OB Week 2 & 3 Flashcards

chapter 1 and 14

Organizational behavior

the systematic study and application of knowledge about how individuals and groups act within organizations

Organization

an organized body of people with a particular purpose, espically a business, society, association, etc.

What are the responsibilities of the top management of an organization?

set the direction of the organization, establish organizational culture, monitor the business environment

What are the responsibilities of the middle management of an organization?

set objective consistent with higher mgmt goals, plan and allocate resources to meet objectives, coordinate and link departments and divisions, monitor performance of these units, implement strategies generated by higher mgmt

What are the responsibilities of first-line management of an organization?

daily contact with team members/employees, encourage monitor and reward performance, train employees to do their jobs, make detailed schedules and operating plans

What are the responsibilities of employees/team members of an organization?

facilitate team works, collaborate with each other, manage relationships outside their work group, solve problems

Why does Organizational Behavior matter to potential employers/organizations?

attracting top talent, selecting the right talent, keeping their top talent (moitvating, satisfied employees, benefit from diverse set of employees)

Why does Organizational Behvaior matter to you?

getting along with others, lowering stress, building an effective network, analyzing business problems, find the right ‘fit’

How do researchers study OB?

form hypotheses, set out to understand relationships among different variables, use different research methods to examine these relationships and their hypotheses

Surverys

individuals asked open- or closed-ended questions

Field Studies

conducted in actual organizations, often surveying actual employees- hard to establish causality, more rare but sometimes experiments can be used

Laboratory Studies

controlled conditions provide high degree of internal validity but potientally low generalizability, uses experimental and control groups to establish causeality

What is the primary method used to study OB?

surverys

Case Studies

In-depth description of a single company or industry, lots of nuance but difficult to generalize

Meta-Analysis

technique used to quantitatively summarize research on a given topic, only has good as the study on which it is based

Machine Learning

algorithms generate and update models based on large amounts of available data, needed to be used with care if researchers are to understand why

Strategy

overall plan for a company; clarifies how the company will serve its customers and position itself against competitors

What management typically formulates the organizaitonal strategy?

CEO and/or Top Management

Resources

the assets, capabilities, processes, information, and knowledge that the organization controls

Competitive Advantage

providing greater value for customers than competitors can

Sustainable Competitive Advantage

a competitive advantage that other companies have tries unsuccessfully to duplicate

External Environment

all events outside a company that have the potential to influence it

What are some factors that may be general environments?

economy, technology, political/legal trends, sociocultural trends

What are some factors that may be specific environemnts?

Competition, customers, advocacy groups, industry regulations, suppliers

Uncertainty

the extent to which managers can understand or predict which environmental changes and trends will affect their businesses

Environmental Change

rate at which a company’s general and specific environments change (stable or dynamic)

In a stable environment, rate of change is _________.

slow

In a dynamic environment, rate of change is _________.

fast

Resource Complexity

number and intensity of external factors in the environment that affect organizations (simple environment vs complex environment)

Resource Scarcity

the abundance or shortage of critical organizational resources in an organization’s external environment

High Uncertainty

high change, complexity and resource scarcity

Organizational Structure

determines how the work of people and teams are coordinated

What does organizational structure establish?

reporting relationships, formal communication channels, and interdependencies (links between people’s jobs)

Span of Control

number of employees reporting to a single manager

Tall structures have a _____ span of control

smaller

Flat Structures have a ______ span of control.

wider

Tall structures have ______ layers of management between frontline employees and the top level.

more

Flat structures have ______ layers of management between frontline employees and the top level.

few

Centralization

degree to which decision-making authority is concentrated at higher organizational levels

Which hierarchical structure has more opportunities to monitor and support?

tall

In centralized companies, important decisions are:

made at higher levels

In decentralized companies:

solved at lower levels by those closer to the problem

Which centralization degree is better for more efficient operations?

centralized companies

Which centralization degree is better for problem-solving and creativity?

decentralized companies

Which centralization degree has been reported to be associated with greater employee exhaustion?

centralized companies

Formalization

extent to which policies, procedures, job descriptions, and rules are explicitly articulated

In organizations with greater formalization, employees have ______ autonomy to make decisions on a case-by-case basis.

little

What are some advantages of formalization?

leads to a consistency of behavior

clear approach to problem-solving

What are some disadvantages to formalization?

slower pace decision making

reduced innovativeness

reduced motivation and job satisfaction

lack of employee empowerment to solve customer problems

Mechanistic Structures

highly formalized and centralized

Organic Structures

flexible, decentralized structures with low levels of formalization

Functional Structures

group jobs based on similarity in functions (i.e. the specialties of employees)

Divisional Structures

arranged by unique products, services, customers, or geographic locations

Hybrid Form Structures

dedicated functional people for different divisions (i.e., HR business partners)

Lewin’s Model for organizational change

unfreezing, change, refreezing

What is the unfreezing step of lewin’s model for managing organizational change?

believe that change is needed (ensures that employees are ready for change)

What is the change step of lewin’s model for managing organizational change?

implement new behaviours and work practices

What is the refreezing step of lewin’s model for managing organizational change?

support and reinforce new changes (ensures that the change becomes permanent)

What are the first four steps of managing change the traditional way? (unfreeze)

establish a great enough sense of urgency

create a powerful coalition (guiding team)

have a compelling vision

communicate the vision by a factor of ten

What are the fifth and sixth steps of management change the traditional way? (change)

empower action - removing obstacles

create short-term wins

What are the seventh and eighth steps of management change the traditional way? (refreeze)

don’t declare victory too soon

anchor changes in the corporation’s culture

Why do people resist change?

selft-interedt, misunderstanding and distrust, general intolerance for change, legitimate concerns

How should resistance be managed?

education, communication, participation and negotiation, coercion

Globalization

the increasing interconnectedness of economies, cultures, and societies

Business Ethics

applying ethical principles to situations that arise at work

Corporate Social Responsibility

the idea that a good corporate citizen voluntarily adopts ethical, sustainable, and responsible business practices

Matrix Organizations

cross a traditional functional structure with a product structure

holacracy

a structure where employees work in self-managing teams without having a formal manager

Unity of Command

a situation where each person reports to a single manager. Traditional organizations are based on the principle of unity of command, while matrix organizations do not follow this principle.

Boundaryless Organization

refers to an organization that eliminates traditional barriers between departments, as well as barriers between the organization and the external environment

Modular Organization

an organization where all the nonessential functions are outsourced

Strategic Alliances

a form of boundaryless design where two or more companies find an area of collaboration and combine their efforts to create a partnership that is beneficial for both parties

Fully Remote

organizing work with the assumption that employees will work from anywhere, without being tied to a physical office

Learning Organization

an organization where acquiring knowledge and changing behavior as a result of the newly acquired knowledge is part of an organization’s design