Organizational Behavior WGU

PERSONALITY

gordon allport said personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment

HEREDITY

factors determined at conception

MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR

the most widely used personality assessment in the world. includes scales on introversion/extroversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving

THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY MODEL

personality typing instrument which includes extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to experience

Machiavellianism

the degree to which an individual's pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes the end justifies the means

NARCISSM

the tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive admiration, and have a sense of entitlement

SELF-MONITORING

A personality trait that measures an individual's ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational factors.

PROACTIVE PERSONALITY

people identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs.

VALUES

basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence

TERMINAL VALUES

desirable end-states of existence; the goals a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime

INSTRUMENTAL VALUES

preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one's terminal values

POWER DISTANCE

a national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally

PERCEPTION

a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment

ATTRIBUTION THEORY

an attempt to determine whether an individual's behavior is internally or externally caused

FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR

the tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others

SELF-SERVING BIAS

the tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors and put the blame for failures on external factors

SELECTIVE PERCEPTION

the tendency to selectively interpret what one sees on the basis of one's interests, background, experience, and attitude

HALO EFFECT

the tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic

CONTRAST EFFECT

evaluation of a person's characteristics that is affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics

STEREOTYPING

judging someone on the basis of one's perception of the group to which it belongs

SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY

a situation in which a person inaccurately perceives a second person, and the resulting expectations cause the second person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception

RATIONAL DECISION-MAKING MODEL

a decision-making model that describes how individuals should behave in order to maximize some outcomes

BOUNDED RATIONALITY

a process of making decisions by constructing simplified models that the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity

INTUITION DECISION-MAKING

an unconscious process distilled out of distilled experience

ANCHORING BIAS

a tendency to fixate on initial information from which one then fails to adequately adjust for subsequent information

CONFIRMATION BIAS

the tendency to seek out information that reaffirms past choices and to discount information that contradicts past judgments

RISK ADVERSION

the tendency to prefer a sure gain of a moderate amount over a riskier outcome even if the riskier outcome might have a higher expected payoff

MOTIVATION

the processes that account for an individuals intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward maintaining a goal

HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

abram maslow's _________ (5) physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization- in which as each need is substantially satisfied, the next becomes dominant

LOWER ORDER NEEDS

needs that are satisfied externally, such as physiological and safety needs

SELF-ACTUALIZATION

the drive to become what a person is capable of becoming

HIGHER-ORDER NEEDS

needs that are satisfied internally, such as social, esteem, and self-actualization

THEORY X

the assumption that employees dislike work, are lazy, dislike responsibility, and must be coerced to perform

THEORY Y

the assumption that employees like work, are creative, seek responsibility, and can exercise self-direction

HYGIENE FACTORS

factors, such as company policy, and administration, supervision, and salary- that when adequate in a job, placates workers. When these factors are adequate, people will not be dissatisfied

MCCLELLANDS THEORY OF NEEDS

a theory that states achievement, power and affiliation are three important needs that help explain motivation

COGNITIVE EVALUATION THEORY

a version of self determination theory which holds that allocating extrinsic rewards for behavior that had been previously intrinsically rewarding tends to decrease the overall level of motivation if the rewards are seen as controlling

SELF-CONCORDANCE

the degree to which peoples' reasons for pursuing goals are consistent with their interests or core values

MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES (MBO)

a program that encompasses specific goals, participatively set, for an explicit time period, with feedback on goal progress

DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE

perceived fairness of the amount and allocation of rewards among individuals

INTERACTIONAL JUSTICE

the perceived degree to which an individual is treated with dignity, concern, and respect

GROUP

2 or more individuals interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives

FORMAL GROUP

a designated work group defined by an organization's structure

INFORMAL GROUP

a group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined: such a group appears in response to the need for social contact

SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY

perspective that considers when and why individuals consider themselves members of groups

FIVE STAGE GROUP DEVELOPMENT MODEL

the 5 distinct stages groups go through are: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning

FORMING STAGE

first stage of group development characterized by a lot of uncertainty

STORMING STAGE

second stage of group development characterized by intragroup conflict

NORMING STAGE

third stage of group development characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness

PERFORMING STAGE

fourth stage of group development during which the group is fully functional

ADJOURNING STAGE

the final stage of group development for temporary groups; characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than task performance

PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM MODEL

a set of phases that temporary groups go through that involve transitions between inertia and activity

ROLE PERCEPTION

an individual's view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given situation

ROLE EXPECTATIONS

how others believe a person should act in a given situation

NORMS

acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the group's members

DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR

voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and, in so doing, threatens the well-being of the organization or its members.

Antisocial behavior or workplace incivility

SOCIAL LOAFING

the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually

CONFLICT

a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that the first party cares about

INTERACTIONIST VIEW OF CONFLICT

the belief that conflict is not only a positive force in a group but also an absolute necessity for a group to perform effectively

FUNCTIONAL CONFLICT

conflict that supports the goals of the group and improves performance

DYSFUNCTIONAL CONFLICT

conflict that hinders group performance

PROCESS CONFLICT

conflict over how the work gets done

COMPETING

a desire to satisfy one's interests, regardless of the impact on the other party to the conflict

COLLABORATING

a situation in which the parties to a conflict each desire to satisfy fully the concern of all parties

AVOIDING

the desire to withdraw from or suppress a conflict

ACCOMMODATING

the willingness of one party in a conflict to places the opponent's interest above his or her own

COMPROMISING

a solution in which each party to a conflict is willing to give up something

NEGOTIATION

a process in which 2 or more parties exchange goods or services and attempt to agree on the exchange rate for them

DISTRIBUTIVE BARGAINING

negotiation that seeks to divide up a fixed amount of resources; a win-lose scenario

FIXED PIE

the belief that there is only a set amount of goods or services to be divided up between parties

INTEGRATIVE BARGAINING

negotiation that seeks one or more setllements that can create a win-win solution

BATNA

the best alternative to a negotiated agreement

WORK GROUP

a group that interacts primarily to share information and to make decisions to help each group member to perform within his or her area of responsibility

WORK TEAM

a group whose individual efforts result in performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs

SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS

groups of 10-15 people who take on responsibilities of their former supervisors

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS

employees from about the same hierarchial level, but different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task

MULTI TEAM SYSTEMS

systems in which different teams need to coordinate their efforts to produce a desired outcome

ORGANIZATIONAL DEMOGRAPHY

the degree to which members of a work unit share a common demographic attribute such as age, sex, age and impact of this attribute on turnover

MENTAL MODELS

team members' knowledge and beliefs about how the work gets done by the team

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations

DOMINANT CULTURE

a culture that expresses core volues that are shared by a majority of the organizations' members

CORE VALUES

the primary or dominant values that are accepted throughout the organization

SUBCULTURES

minicultures within an organization, typically defined by department designations and geographical separation

STRONG CULTURE

a culture in which the core values are intensely held and widely shared

ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE

the shared perceptions organizational members have about their organization and work environment

SOCIALIZATION

a process that adapts employees to the organizations culture

PREARRIVAL STAGE

the period of learning in the socialization process that occurs before a new employee joins the organization

ENCOUNTER STAGE

the stage in the socialization process in which a new employee sees what the organization is really like and confronts the possibility

METAMORPHOSIS STAGE

the stage in the socialization process in which a new employee changes and adjusts to the job, work group, and organization

RITUALS

repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the key values of the organization, which goals are most important, which people are important, and which are expendable

POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

a culture that emphasizes building on employee strengths, rewards more than punishes, and emphasizes individual vitality and growth

WORKPLACE SPIRITUALITY

the recognition that people have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place in the context of community

LEADERSHIP

the ability to influence a group toward the acheivement of a vision or set of goals

TRAIT THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP

theories that consider personal qualities and characteristics that differentiate leaders from non-leaders

BEHAVIORAL THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP

theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate leaders from non-leaders

INITIATING STRUCTURE

the extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure his or her own role and those of subordinates in the search for goal attainment

CONSIDERATION

the extent to which a leader is likely to have job relationships characterized by mutual trust, respect for subordinates' ideas, and regard for their feelings

EMPLOYEE-ORIENTED LEADER

a leader who emphasizes interpersonal relations, takes a personal interest in the needs of employees, and accepts individual differences among members

PRODUCTION-ORIENTED LEADER

a leader who emphasizes technical or task aspects of the job

FIELDLER CONTINGENCY MODEL

the theory that effective groups depend on a proper match between a leaders' style of interacting with subordinates and the degree to which the situation gives control and influence to the leader