Organizational Behavior ‒ Chapters 6-10

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions from Chapters 6-10 of Organizational Behavior, designed for concise exam review.

Empowerment

Granting employees power, autonomy, and trust to make decisions, boosting motivation and performance.

Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham)

Framework linking five core job dimensions to psychological states and work outcomes.

Skill Variety

Degree to which a job requires different activities and skills.

Task Identity

Extent a job involves completing a whole, identifiable piece of work.

Task Significance

Impact a job has on other people inside or outside the organization.

Autonomy

Freedom and discretion to schedule work and determine procedures.

Feedback (Job Design)

Clear information about performance effectiveness coming from the job itself.

Experienced Meaningfulness

Psychological state of perceiving work as important and valuable.

Experienced Responsibility

Feeling personally accountable for work outcomes, heightened by autonomy.

Knowledge of Results

Understanding how effectively one is performing a job.

Job Design

Arrangement of tasks, duties, and responsibilities to enhance productivity and satisfaction.

Job Enlargement

Adding more tasks at the same level to reduce monotony.

Job Rotation

Periodically moving employees between jobs to increase variety and skills.

Job Specialization

Narrowing job scope to a few tasks for efficiency, often lowering satisfaction.

Job Evaluation

Systematically determining a job’s relative worth for compensation purposes.

Motivator-Hygiene Theory (Herzberg)

Distinguishes motivators that create satisfaction from hygiene factors that prevent dissatisfaction.

Motivators (Herzberg)

Achievement, recognition, the work itself—drive long-term satisfaction.

Hygiene Factors (Herzberg)

Pay, policies, supervision—remove dissatisfaction but rarely motivate.

Scientific Management

Standardizing tasks and work methods to maximize efficiency; linked to specialization.

Money as a Motivator

Powerful short-term incentive that can crowd out intrinsic motivation if overused.

Membership-Based Rewards

Compensation tied to employee belonging; offers security but low motivation.

Seniority-Based Rewards

Pay increases with tenure; aids retention yet may dampen performance incentives.

Job-Status Rewards

Compensation and perks based on position prestige; can foster hierarchy.

Competency-Based Rewards

Pay linked to skill acquisition; promotes development but difficult to measure.

Performance-Based Rewards

Incentives contingent on results; motivate but may spur unhealthy competition.

Team-Based Rewards

Shared incentives encouraging cooperation; risk of social loafing.

Reward Effectiveness Criteria

Link to performance, within employee control, suitable for interdependence, valued by employees, avoid unintended effects.

Strategies Supporting Empowerment

Self-directed teams, information sharing, decentralized decision authority.

Self-Leadership

Process of influencing oneself via goal setting, constructive thought, self-monitoring, self-reinforcement.

Anchoring & Adjustment Heuristic

Bias where initial information anchors judgments and adjustments are insufficient.

Availability Heuristic

Tendency to judge probability based on how easily examples come to mind.

Bounded Rationality

Decision-making constrained by limited information, time, and cognitive capacity.

Divergent Thinking

Generating multiple, varied ideas to foster creativity.

Employee Involvement

Participation of workers in decisions that affect their jobs.

Escalation of Commitment

Persistence in a failing course of action due to prior investments.

Prospect Theory Effect

People perceive losses as more painful than equivalent gains are pleasing.

Rational Choice Paradigm

Model of logical, objective decision-making to maximize utility.

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging likelihood based on similarity to a prototype rather than statistics.

Satisficing

Selecting the first acceptable option rather than the optimal one.

Subjective Expected Utility

Perceived value of an outcome multiplied by its perceived probability.

Role of Emotions in Decisions

Provide quick evaluations and influence perception, often ahead of logic.

Creativity Support Factors

Expertise, motivation, creative-thinking skills, supportive culture, moderate time pressure.

Employee Involvement Contingencies

Decision structure, knowledge source, commitment needs, conflict risk determine involvement level.

Constructive Conflict

Task-focused disagreement that improves ideas and decisions.

Groupthink

Desire for consensus suppresses dissent and critical evaluation.

Norms

Informal rules that guide team members’ behavior.

Role (Team)

Set of expected behaviors associated with a position.

Self-Directed Team

Group with substantial autonomy to plan, organize, and control work.

Social Loafing

Tendency for individuals to expend less effort in groups.

Task Interdependence

Degree to which team members rely on each other for resources or outcomes.

Team Cohesion

Strength of members’ attraction and commitment to the team.

Virtual Team

Team whose members are geographically dispersed and communicate electronically.

Team Effectiveness Model

Performance depends on design (task, size, composition), processes (norms, cohesion, trust), environment.

Process Losses

Inefficiencies such as coordination or motivation issues that reduce team output.

Brainstorming

Group technique generating ideas without criticism to encourage creativity.

Nominal Group Technique

Structured method where individuals generate ideas independently before group discussion and ranking.

Communication

Process of transmitting information and meaning between people.

Emotional Contagion

Automatic spread of emotions from one person to others.

Grapevine

Informal, unofficial communication channel within organizations.

Information Overload

When information volume exceeds the receiver’s processing capacity.

Management By Walking Around (MBWA)

Managers informally tour the workplace to communicate and gather information.

Media Richness

Channel’s ability to transmit rich, ambiguous information effectively.

Persuasion (Communication)

Using communication to change attitudes, beliefs, or behavior.

Wikis

Collaborative online platforms where users co-create and edit content.

Encoding/Decoding Influences

Similar codebooks, shared mental models, familiarity, and skills enhance message clarity.

Noise (Communication)

Anything that distorts or interferes with message transmission or understanding.

Active Listening

Postpone evaluation, avoid interruption, show interest, empathize, organize, clarify.

Charisma

Personal charm creating devotion and influence over others.

Coalition

Alliance of parties combining influence to pursue a common objective.

Impression Management

Deliberate efforts to shape how others perceive one’s image.

Influence

Any behavior that attempts to change someone’s attitudes or behavior.

Legitimate Power

Authority derived from a formal position or role.

Norm of Reciprocity

Social rule obliging individuals to repay favors or kindness.

Organizational Politics

Self-serving influence tactics aimed at gaining personal advantage at work.

Power

Capacity of one person to influence another’s behavior, thinking, or attitudes.

Referent Power

Influence gained from others’ admiration, identification, or respect.

Social Capital

Resources and advantages gained through social networks.

Upward Appeal

Seeking higher-level support to influence someone’s decisions.

Five Sources of Power

Legitimate, reward, coercive, expert, referent power bases.

Power Contingencies

Non-substitutability, centrality, discretion, and visibility affect power strength.

Influence Tactics

Silent authority, assertiveness, information control, coalition, upward appeal, persuasion, exchange, ingratiation.

Soft vs. Hard Tactics

Soft tactics (e.g., persuasion) rely on interpersonal influence; hard tactics (e.g., coercion) rely on formal power.

Scarcity and Politics

Resource scarcity and ambiguity heighten political behavior within organizations.