COMMERCE 1BA3 MIDTERM

Organizations

Social inventions accomplishing common goals through group effort

Organizational Behaviour

Attitudes and Behaviours of indv'ls and groups in organization. (Attempt to understand, predict, explain and manage how people behave at work)

Ability

What a person is capable of doing

Personality

Relatively stable set of psychological characteristics that influences way an indv'd interacts (thinks, acts, behaves) with his/her env't

Cognitive Ability

Capacity to learn and process cognitive info such as reading, comprehension, mathematical patterns and spatial patterns

Emotional Intelligence

Ability to accurately identify emotions (in self and others) as well as understand and manage those emotions separately

Cultural Intelligence

Represents a person's capability to function effectively in situations characterized by cultural diversity

Perception

Process of interpreting the messages of our senses to provide order and meaning to the env't

Social Identity Theory

People (perceivers) form perceptions of themselves and others (target) based on their characteristics and memberships in social categories

Attribution

Process by which causes or motives are assigned to explain people's behaviours

Dispositional Attributions (Internal)

Perception that outcomes are due to personality/intelligence rather that situation or env't

Situational Attributions (External)

Perception that outcomes are due to situation or env't rather than person

Consistency Cues

Does the person engage in behaviour regularly and consistently?

Consensus Cues

Do most people engage in the behaviour or is it unique to this person?

Distinctiveness Cues

Does the person engage in the behaviour in many situations, or is it distinctive to one situation?

Fundamental Attribution Error

Tendency to overemphasize dispositional explanations for behaviour at expense of situation explanations (Ex. Encounter accountant in a bank, always calculating, very cold. Assume always dispositional. Seldom see people outside occupation)

Actor-Observer Effect

Propensity for actors and observers to view the causes of the actor's behaviour differently

Self-Serving Bias

Tendency to take credit for successful outcomes and to deny responsibility for failures.

Stereotyping

tendency to generalize about people in a social category and ignore variations among them. Generally happens with minorities

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

occurs when our expectations about another person cause that person to act in a way that is consistent with those expectations. (Ex. Believe someone will perform poorly, won't give them that many tasks. Which can lead to poor performance. Or vice versa.)

Halo Effect

one trait forms a general impression. (Ex. Someone is physically attractive/ dresses nice = successful)

Projection

believing other people are similar to you (Ex. If you are honest, you perceive everyone to be just as honest. Therefore you don't take the greatest cautions)

Implicit Personality Theories

Personal theories that people have about which personality characteristics go together. Different personalities that are associated with each other. (Ex. Honest people are also intelligent. Hard-working also high in integrity)

Affective Commitment

Stay because they want to.

Continuance commitment

Stay because they have to. (Costs of leaving are too much, job market too tight etc)

Normative commitment

Stay because they feel they should. (Sense of obligation)

Reliance on Central Traits

Personal characteristics of a target person that are of particular interest to a perceiver. Certain characteristics that are of interest to you. Similar to Halo effect.

Intrinsic Motivation

Stems from feeling of achievement, challenge accomplishment etc. You're motivated to perform because you want to feel good and it is directly linked to job itself

Extrinsic Motivation

Things that come from pay, benefit, praise etc. Things that environment can provide

Group

Two or more people interacting independently to achieve a common goal

Additive Task

Group performance is dependent on the sum of the performance of individual group members. (More people, more efficient output. Works for simplistic tasks. Ex. More people working on brick wall the better)

Disjunctive Task

Group performance is dependent on the performance of the best group member

Conjunctive Task

Group performance is limited by the performance of the poorest group member

Norms

Collective expectations that members of social units have regarding the behaviour of each other

Communication

The process by which information is exchanged between a sender and a receiver

The mum effect

The tendency to avoid communicating unfavourable news to others

Perfect Rationality

Decision strategy that is completely informed, perfectly logical, and oriented toward economic gain.

Bounded Rationality

A decision strategy that relies on limited information and that reflects time constraints and political considerations

Framing

Aspects of the presentation of information about a problem that are assumed by decision makers

Cognitive Biases

Tendencies to acquire and process information in an error-prone way

Anchoring

The inadequate adjustment of subsequent estimates from an initial estimate that serves as an anchor

Satisficing

Establishing an adequate level of acceptability for a solution to a problem and then screening solutions until one that exceeds this level is found

Human Resources Management

Programs, practices, and systems to acquire, develop and retain employees in organizations

Management

The art of getting things accomplished in organizations through others

Evidence-based Management

Translating principles based on the best scientific evidence into organizational practices

Classical Viewpoint

Early prescription on management that advocated high specialization of labour, intensive coordination, and centralized decision making

Scientific Management

Frederick Taylor's system for using research to determine optimum degree of specialization and standardization of work tasks

Bureaucracy

Max Weber's ideal type of organization that included a strict chain of command, detailed rules, high specialization, centralized power and selection/promotion based on technical competence

Human Relations Movement

A critique of classical management and bureaucracy that advocated management styles that were more participative and oriented toward employee needs

Contingency Approach

Approach to management that recognizes there is no one best way to manage and that an appropriate management style depends on the demands of the situation

Workplace Spirituality

Workplace that provides employees with meaning, purpose, sense of community and connection to others

Psychological Capital (PsyCap)

Individual's positive psychological state of development that is characterized by self efficacy, optimism, hope and resilience

Talent Management

Organization's processes for attracting, developing, retaining, and utilizing people with the required skills to meet current and future business needs

Work engagement

Positive work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Organization taking responsibility of the impact of its decisions and actions on its stakeholders

Dispositional Approach

Indv'ls possess stable traits or characteristics that influence their attitudes and behaviours

Situational Approach

Characteristics of organizationsal setting influence people's attitudes and behaviours

Interactionist Approach

Indv'ls attitudes and behaviour are a function of both dispositions and situation

Trait Activation Theory

Traits lead to certain behaviours only when the situation makes the need for the trait salient

Self-monitoring

Extent to which people observe and regulate how they appear and behave in social settings and relationships

Self-esteem

degree to which a person has a positive self-evaluation

Behavioural Plasticity Theory

People with low self-esteem tend to be more susceptible to external and social influences than those who have high self-esteem

Positive Affectivity

Propensity to view the world, including oneself and other people, in a positive light

Negative Affectivity

Propensity to view the world, including oneself and other people, in a negative light

Proactive Behaviour

Taking initiative to improve current circumstances or creating new ones

Proactive Personality

Stable personal disposition that reflects tendency to take personal initiative across a range of activities and situations and to effect positive change in one's env't

General Self-Efficacy

General trait that refers to indv'ls belief in his/her ability to perform successfully in a variety of challenging situations

Core Self-Evaluation

Broad personality concept that consists of more specific traits that reflect the evaluations people hold about themselves and their self-worth

Learning

Relatively permanent change in behaviour potential that occurs due to practice or experience

Operant Learning

Learning by which subject learns to operate on the env't to achieve certain consequences

Reinforcement

Process by which stimuli strengthens behaviours

Positive Reinforcement

Application or addition of stimulus that increases/maintains probability of some behaviour

Negative Reinforcement

Removal of stimulus that in turn increases or maintains the probability of some behaviour

Performance Feedback

providing quantitative/qualitative info on past performance for the purpose of changing or maintaining performance in specific ways

Social Recognition

Informal acknowledgement, attention, praise, approval, or genuine appreciation for work well done from one idv'l/group to another

Extinction

Gradual dissipation of behaviour following the termination of reinforcement

Punishment

Application of aversive stimulus following some behaviour designed to decrease the probability of that behaviour

Social Cognitive Theory

emphasizes role of cognitive processes in learning and in the regulation of people's behaviours

Observant Learning

process of observing and imitating the behaviour of others (Ex. New VP Marketing looking like an "old pro" after observing past meetings)

Self-efficacy Beliefs

Beliefs people have about their ability to successfully perform a specific task

Self-regulation

use of learning principles to regulate one's own behaviour

Organizational Behaviour Modification

Systematic use of learning principles to influence ob

Behaviour Modelling Training

one of the most widely used and effective methods of training, involving five steps based on the observational learning component of social cognitive theory

Primacy Effect

tendency for perceiver to rely on early cues or first impressions

Recency Effect

tendency for perceiver to rely on recent cues or last impressions

Stereotype threat

members of social group feel they might be judged or treated according to a stereotype and that their behaviour and/or performance will confirm stereotype

Perceived Organizational Support

Employees general belief that their organizations value their contribution and cares about their wellbeing

Organizational Support Theory

States that employees who have strong perceptions of organizational support feel an obligation to care about the organization's welfare and to help the org achieve its objectives

Signalling Theory

job applicants interpret their recruitment experiences as cues/signals about unknown characteristics of org and what it will be like to work in the org

Contrast Effects

previously interviewed job applicants affect an interviewers perception of current applicant, leading to exaggeration of differences between applicants

Power Distance

extent to which unequal distribution of power is accepted by society members

Uncertainty Avoidance

extent to which people are uncomfortable with uncertain/ambiguous situations

Discrepancy theory

theory that job satisfaction stems from discrepancy between job outcomes wanted and outcomes that are perceived to be obtained

Equity theory

theory that job satisfaction stems from comparison of inputs one invests in a job and the outcomes one receives in comparison with inputs and outcomes of another

Organizational Citizenship Behaviour

voluntary, informal behaviour that contributed to organizational effectiveness

Autonomous Motivation

When people are self-motivated by intrinsic factors

Controlled motivation

When people are motivated to obtain a desired consequence/extrinsic reward

Process Theories

motivation theories that specify the details of how motivation occurs

expectancy theory

process theory that states that motivation is determined by outcomes that people expect to occur as a result of their actions on the job

instrumentality

probability that particular first-level outcome will be followed by second-level outcome