BADM 3103 - Human Capital in Organizations (GWU)

decision support systems

computer software systems designed to help managers solve problems

expert systems

computer systems that incorporate the decision rules used by people who are considered to have expertise in a certain area

high-performance work systems

refers to work approaches used to systematically pursue ever-higher levels of overall organizational and human performance.

HR analytics

the analysis of human resource or talent management data for such purposes as work-force capacity planning, training and development, and performance appraisal.

HR dashboard

a display of a series of HR measures, showing human resource goals and objectives and progress toward meeting them

HRM audit

a formal review of the outcomes of HRM functions, based on identifying key HRM functions and measures of business performance

learning organization

organization characterized by a capability to adapt to changes in environment.

continuous learning

a learning system that requires employees to understand the entire work process and expects them to acquire new skills, apply them on the job, and share what they have learned with other employees.

ability

what a person is capable of doing

cognitive ability

capacity for thinking abstractly

emotional intelligence

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.

evidence-based management

the practice of making decisions and taking actions based on research evidence

modeling

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

organizational behavior

the study of the actions of people at work

personality

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

after action review

systematic assessment of lessons learned and results accomplished

availability bias benchmarking

the notion that we think things happen more frequently because those are the things that are more apparent to us

black or white fallacy

false dichotomy, stating there are only two, mutually exclusive options when there are other possibilities.

bounded rationality

idea that consumers attempt to act rationally within their information-processing constraints

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

equifinality

the same result can come from different causes

escalation of commitment

continuation of a course of action that's not working

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

histogram

a graph of vertical bars representing the frequency distribution of a set of data.

ladder of inference

a process by which an individual uses assumptions or biases formed from past experiences to make a judgment on the intentions of another individual

mental models

level of common understanding among team members with regard to important aspects of the team and its task

overconfidence bias

the tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgments, which proves to be a hindrance in problem solving

representative bias

when decision makers judge the likelihood of an event's occurrence based on its similarity to previous events and their likelihood of occurrence

satisficing

choosing a "good enough" alternative

self-serving bias

the tendency to attribute one's success to internal factors while attributing one's failures to external factors

stakeholder

a person or group of people who are considered to be an important part of an organisation because they have responsibilities within it or receive advantages from it

system

a group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements or parts that function together as a whole to accomplish a goal

Abilene paradox

a paradox in which a group of people collectively decide on a course of action that is counter to the preferences of any of the individuals in the group

analogies

allowing a new problem to be reduced to a previously known problem, where prior knowledge of how to determine the solution can be applied

convergent thinking

a type of critical thinking in which one evaluates existing possible solutions to a problem to choose the best one

divergent thinking

a type of creative thinking in which one generates new solutions to problems

groupthink

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

innocent bystander effect

people in a group feel diffusion of responsibility because others are available to act

norming stage

the third stage in group development, characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness

norms

principles of right action, binding upon the members of a group and serving to guide, control, or regulate proper and acceptable behavior

risky shift

the tendency for groups to make riskier decisions than individuals would

self-limiting behavior

occurs whenever team members choose to limit their involvement in the team's work

social conformity

members strive so hard to maintain harmony and cohesion that they end up avoiding the discomforts of disagreement

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

team

a group of people pooling knowledge, skills, and talents to attain a goal

virtual teams

teams that use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal

adverse impact

is unintentional discrimination in which there is a substantially different rate of selection in hiring, promotion, or other employment decisions that works to the disadvantage of members of a particular race, sex, age, ethnicity, or protected group

assessment center

examines how job candidates handle simulated work situations

behavioral intention

immediate determinant of behavior

behavioral interviews

interviews that use information about what the applicants have done in the past to predict their future behaviors

disparate treatment

intentional discrimination

face validity

establishes how well the assessment appears to measure it purpose

integrity testing

assessing honesty and integrity

involuntary turnover

turnover initiated by an employer (often with employees who would prefer to stay)

job analysis

a tool for determining what is done on a given job and what should be done on that job

performance tests

measures either maximum performance of typical performance on a specific well-defined test (e.g. typing test)

personality assessments

methods that assess a person's personality to probe for unconscious conflicts that he or she may be experiencing

realistic job previews (RJPs)

informing applicants about all aspects of the job, including both its desirable and undesirable facets

situational interviews

an interview procedure where applicants are confronted with specific issues, questions, or problems that are likely to arise on the job

structural interviews

interview process that asks the same job-relevant questions of all applicants, each of whom is rated on established scales

unstructured interview

the interviewer does not have a set of prepared questions and the interviewee does most of the talking

validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

voluntary turnover

turnover initiated by employees (often when the organization would prefer to keep them)

work sample

evaluate the performance of actual or simulated work tasks