Organizational Behavior – Prelim Review Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, theories, and concepts from the Organizational Behavior prelim lecture notes. These cards help reinforce definitions central to management functions, diversity, globalization, ethics, psychological contracts, perception, stress, and more.

Organizational Behavior (OB)

The study of human behavior in organizational settings, the organization itself, and the individual–organization interface.

Managerial Planning

The function of deciding an organization’s desired future goals and the best means of achieving them.

Organizing (Management Function)

Designing jobs, grouping them into units, and establishing authority patterns among jobs and units.

Leading (Management Function)

Motivating and coordinating members to work toward organizational goals.

Controlling (Management Function)

Monitoring and correcting actions to keep the organization and its members on goal.

Human Resource Management (HRM)

Organizational activities aimed at attracting, developing, and maintaining an effective workforce.

Technical Skills

Abilities required to perform specific tasks within an organization.

Interpersonal Skills

The ability to communicate with, understand, and motivate individuals and groups effectively.

Conceptual Skills

The capacity to think abstractly and view the organization as a whole (the “big picture”).

Diagnostic Skills

The ability to understand cause-and-effect relationships and identify optimal solutions to problems.

Competitive Advantage

An organization’s edge over rivals in attracting customers and defending against competition.

Cost Leadership Strategy

Business approach focused on being the lowest-cost producer through operational excellence.

Differentiation Strategy

Business approach emphasizing uniqueness or high quality through product innovation.

Specialization Strategy

Business approach targeting a specific customer group and stressing customer loyalty.

Growth Strategy

Business approach centered on expanding the company to satisfy investor preference for rising earnings.

Scientific Management

Early OB approach using time-and-motion studies to improve productivity through scientifically developed methods.

Hawthorne Effect

Behavioral change resulting from the awareness of being observed, not the experimental intervention.

Human Relations Movement

OB perspective viewing organizations as cooperative systems where employee feelings affect performance.

Open System

An interrelated set of elements that interact with the environment by transforming inputs into outputs.

Systems Perspective

View emphasizing the flow and interaction of organizational elements and their environment.

Situational Perspective

Approach recognizing that effective solutions depend on contingent variables in each situation.

Universal Model

Assumes direct cause-and-effect relationships and one best way to manage—a view largely rejected in OB.

Interactionist Perspective

Focuses on how individuals and situations continuously interact to shape behavior.

Productivity

A narrow efficiency measure: outputs produced per unit of input.

Performance (Work)

Broad concept encompassing all work-related behaviors and outcomes.

Commitment (Organizational)

The degree to which an employee identifies with and intends to remain in the organization.

Employee Engagement

The extent to which employees understand and enthusiastically embrace their organizational role.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

Voluntary actions that contribute positively beyond formal job requirements.

Dysfunctional Behaviors

Actions that detract from organizational performance (e.g., absenteeism, theft).

Strategic Execution

How well managers and employees understand and perform actions needed to achieve strategic goals.

Scientific Method

Systematic approach using theory, hypotheses, and data to generate knowledge.

Theory (OB)

A set of assertions explaining relationships among variables and specifying boundary conditions.

Hypothesis

A written prediction stating expected relationships between variables.

Independent Variable

The variable manipulated or set by researchers in a study.

Dependent Variable

The outcome variable measured to assess the effect of the independent variable.

Correlation

Statistic indicating the strength and direction of a relationship (ranges −1 to +1).

Meta-analysis

Technique combining results of many studies to draw broader conclusions.

Globalization

Internationalization of business activities and movement toward an integrated global economy.

Diversity

Observable and unobservable similarities and differences among people.

Surface-Level Diversity

Observable traits such as race, gender, age, and physical abilities.

Deep-Level Diversity

Less visible differences like values, personalities, and abilities.

Intersectionality

Simultaneous membership in more than one demographic category.

Separation Diversity

Differences in position or opinion among group members (attitudinal dissimilarity).

Variety Diversity

Differences in knowledge, expertise, or functional background.

Disparity Diversity

Differences in the concentration of valuable resources such as status or pay.

Reverse Mentoring

Pairing younger employees with senior staff to transfer technical skills upward.

“Like-Me” Bias

Preference for associating with people perceived as similar to oneself.

Stereotype

Overgeneralized belief that all members of a group share the same characteristics.

Prejudice

Outright bigotry or intolerance toward other groups.

Perceived Threat of Loss

Fear that diversity initiatives will harm one’s own career prospects.

Ethnocentrism

Belief in the superiority of one’s own culture or norms.

Cultural Competence

Ability to interact effectively with people from different cultures.

Hofstede’s Individualism

Degree to which people define themselves as individuals rather than group members.

Hofstede’s Collectivism

Tight social frameworks where identity is based on group membership.

Power Distance

Extent to which unequal power distribution is accepted as normal.

Uncertainty Avoidance

Extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguity and prefer clear situations.

Masculinity (Hofstede)

Cultural value emphasizing assertiveness and material success over relationships.

Long-Term Orientation

Cultural value focusing on future rewards, persistence, and thrift.

Short-Term Orientation

Value emphasizing respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations now.

Technology (Business)

Methods used to create products or services, tangible or intangible.

Manufacturing

Business that transforms resources into tangible goods.

Service Organization

Organization that produces intangible outputs creating time/place utility.

Cycle Time

Time required to complete a recurring organizational activity or function.

Ethics

Beliefs about what is right or wrong in a given situation.

Corporate Governance

Oversight of a corporation by its board to protect shareholders and stakeholders.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Business commitment to work for the common good and value human dignity.

Knowledge Worker

Employee whose value derives from what they know (e.g., engineers, scientists).

Outsourcing

Hiring external firms to perform work previously done in-house.

Offshoring

Outsourcing work to a different country to lower costs.

Contingent Worker

Non-permanent employee such as a contractor, temp, or on-call worker.

Psychological Contract

Unwritten expectations of contributions and inducements in the employee-organization relationship.

Attitude

A person’s beliefs and feelings about specific ideas, situations, or people.

Cognitive Dissonance

Conflict between behavior and attitude or between two attitudes.

Job Satisfaction

Positive attitude and feelings about one’s job.

Affective Commitment

Emotional attachment to and identification with an organization.

Normative Commitment

Staying with an organization out of moral or ethical obligation.

Continuance Commitment

Staying because perceived economic or social costs of leaving are high.

Terminal Values

Long-term life goals such as prosperity or happiness.

Instrumental Values

Preferred means of achieving terminal values; preferred behaviors.

Intrinsic Work Values

Values related to the work itself (e.g., challenge, creativity).

Extrinsic Work Values

Values related to outcomes of work (e.g., pay, status).

Emotion

Intense, short-term reaction to a specific object or event.

Mood

Short-term emotional state not directed at anything specific.

Affectivity

Tendency to experience certain moods or emotional reactions.

Selective Perception

Screening out information that contradicts existing beliefs.

Halo Effect

General impression formed from one positive characteristic.

Contrast Effect

Evaluating someone by comparison with recently encountered individuals.

Projection

Seeing one’s own traits in other people.

First Impression Bias

Difficulty in revising initial judgments, especially negative ones.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Treating people according to expectations and causing them to conform.

Attribution

Process of explaining causes of behavior as internal or external.

Self-Handicapping

Creating obstacles that make personal success less likely.

Organizational Fairness

Employees’ perception of events and practices as just or unjust.

Distributive Fairness

Perceived fairness of outcome distributions like pay or promotions.

Procedural Fairness

Perceived fairness of the processes that lead to outcomes.

Interactional Fairness

Perceived fairness of interpersonal treatment during decision processes.

Trust (Organizational)

Expectation that others will not exploit you despite limited control.

Stress

Adaptive response to excessive psychological or physical demands.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Three-stage stress response: alarm, resistance, exhaustion.

Eustress

Pleasurable or positive stress from favorable events.