MGMT 301 - Exam 3

Information-Rich Channels

More richness equals more non verbal communication, and also quicker. Speed is a factor in richness. Exam Question!!! 3 aspects of richness: 1. Allows for more non-verbal cues. 2. Quickness/speed of receipt/response of message. 3. Personal (formal doc vs personal doc).

How Can Managers Create A Customer-Responsive Culture?

Organizational Insiders

Challenge Stressors

demands and circumstances that cause stress but that also promote individual growth, such as high work pressures, high levels of responsibility, or having a lot of (high-quality) work to do.

Role Conflict

facing contradictory demands at work. For example, your manager may want you to increase customer satisfaction and cut costs, while you feel that satisfying customers inevitably increases costs.

Alleviating Cognitive Dissonance

a term that refers to a mismatch among emotions, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior, for example, believing that you should always be polite to a customer regardless of personal feelings, yet having just been rude to one. You'll experience discomfort or stress unless you find a way to alleviate the dissonance. You can reduce the personal conflict by changing your behavior (trying harder to act polite), changing your belief (maybe it's OK to be a little less polite sometimes), or by adding a new fact that changes the importance of the previous facts (such as you will otherwise be laid off the next day).

Crucial Conversations

discussions where not only the stakes are high but also where opinions vary and emotions run strong.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as needed, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. Techniques: * Repeating and confirming * Paraphrase * Don't multitask while listening * Empathise * Ask questions * Establish eye contact * Ask yourself what the goal of this conversation is * Pay attention to what is not said

General Adaptive Syndrome

Hans Selye, one of the founders of the American Institute of Stress, believed that unmanaged stress could create physical problems such as ulcers and high blood pressure, and psychological illnesses such as depression. He hypothesized that stress played a general role in disease by exhausting the body's immune system and termed this phenomenon the _________ __________ ___________ (GAS)

Corporate Athlete

Harnessing stress's ability to improve our body's performance. If professionals trained their minds and bodies to perform at peak levels through better nutrition, focused training, and positive action, they could become ____________ ________________ working at optimal physical, emotional, and mental levels.

*Workplace Stressors* Possible written part of exam. "Know 2 workplace stressors and give an example of each."

*Role Ambiguity:* Not sure what exactly you are supposed to be doing. Ex: New employee that was not given a proper orientation. *Role Conflict:* Ex: "work faster and do better work."

Most Influential Factor for Creating an Ethical Culture

*Leadership -* Leaders, by demonstrating high levels of honesty and integrity in their actions, can model the behaviors that are demanded in an organization.

Outcomes Associated With High Levels of Emotional Intelligence

"What am I feeling? And what do others feel?" These questions form the heart of ___________ ____________. In the workplace, those high in _____________ _____________ have been found to have higher self-efficacy in coping with adversity, perceive situations as challenges rather than threats, and have higher life satisfaction, which can all help lower stress levels. *Self-awareness* exists when you are able to accurately perceive, evaluate, and display appropriate emotions. *Self-management* exists when you are able to direct your emotions in a positive way when needed. *Social awareness* exists when you are able to understand how others feel. *Relationship management* exists when you are able to help others manage their own emotions and truly establish supportive relationships with others.

Videos Watched

* 60 Minutes - H1B Visas. Outsourcing American jobs to cheaper foreign labor. * Optimizing Virtual Teams - it was about MBA students on different sides of the country that had to do a negotiation without ever having spoken but for email. It went bad. When they were allowed to have a 5 min phone call, and then only email, it went much more smoothly. Especially if they had a thumbnail picture of somebody. *Wallmart - Watched weird video clips of wallmart managers getting their teams pumped up with chants. Relates to "Rituals" under "Visual Elements of Culture" in Ch. 15. *Watched Go Pro video: Company Culture - Person/Organization Fit. In the video a guy has a gopro on his head and is dribbling a soccer ball around the office and playing around with other employees.

3 Levels of Company Culture

*Artifacts* are things that we can see. Visible, tangible aspects of organizational culture. *Values* harder to see. Shared principles, standards, and goals. *Assumptions* are difficult to see. They are taken for granted, and they reflect beliefs about human nature and reality.

Methods for Assisting Employees In Dealing With Stress

*Autonomy:* Research shows that individuals who feel a greater sense of control at work deal with stress more effectively *Fair Work Environment:* Work environments that are unfair and unpredictable have been labeled "toxic workplaces." A toxic workplace is one in which a company does not value its employees or treat them fairly. *Social Support:* Individuals can reach out to others to have a connection, but organizations can also facilitate relationship development and camaraderie. Having a supportive manager is perhaps the key resource when it comes to dealing with work-related stress, so the careful selection and training of managers is an effective stress management technique. *Telecommuting:* Being able to work away from the office is one option that can decrease stress for some employees. *Training:* Job-related training is useful to build feelings of efficacy. *Sabbaticals:* (paid time off from the normal routine at work) have long been a sacred ritual practiced by universities to help faculty stay current, work on large research projects, and recharge every five to eight years. *Employee Assistance Programs:* offered to workers as an adjunct to a company-provided health care plan. Small companies in particular use outside employee assistance programs, because they don't have the needed expertise in-house. offer help in dealing with crises in the workplace and beyond. EAPs are often used to help workers who have substance abuse problems. *Wellness Programs:* promote employee health. These programs may include gym memberships, free health screenings, weight loss programs, and smoking cessation programs. **Accronym--> FASTESTW**

How Are Organizational Cultures Created and Maintained?

*Culture Creation* A company's culture, particularly during its early years, is inevitably tied to the personality, background, and values of its *founder* or founders, as well as their vision for the future of the organization. *Industry characteristics* and demands act as a force to create similarities among organizational cultures. *Culture Maintenance* First, employees are *attracted* to organizations where they will fit in. Many companies, when *selecting*, are hiring people for fit with their culture, as opposed to fit with a certain job (Person Organization Fit). The organization is going to eventually eliminate candidates who do not fit in through *attrition*.

*Possible essay question* Name/Describe 2 Barriers to Effective Communication w/examples

*Semantics:* The meaning of a word or phrase. - Ex: He's in our AOR. Send me a SitRep when you guys are done pulling him in. That just a bunch of crazy letters to most people, but in the military it simply means that the person is in our area of responsibility and I would like a situational report once things are done. *Selective Perception:* The personal filtering of what we see and hear to suit our own needs. - Ex: a teacher may have a favorite student because they are biased by in-group favoritism. The teacher ignores the student's poor attainment. Conversely, they might not notice the progress of their least favorite student.

Steps for Creating Culture Change

1. Create a sense of urgency 2. Change leaders and other key players 3. Role model 4. Train 5. Change the reward system 6. Create new stories and symbols

Cognitive Dissonance

A mismatch among emotions, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior.

Mission Statement

A statement of purpose, describing who the company is and what it does. *Factors that influence its effectiveness:* - When it reflects who the company wants to be and not who they are. - If it does not affect employee behavior on a day-to-day basis, it has little use.

Different Types of Organizational Cultures

Acronym: ADOPT-SI

Workplace Gossip

Also known as the grapevine, is a lifeline for many employees seeking information about their company. Researchers agree that the grapevine is an inevitable part of organizational life, with 70% of all organizational communication occurring at the grapevine level. Characteristics: * Lacks a specific sender * Often volatile * Creates distrust

Emotional Labor

Refers to the regulation of feelings and expressions for organizational purposes: - *Surface acting* requires an individual to exhibit physical signs, such as smiling, that reflect emotions customers want to experience. - *Deep acting* takes surface acting one step further. This time, instead of faking an emotion that a customer may want to see, an employee will actively try to experience the emotion they are displaying. This genuine attempt at empathy helps align the emotions one is experiencing with the emotions one is displaying. - *Genuine acting* occurs when individuals are asked to display emotions that are aligned with their own.

How to Improve Listening Skills

Repeating and confirming * Paraphrase * Don't multitask while listening * Empathise * Ask questions * Establish eye contact * Ask yourself what the goal of this conversation is * Pay attention to what is not said

Counterculture

Shared values and beliefs that are in direct opposition to the values of the broader organizational culture, often shaped around a charismatic leader. Ex: homeschooling families and militant groups who rebel against government control.

Options for Companies to Alleviate Work-family Conflict

Telecommuting. Put a cap on allowable hours one can work in a week. Flexible scheduling. Supportive managers that are considerate of family life.

Communication Style Differences Between Genders

Women may be speaking less in high-stakes communication events such as meetings because there may be a backlash against women who are perceived to speak more than others, which does not exist for men who dominate conversations. Women tend to withhold their opinions more in meetings, and what they perceive as "passion" in these conversations is often perceived as "too much emotion" by men. Less likely to be dominant or assertive in communications.

Role Overload

having insufficient time and resources to complete a job. When an organization downsizes, the remaining employees will have to complete the tasks that were previously performed by the laid-off workers, which often leads to ________ _________________.

Role Ambiguity

refers to vagueness in relation to what our responsibilities are. If you have started a new job and felt unclear about what you were expected to do, you have experienced _______ ________________