Organizational Behavior Exam II

Functional conflict

medium level of conflict leads to high performance

Tuckman's 5 stages of group development

Forming → Storming → Norming → Performing → Adjourning

tasks versus process

Groups typically over-focus on task, to the neglect of process. But then the group never improves the way it works! You are ALWAYS engaging in both task and process, and need to manage them both successfully. Think of them as a fraction: you need both parts for it to work

What to look for in groups

Participation, Influence, Leadership, Autocratic, Peacemaker, Laissez-faire, Democratic, Decision-Making Procedures, Maintenance Functions, Group Atmosphere, Membership, Feelings, Norms, Decision-Making Biases and Pitfalls

Collaborating

a conflict-handling style that is high on both assertiveness and cooperation, strengths/weaknesses: win/win

Competing

a conflict-handling style that is highly assertive but low on cooperation, strengths/weaknesses: more interested in self

Accommodating

a cooperative and unassertive conflict-handling style, strengths/weaknesses: giving in to what other people want

Consensus

a decision-making rule that groups may use when the goal is to gain support for an idea or plan of action, it is inclusive, participatory, cooperative, and democratic

Coalition tactics

a group of individuals working together toward a common goal to influence others

Delphi Technique

a group process that utilizes written responses to a series of questionnaires instead of physically bringing individuals together to make a decisions

Collective efficacy

a group's perception of its ability to successfully perform well

Compromising

a middle-ground conflict-handling style, in which a person has some desire to express their own concerns and get their way but still respects the other person's goals as well, strengths/weaknesses: even ground

Mediation

a process in which an outside third party (the mediator) enters the situation with the goal of assisting the parties to reach an agreement

Arbitration

a process that involves bringing in a third party, the arbitrator, who has the authority to act as a judge and make a binding decision to which both parties must adhere

Conflict

a process that involves people disagreeing

Negotiation

a process whereby two or more parties work toward an agreement

Idea quotas

a set number of ideas a group must reach before they are done with brainstorming

Nominal Group Technique (NGT)

a technique designed to help with group decision making by ensuring that all members participate fully

Wildstorming

a variation of brainstorming in which the group focuses on ideas that are impossible and then imagines what would need to happen to make them possible

Impression management

actively shaping the way you are perceived by others

Integrative approach

an approach to negotiation in which both parties look for ways to integrate their goals under a larger umbrella

Avoidance

an uncooperative and unassertive conflict-handling style, strengths/weaknesses: postponing decisions

Intuitive decision-making model

arriving at decisions without conscious reasoning, argues that in a given situation, experts making decisions can scan the environment for cues to recognize patterns

Communicator

behaviors that are targeted at collaboration such as practicing good listening skills and appropriately using humor to diffuse tense situations

Contributor

brings information and expertise to the team

Satisfaction

cohesion is correlated with how pleased group members are with each other's performance, behavior, and conformity to group norms

Other-focused impression management

complimenting or praising the other person, doing favors, or conforming to their opinions to make oneself more likeable to them

The Milgram Studies

conformity to authority, Participants were willing to allow the teachers to shock learners for incorrect answers

The Zimbardo Studies

conformity, Participants take on the prison and guard roles super quickly

The Asch Studies

conformity, Two lines that were clearly different sizes, they would say they were the same like everyone else

Verification & Application

consciously verifying the feasibility of the solution and implementing the decision

Creator

deals with changes in the team's task process structure

Social Loafing

decrease in individual effort as group size increases; diffusion of responsibility, Example: Tug of War, Red Flags: Task is unimportant, simple, uninteresting, Individual output is unidentifiable, Other co-workers also loaf, Prevention: Make tasks/goals challenging and interesting to all, Make clear who will do what assignments, Make individual output identifiable, Hold individuals accountable for their portion of the work, Don't let individuals get lost in a large group

Critic

devil's advocate behaviors that go against the assumptions being made by the team

Ingratiation

different forms of making others feel good about themselves

Win-lose

distributive approach

Pressure

exerting undue influence on someone to do what you want, or else something undesirable will occur

Cooperator

supporting those with expertise toward the teams goals

Anchoring and adjustment bias

the tendency for individuals to rely too heavily on a single piece of information

Framing bias

the tendency of decision makers to be influenced by the way that problems are framed

Punctuated equilibrium

the theory that change within groups occurs in rapid radical spurts rather than gradually over time, Created by Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould, This model includes the possibility that distractions may arise within different stages of group development

Presentation

the third phase of negotiation in which information is assembled in a way that supports one's position

Distributive view

the traditional fixe-pie approach in which negotiators see the situation as pie that the have to divide between them

Importance

the value of the resource

Immersion

thinking about the problem consciously and gathering information

Legitimating tactics

those that occur when the appeal is based on legitimate or position power

Inspirational appeals

those that seek to tap into our values, emotions, and beliefs to gain support for a request or course of action

Satisfice

to accept the first alternative that meets minimum criteria

Optimizing

to get high performance, you need a medium balance of conflict

Dimensions of Creativity

fluency, flexibility, originality

Consul

gathering information from the larger organization and informing those within the organization about team activities, goals, and successes

Exchange

give-and-take in which someone does something for you and you do something for them in return

Asch Effect

giving in to a wrong but popular opinion, Red Flags: You feel uncertainty about how others may judge you so you just follow along, Feeling "peer pressure", Prevention: Create an environment of truth and trust, Foster open communication, Increase work and non-work communication and interaction opportunities

Concessions

giving up one thing to get something else in return

Boundary-spanning roles

goals related to activities outside the team that help to connect the team to the larger organization

Abilene Paradox

group members all go along with an idea that no-one actually supports, Red Flags: Pervasive "don't rock the boat" mentality, Fear of being ostracized or labeled a "loner"/"misfit", Deference to others without openly communicating one's ideas and expectations, Consistent negative results without people speaking up, Prevention: Don't be paranoid about group reaction to your ideas/concerns, Encourage and exemplify debate, discussion, clarifying questions, assumption-checking (e.g. "what would happen if we don't do this plan?"), Solicit non-redundant ideas from each person, Estimate probabilities of risks and benefits

Compensatory

group performance combines individual contributions into a better group product, Examples: Cross-functional teams (e.g., product development, hospital E.R), Decision-making groups (e.g., juries), Best Design: True team, "Just right" size, Reward individual input and/or group output

Conjunctive

group performance depends on the strongest individual, Examples: Troubleshooting, Group problem solving, Best Design: Single leader group Larger capable team, Reward individual input (e.g., skill level) to attract capable people

Disjunctive

group performance depends on the weakest individual or hardest task, Examples: Pit crew, Shared code, Music group, Best Design: Single leader group, Small capable team, Reward individual input (e.g., skill level) to attract capable people

Additive

group performance is a sum of individual performance, Examples: shoveling snow, call center, stuffing envelopes, Best Design: Lone individuals or single leader group, Reward individual input (e.g., time) or group or individual output (BUT if group level rewards, highlight individual contribution)

Personal appeal

helping another person because you like them and they asked for your help

Dysfunctional conflict

low and high levels of conflict lead to low performance

Overconfidence bias

when individuals overestimate their ability to predict future events

Satisficing

when individuals settle for the first acceptable alternative instead of seeking the best possible (optimal) solution

Illumination

when the solution to the problem becomes apparent

Ground rules

written rules for a group

Power is discretionary

you can choose whether to use it or not when you have it

5 phases of negotiation

Investigation → BATNA → Presentation → Bargaining → Closure

Flexibility

how different the ideas are from each other, if individuals are able to generate several unique solutions to a problem, they are on high

Originality

how unique a person's ideas are

Scarcity

in the context of dependency, refers to the uniqueness of a resource

Contractor

includes behaviors that serve to organize the teams work, including creating team timelines production schedules, and task sequencing

Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)

includes mediation, arbitration, and other ways of resolving conflicts with the help of a specially trained, neutral third party without the need for a formal trial or hearing

Non-verbal impression management

includes the clothes you choose to wear, body language, and demeanor

Rational persuasion

includes using facts, data, and logical arguments to try to convince others that your point of view is the best alternative

Bounded rationality model

individuals knowingly limit their options to a manageable set and choose the first acceptable alternative without conducting an exhaustive search for alternatives

Peer influence

influencing those on the same level you are at

Rational model

information on alternatives can be gathered and quantified, the decision is important, and you are trying to maximize your outcome

Win-win

integrative approach

Coordinator

interfacing with others within the organization so that the team's efforts are in line with other individuals and teams within the organization

Incubation

not thinking about the problem for a while

Resistance

occurs when the influence target does not wish to comply with the request and either passively or actively repels the influence attempt

Compliance

occurs when the target does not necessarily want to obey, but they do

Commitment

occurs when the target not only agrees to the request but also actively supports it as well

Sustainability

one's ability to find another option that works as well as the one offered

Crowdsourcing

outsourcing a problem to a larger group

Information power

power that comes from access to information, Example: a senior executive mentors someone on the "ins and outs" of the organization

Expert power

power that comes from knowledge and skill, Example: a senior executive mentors someone on the "ins and outs" of the organization

Legitimate power

power that comes from one's organizational role or position, Example: a police officer pulls you over for speeding

Referent power

power that stems from personal characteristics of a person such as the degree to which we like, respect, and want to be like them, Example: an employee's enthusiasm attracts customers

Self-focused impression management

promoting and enhancing one's qualities to create a specific image in the eyes of the other person

Task roles

roles for typology

Social roles

roles serve to keep the team operating effectively

Calibrator

serves to keep the team on track in terms of suggesting any needed changes to the team's process

Norms

shared expectations about how things operate within a group or team

Size

smaller groups tend to have higher levels of cohesion

Performing

stage when participants are not only getting work done, but they also pay greater attention to how they are doing it

Norming

stage when participants find it easy to establish their own ground rules and define their operating procedures and goals

Storming

stage when participants focus less on keeping their guard up as they shed social facades, becoming more authentic and more argumentative

Forming

stage when the group comes together for the first time

BATNA

stands for "best alternative to negotiated agreement", important part of the investigation and planning phase in negotiation

Escalation of commitment

sticking to an ineffective course of action when it is unlikely the situation can be reversed, Red Flags: People fail to ignore "sunk" costs (especially on long-term projects) because of: Peer pressure, Saving face, Personal/political interests/passions, Organizational inertia, Delayed returns on investment, Incorrectly attributing setbacks to temporary causes, Prevention: Publicize limits/ minimum performance targets before starting, Reduce the penalty to fail, Regularly highlight performance status and the costs of persisting, Have different people manage/evaluate the project (reduce egos and stimulate opposing positions)

Reward power

the ability to grant a reward, such as an increase in pay, a perk, or an attractive job assignment, Example: a manager decides who gets promoted

Power

the ability to influence the behavior of others to get what you want

Downward influence

the ability to influence those in positions lower than yours

Upward influence

the ability to influence your boss and others in positions higher than yours

Coercive power

the ability to take something away or punish someone for noncompliance, Example: a police officer pulls you over for speeding

Cohesion

the degree of camaraderie within the group

Adjourning

the fifth and final stage later added to the Tuckman model

investigation

the first step in negotiation in which information is gathered

Bargaining

the fourth phase of negotiation in which parties discuss their goals and seek agreement

Creative model

the generation of new ideas that are original, fluent, and flexible, Identification → Immersion → Incubation → Illumination → Application

Consultation

the influence agent's asking other for help in directly influencing or planning to influence another person or group

Closure

the last part of negotiation in which you and the other party have come to an agreement on the terms, or one part has decided that the final offer in unacceptable and therefore must be walked away from

Stability

the longer a group stays together, the more cohesive it will become

Similarity

the more similar group members are in terms of age, sex, education, skills, attitude, values, and beliefs, the more likely the group will bond

Dependency

the more that a person or unit is dependent on you, the more power you have

Identification

the need for problem solving becomes apparent

Fluency

the number of ideas a person is able to generate

Hindsight bias

the opposite of overconfidence bias as it occurs when a person, looking at the past, judges that a mistake that was made should have been recognized as a mistake at the time

Completer

transforms ideas into action

Lose-lose

unresolved dysfunctional

Support

when group members receive coaching and are encouraged to support their fellow team members, group identity strengthens

Groupthink

when highly cohesive group members override realistic and moral appraisals to keep unanimity, it's as if the group is thinking like it's one person instead of many unique individuals, dissenting views and alternative paths don't get fully explored, Red Flags: Illusion of group superiority/invulnerability, Rationalizing unwanted information, Stereotyped view of outsiders, Pressure to conform to the group, Illusion of unanimity in the group, Self-censorship, "Mindguards" reject contrary information, Prevention: Assign a rotating role of devil's advocate, Every group member a critical evaluator, Multiple groups (e.g., subgroups) explore the same problem or debate, Use outside experts, Search for flaws in apparent consensus, Encourage heterogeneous group composition