OB CH1-4 study guide

OB

Consequentialism

An ethical approach that determines whether something is right or wrong based on its consequences.

Contingency thinking

Seeks ways to meet the needs of different management situations.

Business ethics

Behavior that is consistent with the principles, norms, and standards of business practice that have been agreed upon by society.

Critical thinking

A systematic and comprehensive process of making objective, unbiased assessments of facts when forming a judgment.

Deontology

An ethical theory stating that the rightness or wrongness of actions depends on whether they fulfill one’s duty.

Dissonance

The tension we feel when something does not match our expectations.

Ethical dilemma

A situation that requires a person to violate or compromise ethical standards.

Ethical fit

The alignment of personal ethics and values with an organization and industry.

Moral theory

Logical reasoning approaches that determine whether a decision is ethically right, ethically wrong, or permissible.

Rationalization

Denying or hiding true motivations or reasons for one’s actions.

Morality

Broad expectations for societal behavior regarding what is right and wrong.

Hedonism

The ethical theory idea that the pursuit of pleasure is the highest good and proper aim of human life.

Ethics

Standards of behavior that help us decide how we ought to act in a range of situations.

Ethical line

The line you won’t cross if asked or commanded to do something unethical.

Evidence-based management

Making managerial decisions based on facts rather than on feelings.

Stakeholder analysis

Identifying who is impacted by a decision.

The Categorical Imperative

States that one should act according to the maxim that you would wish all other rational people to follow, as if it were a universal law.

The Virtue Approach

Focuses on the moral character of the person carrying out an action.

Utilitarianism

The focus on the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Virtues

Traits or qualities deemed to be morally good.

Adaptive cultures

Help support rapid adaptation, innovation, and organizational resilience.

Burnout

A state of emotional, mental, and oftentimes physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged, sustained, or repeated stress.

Agile

A set of principles that help organizations master continuous change.

Centralization

The degree to which authority to make decisions is restricted to the highest levels of management.

Adaptability

The ability to adjust to new conditions.

Circle structure

Places top leaders in the center with vision spreading outward.

Convergent thinking

Identifying a single or most appropriate solution to a problem.

Core values

The taken-for-granted truths that collections of corporate members share as a result of their joint experience.

Commercialization

Bringing new products and services to market.

Countercultures

Groups whose patterns of values and philosophies reject those of the larger organization or social system.

Collective intelligence

Intelligence that emerges when a group of people work together in a collaborative way.

Creativity

The generation of ideas that are novel and useful.

Decentralization

The degree to which the authority to make decisions is shared throughout the organization’s hierarchy.

Departmentalization

A division of labor that establishes specific work units or groups within an organization.

Cultural fit

The alignment between an individual’s core beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors with those of the organization.

Cultural norms

Socially created standards that emerge from an organization’s values.

Development

Taking ideas and converting them into scalable products and services.

Disruptive innovation

Changes the way all companies in an industry operate.

Design thinking

A process for coming up with creative solutions to design challenges.

Discovery

Occurs when ideas are generated and vetted by potential users.

Divergent thinking

Coming up with a lot of ideas to a specific challenge.

Enacted values

The values and norms that are practiced.

Divisional departmentalization

Grouping individuals by products, territories, services, clients, or legal entities.

Espoused values

The explicitly stated values and norms that are preferred by an organization.

Flat structure

Has fewer layers between the top executives and the rest of the employees.

Ethical cultures

Integrate ethics into every aspect of the organization.

Functional departmentalization

Grouping individuals by skills, knowledge, and action.

Holacracy

A circle structure that embraces decentralized organizing.

Ideation

The creative process of generating and testing new ideas.

Job descriptions

Listings of duties and requirements associated with a job.

Incremental innovation

Minor changes to products or services that help a firm stay competitive in the short term.

Mechanistic design

Characterized by standardization, formalization, centralized leadership, and rules.

Matrix structure

Uses both the functional and divisional forms simultaneously.

Management-by-objectives (MBO)

A strategic management model that defines objectives and holds employees accountable for achieving them.

Line positions

A line position has authority and responsibility for achieving the major goals of the organization.

Openness to experience

Receptivity to new ideas and experiences.

Ally

A person of one social identity group who stands up in support of members in another group.

Attribution

The assignment of meaning to a behavior or an event.

Attribution bias

The tendency to explain a person's behavior due to their character rather than the situation.

Authenticity

A sense that one’s actions are aligned with true values and beliefs.

Bystander

Someone who witnesses or observes a harmful or dangerous situation for another.

Automatic processing

Screening that takes place without conscious awareness.

Authority bias

The tendency to consider the opinions of an authority figure to be more accurate than the opinions of others.

Attribution cues

Information that can help one interpret the meaning or intent behind another's behavior.

Ego

The idea or opinion one has of oneself, especially as it relates to self-worth.

Controlled processing

Means that we consciously decide what information to pay attention to and what to ignore.

Empathy

The ability to understand and share the feelings of another person.

Discrimination

The unjust or prejudicial treatment of people in a different group or social category.

Contrast Effects

Occurs when someone or something seems extraordinary because of how it is contrasted with other similar things.

Cognitive categorization

A process in which objects and ideas are recognized, understood, compared to and differentiated from one another.

Halo Effect

Occurs when one attribute of a person or situation is used to develop an overall positive impression of that individual or situation.

Horns Effect

Occurs when a negative attribution or trait is used to develop an overall negative impression of a person or situation.

External attribution

Assigning the cause of the behavior to an event or factor outside of the person's control.

Group attribution Bias

The tendency to attribute the actions of others to a group identity.

Frame of reference

The combination of traits, characteristics, and experiences that influence how individuals perceive and respond to a stimulus or event.

Identity

The ways in which individuals describe themselves or the ways in which people are categorized by society.

Illusory Superiority

Involves incorrectly assigning oneself superior characteristics over others.

Identity threat

When a group and its members are made to feel shame or guilt for objectionable actions by members of the group.

Implicit bias

Negative evaluations or assumptions of another person or group based on their personal characteristics that are outside of conscious awareness.

Inclusion

Fostering a sense of belonging for marginalized groups.

Perception

The way we gather, organize, and interpret information around us.

Microaggressions

Subtle but offensive comments or actions directed at a member of a marginalized group.

Personal identity

The set of traits and individual differences that set people apart from others.

Interpretation

The process of attributing meaning to information.

Internal attribution

Assigning the cause of the behavior to the person rather than the situation.

Perspective taking

The ability to understand how a situation appears to another person.

Positive in-group bias

The inclination to accentuate favorable characteristics of the social group to which one identifies.

Role conformity

The opportunity to enact behaviors that match the norms of a particular social situation.

Projection

The unconscious assignment of one’s personal attributes to other individuals.

Role conflict

Occurs when someone is unable to respond to role expectations that conflict with one another.

Prejudice

An assumption or opinion about someone based on their membership in a specific group.

Retrieval

Sorting through categories to match them to information from the environment.

Schemas

Cognitive frameworks that organize knowledge about people, objects, or events.

Role identities

Characterize the self as an occupant or participant in a particular function or relationship.

Selection

Allowing only a portion of the information available to you to enter into cognitive processing.

Role strain

The stress that people experience when they are unable to meet the demands of multiple, conflicting, or incompatible social roles.

Social bias

Flawed judgment that affects how people perceive themselves and others.

Similar-to-Me Effect

Occurs when a positive attribution is developed with another person who has similar characteristics.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

The tendency to make something that we think will happen come true.

Self-categorization

The process by which one defines the self in relation to group affiliations and social categories.