Fundamentals of Management Exam 3 - Module 7+8 (Imported)

Contingency theories of leadership (Fiedler)

Leader effectiveness is determined both by characteristics of leaders and by the level of situational control
-Relationship oriented and task oriented
-3 facors: leader member relations, task structure, position power

Task structure

the degree to which the requirements of a subordinate's tasks are clearly specified

Position power

the degree to which leaders are able to hire, fire, reward, and punish workers

Leader-member relations

the degree of confidence, trust, and respect subordinates have in their leader

Least preferred co-employee scale

A questionnaire that measures leader style by scoring leaders' responses to questions about the co-employee with whom they have the most difficulty working

Relationship oriented leader

Leaders that value interpersonal relationships
-Wants to be liked by and to get along well with subordinates
-Getting job done is second priority

Task Oriented Leader

Leaders that value efficient completion of tasks
-Wants high performance and accomplishment of all tasks
-Getting job done is first priority

Consideration

Behavior indicating that a leader trusts, respects, and values good relationships with their leaders
-Employee-centered behavior

Initiating structure

Behavior that ensures work gets done, and that subordinates perform their jobs acceptably
-Job-oriented behavior

Leader-member exchange theory

Leaders form different relations with various subordinates and these relationships influence subordinates' performance and satisfaction

Leaders

A person who influences other people toward the direction of a goal

Leadership

The process whereby one individual influences other group member toward the attainment of defined goals
-Requires non-coercive influence (respect, like, or admiration)

Transactional leadership

"If you do this, I'll give you this"
-Contingent reward
-Management by exception (active and passive)

Transformational leadership

"Trying to really motivate and inspire people to do the job"
-Idealized influence
-Inspirational motivation
-Intellectual stimulation
-Individualized consideration

Vroom and Yetton model (participative leadership)

Guides leaders in determining the extent to which subordinates should participate in decision-making
-balancing authority with empowerment
-Maximize perceptions of justice
-Maximize acceptance of change

Autocracy vs delegation

Problems with trait theories of leadership

Traits do a better job of predicting the emergence of leaders than they do at distinguishing between effective and ineffective leaders

Communication

The transfer and understanding of meaning

Channel richness

The amount of information that can be transmitted during a communication episode

Decoding

Transforming a sender's message back into the ideas
-What you understand when you hear the message

Encoding

Transforming an idea into symbols or language so that it can be transmitted

Grapevine

an informal channel of communication, separate from management's formal, official communication channels

Information distortion

The change in the meaning a message undergoes when travelling between people (accidental or on purpose)

Information overload

A condition in which information inflow exceeds and individual's processing capacity
-Receiving too much information at once

Communication channel

The pathways over which messages are transmitted
ex: over the phone, mail, email, etc

Noise

Factors capable of distorting the clarity of messages at any point during the communication process
ex: multi-tasking, distractions, daydreaming

Feedback

Knowledge about the impact of messages on receivers

Nonverbal communication

communication using body movements, gestures, and facial expressions rather than speech

Receiver

The recipient of a message

Rumor

unfounded information spread among people

Sender

the originator of the message in the communication process

Verbal communication

expressing ideas to others by using spoken words

Formal channels

communication channels established by an organization to transmit messages related to the professional activities of members

Informal channels

communication channels that are created spontaneously and that emerge as responses to individual choices

High context cultures

Cultures that rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle cues in communication
ex: Japan, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, India

Low context cultures

Cultures that rely heavily on verbal cues in communication - straightforward
ex: USA, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Poland

Challenges to effective cross cultural communication

Linguistic styles vary across cultures:
-Tone, volume, speed, use of pauses, (in)directness, choice of words, questions, jokes, willingness to take credit for ideas, nonverbals

How to effectively communicate across cultures

Intercultural communication should be based on sensitivity and pursuit of common goals
-From an ad hoc "third culture"

Autocratic decision making style

The leader makes the decision without input from subordinates

Consultive decision making style

subordinates have some input but the leader makes the decision

Group decision making style

the group makes the decision, and the leader is just another group member

Delegated decision making style

the leader gives exclusive responsibility to subordinates

Choose to delegate when...

-Decision significance is high
-Importance of commitment is high
-Leader expertise is low
-Goal alignment is high
-Likelihood of disagreement is high
-Group expertise is high
-Team Competence is high

Organizational Justice

An overall perception of what is fair in the workplace, composed of distributive, procedural, informational, and interpersonal justice

Procedural Justice

The perceived fairness of the process used to determine the distribution of rewards

Informational Justice

The degree to which employees are provided truthful explanations for decisions

Interpersonal Justice

The degree to which employees are treated with dignity and respect

Equity Theory

A theory stating that individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others and then respond to eliminate any inequities

Distributive Justice

Perceived fairness of the amount and allocation of rewards among individuals

Overpayment Inequity

The inequity that exists when a person perceives that his or her own outcome-input ratio is greater than the ratio of a referent
-You are getting overpaid and you don't deserve it

Underpayment Inequity

The inequity that exists when a person perceives that his or her own outcome-input ratio is less than the ratio of a referent
-You are getting underpaid and you don't deserve it

Expectancy Theory

A theory that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to an individual

Instrumentality

the perceived relationship between performance and rewards
-"Will I really get the reward if I achieve this goal?"

Valence

the attractiveness or desirability of a reward or outcome
- "Do I value this reward?"

Expectancy

the perceived relationship between effort and performance

Extrinsically motivated work behavior

Behavior performed to acquire rewards or avoid punishment

-motivation is coming from outside of the individual

Intrinsically Motivated work behavior

Behavior performed for personal satisfaction

-motivation is coming from within the individual

Work Motivation

Psychological forces that determine the direction of a person's behavior in an organization, a person's level of effort, and a person's level of persistence.

Negative Reinforcement

Trying to increase good behavior by "pushing" the individual until they do the good behavior. The reward for this good behavior is that they are no longer being pushed
ex: micromanaging, nagging, threatening; leads to learned helplessness/giving up

Operant conditioning - Reinforcement

A method of learning that involves rewards and punishments to reward good behavior and discourage bad behavior

Using reinforcement well:
-emphasize positive reinforcement
-tell employees explicitly what's rewarded
-specify what behavior will entail a reward
-make consequences equivalent to behavior
-be consistent
-Do not reward all people equally, reward relative to effort

Positive Reinforcement

Trying to increase good behavior by offering rewards for good behavior
ex: recognition, praise, monetary rewards

Punishment

Making bad behavior less likely to reoccur by issuing penalties

Using punishment effectively:
-Catch the negative behavior early
-Punishment should follow negative behavior immediately
-Punishment should focus on negative behavior, not on the individual
-Provide specific information about the right way of doing things and how this positive behavior will be rewarded
-Praise in public, punish in private

Self-efficacy

An individual's belief of being capable of performing a task

Social cognitive theory

The belief that an individual has control over and is able to execute a behavior
-One's beliefs that one has the resources available to accomplish tasks

How to increase self-efficacy

-Past performance
-Vicarious modeling (if others have been successful)
-Verbal persuasion (encouragement)
-Arousal (physical manifestations of anxiety)

Vicarious learning

How individuals learn from the experiences of others

Need for achievement

The need to excel or achieve to a set of standards

Need for affiliation

The need to establish friendly and close interpersonal relationships

Need for power

The need to make others behave in a way in which they would not have behaved otherwise

Self-determination theory

A theory of motivation at work concerning autonomy, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and the satisfaction of psychological work needs

Goal setting theory

A theory that intentions to work toward a goal are considered a major source of work motivation and lead to higher performance

What characteristics of goals lead to more success?

Goals lead to more success when they are specific, measurable, reasonably achievable (more difficult tasks generate higher task performance), and time-bound

SMART goals

Specific
Measureable
Achievable
Reasonable
Timetable

Counterproductive Work Behavior

actions that actively damage the organization, including stealing, behaving aggressively toward coworkers, or being late or absent

Job Engagement

The investment of an employee's physical, cognitive, and emotional energies into job performance

Management by Objectives (MBO)

A program that encompasses specific goals, participatively set, for an explicit time period, with feedback on goal progress

Job Crafting (Job design)

Changing the characteristics of a job in order to get more favorable personal and work outcomes

Job Characteristics Model

A model proposing that any job can be described in terms of five core job dimensions: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback

Autonomy

The degree to which a job provides substantial freedom and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out

Skill Variety

The degree to which a job requires a variety of activities using different skills or talents

Task Significance

The degree to which a job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other people

Task Identity

The extent to which a job involves performing a whole piece of work from its beginning to its end

Feedback

The degree to which carrying out the work activities required by a job results in the individual obtaining direct and clear information about the effectiveness of their performance

Experienced meaningfulness of work

the degree to which employees feel their jobs are important, worthwhile, and meaningful

Experienced responsibility for work outcomes

The extent to which employees feel personally responsible or accountable for their job performance

Knowledge of results

A psychological state indicating the extent to which employees are aware of how well or how poorly they are doing.

Job Design / Job Redesign

The way the elements in a job are organized

Relational job design

Constructing jobs so employees see the positive difference they can make in the lives of others directly through their work

Job enlargement

Horizontal job loading - increasing the number of tasks an employee performs, while keeping all the tasks at the same level of difficulty and responsibility

Job enrichment

Vertical job loading - Providing opportunities for employee growth by giving employees more responsibility and control, increasing autonomy

Job rotation

The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another

Motivating potential score (MPS)

a predictive index that suggests the motivating potential in a job

Flextime

Flexible work hours

Job Sharing

An arrangement that allows two or more individuals to split a traditional full-time job

Telecommuting

Working from home, or anywhere else the employee chooses that is outside of the physical workplace

Participative Management

a process in which subordinates share a significant degree of decision-making power with their immediate superiors

Variable Pay Program

A pay plan that bases a portion or all of an employee's pay on some individual and/or organizational measure of performance

Merit based pay

A pay plan based on performance appraisal ratings

Profit Sharing Plan

An organization-wide program that distributes compensation based on some established formula designed around a company's profitability

Employee Recognition Program

A plan to encourage specific employee behaviors by formally appreciating specific employee contributions