Busmhr Exam 1

What is organizational behavior?

An academic discipline focused on understanding and managing people at work

How does organization behavior attempt to overcome the pitfalls of relying on common sense?

By relying on a systematic science based approach

What is a systematic science based approach based on?

Contingency perspective

What is a contingency perspective?

There's no one best way to manage people, teams, or organizations. The best or most effective course of action depends on the situation

What is the goal of organizational behavior?

To be able to understand, explain, predict, and control/shape human behavior. Can see and measure it

What are the aspects of organizational behavior?

-The study of the people and attitudes that people exhibit in organizations -multiple levels: individual, group/team, organization -varying "depth" -- behaviors, attitudes, values -all different kind of organizations

What is the goal of human resource management?

To understand how to effectively maximize the value of the employee

What are the aspects of human resource management?

The study of the policies, practices, and systems that influence employees' behavior, attitudes, and performance

What is the economist perspective for HR?

Employees = Expense

What is the HRM perspective for HR?

Employees = Value

What is phsychology?

Seeks to measure, explain, and change behavior

What is social psychology?

Focuses on the influence of people on one another

What is sociology

Studies people in groups, in relation to their fellow human beings

What is anthropology?

Studies societies to learn about human beings and their activities

What is political science?

Studies behavior of individuals and groups within a political environment

What is an example of organizational behavior?

Why do people sit where

What is the philosophy for OBHR?

The power of the people (creating positive work culture and environment to make a company successful)

What are the three sub-aspects of organizational behavior?

Behaviors, attitudes, and values

Who gets the most training at Walt Disney World?

Janitors

What company says that the people are the inventory of their company?

Microsoft --Bill Gates

What is group behavior changes?

"a person is smart, people are dumb"

What are the three levels in organizational behavior at work?

Individual, group/team, organization

What relates to human interactions and include both interpersonal skills and personal attributes and are among the most values skill by employers? (the #1 trait employers are looking for)

Soft skills

What are examples of personal attributes?

Attitude, personality, leadership, teamwork

What are examples of interpersonal skills?

Active listening, positive attitudes, and effective communication

What are the top qualities employers look for in employees?

Problem solving skills, teamwork, written communication, leadership, and strong work ethic

What criteria determine which applicant is hired?

Technical skills- nuts and bolts of doing a job and the ability to get the job done Based on job or function specific knowledge

What criteria determines which employees is promoted?

Ability to manage people, strong team skills, and the ability to build and manage relationships

Why are ethics important?

-employees are confronted with ethical challenges throughout their careers -unethical behavior can damage relationships making it hard to conduct business -unethical behavior reduces cooperation, loyalty, and performance -the legal system can't always be relied on to assure work conduct that's ethical

What is an ethical dilemma?

Situations with 2 choices either of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable and no clear ethical resolution arises -not always a pure choice between right and wrong -places people in an uncomfy position

What is a cause of unethical behavior?

Ill-conceived goals

What are ill-conceived goals?

We set goals and incentives to promote a desired behavior, but they encourage a negative one

What is an example of an ill-conceived goal?

The pressure to increase/maximize billable hours in accounting, consulting, and law firms which leads to unconscious padding

What is the remedy to ill-conceived goals?

Brainstorm unintended consequences when devising goals and incentives. Consider alternative goals that may be more important to reward

What can you do when dealing with unethical behavior?

-treat it as business -accept that confronting ethical concerns is part of your job -challenge the rationale -use your lack of seniority or status as an asset -consider and explain the long term consequences -focus on solutions, not just complains

What are the 3 standards for identifying ethical practices?

Greatest good for greatest number, respect for basic human rights, and fair and equitable

What are the 3 steps to solve problems when applying org behavior?

1. Define the problem

2. Identify OB concepts to solve the problem (why or who does this cause a problem?)

3. Make recommendations and take action

What are person factors?

Characteristics that give individuals their unique identities

What are situation factors?

Elements outside us that influence what we do, the way we do it, and the ultimate results of our actions

What often results from the interaction of these independent factors?

Individual behavior

What is the person-situation distinction?

Understanding the interplay between person and situation factors to be effective

What should be considered when selecting the most effective solution?

Selection criteria, consequences, choice process, and necessary resources

What is selection critieria?

Effects bottom line profits, its impact on others, its impact on the reputation with customers or the community

What are consequences?

Trade offs between who wins and loses and it's ideal versus practical options

Who does the choice processes involve?

Individual, team, and organization

What are the two types of capital in human resource management?

Type of Human Capital and Behavior of Human Capital

What is type of human capital?

Training, experience, judgement, intelligence, relationships, and insight

What is behavior of human capital?

Motivation and effort

What do type and behavior of human capital lead to/what is the outcome?

Organizational performance

What is organizational performance?

Quality of the service/product, profitability, and customer satisfaction

What is sustainable competitive advantage?

An organization is better than competitors at something and can hold that advantage over a sustained period of time

Why can human resources give organizations advantages?

Human resources are valuable, rare, can't be imitated, and they have no good substitutes

What is Google's focus?

Making the employees feel valued, trained, and well compensated resulting in low turnover and high satisfaction

What are the responsibilities of analysis and design on work?

Work analysis, job design, and job descriptions

What is job analysis?

Process of getting detailed information about jobs

What is job design?

Process of defining the way work will be performed and the tasks that a give job requires

What company is one of the only five companies to make Fortune's 100 Best Companies to work for?

REI

What is recruitment?

Process through which the organization seeks applicants for potential employment

What is selection?

Process by which the organization identifies applicants with the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that will help the organization achieve its goals

What are values?

Abstract ideals that guide our thinking and behavior across all situations. -generally remains stable across time -global, not specific to context -ex: the way the world should be, how you view other interactions

What leads to positive attitudes and motivations?

A match between an individual's values and their environment and behavior

What are the two dimensions of values in Schwartz's Value Theory?

First bipolar and second bipolar dimension

What is in first bipolar dimension (Schwartz)?

Self transcendence and self enhancement

What is self-transcendence?

Concern for the welfare and interests of others (universalism, benevolence)

What is self enhancement?

Pursuit of one's own interests and relative success and dominance over others (power, achievement)

What is in second bipolar dimension (Schwartz)

Openness to change and conservation

What is openness to change?

Independence of thought, action and feelings and readiness for change (stimulation, self direction)

What is conservation?

Order, self restriction, preservation of the past, and resistance to change (conformity, tradition, security)

What are Schwartz's value theory?

-values are motivational and represent broad goals over time -bipolar values are incongruent while adjacent values are complementary

What are the two implications of Schwartz's value theory?

Workplace and Personal application

What is workplace application?

-managers can better manage their employees when they understand an employees' values and motivation

What is personal application?

Employees will derive more meaning from work by pursing goals that are consistent with their values

What are personal attitudes?

-our feelings or opinions about specific people, places, or objects that range from positive to negative -are directed to specific "targets" and influence specific behaviors relevant to the target

What are the three components of attitudes that influence behavior?

-affective (feelings) -cognitive (beliefs) -behavioral (intentions)

What is cognitive dissonance?

-the psychological discomfort experienced when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting cognitions (ideas, beliefs, values, and emotions) -values or beliefs disagreeing

How do we reduce cognitive dissonance?

-changing the attitude or behavior or both -belittling the importance of the inconsistent behavior -finding things that outweigh the dissonant things

What is the theory of planned behavior?

the idea that people's intentions are the best predictors of their deliberate behaviors, which are determined by their attitudes toward specific behaviors, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control

How can leaders influence employees to change their behaviors?

By influencing attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control

What are key workplace potent attitudes

job satisfaction, employee engagement, perceived organizational support, organizational commitment

What is organizational commitment?

The extent to which an employee identifies with an organization and is committed to its goals which leads to greater employee retention and motivation in pursuit of organizational goals

What is perceived organizational support?

The extent to which employees believe that the organization values their contributions and genuinely cares about their well being

What is employee engagemet?

The extent to which employees give it their all to their work roles: urgency, being focused, intensity, and enthusiasm

What contributes to employee engagement?

Personal factors (personality) and situation factors (performance feedback and leadership)

What are the benefits to employees engagement?

Increased customer loyalty and satisfaction, employee performance and well being, and greater financial performance

What is job satisfaction?

An affective or emotional response towards various facets of a job

What are the five models of job satisfaction?

Need fulfillment, met expectations, value attainment, equity, dispositional/genetic components (personality)

What is need fulfillment in job satisfaction?

Understand and meet employees needs

What are meet expectations in job satisfaction?

Meet expectations of employees about what they will receive from job

What is value attainment in job satisfaction?

Structure the job and its rewards to match employee values

What is equity in job satisfaction?

Monitor employee perceptions of fairness and interact with them so they feel fairly treated

What is disposition/genetic components in job satisfaction?

Hire employees with an appropriate disposition

What are the outcomes linked with job satisfaction for attitudes?

Motivation, job involvement, withdrawal cognitions, perceived stress

What are the outcomes linked with job satisfaction for behaviors?

Job performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) [voluntary commitment within an organization], counterproductive work behavior (CWB), turnover

Research tells us that job satisfaction and performance

-are moderately related -indirectly influence each other -better to consider the relationship at the business unit level versus at the individual level

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) represents discretionary individual behaviors that are

-typically not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system -can, in the aggregate, promote effective functioning of the organization

What is counterproductive work behavior (CWB)?

Behaviors that harm other employees, the organization, or organizational stakeholders such as customers and shareholders

How to reduce voluntary turnover

-Hire people who "fit" with the organization's culture -Spend time fostering employee engagement -Provide effective onboard -Recognize and reward high performers

What are fixed individual differences?

Stable over time and across situations and is hard to change

What are flexible Individual differences?

Change over time from situation to situation and can be altered more easily

Why is understanding fixed or flexible individual differences important?

Can select employees based on certain fixed traits and can help manage more flexible traits to increase work performance