Organizational Behavior Exam 2 Ch. 6-10 Study Guide

Perception

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

Three different factors in perceptions

1) Factors in the perceiver, 2) Factors in the situation, 3) Factors in the target

Factors in the perceiver

Attitudes, motives, interests, experience, expectations

Factors in the situation

time, work, setting, social setting

Attribution Theory

Suggests that when we observe an individual’s behaviors, we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally cause

Internal caused behavior

Those that are believed to be under the personal control of the individual

Externally caused behavior

Results from outside causes

Fundamental Attribution Error

Tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors. “We blame people first, not the situation”

Self Serving Bias

Tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors “It is “our” success but “their” failure”

Selective perception

People selectively interpret what they see on the basis of their interests, background, experience, and attitudes

Halo Effect

drawing a general impression about an individual or the basis of a single characteristic

Contrast Effect

Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that are affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics

Stereotyping

Judging someone on the basis of the perception of the group to which that person belongs a prevalent and often useful, if not always, accurate, generalization

Employment Interview

Interviewers make perceptual judgement about applicants that are often inaccurate and are formed in a single glance

Performance Expectations

Self fulfilling prophecy (Pygmalion effect) characterizes the fact that people’s expectations determine their behavior

Performance Evaluations

Many jobs are evaluated in subjective terms. Subjective Measures are, by definition, judgemental.

Rational Decision Making Model

“Perfect world model” which assumes complete information, all options known, and maximum playoff (Similar to scientific process)

Bounded Rationality

The “real world” model: It seeks satisfactory and sufficient solutions from limited data and alternatives

Intuition

A non-conscious process created from distilled experience that results in quick decisions. It relies on holistic associations and is affectively charged since it engages with emotions

Optimizing

From the Rational Decision Making Model, it is choosing from every single alternative

Satisficing

From Bounded Rationality, it is finding the first satisfying answer

Overconfidence Bias

believing too much in our own ability to make good decisions especially when outside of own expertise

Anchoring Bias

Using early, first received information as the basis for making subsequent judgments

Hindsight Bias

After an outcome is already known, believing it could have been accurately predicted beforehand

Confirmation Bias

selecting and using only facts that support our decision; discount information that contradicts past judgements

Availability Bias

emphasizing information that is most readily at hand. Very recent and vivid.

Escalation of commitment

Increasing commitment to a decision in spite of evidence that is wrong - especially if responsible for the decision!

Randomness Error

Creating meaning out of random events - superstitions

Winner’s Curse

Highest bidder pays too much due to value overestimation, likelihood increases with the number of people in auction

Motivation

The processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence, of effort toward attaining a goal, specifically an organization.

Three key elements of motivation

1) Intensity: how hard a person tries
2) Direction: Channeling effects towards the goal

3) Persistence: How long a person can maintain effort

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

5 needs:
1) Self actualization: the realization of one’s full potential, creativity, and purpose
2) Esteem: high regard, respect, or admiration for someone

3) Social needs/belonging: reflects a deep psychological need for connection, encompassing both receiving and giving love and affection
4) Safety: Knowing to be safe at work
5) Physiological: basic needs for motivation

Alderfer’s ERG

Organizes Human needs into three categories:
1) Existence, 2) Relatedness, 3) Growth

Provides a more flexible alternative to Maslow's hierarchy. It posits that individuals can be motivated by multiple needs simultaneously and that, when higher-level needs are blocked, individuals may regress to lower-level needs, a concept known as frustration-regression

Reinforcement Theory

pioneered by B.F. Skinner, posits that behavior is a function of its consequences, meaning actions followed by positive outcomes are repeated, while those with negative or no consequences are abandoned

Positive Reinforcement

Strengthens or increases the frequency of desirable behavior adding a motivating reward, incentive, or appetitive stimulus immediately following the action

Negative reinforcement

Increases the frequency or strengthens desirable behavior by making avoidance of an unpleasant consequence contingent on its occurence.

Punishment

Decreases the frequency of or eliminates an undesirable behavior by making an unpleasant consequence contingent on its occurence.

Extinction

Decreases the frequency of or eliminates an undesirable behavior by removing or withholding the reinforcement that previously kept it

Herzberg’s 2 factor theory

Explores job satisfaction and dissatisfaction as separate phenomena. Herzeberg identified two sets of factors: Motivators and Hygiene Factors

Motivators

Intrinsic factors that lead to job satisfaction such as achievement, recognition, etc.

Hygiene Factors

Extrinsic factors that can lead to job dissatisfaction if absent but do not increase satisfaction if present.

Theory X

Assumptions that are negative, employees dislike work and will want to avoid it. They have to be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment.

McGregor’s Theory X and Y

1960 model of two contrasting models of workforce motivation and management styles

Theory Y

Assumptions that are positive. Employees view work as being as natural as rest or play.

McClelland’s Needs Theory

Three needs:
1) Affiliation (nAff): The need to form close and friendly relationships.
2) Power (nPow): The desire to influence or control others.
3) Achievement (nAch): The desire to excel and achieve standard.

Self Determination Theory

a framework for understanding human motivation, focusing on the intrinsic drive toward growth and the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness

Bandura’s Self Efficacy Theory

Belief that you can do something

Locke’s Goal Setting Theory

Want difficult but not impossible goals, need to be specific and difficult goals with self generated feedback lead to higher performance.

Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

Effort leads to performance which leads to rewards which leads to personal goals

Adam’s Equity Theory

Employees compare their ratios of outcomes to inputs of relevant others.

Organizational Justice

Overall perception of what is fair in the workplace

Distributive Justice

Fairness of Outcome

Procedural Justice

Fairness of outcome process

Interactional Justice

Fairness of treatment (dignity and respect)

Job Characteristics Model

Hackman and Oldham’s concept that any job can be described through five core job dimensions

Job Characteristics Model 5 core job dimensions

1) Skill Variety: requirements for different tasks in one job
2) Task Identity: completion of a whole piece of work
3) Task significance: the jobn’s impact on others

4) Autonomy: level of discretion in decision making

5) Feedback: amount of direct and clear information on performance

Job Rotation

Shifting of a worker from one task to another

Job Enlargement

The horizontal expansion of jobs

Job Enrichment

The vertical expansion of jobs

Flextime

Employees work during a common core time period each day but have discretion in forming their total workday from a flexible set of hours outside the core

Job Sharing

Two or more individuals split a traditional full time job which can be done by dividing the work hours.

Telecommuting

Employees do their work at home at least two days a week on a computer that is linked to their office

Virtual Office

Employees work out their home on a relatively permanent basis

Participative Management

Form of employee involvement where subordinates share decision making power with their superiors. This can beformal through briefings or informal such as daily consultations. Main goal is to enhance motivation by building trust and commitment.

Variable Pay Programs

A number of organization are moving away from paying solely on credentials or length of service.

Piece Rate Plans

Type of variable pay program where employees are paid a fixed rate per unit produced or task completed, rather than by the hour

Merit Based

type of variable pay program where organizations pay employees who exceed their expectations

Bonuses

Type of variable pay program that is based on quantity, quality, and given intermidden

Modular Plans

Type of benefit plans that is predesigned benefits packages for specific groups of employees

Core Plus Plans

Type of benefit plan that is a core of essential benefits and a menu-line selection of other benefits options

Flexible Spending Plans

Allow employees to use their tax free benefit dollars to purchase benefits and pay service premiums

Formal Group

defined by the organization’s structure with designated work assignments establishing tasks

Informal group

alliances that are NOT formally structured and occur naturally in response to the need for social contact and deeply affect behavior and performance

The Five Stage Model

Stage I Forming: The group forms
Stage II Storming: Tension and potential conflicts
Stage III Norming: The group begin to be supportive and collaborate
Stage IV Performing: The group start to perform well
Stage V Adjourning: End of the team’s journey

Punctuated Equilibrium Model

Temporary groups under deadlines go through transitions between inertia and activity at the halfway point, they experience can increase in productivity.

Sequence of actions:
1) Setting group direction
2) First phase of inertia
3) Halfway Point transition
4) Major changes
5) Second Phase of inertia
6) Accelerated activity

Psychological contract

an unwritten agreement that sets out mutual expectations of management and employees

Roles, Zimbardo’s (Stanford) Prison Experiment

Faked a prison using university student volunteers and randomly assigned to guard and prison roles. Within 6 days, the experiment was halted due to concerns. The guards had dehumanized the prisoners. Prisoners were subservient to the Guards. The students fell into roles as they understood them

Asch Study

The 1951, conducted by Solomon Asch, where participants were asked to match the length of lines on cards. Despite the clear difference in line lengths, many participants conformed to incorrect group answers due to social pressure. This experiment highlights how group dynamics can influence individual judgement.

Conformity

refers to the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms.

Strengths of decision making

It generates more complete info and knowledge.

Offer increased diversity of views and greater creativity
Increased acceptance of decisions

More accurate but not as accurate as the most

Weaknesses of Decision Making

Time consuming, conformity pressures, dominance by few members, and ambiguous responsibility

Groupthink

Occurs when group pressures for conformity deter critical evaluation of alternatives. Leads to poor decision making as dissenting views are suppressed

Groupshift

Known as group polarization, this phenomenon describes how group discussion can lead members to adopt more extreme positions than initially held.

Group Cohesion

Degree to which group members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group.

Group Pressure

The direct or indirect social influence exerted by a group to compel its members to conform its norms, attitudes, or behaviors.

Work group

Get together to share information
Neutral
individual
random and varied

Work teams

collective performance
Positive
Individual and mutual
Complementary

Problem Solving Teams

Same department, meet for a few hours and solve problems

Self managed work teams

Do not have a formal boss and take on the responsibilities of their former supervisors

Cross Functional Teams

Employees from about the same hierarchical level but from different work areas who come together to accomplish a task.

Virtual Teams

teams that use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed member. Limited socializing.

Creative effective teams

Selection: making team skills one of the interpersonal skills in the hiring process
Training: individualistic people can learn
Rewards: rework the reward system to encourage cooperative efforts instead of competitive (individual) ones. Continue to recognize individual contributions while still emphasizing the importance of teamwork.

Team effectiveness model

Context: Adequate resources, leadership and structure, climate of trust, performance evaluation and reward systems

Composition: Abilities of members, personality, allocating ideas, diversity, size of teams, member flexibility, member preferences

Process: Common purpose, specific goals, team efficacy, conflict levels, social loafing