Exam 2-MAN3025

authentic leadership approach

"Effective leaders must stay true to themselves." This approach embraces this value: its key advice is "be yourself." Individuals all have different backgrounds, different life experiences, and different role models. Events over the course of our lifetime shape our values, preferences, and priorities. Instead of trying to follow societal expectations about what a leader should be like, act like, or look like, these leaders derive their strength from their own past experiences. Thus, one key characteristic of these leaders is that they are self-aware. They are introspective, understand where they are coming from, and have a thorough understanding of their own values and priorities. Second, they are not afraid to be themselves. Ex. Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks coffeehouses. As a child, Schultz witnessed the job-related difficulties his father experienced because of medical problems. Even though he had no idea he would have his own business one day, the desire to protect people was shaped in those years and became one of his foremost values. When he founded Starbucks, he became an industry pioneer in providing health insurance and retirement coverage to part-time as well as full-time employees.

Communication fulfills three main functions within an organization:

(1) transmitting information, (2) coordinating effort, and (3) sharing emotions and feelings. All these functions are vital to a successful organization.

Communication can be categorized into three basic types:

(1) verbal communication, in which you listen to a person to understand their meaning; (2) written communication, in which you read their meaning; and (3) nonverbal communication, in which you observe a person and infer meaning. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

OB Mod

(Organizational Behavior Modification) A systematic application of reinforcement theory to modify employee behaviors in the workplace.

Transformational leaders have four tools in their possession

(which they use to influence employees and create commitment to the company goals); charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration

compensation based on shared outcomes

*blank* of individuals must be based primarily on a shared outcome, not individual performance.

Here are some of the criteria that individuals may use when deciding whether to filter a Message or pass it on:

-Past experience. Was the Sender rewarded or criticized for passing along news of this kind in the past? -Knowledge, perception of the speaker. Has the Receiver's direct superior made it clear that "no news is good news"? -Emotional state, involvement with the topic, level of attention. Does the Sender's fear of failure or criticism prevent him from conveying the Message? Is the topic within his realm of expertise, increasing his confidence in his ability to decode it, or is he out of his comfort zone when it comes to evaluating the Message's significance? Are personal concerns impacting his ability to judge the Message's value?

The fundamental factors affecting group cohesion include the following:

-Similarity=the more similar group members are in terms of age, sex, education, skills, attitudes, values, and beliefs, the more likely the group will bond. -Stability=the longer a group stays together, the more cohesive it becomes. -Size=smaller groups tend to have higher levels of cohesion. -Support=when group members receive coaching and are encouraged to support their fellow team members, group identity strengthens. -Satisfaction=cohesion is correlated with how pleased group members are with one another's performance, behavior, and conformity to group norms.

Questions that can help to create a meaningful team contract include the following:

-Team values and goals=What are our shared team values? What is our team goal? -Team roles and leadership=Who does what within this team? (Who takes notes at the meeting? Who sets the agenda? Who assigns tasks? Who runs the meetings?) Does the team have a formal leader? If so, what are his or her roles? -Team decision making=How are minor decisions made? How are major decisions made? -Team communication= Who do you contact if you cannot make a meeting? Who communicates with whom? How often will the team meet? -Team performance=What constitutes good team performance? What if a team member tries hard but does not seem to be producing quality work? How will poor attendance/work quality be managed?

team contract

A contract that includes agreements on established ground rules, goals, and roles.

strong culture

A culture that is shared by organizational members.

SMART

A goal that is specific, measurable, aggressive/achievable, realistic, and timely.

Groupthink

A group pressure phenomenon that increases the risk of the group making flawed decisions by allowing reductions in mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment.

Job enrichment

A job redesign technique that allows workers more control over how they perform their own tasks.

Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing Model

A model proposed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965 involving a four-stage map of group evolution.

job characteristics model

A model that describes five core job dimensions leading to three critical psychological states, which lead to work-related outcomes.

formal orientation program

A program used to indoctrinate new employees to the company culture, as well as introducing them to their new jobs and colleagues.

jargon

A specific set of acronyms or words unique to a specific group or profession.

outcome interdependence

A time when rewards that an individual receives depend on the performance of others.

product development teams

A type of team that may be either temporary or ongoing.

wildstorming

A variation of brainstorming, where the group focuses on ideas that are impossible and then imagines what would need to happen to make them possible.

Extraversion

Being outgoing, talkative, sociable, and enjoying social situations

job specialization

Breaking down tasks to their simplest components and assigning them to employees so that each person would perform few tasks in a repetitive manner.,

ERG theory

Clayton Alderfer is a modification of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Instead of the five needs that are hierarchically organized, Alderfer proposed that basic human needs may be grouped under three categories: existence, relatedness, and growth.

Idea generation tasks

Creative tasks such as brainstorming a new direction or creating a new process.

People-oriented cultures

Cultures that value fairness, supportiveness, and respecting individual rights.

nonprogrammed decisions

Decisions that are unique and important require conscious thinking, information gathering, and careful consideration of alternatives. For example, Netflix was widely criticized in 2011 for increasing their prices to include differential pricing for streaming services compared to disc delivery services. For a time, it seemed Netflix was destined to bankruptcy. Yet, they created a dramatic turnaround through their decision to create their own content, which has grown to include a number of top rated shows.

Decision trees

Diagrams where answers to yes or no questions lead decision makers to address additional questions until they reach the end of the tree.

Job enlargement

Expanding the tasks performed by employees to add more variety.

Researchers focus on three factors to evaluate the level of creativity in the decision-making process.

Fluency, flexibility, originality

Two-Factor Theory of Motivation

Frederick Herzberg approached the question of motivation from a slightly different perspective by asking individuals what satisfies them on the job and what dissatisfies them. Herzberg came to the conclusion that aspects of the work environment that satisfy employees are very different from aspects that dissatisfy them. Herzberg labeled factors causing dissatisfaction of workers as "hygiene" factors because these factors were part of the context in which the job was performed, as opposed to the job itself.

sequential interdependence

If one person's output becomes another person's input, the team would be experiencing this.

Written Communication

In contrast to verbal communications, written business communications are printed messages. Examples: include memos, proposals, e-mails, letters, training manuals, and operating policies. They may be printed on paper, handwritten, or appear on the screen. Normally, a verbal communication takes place in real time. This, by contrast, can be constructed over a longer period of time. This is often asynchronous (occurring at different times).

entitleds

Individuals who expect to receive a lot without giving much in return.

Group decision support systems (GDSS)

Interactive computer-based systems that are able to combine communication and decision technologies to help groups make better decisions.

job rotation

Moving employees from job to job at regular intervals.

Job crafting

Proactive changes employees make in their own job descriptions.

idea quotas

Research shows that the quantity of ideas actually leads to better idea quality in the end, so setting high *this* where the group must reach a set number of ideas before they are done is recommended to avoid process loss and to maximize the effectiveness of brainstorming.

counterculture

Shared values and beliefs that are in direct opposition to the values of the broader organizational culture.

knowledge management systems

Systems for managing knowledge in organizations, supporting creation, capture, storage, and dissemination of information.

Top management teams

Teams that are appointed by the chief executive officer (CEO) and, ideally, reflect the skills and areas that the CEO considers vital for the company.

cross-functional teams

Teams that involve individuals from different parts of the organization staff.

Traditional or manager-led teams

Teams where the manager serves as the team leader.

decision rule

The automated response we use to make programmed decisions. For example, many restaurants face customer complaints as a routine part of doing business. Because this is a recurring problem for restaurants, it may be regarded as a programmed decision. To deal with this problem, the restaurant might have a policy stating that every time they receive a valid customer complaint, the customer should receive a free dessert.

analysis paralysis

The availability of too much information and too many choices can lead to *this*, where more and more time is spent on gathering information and thinking about it, but no decisions actually get made.

trust

The belief that the other party will show integrity, fairness, and predictability in one's actions toward the other.

Procedural justice

The degree to which fair decision-making procedures are used to arrive at a decision.

Interactional justice

The degree to which people are treated with respect, kindness, and dignity in interpersonal interactions.

Distributive justice

The degree to which the outcomes received from the organization are fair.

instrumentality

The degree to which the person believes that performance is related to secondary outcomes such as rewards.

Autonomy

The degree to which the person has the freedom to decide how to perform one's tasks.

Task identity

The degree to which the person is in charge of completing an identifiable piece of work from start to finish.

Feedback

The degree to which the person learns how effective he or she is being at work.

Task significance

The degree to which the person's job substantially affects other people's work, health, or well-being.

need for power

The desire to influence others and control their environment.

Fiedler's Contingency Theory

The earliest and one of the most influential contingency theories was developed by Frederick Fiedler. According to the theory, a leader's style is measured by a scale called Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale. People who are filling out this survey are asked to think of a person who is their least preferred coworker. Then they rate this person in terms of how friendly, nice, and cooperative this person is. Imagine someone you do not enjoy working with. If you can say that the person you disliked working with the most was still a nice person, you would have a high LPC score. This suggests that you have a people-oriented personality and you can separate your liking of a person from your ability to work with that person. However, if you think that the person you hated working with was also someone you did not like on a personal level, you would have a low LPC score. To you, being unable to work with someone would mean that you also dislike that person. In other words, you are a task-oriented person. The leader's style is assumed to be fixed and only the environment can be changed.

expectancy

The extent to which a person believes that high levels of effort will lead to outcomes of interest such as performance or success.

Skill variety

The extent to which the job requires the person to use multiple high-level skills.

motivators

The factors that are intrinsic to the job, such as achievement, recognition, interesting work, increased responsibilities, advancement, and growth opportunities.

Hygiene factors

The factors that include company policies, supervision, working conditions, salary, safety, and security on the job.

adjourning

The fifth and final stage of the Tuckman model.

grapevine

The informal gossip network within a given organization.

collaborative action

The key properties of a true team include this where, along with a common goal, teams have collaborative tasks. Conversely, in a group, individuals are responsible only for their own area.

high need for affiliation

The need to be liked and accepted by others.

reciprocal interdependence

The point at which team members work on each task simultaneously.

Punishment

The presentation of negative consequences following unwanted behaviors.

onboarding

The process through which new employees learn the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behaviors required to function effectively within an organization.

decodes

The receiver *blank* the message by assigning meaning to the words. James may translate the manager's message as, "I need to stay late and finish this report tonight. I need to let my sister know that I can't attend her birthday dinner tonight."

Extinction

The removal of rewards following negative behavior. occurs when a behavior ceases as a result of receiving no reinforcement

encodes

The sender *blank* the message, translating the idea into words. The manager may communicate this thought by saying, "James, I can't believe we are not done with this report already. Our relationship with the client is on the line. Please make sure that this gets done. "

Norming

The stage in which participants find it easy to establish their own ground rules (or norms) and define their operating procedures and goals. Feeling energized, group members are now ready to get to work. Finding themselves more cohesive and cooperative, participants find it easy to establish their own ground rules (or norms) and define their operating procedures and goals. The group tends to make big decisions, while subgroups or individuals handle the smaller decisions. It is hoped at this point the group members are more open and respectful toward each other and willing to ask one another for both help and feedback. They may even begin to form friendships and share more personal information.

punctuated equilibrium

The theory that change within groups occurs in rapid, radical spurts rather than gradually over time.

valence

The value of the rewards awaiting the person as a result of performance.

medium

The way that a Sender's Message is conveyed; *blank* of this encoded message may be spoken words, written words, or signs

Barriers to Effective Communication

These include filtering, selective perception, information overload, emotional disconnects, lack of source familiarity or credibility, workplace gossip, semantics, gender differences, differences in meaning between Sender and Receiver, and biased language.

Pooled interdependence

This exists when team members may work independently and simply combine their efforts to create the team's output. For example, when students meet to divide the sections of a research paper and one person assembles the sections together to create one paper, the team is using the pooled interdependence model. However, they might decide that it makes more sense to start with one person writing the introduction of their research paper, then the second person reads what was written by the first person and, drawing from this section, writes about the findings within the paper. Using the findings section, the third person writes the conclusions.

Existence

This need corresponds to Maslow's physiological and safety needs.

Relatedness

This need corresponds to social needs.

Growth

This need refers to Maslow's esteem and self-actualization.

Transactional leaders

Those leaders who ensure that employees demonstrate the right behaviors because the leader provides resources in exchange

Transformational leaders

Those leaders who lead employees by aligning employee goals with the leader's goals

group

a collection of individuals who interact with each other such that one person's actions have an impact on the others. In organizations, most work by necessity is done within groups. How groups function has important implications for organizational productivity. Groups where people get along, feel the desire to contribute, and are capable of coordinating their efforts may have high performance levels, whereas those characterized by extreme levels of conflict or hostility may demoralize members of the workforce.

Self-managed teams

a new form of team that rose in popularity with the Total Quality Movement in the 1980s. Unlike manager-led teams, these teams manage themselves and do not report directly to a supervisor. Instead, team members select their own leader, and they may even take turns in the leadership role. Is also have the power to select new team members. As a whole, the team shares responsibility for a significant task, such as assembly of an entire car. The task is ongoing rather than temporary such as a charity fund drive for a given year.

Equity theory

a theory that states that people will be motivated when they perceive that they are being treated fairly.

Noise

anything that interferes with or distorts the message being transformed. This can be external in the environment (such as distractions) or it can be within the receiver. For example, the receiver may be extremely nervous and unable to pay attention to the message. In our example, James may have interpreted his deadline as being shorter than the manager intended because of his lack of experience with the manager's communication style, past conflicts about timeliness, or a desire to make a good impression. This can even occur within the sender: The sender may be unwilling to take the time to convey an accurate message, or the words that are chosen can be ambiguous and prone to misinterpretation.

servant leadership

approach defines the leader's role as serving the needs of others. According to this approach, the primary mission of the leader is to develop employees and help them reach their goals. These leaders put their employees first, understand their personal needs and desires, empower them, and help them develop in their careers.

detail-oriented culture

are characterized in the OCP framework as emphasizing precision and attention to details. Such a culture gives a competitive advantage to companies in the hospitality industry by helping them differentiate themselves from others. For example, Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton are among hotels who keep records of all customer requests such as which newspaper the guest prefers or what type of pillow the customer uses. This information is put into a computer system and used to provide better service to returning customers. Any requests hotel employees receive, as well as overhear, might be entered into the database to serve customers better.

team-oriented culture

are collaborative and emphasize cooperation among employees. For example, Southwest Airlines facilitates a team-oriented culture by cross-training its employees so that they are capable of helping one another when needed. The company also emphasizes training intact work teams.

innovative cultures

are flexible and adaptable, and experiment with new ideas. These companies are characterized by a flat hierarchy and titles and other status distinctions tend to be downplayed. For example, Apple has been named by Fast Company magazine as one of the most innovative companies in the world. While they do not invent new technology, the innovations they introduced to personal computers, mobile phones, and tablets, with products such as the iPhone and iPad, changed the daily life of consumers and created entire industries working on Apple platforms. This is a culture that values accountability and agility.

Informal work groups

are made up of two or more individuals who are associated with one another in ways not prescribed by the formal organization. For example, a few people in the company who get together to play tennis on the weekend would be considered an informal group.

Stable cultures

are predictable, rule-oriented, and bureaucratic. When the environment is stable and certain, these cultures may help the organization to be effective by providing stable and constant levels of direction and output. These cultures prevent quick action and, as a result, may be a misfit to a changing and dynamic environment.

informal leaders

are without a formal position of authority within the organization but demonstrate leadership by influencing others through personal forms of power.

Expectancy theory

argues that individual motivation to put forth more or less effort is determined by a rational calculation. According to this theory, individuals ask themselves three questions.

Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey's Situational Leadership Theory (SLT)

argues that leaders must use different leadership styles depending on their followers' development level. According to this model, employee readiness (defined as a combination of their competence and commitment levels) is the key factor determining the proper leadership style. This approach has been highly popular with 14 million managers across 42 countries undergoing SLT training and 70% of Fortune 500 companies employing its use.

outcome-oriented cultures

as emphasizing achievement, results, and action as important values. A good example of an outcome-oriented culture may be the electronics retailer Best Buy. Having a culture emphasizing sales performance, Best Buy tallies revenues and other relevant figures daily by department. Employees are trained and mentored to sell company products effectively, and they learn how much money their department made every day.

Active listening

as giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. creates a real-time relationship between the Sender and the Receiver by acknowledging the content and receipt of a Message.

Robert House's path-goal theory of leadership

based on the expectancy theory of motivation. Expectancy theory of motivation suggests that employees are motivated when they believe—or expect—that (1) their effort will lead to high performance, (2) their high performance will be rewarded, and (3) the rewards they will receive are valuable to them. the leader's main job is to make sure that all three of these conditions exist. Thus, leaders will create satisfied and high-performing employees by making sure that employee effort leads to performance, and their performance is rewarded. The leader removes roadblocks along the way and creates an environment that subordinates find motivational. It underlines the importance of varying one's style, depending on the situation.

Charisma

behaviors leaders demonstrate that create confidence, commitment, and admiration to the leader. These individuals have a "magnetic" personality that is appealing to followers. Ex. the late Steve Jobs of Apple.

Agreeableness

being affable, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, and warm

Neuroticism

being anxious, irritable, temperamental, and moody

Openness

being curious, original, intellectual, creative, and open to new ideas

Conscientiousness

being organized, systematic, punctual, achievement oriented, and dependable

Sharing emotions and feelings

bonds teams and unites people in times of celebration and crisis.

Information overload

can be defined as "occurring when the information processing demands on an individual's time to perform interactions and internal calculations exceed the supply or capacity of time available for such processing." Experts note that *this* is "A symptom of the high-tech age, which is too much information for one human being to absorb in an expanding world of people and technology. The sources of *this* include TV, newspapers, and magazines as well as wanted and unwanted regular mail, e-mail, and faxes. It has been exacerbated enormously because of the formidable number of results obtained from Web search engines."

Lack of source familiarity or credibility

can derail communications, especially when humor is involved. Sarcasm and irony are subtle and have a high potential to be misunderstood. Lack of familiarity with the source of a joke can lead to misinterpreting humor, especially in less rich information channels like e-mail.

Biased language

can offend or stereotype others on the basis of their personal or group affiliation.

creator role

deals more with changes in the team's task process structure. For example, reframing the team goals and looking at the context of goals would fall under this role.

Tactical decisions

decisions about how things will get done. For example, issuing a coupon to increase sales would fall into this category. Managers make these decisions.

Operational decisions

decisions that employees make each day to run the organization. Helping serve customer needs through routine interactions or order fulfillment would be an example of this type of decision. Employees throughout the organization make these decisions.

External communications

deliver specific business messages to individuals outside an organization. They may announce changes in staff or strategy, earnings, and more. The goal is to create a specific Message that the Receiver will understand and share with others. Examples: press releases, ads, Web pages, and customer communications

rational decision-making model

describes a series of steps that decision makers should consider if their goal is to maximize the quality of their outcomes. Is best applied to major decisions where the costs are high and the consequences of different decision outcomes are significant. For example, the model can be applied to the decision to purchase a new car. Step 1 involves the recognition that a new vehicle is needed. Step 2 involves selecting factors that are important, such as fuel economy, cost, and number of passengers that the vehicle can accommodate comfortably. Step 3 involves deciding how important each factor is in the decision outcome. For example, if price and gas mileage are key factors, they might outweigh other factors, with color or other options given medium or low importance. Step 4 requires generation of all alternatives concerning options. In step 5, information is used to evaluate each alternative against established criteria. Step 6 involves selecting the most attractive alternative. Step 7 involves executing the decision by completing the car purchase. Step 8 entails evaluating the decision; if you purchase a car and have a good experience, you are more likely to buy another car of the same model and manufacturer.

crucial conversations

discussions in which not only are the stakes high but opinions vary and emotions run strong. One of the most consistent recommendations from communications experts is to work toward using "and" instead of "but" as you communicate under these circumstances. In addition, be aware of your communication style and practice flexibility; it is under stressful situations that communication styles can become the most rigid.

democratic decision making

employees participate in the making of the decision

transactional leaders

ensure that employees demonstrate the right behaviors because the leader provides resources in exchange.

Intelligence

general mental ability has been related to a person's likelihood of emerging as a leader within a group

Emotional disconnects

happen when the Sender or the Receiver is upset, whether about the subject at hand or about some unrelated incident that may have happened earlier. Effective communication requires a Sender and a Receiver who are open to speaking and listening to one another, despite possible differences in opinion or personality. One or both parties may have to put their emotions aside to achieve the goal of communicating clearly. A Receiver who is emotionally upset tends to ignore or distort what the Sender is saying. A Sender who is emotionally upset may be unable to present ideas or feelings effectively.

Storytelling

has been shown to be an effective form of verbal communication; it serves an important organizational function by helping to construct common meanings for individuals within the organization. Stories can help clarify key values and help demonstrate cultural norms and expectations within an organization, and story frequency, strength, and tone are related to higher organizational commitment.

intuitive decision-making model

has emerged as an important decision-making model. It refers to arriving at decisions without conscious reasoning. Eighty-nine percent of managers surveyed admitted to using intuition to make decisions at least sometimes, and 59% said they used intuition often. When we recognize that managers often need to make decisions under challenging circumstances with time pressures, constraints, it makes sense that they would not have the time to formally work through all the steps of the rational decision-making model.

Path-goal theory of leadership

identifies four styles leaders may adopt. Directive, Supportive, Participative, Achievement-oriented leaders

sacrifice for the common good

in which individuals give up scarce resources for the common good instead of competing for those resources. For example, teams occur in sports such as soccer and basketball, in which the individuals actively help each other, forgo their own chance to score by passing the ball, and win or lose collectively as a team.

judgments about correlation and causality bias

include (1) correlation (Do sales increase when employees are satisfied? Do sales decrease when employees are dissatisfied?), (2) temporal order (Does an increase in employee satisfaction occur before sales increase?), and (3) ruling out other potential causes (Is something else causing increases in both satisfaction of employees and firm sales?).

Production tasks

include actually making something, such as a building, a product, or a marketing plan.

People-oriented leader behaviors

include showing concern for employee feelings and treating employees with respect. Ex. listening to employees and acting in a teaching role. They genuinely care about the well-being of their employees and they demon

critic role

includes "devil's advocate" behaviors, which go against the assumptions being made by the team.

communicator role

includes behaviors that are targeted at collaboration such as practicing good listening skills and appropriately using humor to defuse tense situations. Having a good communicator helps the team to feel more open to sharing ideas.

contractor role

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

consul role

includes gathering information from the larger organization and informing those within the organization about team activities, goals, and successes. Often the consul role is filled by team managers or leaders.

coordinator role

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

cooperator role

includes supporting those with expertise toward the team's goals. This is a proactive role.

Traits associated with leadership

integrity, intelligence, extraversion, conscientious, open to experience, self-esteem

Task-oriented leader behaviors

involve structuring the roles of subordinates, providing them with instructions, and behaving in ways that will increase the performance of the group. They are directives given to employees to get things done and to ensure that organizational goals are met.

Active management by exception

involves leaving employees to do their jobs without interference, but at the same time proactively predicting potential problems and preventing them from occurring.

Brainstorming

is a group process of generating ideas that follows a set of guidelines that include no criticism of ideas during the brainstorming process, the idea that no suggestion is too crazy, and building on other ideas (piggybacking).

team

is a particular type of group: a cohesive coalition of people working together to achieve mutual goals. Being on this does not equate to a total suppression of personal agendas, but it does require a commitment to the vision and involves each individual working toward accomplishing the team's objective. They differ from other types of groups in that members are focused on a joint goal or product, such as a presentation, discussing a topic, writing a report, creating a new design or prototype, or winning a team competition. Moreover, they also tend to be defined by their relatively smaller size.

Transformational leadership theory

is a relatively recent addition to the management literature, but more research has been conducted on this theory than all the contingency theories of leadership combined. The theory distinguishes between transformational and transactional leaders.

calibrator role

is an important one and serves to keep the team on track in terms of suggesting any needed changes to the team's process. This role includes initiating discussions about potential team problems such as power struggles or other tensions. Similarly, this role may involve settling disagreements or pointing out what is working and what is not in terms of team process.

Consensus

is another decision-making rule that groups may use when the goal is to gain support for an idea or plan of action. While *this* tends to take longer in the first place, it may make sense when support is needed to enact the plan. The process works by discussing the issues, generating a proposal, calling for consensus, and discussing any concerns. If concerns still exist, the proposal is modified to accommodate them. These steps are repeated until consensus is reached. Thus this decision-making rule is inclusive, participatory, cooperative, and democratic. Research shows that *this* can lead to better accuracy, and it helps members feel greater satisfaction with decisions and to have greater acceptance. However, groups take longer with this approach and groups that cannot reach *this* become frustrated.

Process loss

is any aspect of group interaction that inhibits group functioning.

Reinforcement theory

is based on the work Ivan Pavlov conducted on behavioral conditioning and the later work B. F. Skinner performed on operant conditioning. According to reinforcement theory, behavior is a function of its consequences. Imagine that even though no one asked you to, you stayed late and drafted a report. When the manager found out, she was ecstatic and took you out to lunch and thanked you genuinely. The consequences following your good deed were favorable, and therefore you are more likely to do similar good deeds in the future.

contributor role

is important because it brings information and expertise to the team. This role is characterized by sharing knowledge and training those who have less expertise to strengthen the team. Research shows that teams with highly intelligent members and evenly distributed workloads are more effective than those with uneven workloads.

Goal setting theory

is one of the most influential theories of motivation. It has been supported in over 1,000 studies with employees, ranging from blue-collar workers to research and development employees, and there is strong evidence that setting goals is related to performance improvements.

Passive management by exception

is similar in that it involves leaving employees alone, but in this method, the manager waits until something goes wrong before coming to the rescue.

Immersion

is the step in which the decision maker thinks about the problem consciously and gathers information. A key to success in creative decision making is having or acquiring expertise in the area being studied.

Semantics

is the study of meaning in communication. Words can mean different things to different people, or they might not mean anything to other people. For example, companies often have their own acronyms and buzzwords (called business jargon) that are clear to them but impenetrable to outsiders.

Delphi Technique

is unique because it is a group process using written responses to a series of questionnaires instead of physically bringing individuals together to make a decision. The first questionnaire asks individuals to respond to a broad question, such as stating the problem, outlining objectives, or proposing solutions. Each subsequent questionnaire is built from the information gathered in the previous one. The process ends when the group reaches a consensus. Facilitators can decide whether to keep responses anonymous. This process is often used to generate best practices from experts.

Transmitting information

is vital to an organization's ability to function

autocratic decision making

leaders make the decision alone without necessarily involving employees in the decision-making process

laissez-faire decision making

leave employees alone to make the decision; the leader provides minimum guidance and involvement in the decision

formal work group

made up of managers, subordinates, or both with close associations among group members that influence the behavior of individuals in the group.

Participative leaders

make sure that employees are involved in making important decisions. And may be more effective when employees have high levels of ability and when the decisions to be made are personally relevant to them. For employees who have a high internal locus of control, or the belief that they can control their own destinies, participative leadership gives employees a way of indirectly controlling organizational decisions, which will be appreciated.

Verbal communications in business

may take place over the phone, in person, or via video conferencing. With this, the medium of the Message is oral.

Contingent rewards

mean rewarding employees for their accomplishments.

Transformational leaders

motivate employees by aligning employee goals with the leader's goals. Thus, employees working for *this* start focusing on the company's well-being rather than on what is best for them as individual employees.

Escalation of commitment bias

occurs when individuals continue on a failing course of action after information reveals this may be a poor path to follow. It is sometimes called sunk costs fallacy because the continuation is often based on the idea that one has already invested in this course of action. For example, imagine a person purchases a used car that turns out to need another repair every few weeks. An effective way of dealing with this situation might be to sell the car without incurring further losses, donate the car, or drive it without repairing it until it falls apart. However, many people spend hours of their time and hundreds, even thousands, of dollars repairing the car in the hopes that they will justify their initial investment in buying the car.

Hindsight bias

occurs when individuals look backward in time where mistakes made seem obvious after they have already occurred. In other words, after a largely unpredictable event, many individuals are likely to think that they already knew an outcome was going to happen. Once we know the outcome of a situation, it is hard for us to imagine how we would have acted without such knowledge. For example, the term "Monday morning quarterback" has become a common phrase associated with individuals that criticize the decisions of football players in hindsight of games played the previous weekend. Therefore, it is important for decision makers to remember this bias before passing judgments on other people's actions.

Sampling misunderstanding bias

occurs when individuals make generalizations from a small sample (or a single source) of information rather than through large, randomly drawn samples that represent a wide audience. Much of the lack of certainty in political polls is a function of lack of randomness in the sampling used to compile advanced projections. Rumors within the workplace also provide an example of the type of information that could lead to *this*.

Overconfidence bias

occurs when individuals overestimate their ability to predict future events. For example, 82% of surveyed drivers feel they are in the top 30% of safe drivers, 86% of students at the Harvard Business School say they are better looking than their peers, and doctors consistently overestimate their ability to detect problems.

Differences in meaning

often exist between the Sender and Receiver. "Mean what you say, and say what you mean." While this advice may seem straightforward, different words mean different things to different people. Age, education, and cultural background are all factors that influence how a person interprets words. The less we consider our audience, the greater our chances of miscommunication will be. When communication occurs in a cross-cultural context, extra caution is needed given that different words will be interpreted differently across cultures and different cultures have different norms regarding nonverbal communication. Eliminating jargon is one way of ensuring that our words will convey real-world concepts to others.

crowdsourcing

outsourcing a problem to a crowd. This process enlists the help of experts, amateurs, and those with a passion for problem solving. For example, Netflix announced in 2006 that they would pay $1 million to someone who would improve the match between their movie recommendations and customers' own ratings. The winning team improved Netflix's own recommendation algorithm by more than 10% and was awarded the cash prize in 2009. Companies are using *this* for identifying new markets and new trends, solving complex technical problems, and generating ideas for specific problems.

Performing

participants are not only getting the work done, but they also pay greater attention to how they are doing it. They ask such questions as, "Do our operating procedures best support productivity and quality assurance? Do we have suitable means for addressing differences that arise so we can preempt destructive conflicts? Are we relating to and communicating with each other in ways that enhance group dynamics and help us achieve our goals? How can I further develop as a person to become more effective?" By now, the group has matured, becoming more competent, autonomous, and insightful. Group leaders can finally move into coaching roles and help members grow in skill and leadership. These leadership shifts are essential for managers enacting the Leadership function to keep in mind. In fact, a manager who leads multiple teams may find it necessary to shift leadership styles not only over time but between teams at different stages.

Public relations

professionals create external communications about a client's product, services, or practices for specific Receivers. These Receivers, it is hoped, will share the Message with others. In time, as the Message is passed along, it should appear to be independent of the Sender, creating the illusion of an independently generated consumer trend, public opinion, and so on.

Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory

proposes that the type of relationship leaders have with their followers (members of the organization) is the key to understanding how leaders influence employees. Leaders form different types of relationships with their employees.

Supportive leaders

provide emotional support to employees. They treat employees well, care about them on a personal level, and are encouraging. And is predicted to be effective when employees are under a lot of stress or when they are performing boring and repetitive jobs. When employees know exactly how to perform their jobs but their jobs are unpleasant, supportive leadership may also be effective.

Directive leaders

provide specific directions to their employees. They lead employees by clarifying role expectations, setting schedules, and making sure that employees know what to do on a given workday. The theory predicts that the directive style will work well when employees are experiencing role ambiguity on the job. If people are unclear about how to go about doing their jobs, giving them specific directions will motivate them. However, if employees already have role clarity, and if they are performing boring, routine, and highly structured jobs, giving them direction does not help.

bounded rationality model

recognizes the limitations of decision-making processes. According to this model, individuals knowingly limit their options to a manageable set and choose the best alternative without conducting an exhaustive search for alternatives.

Problem-solving tasks

refer to coming up with plans for actions and making decisions, both facets of managerial P-O-L-C functions (planning and leading). For example, a team may be charged with coming up with a new marketing slogan, which is an idea generation task, while another team might be asked to manage an entire line of products, including making decisions about products to produce, managing the production of the product lines, marketing them, and staffing their division. The second team has all three types of tasks to accomplish at different points in time.

Fundamental attribution error

refers to a bias that exists when individuals emphasize personality or other internal characteristics in the behavior of others. For example, they may have stayed up later, been sick, or experienced some other life event that they associate with the poor test performance. On the other hand, the same student might be more likely to make generalizations regarding a poor-performing peer such as asserting the student is simply lazy or less intelligent.

Majority rule

refers to a decision-making rule where each member of the group is given a single vote, and the option that receives the greatest number of votes is selected. This technique has remained popular, perhaps because of its simplicity, speed, ease of use, and representational fairness.

Collective efficacy

refers to a group's perception of its ability to successfully perform well. A group with high *blank* is one whose members share a belief in the group's capability to pursue its agreed-upon course of action and attain its goals. s influenced by a number of factors, including watching others ("that group did it and we're better than them"), verbal persuasion ("we can do this"), and how a person feels ("this is a good group"). Research shows that a group's collective efficacy is positively related to its performance. In addition, this relationship is stronger when task interdependence (the degree an individual's task is linked to someone else's work) is high rather than low.

Satisficing

refers to a situation in which individuals select the first acceptable alternative instead of seeking the best possible decision. While this bias might actually be desirable when making simple decisions such as what to wear during an informal event, it can be problematic during big decisions such as choosing between competing job offers or making a major purchase with long-term impact such as a home or car.

Availability bias

refers to a situation where information that is more readily available is seen as more likely to occur. For example, an illustrative study asked participants if they thought individuals were more likely to die of auto accidents or stomach cancer and, if so, by how much. Most people reported that auto accidents caused more deaths—likely because auto accidents are reported more in the news compared to stomach cancer fatalities at a rate of more than 100 to 1. While stomach cancer is more likely to result in death, such fatalities are much less likely to be reported (thus made available) in the press so individuals are exposed to such news less.

satisfice

refers to accepting the first alternative that meets your minimum criteria. ex. students looking for an apartment to rent for the academic year may be willing to take the first one that meets acceptable criteria of being clean, close to campus, and within a certain price range.

Originality

refers to an idea's uniqueness.

Selective perception

refers to filtering information to suit our own needs. This process is often unconscious. Is a necessary tool that provides efficiency in a complex culture, but it can also lead to mistakes in communication.

Flexibility

refers to how different the ideas are from one another.

decision making

refers to making a choice among alternative courses of action (including avoiding making a decision). While it can be argued that management is *this*, half of the decisions made by managers within organizations lead to negative outcomes. Therefore, increasing effectiveness in *this* is an important part of maximizing effectiveness at work. For example, the decisions made by executives and consulting firms for Enron ultimately resulted in a $60 billion loss for investors, thousands of employees without jobs, and the loss of all employee retirement funds.

Task interdependence

refers to the degree that team members depend on one another to get information, support, or materials from other team members to be effective. Research shows that self-managing teams are most effective when their tasks are highly interdependent.

Fluency

refers to the number of ideas a person is able to generate.

Anchoring and adjustment bias

refers to the tendency for individuals to rely too heavily on arbitrary numbers or irrelevant facts when making decisions.

Framing bias

refers to the tendency of decision makers to be influenced by the way a situation or problem is presented. For example, when making a purchase, customers find it easier to let go of a discount as opposed to accepting a surcharge, even though they both might cost the person the same amount of money.

Integrity

research also shows that people who are effective as leaders tend to have a moral compass and demonstrate honesty and *this*. Ex. agreeable people who are modest, good natured, and avoid conflict are less likely to be perceived as leaders, as they may be perceived as naive or passive.

Achievement-oriented leaders

set goals for employees and encourage them to reach their goals. Their style challenges employees and focuses their attention on work-related goals. This style is likely to be effective when employees have both high levels of ability and high levels of achievement motivation.

Strategic decisions

set the course for organization. Changing *this* or introducing a new product that requires years of development would represent a strategic decision. Top management teams, CEOs, and Board of Directors make these decisions.

formal leaders

some leaders hold a position of authority and may use the power that comes from their position to influence others

verification and application

stage happens when the decision maker consciously verifies the feasibility of the solution and implements the decision.

Sender

such as a manager, coworker, or customer, originates the message with a thought. For example, the manager's thought could be "We need to complete this report this week. We took more time than we promised to the client "

Communication

supports each of a manager's P-O-L-C functions as the ability to effectively communicate is a necessary condition for successfully planning, organizing, leading, and controlling; is vital to coordinating actions and articulating goals. Effective *blank* helps people grasp issues, build rapport with coworkers, and achieve consensus.

Virtual teams

teams in which members are not located in the same physical place. They may work in different cities, states, or even different countries. Some virtual teams are formed by necessity, such as to take advantage of lower labor costs in different countries; one study found that upward of 8.4 million individuals worldwide work virtually in at least one team.

task force

that addresses a specific issue or problem until it is resolved.

trust

the belief that the leader will show integrity, fairness, and predictability in his or her dealings with others.

Cohesion

the degree of camaraderie within the group.

Filtering

the distortion or withholding of information to manage a person's reactions. Some examples include a manager who keeps her division's poor sales figures from her boss, the vice president, fearing that the bad news will make him angry. The old saying, "Don't shoot the messenger!" illustrates the tendency of message Receivers to vent their negative response to unwanted Messages on the Sender. A gatekeeper (the vice president's assistant, perhaps) who doesn't pass along a complete Message is also *this*. The vice president may delete the e-mail announcing the quarter's sales figures before reading it, blocking the Message before it arrives. This prevents members of an organization from getting a complete picture of reality.

Forming

the first stage of team development, in which team members meet each other, form initial impressions, and begin to establish team norms. there is a level of formality, some anxiety, and a degree of guardedness as group members are not sure how they will fit into the group or how work will be conducted. Because of the large amount of uncertainty, members tend to be polite, conflict avoidant, and observant.

incubation

the individual sets the problem aside and does not think about it for a while. At this time, the brain is actually working on the problem unconsciously.

illumination

the insight moment, when the solution to the problem becomes apparent to the person, usually when it is least expected.

low-quality LMX relationships

the leader and the member have lower levels of trust, liking, and respect toward each other. The classic business film, Office Space, profiles the poor relationship between Joanna and her manager Stan at fictitious restaurant Chotchkie's. These relationships do not have to involve actively disliking each other, but the leader and member do not go beyond their formal job descriptions in their exchanges. In other words, the member does his or her job, the leader provides rewards and punishments, and the relationship does not involve high levels of loyalty or obligation toward each other.

high-quality LMX relationships

the leader forms a trust-based relationship with the member. The leader and member like each other, help each other when needed, and respect one another. In these relationships, the leader and the member are both ready to go above and beyond their job descriptions to promote the other's ability to succeed. For example, the success of many great NFL football teams is a function of excellent relationships between coaches and their quarterbacks.

need for achievement

the motivation to solve worthwhile problems

receiver

the person who receives the message.

Storming

the second stage of development, characterized by conflict and disagreement, in which team members disagree over what the team should do and how it should do it. Participants focus less on keeping their guard up as they shed social facades, becoming more authentic and more argumentative. Group members begin to explore their power and influence, and they often stake out their territory by differentiating themselves from the other group members rather than seeking common ground. Discussions can become heated as participants raise conflicting points of view and values, or disagree over how tasks should be accomplished and who should be responsible for certain tasks. It is not unusual for group members to become defensive, competitive, or jealous. Group members may take sides or begin to form cliques within the group. Questioning and resisting direction from the leader is also quite common. "Why should I have to do this? Who designed this project in the first place? What gives you the authority to tell me what to do?" Although little seems to get accomplished at this stage, it actually serves an important purpose: group members are becoming more authentic as they express their deeper thoughts and feelings. What they are really exploring is "Can I truly be myself, have power, and be accepted?" During this chaotic stage, a great deal of creative energy that was previously buried is released and available for use.

Social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

social loafing

the tendency of some members to put forth less effort while working within a group.

groupthink

the tendency to avoid critical evaluation of ideas the group favors. Finally, group decision making takes a longer time compared with individual decision making, given that all members need to discuss their thoughts regarding different alternatives.

programmed decisions

these are decisions that occur frequently enough that we develop an automated response to them. For example, individuals make simple and habitual decisions such as what to wear, what to eat, and which route to take to and from home and work. These mundane decisions usually do not take much time.

individualized consideration

they show personal care and concern for the well-being of their followers

intellectual stimulation

to challenge organizational norms and status quo, and encourage employees to think creatively and work harder.

inspirational motivation

to develop a vision that is inspiring to others

aggressive cultures

value competitiveness and outperforming competitors. For example, Microsoft is often identified as a company with an aggressive culture. The company has faced a number of antitrust lawsuits and disputes with competitors over the years. In aggressive companies, people may use language such as "we will kill our competition."

Nominal Group Technique (NGT)

was developed to help with group decision making by ensuring that all members participate fully. is not a technique to be used at all meetings routinely. Rather, it is used to structure group meetings when members are grappling with problem solving or idea generation.

completer role

where ideas are transformed into action. Behaviors associated with this role include following up on tasks such as gathering needed background information or summarizing the team's ideas into reports.

problem identification

which is the step in which the need for problem solving becomes apparent. If individuals do not recognize that a problem exists, it is impossible to solve any potential dilemma.

benevolents

who give without waiting to receive much in return

Coordinating effort

within the organization helps people work toward the same goals