Management 310A Exam 2 Study Guide

What is engagement?

A term commonly used in the contemporary workplace to summarize motivation levels Employees who are engaged completely invest themselves and their energies in their jobs

For instance, how does goal commitment affect motivation? Feedback? Task complexity?

Goals can motivate employees to work both harder and smarter Feedback: In job characteristics theory, it refers to the degree to which the job itself provides information about how well the job holder is doing. In goal setting theory, it refers to progress updates on work goals Task Complexity: The degree to which the information and actions needed to complete a task are complicated In general, the effects of specific and difficult goals are almost twice as strong on simple tasks as on complex tasks, through the effects of goals remain beneficial even in complex cases

What is expectancy theory, and what are the three beliefs that help determine how work effort is directed?

A theory that describes the cognitive process employees go through to make choices among different voluntary responses Expectancy theory argues that employee behavior is directed toward pleasure and away from pain, or more generally toward certain outcomes and away from others Expectancy: The belief that exerting a high level of effort will result in successful performance on some task More technically, expectancy is a subjective probability, ranging from 0 (no chance!) to 1 (a mortal lock!) that a specific amount of effort will result in a specific level of performance (abbreviated E → P) If I exert a lot of effort, will I perform well? Instrumentality: The belief that successful performance will result in the attainment of some outcomes More technically, instrumentality is a set of subjective probabilities, each ranging from 0 (no chance!) to 1 (a mortal lock!) that successful performance will bring a set of outcomes (abbreviated P O) If I perform well, will I receive outcomes? Valence: The anticipated value of the outcomes associated with successful performance Valence can be positive ("I would prefer having outcome X to not having it), negative ("I would prefer not having outcome X to having it"), or zero ("I'm bored...are we still talking about outcome X?") Will the outcomes be satisfying?

What is goal setting theory?

A theory that views goals as the primary drivers of the intensity and persistence of effort

What are the methods by which employees learn in organizations?

Conditioning: Observing:

In what three sources can trust be rooted?

Disposition-based: Trust that is rooted in one's own personality, as opposed to a careful assessment of the trustee's trustworthiness Cognition-based: Trust that is rooted in a rational assessment of the authority's trustworthiness Affect-based: Trust that depends on feelings toward the authority that go beyond rational assessment

What is equity theory?

Equity Theory: A theory that suggests that employees create a mental ledger of the outcomes they receive for their job inputs, relative to some comparison other Unlike the first two theories, equity theory acknowledges that motivation doesn't just depend on your own beliefs and circumstances but also on what happens to other people

What do we know about intrinsic/extrinsic sources of motivation in organizations? How do they relate to different work-related outcomes?

Extrinsic Motivations: Desire to put forth work effort due to some contingency that depends on task performance Intrinsic Motivation: Desire to put forth work effort due to the sense that task performance serves as its own reward

What role do needs players in expectancy theory?

Needs: Groupings or clusters of outcomes viewed as having critical psychological or physiological consequences Outcomes that deemed particularly attractive are likely to satisfy a number of different needs For example, praise can signal that interpersonal bonds are strong (satisfying relatedness needs) while also signaling competence (satisfying esteem needs)

What two methods can employees use to make decisions? How does expertise factor in?

Programmed: Non programmed :

What is psychological empowerment?

Psychological Empowerment: An energy rooted in the belief that tasks are contributing to some larger purpose Psychological empowerment represents a form of intrinsic motivation, in that merely performing the work tasks serves as its own reward and supplies many of the intrinsic outcomes The concept of psychological empowerment has much in common with our discussion of "satisfaction with the work itself" in chapter four on job satisfaction Models of psychological empowerment argue that a similar set of concepts can make work tasks intrinsically motivating

What are the two qualities that make goals strong predictors of task performance?

Specific and Difficult Goals: Goals that stretch an employee to perform at his or her maximum level while still staying within the boundaries of his or her ability Difficult Goals: When goals are easy, there is no reason to work your hardest or your longest, so task effort is lower As goals move from moderate to difficult, the intensity and persistence of effort become maximized

What is trust, and how does it relate to justice and ethics?

Trust: The willingness to be vulnerable to an authority based on positive expectations about the authority's actions and intentions If a customer trusts the quality of a company's products or services, that customer is willing to accept the consequences of paying money to the company Justice: The perceived fairness of an authority's decision making When employees perceive high levels of justice, they believe that decision outcomes are fair and that decision-making processes are designed and implemented in a fair manner Ethics: The degree to which the behaviors of an authority are in accordance with generally accepted moral norms When employees perceive high levels of ethics, they believe that things are being done the way they "should be" or "ought to be" done

What are the four beliefs that help foster psychological empowerment?

meaningfulness, self-determination, competence, impact Meaningfulness: Captures the value of a work goal or purpose, relative to a person's own ideals and passions Self-Determination: A sense of choice in the initiation and continuation of work tasks Competence: The capability to perform work tasks successfully. Impact: The sense that a person's actions "make a difference"—that progress is being made toward fulfilling some important purpose

What is motivation?

A set of energetic forces that determine the direction, intensity, and persistence of an employee's work effort Motivation is a critical consideration because effective job performance often requires high levels of both ability and motivation Motivation determines what employees do at a given moment - the direction in which their efforts is channeled Motivation goes on to determine how hard an employee works - the intensity of effort - and for how long the persistence of effort Intensity: Persistence: Direction:

What are the details of each of these decision making problems?

Faulty Perceptions: Faulty Attributions: Limited Information: Escalation of Commitment:

What are SMART goals?

S.M.A.R.T Goals Acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-Based, Time-Sensitive goals

What influences self-efficacy?

past accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, emotional cues Factors that Shape our Expectancy: Self-Efficacy: The belief that a person has the capabilities needed to perform the behaviors required on some task Past Accomplishments: The level of success or failure with similar job tasks in the past Vicarious Experiences: Observations of and discussions with others who have performed some work task Verbal Persuasion: Pep talks that lead employees to believe that they can "get the job done Emotional Cues: Positive or negative feelings that can help or hinder task accomplishment