Organizational Behavior Exam 1 Review

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key definitions, theories, models, and equations from Chapters 1 through 4 of Organizational Behavior.

Organizational Behavior

A field of study devoted to understanding, explaining, and ultimately improving the attitudes and behaviors of individuals and groups in organizations.

Integrative Model of Organizational Behavior

A framework illustrating how organizational mechanisms, group mechanisms, and individual characteristics influence individual mechanisms, which in turn determine individual outcomes.

Resource-Based View of the Firm

A perspective stating that a firm's resources are more valuable when they are rare and inimitable, helping create competitive advantage.

Inimitable Resource

A resource that cannot be easily copied or replicated by competitors, often stemming from history, numerous small decisions, or socially complex resources.

Rule of One-Eighth

The rule stating that at best 12.5% ($\frac{1}{2} \times \frac{1}{2} \times \frac{1}{2} = \frac{1}{8}$) of organizations will build profits through people by recognizing the connection, making comprehensive changes, and persisting long enough.

Scientific Method Model

A continuous process of learning through four key steps: theory formulation, hypothesis development, data collection, and statistical verification.

Theory

A collection of assertions that specify how and why two variables may be related.

Hypotheses

Written predictions that specify relationships among variables.

Data

Collection and observation of behaviors and outcomes related to hypotheses.

Verification

The use of statistical methods to determine whether or not a hypothesis can be confirmed.

Correlation

A statistical index summarizing the strength and direction of a relationship between variables, ranging from $-1$ (perfect negative) to $1$ (perfect positive).

Meta-Analysis

A method that takes all correlations found in a set of studies and calculates a weighted average to understand the overall relationship between variables.

Evidence-Based Management

A management perspective that uses scientific findings and meta-analytic evidence to inform management practices.

Task Performance

The employee behaviors directly involved in transforming organizational resources into the goods or services an organization produces.

Routine Task Performance

Well-known responses to demands that occur in a normal, regular, or predictable way.

Adaptive Task Performance

Employee responses to task demands that are novel, unusual, or unpredictable.

Creative Task Performance

The degree to which individuals develop ideas or physical outcomes that are both novel and useful.

Citizenship Behaviors

Voluntary employee activities that may or may not be rewarded but contribute to the organization by improving the overall quality of the work setting.

Citizenship Behavior Framework

A classification system categorizing extra-role positive workplace behaviors into organizational and interpersonal dimensions.

Interpersonal Citizenship Behaviors

Voluntary behaviors that assist coworkers and colleagues, including helping, courtesy, and sportsmanship.

Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Voluntary behaviors that benefit the larger organization, including voice, civic virtue, and boosterism.

Helping

Assisting new coworkers or those with heavy workloads.

Courtesy

Keeping coworkers informed about matters that are relevant to them.

Sportsmanship

Maintaining a positive attitude with coworkers, even when facing bad news or inconvenience.

Voice

Speaking up and offering constructive suggestions to improve unit or organizational functioning or to address problems.

Civic Virtue

Participating in the company's operations at a deeper-than-normal level, such as attending voluntary functions and staying informed.

Boosterism

Representing the organization in a positive way when out of the office and in public.

Counterproductive Behavior

Employee behaviors that intentionally hinder organizational goal accomplishment.

Typology of Deviant Workplace Behaviors

A multidimensional matrix categorizing counterproductive behaviors along minor vs. serious and organizational vs. interpersonal dimensions.

Production Deviance

Minor organizational counterproductive behaviors that reduce efficiency, including wasting resources and substance abuse.

Property Deviance

Serious organizational counterproductive behaviors aimed at company assets, including sabotage and theft.

Political Deviance

Minor interpersonal counterproductive behaviors that disadvantage other individuals, including gossiping and incivility.

Personal Aggression

Serious interpersonal counterproductive behaviors involving hostile verbal or physical actions, including harassment and abuse.

Management by Objectives (MBO)

A performance management system that evaluates employees based on whether they achieve specific, mutually agreed-upon goals.

360-Degree Feedback

A performance appraisal system that gathers performance information from supervisors, peers, subordinates, customers, and self-evaluations.

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)

A performance evaluation method that assesses performance by directly comparing critical incidents of job behavior against scale points.

Jack Welch's Vitality Curve

A forced ranking system popularized at General Electric that categorizes employees into the 'Top 20%', 'The Vital 70%', and the 'Bottom 10%'.

Organizational Commitment

The desire on the part of an employee to remain a member of their current organization.

Affective Commitment

A desire to remain a member of an organization due to an emotional attachment to, and involvement with, that organization (staying because you want to).

Continuance Commitment

A desire to remain a member of an organization due to an awareness of the costs associated with leaving it (staying because you need to).

Normative Commitment

A desire to remain a member of an organization due to a feeling of obligation (staying because you ought to).

Exit

An active, destructive response to a negative work event whereby an employee ends or restricts organizational membership.

Loyalty

A passive, constructive response to a negative work event where the employee remains supportive while hoping for improvement.

Neglect

A passive, destructive response to a negative work event characterized by reduced interest and effort in the job.

Psychological Withdrawal

Actions that provide a mental escape from the work environment (neglect), such as daydreaming, socializing, looking busy, cyberloafing, and moonlighting.

Physical Withdrawal

Actions that provide a physical escape from the work environment (exit), such as tardiness, long breaks, missing meetings, absenteeism, and quitting.

Withdrawal Behavior Hierarchy

A structural overview demonstrating how employees respond to workplace dissatisfaction through psychological and physical withdrawal behaviors.

Stars

Employees possessing high organizational commitment and high task performance who role model organizational values.

Citizens

Employees with high organizational commitment but low task performance who contribute by performing citizenship behaviors.

Lone Wolves

Employees with low organizational commitment but high task performance who focus on personal achievement rather than organizational goals.

Apathetics

Employees with low organizational commitment and low task performance who exert minimal effort to retain employment.

Four Types of Employees Matrix

A 2x2 matrix categorizing workers based on task performance (high/low) and organizational commitment (high/low) into Stars, Citizens, Lone Wolves, and Apathetics.

Job Satisfaction

A pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job or job experiences.

Value-Percept Theory

A theory arguing that job satisfaction depends on whether an employee perceives that their job supplies the specific things that they value.

Dissatisfaction Equation

The formula $\text{Dissatisfaction} = (V_{\text{want}} - V_{\text{have}}) \times (V_{\text{importance}})$ showing how value gaps and importance drive dissatisfaction.

Value-Percept Theory Model

A model showing how satisfaction with pay, promotion, supervision, coworkers, and the work itself combine to drive overall job satisfaction.

Meaningfulness of Work

A psychological state reflecting the degree to which work tasks are viewed as something that counts in the employee's system of terms and values.

Responsibility for Outcomes

A psychological state capturing the degree to which employees feel that they are key drivers of the quality of the unit's work.

Knowledge of Results

A psychological state indicating the extent to which employees know how well or poorly they are performing.

Job Characteristics Theory

A theory arguing that jobs are more enjoyable when work tasks are challenging and fulfilling, driven by five core job characteristics.

Job Characteristics Model

A framework showing how core job characteristics (variety, identity, significance, autonomy, feedback) shape psychological states to drive satisfaction with work itself.

Variety

The degree to which a job requires a number of activities involving different skills and talents.

Identity

The degree to which a job requires completing a whole, identifiable piece of work from beginning to end.

Significance

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

Autonomy

The degree to which a job provides freedom, independence, and discretion to the employee.

Feedback

The degree to which carrying out the work activities provides direct and clear information about performance effectiveness.

Growth Need Strength

The degree to which employees desire personal and professional development.

Growth Need Strength Moderating Effect

A graphical representation showing that core job characteristics have a stronger positive effect on work satisfaction when growth need strength is high.

Emotional Labor

The requirement for employees to manage their emotions in order to complete their job duties successfully.

Emotional Contagion

The phenomenon in which one person catches or adopts the emotional state of another person.