Untitled Flashcards Set

Lecture 7: Groups and Teams at Work

Key Concepts:

Group: Collection of individuals who come together to achieve a specific goal not shared responsibility for the outcome.

Team: Have shared responsibilities and collaborate together to achieve a goal

1. Characteristics of Effective Teams:

o Diversity: Diverse skills and perspectives improve innovation.

o Accountability: Clear responsibilities prevent social loafing.

Task independence: autonomy and interdependence are good, there needs to be a balance of both

Size: groups of 5-9 tend to be more agile and easier to manage, while larger teams have less coordination

Goals: clear established goals (SMART acrynom)

2. Groupthink:

o Definition: The tendency for cohesive groups to suppress dissent.

o Prevention: Encourage open dialogue and critical evaluation.

There is a prioritization of conformity to the extent in which opinions are dismissed as conflicting if they don’t align

3. Team Roles:

o Understand formal vs. informal roles in teams and their impact on performance

(e.g., leader, facilitator, note-taker).

Formal are designed, while informal roles come about through group dynamics

4. Barriers to Team Success:

o Explore how poor communication and lack of trust hinder team effectiveness.

Lack of trust, poor communication, groupthink, social loafing, lack of clear goals

Lecture 8: Conflict and Negotiation at Work

Key Concepts:

Task Conflict, Relationship Conflict, Process Conflict

1. Types of Conflict:

o Functional: Encourages creative solutions (e.g., task conflict).

o Dysfunctional: Harms productivity (e.g., unresolved personal disputes). Reduced Communication

Causes: Limited Recourses, Unclear Roles, goal incompatibility, change and uncertainty

2. Stages of Negotiation:

Types: Distributive vs Integrative (A win for one is a loss for the other vs both find a solution that benefits both parties)

o Preparation: Setting goals and understanding needs.

Opening: lay initial first position while remaining open

o Bargaining: Exchanging offers and finding compromises.

Closing: finalize the agreement

Implementation: Follow through

Active LIstening, emotional intelligence, and problem solving, and positive communication and negotiation skills

3. Conflict Management Styles:

o Learn when each Thomas-Kilmann conflict-handling style (e.g., competing,

accommodating) is most effective.

Competing - High stakes

Collaborating - better for long term working relationships

Compromising

Avoiding

Accommodating - can lead to resentment if used to frequently

4. Ethics in Negotiation:

o Study the importance of honesty and fairness in building trust during

Negotiation.

Transparency, Fairness, and Respect, are all necessary in conflict resolution

Lecture 9: Perception, Decision Making, and Creativity

Key Concepts:

1. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:

o Expectations influence outcomes (e.g., managers expecting high performance

may inspire it).

2. Decision-Making Biases:

o Overconfidence: Overestimating one’s abilities, or accuracy of information

o Confirmation: Focusing only on supporting evidence. Blinding oneself to conflicting information in aim to aid their thoughts/conclusions

To Get rid of biases in group decision making: Brainstorm, independent initially, anonymous gathering, consensus decision making

3. Attribution Theory*:

o Distinguish between internal (personal) and external (situational) attributions

and their impact on workplace interactions.

4. Promoting Creativity:

o Understand how intrinsic motivation and autonomy foster innovation in teams. Intrinsic motivation is often more authentic, driving further more creativity and depth, autonomy often drives more intrinsic motivation. Provide time and resources, leadership, and diverse teams.

Lecture 10: Leaders and Followers at Work

Key Concepts:

1. Leadership Styles:

o Transformational: Inspires change and motivation. (By instilling a sense of purpose and mission)

o Transactional: Focuses on rewards and compliance. (Focus on the exchanges with followers, rewarding performance)

2. Ohio State Leadership Behaviors: 

o People Oriented: Consideration: Building relationships.

o Task Oriented: Initiating Structure: Defining tasks and roles.

A balance of both is necessary

3. Path-Goal Theory:

o Study how leaders adapt their styles (e.g., directive, supportive) based on

employee needs and work environments. The theory says that a leader’s main job is to clear a path for followers to achieve their goals

Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership theory explains that leaders should adjust and adapt their leadership styles according to the readiness and responsiveness of their employees

4. Servant Leadership:

o Learn how prioritizing follower growth and community-building differs from

other leadership approaches. Community focused, prioritize follower development

Lecture 11: Power, Influence, and Politics at Work

Key Concepts:

1. Types of Power:

o Legitimate: Authority from position/title (boss)

o Expert: Knowledge-based influence.

o Reward: Ability to give incentives.

Coercive Power: The ability to impose negative consequences

Referent Power: Characteristics that attract people to the person with power

2. Ethical Use of Power:

o Transparency: Open motives and actions.

o Fairness: Equal treatment and respect.

Responsibility: Recognizing the impact of one’s power on others and being accountable for outcomes

Integrity: Making choices that align with both personal and organizational values

3. Social Networks:

o Explore the role of network centrality and structural holes in influencing

organizational power dynamics.

Network Centrality is just saying that people in the central of a network, have access to info and therrefor have influence, Structural holes are holes in information flow that allow for people to connect.

4. Organizational Politics:

o Understand ethical ways to navigate workplace politics to align personal and

organizational goals.

Communicate transparently, as well as prioritize authentic and ethical relationships in organizations. Though workplace politics are often inevitable, navigate office politics constructively.

Lecture 12: Organizational Structure and Change at Work

Key Concepts:

1. Mechanistic vs. Organic Structures:

o Mechanistic: Rigid and hierarchical (e.g., manufacturing firms). Formal like manufacturing firms

o Organic: Flexible and collaborative (e.g., startups). Tech startups, requiring adaptability and innovation

2. Types of Organizational Structures:

o Learn the advantages and disadvantages of matrix, boundaryless, and learning

Organizations. Depends on the strategy, size, technology, and environment, and culture of an organization to determine the type of organizational structure

-Matrix: functional and product based structures with employees reporting to both functional and product managers. (collaboration, sometimes leades to power struggles)

-Boundaryless Org: without barriers between departments (innovation, lacks clear accountability)

-Learning Org: continuous improvement, and knowledge sharing (Promotes growth, needs commitment to learning)

3. Overcoming Resistance to Change:

o Study how participation and clear communication reduce pushback during

Transitions. Peoplefear the unknown, as well in the face of change, there can be a feeling of a loss of control. But communication, participation, and support can help in overcoming resistance

Lecture 13: Organizational Culture at Work

Key Concepts:

1. Schein’s Levels of Culture:

o Artifacts: Visible elements like dress code. Provide clues to how an organization operates and behaves.

o Espoused Values: Stated principles and ethics. Like mission statements and values (dont always align with reality)

o Basic Assumptions: Deeply ingrained beliefs. Are not really questioned but instead just abided by

2. Characteristics of Culture:

o Analyze how innovation, team orientation, and outcome orientation influence

organizational performance.

Innovation and risk taking, attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness, stability

3. Culture Change:

o Study Edgar Schein’s framework for cultural transformation, including

unfreezing, learning, and refreezing stages.

-Schein says that there is unfreezing, learning new concepts, then refreezing

-You asses the current culture, identify desired changes, engage the leadership in the change, communicate the vision, align systems and processes, monitor progress