Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Comprehensive Board Exam Reviewer

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering classical and modern organizational theories, structural models, motivation principles, leadership styles, HR processes, performance management, and team dynamics based on lecture notes.

Organization

Collectivities of parts that cannot accomplish their goals effectively if they operated separately; a tool people use to coordinate their actions to obtain something they desire or value to achieve a goal.

Organizational Theory

A set of propositions that explains or predicts how groups and individuals behave in varying organizational structures and circumstances.

Functional Principle

The concept behind division of labor stipulating that organizations should be divided into units that perform similar functions into areas of specialization.

Scalar Principle

A classical organization principle dealing with vertical growth and referring to the chain of command that grows with levels added to the organization.

Line Functions

Organizational functions that have primary responsibilities for meeting the major goals of the organization, such as the production department.

Staff Function

Organizational activities that support the line's activities but are regarded as subsidiary in overall importance to line functions.

Span-of-Control Principle

A structural principle referring to the number of subordinates a manager is responsible for supervising; large spans produce flat organizations, while small spans produce tall organizations.

Taylorism

Scientific management approach developed by Frederick Taylor based on the premise that scientific principles and data collection can determine the one best way to get a job done efficiently.

Bureaucracy

Max Weber's ideal form of organization characterized by specialization of labor, a well-defined authority hierarchy, formal rules and procedures, impersonality, and merit-based employment decisions.

Progressive Discipline

A method of discipline that uses graduated steps for dealing with problems related to an employee's conduct or performance that do not meet clearly defined standards and policies.

Operating Core

In Harry Mintzberg's structural theory, the part of an organization responsible for conducting basic work duties that transform raw goods into sellable products.

Technostructure

In Mintzberg's structural theory, specialists possessing specific technical expertise that facilitates the overall operation of the organization, such as HR, IT, accounting, and legal departments.

Hawthorne Experiment

Studies conducted by Elton Mayo at Western Electric Company in Chicago demonstrating that worker productivity increased due to company interest in worker well-being and social factors rather than illumination levels alone.

Theory X and Theory Y

Douglas McGregor's humanistic theory proposing that managerial assumptions shape employee behavior: Theory X views employees as lazy, selfish, and needing control; Theory Y views employees as having inherent goodness, potential, and readiness to develop.

Consistency Theory

A motivation theory positing that employees who feel good about themselves are motivated to perform better to remain consistent with their self-esteem, whereas low self-esteem individuals underestimate their ability.

Galatea Effect

The psychological phenomenon concerning the relationship between an individual's own self-expectations and their resulting performance.

Pygmalion Effect

Also known as the Rosenthal Effect, it occurs when an employee's self-esteem and performance increase because a manager communicates confidence in them.

Golem Effect

A phenomenon occurring when negative expectations of an individual by a supervisor cause a decrease in that individual's actual performance.

Job Characteristics Model

Hackman and Oldham's framework positing that job motivation depends on five core characteristics: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and job-based feedback.

Job Enrichment

Redesigning jobs to give workers greater responsibility in planning, execution, and evaluation of their work, thereby raising their level of responsibility and ownership.

Maslow's Need Hierarchy

A motivational theory proposing five hierarchical categories of needs (Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, Esteem, and Self-Actualization), where the lowest unsatisfied need serves as the primary motivator.

ERG Theory

Clayton Alderfer's motivation theory condensing human drives into Existence, Relatedness, and Growth, stating that individuals can be motivated by multiple need levels simultaneously and move fluidly between them.

Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory

A motivation theory dividing job factors into Motivators (intrinsic factors like responsibility and achievement that produce satisfaction) and Hygiene factors (extrinsic context factors like pay and working conditions that prevent dissatisfaction).

Premack Principle

A reinforcement principle stating that reinforcement is relative and that a supervisor can reinforce an employee with a preferred activity that on the surface might not seem to be a reinforcer.

Goal Setting Theory

Edwin Locke's motivation theory emphasizing that specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound, and challenging goals accepted by workers result in higher performance.

Equity Theory

J. Stacey Adams' theory stating that motivation and job satisfaction depend on the perceived fairness of an employee's output-to-input ratio compared to the ratios of others.

VIE Theory (Expectancy Theory)

Victor Vroom's theory stating motivation is determined by Valence (desirability of outcome), Instrumentality (belief that performance leads to the outcome), and Expectancy (belief that effort leads to performance).

MARS Model

A diagnostic model of individual behavior and performance stating that performance is driven by Motivation, Ability, Role Perceptions, and Situational Factors.

Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX)

Also called Vertical Dyad Linkage Theory, it concentrates on the distinct relational quality leaders establish with subordinates, creating an in-group (high-trust relationship) and an out-group (low-quality relationship).

Self-Determination Theory

Ryan and Deci's theory stating human growth and motivation depend on fulfilling three innate psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and connection/relatedness.

Equifinality

An open systems principle stating that an open system can reach the same final state or outcome through different paths and varying initial conditions.

Negative Entropy

The process by which an open system imports energy from its external environment to counteract disorganization, decay, and organizational death.

Joint Optimization

In the socio-technical approach, the principle that the social system and the technological system must be designed to fit one another as effectively as possible.

Mechanistic Organization

An organizational design suited for stable environments, characterized by narrow spans of control, high centralization, formalized rules, and vertical communication.

Organic Organization

An organizational structure suited for dynamic and unstable environments, characterized by wide spans of control, decentralized decision-making, and fluid, low-formalization work processes.

Lewin's 3 Steps of Change Process

A planned change framework consisting of Unfreezing (breaking down status quo forces), Moving (implementing actual change), and Refreezing (stabilizing changes into a new equilibrium).

Vroom-Yetton Decision Making Model

A normative decision-making framework identifying five leadership decision processes: Autocratic (A1, A2), Consultative (C1, C2), and Collaborative (G2).

Organizational Climate

The shared meaning that organizational members attach to policies, practices, and procedures they experience, and the behaviors they see rewarded, supported, and expected.

Organizational Culture

The shared languages, values, attitudes, beliefs, and customs that collectively give an organization its unique pattern and institutional identity.

Hierarchical Organizational Structure

A traditional, pyramidal organization structure characterized by clear upward and downward lines of command, centralized authority, and defined reporting relationships.

Matrix Organization

A structural design that overlays product/project forms onto functional departments simultaneously, requiring employees to report to two managers at once.

Reengineering

The fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical measures of performance such as cost, quality, service, and speed.

Appreciative Inquiry

A positive organizational development intervention focusing on strengths and successes through four phases: Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny.

Transfer of Training

The extent to which an employee generalizes and maintains the knowledge, skills, and behaviors acquired in training to their actual workplace setting.

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)

A performance appraisal method that combines numerical rating scales with specific illustrative critical incidents representing varying levels of job performance.

Paired Comparison Method

A performance evaluation technique where every employee is compared with every other employee on a trait, calculated using the formula $\frac{n(n-1)}{2}$.

Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Framework

Benjamin Schneider's model positing that individuals are attracted to, selected by, and retained in organizations with members who share similar personalities and values, producing a homogeneous culture.

Brooks' Law

The principle stating that adding more people to an already ongoing or late project increases process loss and delays project completion even further.

Social Loafing

The tendency of individuals to exert less effort when working collectively on a group task than when working alone, driven by phenomena like the free-rider theory and sucker effect.

Groupthink

A decision-making flaw wherein highly cohesive, like-minded group members prioritize consensus and uniformity, failing to evaluate alternative courses of action critically.

Mindguard

A member in a cohesive group who actively protects the group from outside contradictory information that conflicts with the group's shared views.

Tuckman's Stages of Team Development

A five-phase developmental sequence that teams undergo: Forming (role discovery), Storming (conflict and disagreement), Norming (cohesion and goal alignment), Performing (collaboration and task execution), and Adjourning (disbandment).