrate their follower and leader identities.