COMM 1800 Exam III 2025

Legitimate, Coercive, Reward

Formal Power Types

Expert, Referent, Information, Connection

Personal Power Types

based on company position; compliance due to other’s authority to control resources; limit: scope of authority

Legitimate Power

based on threats or punishment; compliance comes from fear of negative results; negatively related to employee welfare

Coercive Power

based on promise of granting rewards; person complies due to positive results; limit; desirability of reward

Reward Power

based on being perceived as having expertise, special skill or knowledge; limit: others’ perception of one

Expert Power

based on identifying with or liking the person

Referent Power

based on access to valuable info

Information Power

Based on connections to powerful people

Connection Power

Commitment, Compliance, Resistance

Outcomes to Power

internally agrees with decision and makes a great effort to carry it out because they believe it’s right; present in Expert/Referent power

Commitment (+)

willing to comply only because it’s in their best interest; present in legitimate/reward power

Compliance (±)

Opposed to proposal, does not comply, request discarded, influence unsuccessful; present in coercive power

Resistance (-)

Trait, Behavior, Contingency, Contemporary

Leadership Theories

asks what the personality characteristics and psychological attributes of leaders are

Trait Theories

Propose that there are specific behaviors that differentiate leaders from non-leaders; key decision-making styles are authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire

Behavioral Theories

Leader’s effectiveness depends on how leader’s style fits context; using path-goal theory

Contingency Theories

Directive, Supportive, Participative, Achievement-Oriented

Path-goal theory leadership types

leader gives instructions/expectations/performance standards; use when employees have low abilities/role ambiguity

Directive Leadership

friendly/approachable leader, attends to welfare of employees; use when tasks are boring/repetitive/stressful

Support Leadership

invites employees to give ideas, share opinions and integrates their suggestions; use when employees have high abilities and decision is relevant

Participative Leadership

challenges employees to perform at the highest possible level; use when employees have high abilities and motivation

Achievement-Oriented Leadership

Focus on growth and well-being of others; Transactional and Transformational

Contemporary Theories

classic management, leader implements rewards and punishments to motivate employees

Transactional

motivating followers to exceed expectation through a shared vision and personal development

Transformational

Factors that enhance leadership vs diminish its impact

Substitutes vs Neutralizers

occur often so rules are generally already in place (ensure tasks are performed smoothly)

Programmed Decisions

occur infrequently, so rules cannot be used to help guide decisions. Managers must rely on their experience and intuition

Nonprogrammed decisions

Certain, Risky, Uncertain

Decisions-making environments

outcomes for all decision options are known

Certain environment

decision outcomes are not known, but probabilities can be assigned to them.

Risky environment

outcomes for decision options are unknown and cannot be predicted

Uncertain environment

Top: NP, Risky, Uncertain

Middle: NP into P, Risky into less risky

Low: P and Certain

Responsibility for decision making

limited capacity to assimilate and understand all info necessary to optimize due to imperfect info, time constraint, etc.

Bounded rationality

searching for satisfactory solutions rather than optimal ones

Satisfice

carried out to acquire/develop power to influence outcomes to decisions

Organizational Politics

environment may involve new and interlinked situations, while RDM assumes that conditions are stable

Changing environment

performance difficulties that stem from the problems of motivating coordinating larger groups; increase with group size

Process losses

social loafing, Group cohesiveness, psychological safety, social norms, conformity, groupthink, Shared information bias

factors affecting group dynamics

individual reduces their own effort when working in group in comparison to working alone

Social loafing

Set of assumptions/expectation held by members concerning what behavior is appropriate

Social Norms

shared belief that members are safe for taking risks (mistakes, questions, ideas); does not mean ideas won’t be challenged

Psychological Safety

strength of bonds linking members of a group; can lead to increased satisfaction but also groupthink/polarization

Group cohesiveness

opinions of group members are altered to align with what they believe is consensus

Groupthink

tendency of groups to spend more time discussing info all members know rather than examining what few members know

Shared information bias

desire to perform task is derived from gaining reward or avoiding punishment (tangible, visible, contingent on performance); better for short-term engagement

Extrinsic Motivation

Desire to perform task derived from personal satisfaction; intangible, not visible, linked to interesting work or tasks; better for long-term engagement

Intrinsic Motivation

external rewards diminish intrinsic drive to perform an activity, making it seem less interesting or fun

Crowding out intrinsic motivation

Reinforcement, Expectancy, Equity

Extrinsic Motivation Theories

behaviors are shaped by their consequences, so individual behavior can be changed via reinforcement (reward positive, punish negative)

Reinforcement Theory

suggests people act based on expectations of the outcomes of their actions (effort → performance → outcome); manager defines performance standards, guarantees standard will give right reward, and gives it

Expectancy Theory

occurs when effort → performance or performance → outcome links are disrupted, resulting in less motivation

Expectancy Theory violations

how one’s circumstances compare to those with similar ones; Ratio of outputs and inputs in a job, compare it to referent

Equity Theory

Change inputs (over/under-reward) or change outputs (over/under-reward) or exit

Addressing Inequity

Recruitment, Total Rewards, Alignment, Employee Relations and Governance

HR Processes

Related to job analysis/screening; includes Job analysis, Job description, Job specification, Job evaluation

Recruitment Processes

process of collecting info about key work-related aspects of a job (foundation of HR processes)

Job analysis

duties, responsbilities, working conditions, etc.

Job description

qualifications and competencies for the job

Job specification

Determining relative worth of jobs within organization

Job evaluation

related to compensation and incentives; includes Salary Grading and Salary Placement

Total Rewards Processes

Groups jobs with similar value into pay grades; salary ranges for each grade

Salary Grading

Determining individual employee pay within the established salary structure

Salary Placement

related to onboarding, training and development performance management

Alignment Processes

Related to conflict resolution, legal compliance, enforcing policies

Employee Relations and Governance Processes

Supports group goals and improves performance; improves decision quality and creativity

Functional Conflict

Hinders group performance; leads to discontentment and infighting

Dysfunctional Conflict

Task, Process, Relationship

Types of Conflict

Conflicts over content or goals of the work; low-to-moderate levels are functional

Task Conflict

Conflict over how work gets done; low-level of this type is functional

Process Conflict

conflict based on interpersonal factors; almost always dysfunctional

Relationship Conflict

Competing, Collaborating, Avoiding, Accommodating, Compromising

Conflict management styles

Forcing your view at the expense of others; use when quick action is vital and with unpopular but necessary actions

Competing

Retreating from the situation, downplaying disagreement; use when issue is trivial or when potential damage outweighs benefits

Avoiding

Letting the others wishes rule, “smoothing” over differences; use when issue is more important to other party or preserving relationship

Accommodating

Partial satisfaction of everyone’s concerns, acceptable rather than optimal; use when temporary situation is needed to complex issues under time pressure

Compromising

Addressing everyone’s concerns optimally, win/win situation; use when parties are committed and adequate time is available

Collaborating

Shared beliefs,values, and practices by country; born into it and slow changing

National Culture

Shared beliefs, values, and practices by organization; socialized into it and faster changing

Organizational Culture

Social glue, distinct from other orgs, sense of identity, sensemaking and control

Purposes of Org Culture

Artifacts, Rituals, Ceremonies, Language, Physical Space

Elements of Culture

physical manifestation of organizational culture

Artifacts

programmed routines of daily organizational life

Rituals

Planned activities conducted specifically for the benefit of an audience

Ceremonies

style of communication, conveys meaning and captures unique identity of org

Language

buildings, office space, decor that convey emphasis on values

Physical Space

non-visible aspects of organizational culture

Values and Assumptions

Explicitly stated values vs values as they are performed in the organization

Espoused vs Enacted Values

align artifacts/symbols, bring rewards in line with culture, actions of founder and leaders, selection and socialization of employees

Strengthening Culture Methods

Social Orientation, Power Distance Index, Goal Orientation, Uncertainty Avoidance, Monochronic vs. Polychronic, High vs Low context communication

Cross-Cultural Dimensions

Individualism (loose-knit society, low interdependence) vs. Collectivism (tightly knit society, high interdependece)

Social Orientation

Low (participative leadership, democratic decision-making, decentralized authority) vs. high power distance (directive leadership, authoritarian decision-making, centralized authority)

Power Distance Index

Masculine (material things, success, money) vs Feminine values (quality of life, caring for others, cooperation)

Goal orientation

High (more rules, seek security) vs Low uncertainty avoidance (less rules, more innovation)

Uncertainty Avoidance

rigid time, segmented in precise units vs fluid time and change in schedules easy

Monochronic vs Polychronic

Explicit communication, no room for interpretation vs implicit communication, words alone not enough to grasp meaning

High vs. Low Context Communication

Corporate, Business, Functional

Levels of Strategy

How we plan to achieve mission and objectives

Corporate Strategy

How we plan to compete in specific markets

Business Strategy

How we plan to execute and support the business (people, processes, people)

Functional Strategy