MGT 3045BEF Exam Revision Notes

Managing Employee Performance and Success

• Personality: Stable characteristics influencing behavior.
• Trait Theory: Identifies and labels enduring personality traits to understand behavior.
• Integrative Approach: Personality as a composite of psychological processes, combining personal dispositions and situational variables.

Motivation

• Definition: Internal state that arouses, directs, and maintains behavior.
• Key Elements:
  • Intensity: How hard a person tries.
  • Direction: Orientation that benefits the organization.
  • Persistence: How long effort is maintained.
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:
  • Physiological, Safety, Social-belongingness, Esteem, Self-Actualization.
  • Unmet needs decrease focus, productivity, and engagement.
• Theory X: Assumes inherent dislike for work; requires coercion.
• Theory Y: Views work as natural; exercises self-direction if committed.
• ERG Theory:
  • Existence (physiological and safety needs).
  • Relatedness (interpersonal safety, love, esteem needs).
  • Growth (self-actualization and self-esteem needs).
• Equity Theory: Focuses on social processes influencing motivation, especially regarding effort and reward.

Learning

• Definition: Change in behavior acquired through experience.
• Social Learning Theory (Bandura): Learning by observing and modeling others.
  • Task-specific self-efficacy: Internal expectancy to perform a specific task effectively.
  • Sources: Prior experiences, behavior models, persuasion, assessment of capabilities.

Power and Conflict in the Workplace

• Power: Ability to get others to do something they might not otherwise do.
• Interpersonal Power Forms:
  • Reward, Coercive, Legitimate, Referent, Expert.
• Formal Power: Conferred by position (e.g., CEO).
• Personal Power: Due to individual attributes (e.g., charisma, skills).
• Positive vs. Negative Power:
  • Personal power (negative face): Used for personal gain.
  • Social power (positive face): Used to accomplish group goals.
• Political Behavior: Actions to influence others for personal goals.
• Political Skill: Ability to get things done through interpersonal relationships.
  • Dimensions: Social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, sincerity.
• Empowerment: Managers expressing confidence, creating opportunities, removing constraints, setting inspirational goals.
• Functional Conflict: Constructive disagreement leading to new ideas and growth.
• Dysfunctional Conflict: Destructive disagreement draining energy.
• Forms of Group Conflict: Interorganizational, Intergroup, Intragroup.
• Conflict Management Strategies:
  • Competitive: Win-lose, Entails dishonest communication, mistrust and rigid position.
  • Cooperative: Win-win potential, honest communication, trust, openness to risk.
• Negotiation:
  • Distributive bargaining: Conflicting goals, maximize resources.
  • Integrative negotiation: Parties’ goals not mutually exclusive.

Group Dynamics and Decision Making

• Group Dynamics: Focuses on group formation, structure, and interrelationships.
• Group Definition: Two or more interacting individuals with stable relationships, common goals, and self-perception as a group.
• Benefits of Teams: Joint action, subordinated individual interests.
• Social Benefits: Psychological intimacy, integrated involvement.
• Factors Influencing Group Effectiveness:
  • Work team structure (Goals, guidelines).
  • Work team process (Managing cooperative and competitive behaviors).
  • Diversity.
• Creativity: Enhanced through diversity, electronic brainstorming, training facilitators, membership change.
• Decision-Making Process:
  1. Recognizing the problem.
  2. Identifying the objective.
  3. Gathering data.
  4. Listing alternatives.
  5. Gathering feedback.
• Rational Model:
  • Assumptions: Known goals, complete information, logical and rational decision making.
  • Normative: Describes ideal decision making.
• Bounded Rationality Model:
  • Assumptions: Satisfactory alternatives, simple conception, decisions without all alternatives.
  • Managers satisfice.
• Individual Factors Influencing Decision Making:
  • Risk aversion.
  • Cognitive style.
  • Personality, attitudes, values.
  • Intuition.
  • Creativity.

Organizational Change and Development

• Organizational Culture: Shared values, beliefs, norms influencing employee behavior.
• Organizational Values: Guiding principles.
  • Terminal Value: Desired goal (e.g., innovation).
  • Instrumental Value: Desired behavior (e.g., customer satisfaction).
• Strength of Organizational Culture:
  • Strong culture: Major influence on behavior.
  • Weak culture: Limited impact.
• Creating/Sustaining Culture:
  • People in the organization (Founder influence).
  • Property rights (Define responsibilities).
  • Organizational ethics (Moral values).
  • Organizational structure (Mechanistic vs. Organic).
• Transmitting Culture: Formal socialization practices, signs, symbols, stories, ceremonial rites, organizational language.
• Slogans: Convey cultural messages.
• Forces for Change: Planned (deliberate decision) and unplanned (imposed).
• Scope of Change: Incremental, strategic, transformational.
• Lewin's Model for Managing Change:
  1. Unfreezing: Discarding old behaviors.
  2. Moving: Substituting new behaviors.
  3. Refreezing: Establishing new behaviors as the norm.