OB 354 - Test 1

Understand the Satisficing Decision Making Model. Be prepared to distinguish between the Rational Decision and Satisficing D-M Models.

Bounded Rationality: -most people respond to a complex problem by reducing it to a level at which it can be readily understood; people satisfice - they seek solutions that are satisfactory and sufficient -individuals operate within the confines of bounded rationality; they construct simplified models that extract the essential features -once a problem is identified, the search for criteria and options begins - a limited list of the more conspicuous choices is identified -the decision maker then reviews the list, looking for a solution that is "good enough"

Understand Equity theory, including perceived negative inequity and perceived positive inequity. Be able to apply the theory as well as identify it when presented with a scenario.

-people compare their job inputs and outputs with those of others and respond to perceived inequalities -perceived positive inequity: 1. increase quality of effort (e.g., smile more) 2. rationalize imbalance (e.g., my degree is better) -perceived negative inequity: 1. change inputs (of self or another) 2. change outputs 3. distort perceptions of self 4. distort perceptions of others 5. choose a different referent 6. leave the field

Understand Self-fulfilling prophecy.

-people's expectations determine their behavior -expectations become reality

What 3 factors influence perception?

-perceiver: attitudes, prior experiences, expectations -target: novelty, size, background, sounds, positioning -situation: time-setting, social-setting, work-setting

Understand Attribution theory. Be able to apply the theory as well as identify it when presented with a scenario.

-suggests that when we observe an individual's behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally causes -determination depends on distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency -internally caused: those that are believed to be under the personal control of the individual -externally caused: resulting from outside causes Applications of Shortcuts in Organizations: Employment Interview: -interviewers make perceptual judgements that are often inaccurate -generally draw early impressions that become very quickly entrenched -most interviewers' decisions change very little after the first four or five minutes of the interview Performance Expectations: -people will attempt to validate their perceptions of reality, even when those perceptions are faulty -self-fulfilling prophecy Performance Evaluation: -an employee's performance appraisal is very much dependent upon the perceptual process -many jobs are evaluated in subjective terms -subjective measures are problematic because of selective perception, contrast effects, halo effects, and so on

Understand Attribution theory: Selective perception

Any characteristic that makes a person, object, or event stand out will increase the probability that it will be perceived

Understand Attribution theory: Contrast effects

Our reaction to one person is influenced by other persons we have recently encountered

Understand McClelland's theory of motivation.

-Focused on three needs: 1. Need for achievement (nAch): drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive to succeed 2. Need for power (nPow): need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise 3. Need for affiliation (nAfl): desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships -McClelland's theory has had the best support -it has less practical effect than the others -because McClelland argued that the three needs are subconscious - we may rank high on them but not know it - measuring them is not easy -it is more common to find situations in which managers aware of these motivational drivers label employees based on observations made over time

Which personality types belong to the Dark Triad group?

-Machiavellianism: the degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means -Narcissism: the tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive admiration, and have a sense of entitlement -Psychopathy: the tendency for a lack of concern for others and a lack of guilt or remorse when their actions cause harm

Is MBTI great at predicting levels of performance? What are the dimensions and extremes of the MBTI?

-No, but the Big Five Personality Model is Individuals are classified as: -Extroverted or Introverted (E or I): extraverted individuals are outgoing sociable and assertive; introverts are quiet and shy -Sensing or Intuitive (S or N): sensing types are practical and prefer routine and order, they focus on details; intuitives rely on unconscious processes and look at the "big picture" -Thinking or Feeling (T or F): thinking types use reason and logic to handle problems; feeling types rely on their personal values and emotions -Perceiving or Judging (P or J): judging types want control and prefer their world to be ordered and structured; perceiving types are flexible and spontaneous

Understand the Person-Job-, person-group-, and person-supervisor dimensions of fit between an individual and the company.

-Person-job: the compatibility between individuals and the job or tasks that they perform at work -Person-group: the compatibility between individuals and their workgroups -Person-supervisor: the similarity between supervisor and subordinate personality dimensions, values, and goals

2 models (Geert Hofstede's and Project GLOBE) used to assess cultural values: Project GLOBE Know the difference between the 2 models.

-The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness research program is an ongoing cross-cultural investigation of leadership and national culture -uses data from 825 organizations in 62 countries -identified nine dimensions on which national cultures differ -some resemble the Hofstede dimensions -Main Difference: GLOBE framework added dimensions, such as humane orientation (the degree to which a society rewards individuals for being altruistic, generous, and kind to others) and performance orientation (the degree to which society encourages and rewards group members for performance improvement and excellence)

Job-Related Attitudes: Job Satisfaction

-a positive feeling about a job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics -main causes: job conditions (the intrinsic nature of the work itself, social interactions, and supervision are important predictors of satisfaction and employee well-being), personality (people who have positive core self-evaluations, who believe in their inner worth and basic competence, are more satisfied with their jobs than those with negative core self-evaluations), and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR: self-regulated actions to benefit society or the environment beyond what is required by law; includes environmental sustainability initiatives, nonprofit work, and charitable giving; increasingly affects employee job satisfaction; particularly important for Millennials, but not everyone finds value in CSR)

Understand Expectancy theory. Be able to apply the theory as well as identify it when presented with a scenario.

-a tendency to act in a certain way depends on an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual -Three relationships: 1. Effort-performance relationship 2. Performance-reward relationship 3. Rewards-personal goals relationship -Centers on three beliefs (relationships from above): 1. Can I perform at a desired level? 2. Will my performance be recognized/rewarded? 3. Will the reward be valuable to me?

What is cognitive dissonance?

-any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes -individuals seek to reduce this uncomfortable gap, or dissonance, to reach stability and consistency -consistency is achieved by changing the attitudes, modifying the behaviors, or through rationalization

Understand individual decision-making styles. Which factors impact the variety of D-M styles?

-attitudes -personality -motives -interests -past experiences -expectations

Describe the Managerial implications related to the Decision-Making chapter (end of the video as well as end of the chapter in the textbook).

-behavior follows perception, so to influence behavior at work, assess how people perceive their work; often behaviors we find puzzling can be explained by understanding the initiating perceptions -make better decisions by recognizing perceptual biases and decision-making errors we tend to commit; learning about these problems doesn't always prevent us from making mistakes, but it does help -adjust your decision-making approach to the national culture you're operating in and to the criteria your organization values; if you're in a country that doesn't value rationality, don't feel compelled to follow the rational decision-making model or to try to make your decisions appear rational; adjust your decision approach to ensure compatibility with the organizational culture -combine rational analysis with intuition; these are not conflicting approaches to decision making; by using both, you can improve your decision making effectiveness -try to enhance your creativity; actively look for novel solutions to problems, attempt to see problems in new ways, use analogies, and hire creative talent; try to remove work and organizational barriers that might impede your creativity

Understand Reinforcement theory. Be able to apply the theory as well as identify it when presented with a scenario.

-behavior is a function of its consequences -reinforcement conditions behavior -behavior is environmentally caused -goal setting is a cognitive approach: an individual's purposes direct his or her action -Operant conditioning theory: people learn to behave to get something they want or to avoid something they don't want (B.F. Skinner's behaviorism) -Social-learning theory: we can learn through both observation and direct experience; models are central, and four processes determine their influence on an individual: 1. attentional processes 2. retention processes 3. motor reproduction processes 4. reinforcement processes

Job-Related Attitudes: Perceived Organizational Support

-being valued and cared about (firm) -higher when rewards are fair, employees are involved in decision making -POS is important in countries where power distance is lower

What outcomes do we have if job satisfaction is high?

-better job performance -better quality of work -better attitude toward work and life -increased motivation -organizational citizenship behaviors -less absenteeism and turnover -life satisfaction -higher customer satisfaction

Describe the Managerial implications related to the Personality chapter (end of the video as well as end of the chapter in the textbook).

-consider screening job candidates for high conscientiousness and the other Big Five trait -although MBTI has faults, you can use it for training and development -evaluate jobs, work groups, and your organization to determine the optimal personality fit -consider situational factors when evaluating observable personality traits, and lower the situation strength to better ascertain personality characteristics more closely -the more you consider people's different cultures, the better you will be able to determine their work behavior and create a positive organizational climate that performs well

What are Attitudes? What are the three components of an attitude?

-evaluative statements - either favorable or unfavorable - about objects, people, or events -Components of an Attitude: affective = feeling, behavioral = action, cognitive = evaluation

Understand the dimensions and the extremes of the BIG 5 model. Is there a correlation between it and performance indications?

-five basic dimensions underlie all others and encompass most of the significant variation in human personality -test scores of these traits do a very good job of predicting how people behave in a variety of real-life situations Big Five factors: -Extraversion: Captures our comfort level with relationships. Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and sociable. Introverts tend to be reserved, timid, and quiet. -Agreeableness: Refers to an individual's propensity to defer to others. Highly agreeable people are cooperative, warm, and trusting. People who score low are cold, disagreeable, and antagonistic. -Conscientiousness: A measure of reliability. A highly conscientious person is responsible, organized, dependable, and persistent. Those who score low are easily distracted, disorganized, and unreliable. -Emotional stability: Often labeled by its converse, neuroticism. Taps a person's ability to withstand stress. People with positive emotional stability tend to be calm, self-confident, and secure. Those with high negative scores tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed, and insecure. -Openness to experience: Addresses the range of interests and fascination with novelty. Extremely open people are creative, curious, and artistically sensitive. Those at the other end of the category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar. -the preponderance of evidence shows that individuals who are dependable, reliable, careful, thorough, able to plan, organized, hardworking, persistent, and achievement-oriented tend to have higher job performance in most if not all occupations -employees who score higher in conscientiousness develop higher levels of job knowledge, probably because highly conscientious people learn more -conscientious individuals who are more interested in learning than in just performing on the job are also exceptionally good at maintaining performance in the face of negative feedback -emotional stability is most strongly related to life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and low stress levels -extraverts tend to be happier in their jobs and in their lives as a whole; they experience more positive emotions than do introverts, and they more freely express these feelings; they also tend to perform better in jobs that require significant interpersonal interaction, perhaps because they have more social skills—they usually have more friends and spend more time in social situations than introverts -extraversion is a relatively strong predictor of leadership emergence in groups; extraverts are more socially dominant, "take charge" sorts of people, and they are generally more assertive than introverts -individuals who score high on openness to experience are more creative in science and art than those who score low. -because creativity is important to leadership, open people are more likely to be effective leaders, and more comfortable with ambiguity and change; they cope better with organizational change and are more adaptable in changing contexts -agreeable individuals are better liked than disagreeable people, which explains why they tend to do better in interpersonally oriented jobs such as customer service; they also are more compliant and rule abiding and less likely to get into accidents as a result -people who are agreeable are more satisfied in their jobs and contribute to organizational performance by engaging in citizenship behavior

Understand Goal-Setting theory. Be able to apply the theory as well as identify it when presented with a scenario.

-goals tell an employee what needs to be done and how much effort is needed -evidence suggests: specific goals increase performance; difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher performance than do easy goals; feedback leads to higher performance than does non-feedback -factors influencing the goals-performance relationship: 1. goal commitment 2. task characteristics 3. national culture -people differ in the way they regulate their thoughts and behaviors -those with a promotion focus strive for advancement and accomplishment and approach conditions that move them closer toward desired goals -those with a prevention focus strive to fulfill duties and obligations and avoid conditions that pull them away from desired goals

Understand Maslow's pyramid (hierarchy) of needs theory and the 5 groups of needs. Distinguish between Maslow's B-needs and D-needs.

-has received wide recognition, particularly among practicing managers -it is intuitively logical and easy to understand and some research has validated it; however, most research does not, and it hasn't been frequently researched since the 1960s 5 groups of needs: 1. physiological (bottom of pyramid; lower-order needs): hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, and other bodily needs 2. safety: security and protection from physical and emotional harm 3. social: affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship 4. esteem: internal factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement, and external factors such as status, recognition, and self-fulfillment 5. self-actualization (top of pyramid; higher-order needs): drive to become what we are capable of becoming; includes growth, achieving our potential, and self-fulfillment -although no need is ever full gratified, a substantially satisfied need no longer motivates -as each becomes substantially satisfied, the next one becomes dominant -if you want to motivate someone, you need to understand what level of the hierarchy that person is currently on and focus on satisfying needs at or above that level

Job-Related Attitudes: Organizational Commitment

-identifying and belonging (firm) -employees who are committed will be less likely to engage in work withdrawal even if they are dissatisfied, because they have a sense of organizational loyalty

Job-Related Attitudes: Job Involvement

-identifying, participating, and importance (job) -Psychological Empowerment: belief in the degree of influence over one's job, competence, job meaningfulness, and autonomy

Understand Situation Strength Theory

-indicates that the way personality translates into behavior depends on the strength of the situation -strength of the situation: the degree to which norms, cues, or standards dictate appropriate behavior (clarity, consistency, constraints, consequences) -weaker situations "flush out" our personality and behavior

Understand Biases: self-serving bias. Be able to apply the biases as well as identify them when presented with a scenario.

-individuals attribute their own successes to internal factors -Attribution Theory

What are the key elements of motivation?

-intensity: concerned with how hard a person tries -direction: the orientation that benefits the organization -persistence: a measure of how long a person can maintain his/her effort

Job-Related Attitudes: Employee Engagement

-involvement, satisfaction, and enthusiasm (job) -engaged employees are passionate about their work and company

Describe the Managerial implications related to the Motivation chapter (end of the video as well as end of the chapter in the textbook).

-make sure extrinsic rewards for employees are not viewed as coercive, but instead provide information about competence and relatedness -either set or inspire your employees to set specific, difficult goals and provide quality, developmental feedback on their progress toward these goals -try to align or tie in employee goals to the goals of your organization -model the types of behaviors you would like to see performed by your employees -expectancy theory offers a powerful explanation of performance variables such as employee productivity, absenteeism, and turnover -when making decisions regarding resources in your organization, make sure to consider how the resources are being distributed (and who's impacted), the fairness of the decision, along with whether your actions demonstrate that you respect those involved

2 models (Geert Hofstede's and Project GLOBE) used to assess cultural values: Geert Hofstede's Know the difference between the 2 models.

-surveyed more than 116,000 IBM employees in 40 countries about their work-related values and found that managers and employees vary on five value dimensions of national culture: 1. Power distance: Describes the degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally. A high rating on power distance means that large inequalities of power and wealth exist and are tolerated in the culture, as in a class or caste system that discourages upward mobility. A low power distance rating characterizes societies that stress equality and opportunity. 2. Individualism versus collectivism: Individualism is the degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups and believe in individual rights above all else. Collectivism emphasizes a tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them. 3. Masculinity versus femininity: Hofstede's construct of masculinity is the degree to which the culture favors traditional masculine roles such as achievement, power, and control, as opposed to viewing men and women as equals. A high masculinity rating indicates the culture has separate roles for men and women, with men dominating the society. A high femininity rating means the culture sees little differentiation between male and female roles and treats women as the equals of men in all respects. 4. Uncertainty avoidance: The degree to which people in a country prefer structured over unstructured situations defines their uncertainty avoidance. In cultures that score high on uncertainty avoidance, people have an increased level of anxiety about uncertainty and ambiguity and use laws and controls to reduce uncertainty. People in cultures low on uncertainty avoidance are more accepting of ambiguity, are less rule oriented, take more risks, and more readily accept change. 5. Long-term versus short-term orientation: This newest addition to Hofstede's typology measures a society's devotion to traditional values. People in a culture with long-term orientation look to the future and value thrift, persistence, and tradition. In a short-term orientation, people value the here and now; they accept change more readily and don't see commitments as impediments to change.

What is the gist of Holland's Personality-Fit model?

-the effort to match job requirements with personality characteristics -presents six personality types and proposes that satisfaction and the propensity to leave a position depend on how well individuals match their personalities to a job -satisfaction is highest and turnover is lowest when personality and occupation are in agreement Key Points: 1. there do appear to be intrinsic differences in personality among individuals 2. there are different types of jobs 3. people in jobs congruent with their personality should be more satisfied and less likely to voluntarily resign than people in incongruent jobs

What are the 2 ways to measure job satisfaction?

-the single globe rating: How satisfied are you with your job? Respondents circle 1 - 5, 1 being "highly satisfied" and 5 being "highly dissatisfied" -the summation of job facets: identifies key elements in a job such as the nature of the work, supervision, present pay, promotion opportunities, and relationships with coworkers; respondents rate these on standardized scale and researchers add the ratings to create an overall job satisfaction score

Understand Herzberg's theory of motivation. Be able to apply the theory as well as identify it when presented with a scenario.

-two-factor theory -attempt to explain the factors that motivate individuals through identifying and satisfying their individual needs, desires and the aims pursued to satisfy these desires -hygiene factors: conditions such as quality of supervision, pay, company policies, physical working conditions, relationships with others, and job security

Understand Biases: Confirmation Bias. Be able to apply the biases as well as identify them when presented with a scenario.

-type of selective perception -seek out information that reaffirms past choices, and discount information that contradicts past judgements

Why is it important from OB perspective to study personality?

-useful for hiring decisions -help managers forecast who is best for a job -Core Self-Evaluation: bottom line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities, competence, and worth as a person -Self-Monitoring: measures an individual's ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational factors -Proactive Personality: people who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs

What are employees' responses to job dissatisfaction?

-voice (active/constructive): active and constructive attempts to improve conditions -loyalty (passive/constructive): passively waiting for conditions to improve -counterproductive behavior (active/destructive): negative actions against the firm or oneself -exit (active/destructive): behavior directed toward leaving the organization -neglect (passive/destructive): allowing conditions to worsen

Understand the Rational Decision Making Model. Be prepared to distinguish between the Rational Decision and Satisficing D-M Models.

1. Define the problem 2. Identify the decision criteria 3. Allocate weights to the criteria 4. Develop the alternatives 5. Evaluate the alternatives 6. Select the best alternative -Assumptions: the decision maker has complete information, is able to identify the relevant options in an unbiased manner, and chooses the option with the highest utility -most decisions in the real world don't follow the rational model

What are the ways to increase one's self-efficacy?

1. Enactive mastery: gaining relevant experience with the task or job 2. Vicarious modeling: becoming more confident because you see someone else doing the task 3. Verbal persuasion: becoming more confident because someone convinces you that you have the skills necessary to be successful 4. Arousal: leads to an energized state, so the person gets "psyched-up" and performs better

What are the stages in the Three-Stage Model of Creativity?

1. Expertise: the foundation for all creative work; the potential for creativity is enhanced when individuals have abilities, knowledge, proficiencies, and similar expertise in their field of endeavor 2. Creative-thinking skills: encompasses personality characteristics associated with creativity, the ability to use analogies, and the talent to see the familiar in a different light 3. Intrinsic task motivation: the desire to work on something because it's interesting, involving, exciting, satisfying, or personally challenging; what turns creativity potential into actual creative ideas

Which facets are considered the most important to job satisfaction?

1. Work itself 2. Coworkers 3. Supervision 4. Pay 5. Promotion

Understand Attribution theory: Stereotyping

Judging someone based on one's perception of the group to which that person belongs

Understand Job Characteristics Model. Be able to apply the model as well as identify it when presented with a scenario.

We can describe any job in terms of five core dimensions: 1. Skill variety: the degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities so the worker can use a number of different skills and talent 2. Task identity: the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work 3. Task significance: the degree to which a job affects the lives or work of other people 4. Autonomy: the degree to which a job provides the worker freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling work and determining the procedures in carrying it out 5. Feedback: the degree to which carrying out work activities generates direct and clear information about your own performance

Understand Attribution theory: Halo effect

When we draw a general impression based on a single characteristic

Is personality the result of heredity or environment?

both, but environment has biggest impact

Understand Biases: Anchoring Bias. Be able to apply the biases as well as identify them when presented with a scenario.

fixating on initial information as a starting point and failing to adequately adjust for subsequent information

Understand Trait Activation Theory

indicates that some situations, events, or interventions activate traits

Understand Biases: Overconfidence Bias. Be able to apply the biases as well as identify them when presented with a scenario.

individuals overestimating their performance and ability

Understand Biases: Availability Bias. Be able to apply the biases as well as identify them when presented with a scenario.

tendency for people to base judgements on information that is readily available

illusory correlation (Randomness Error)

the perception of a relationship where none exists, or perception of a stronger relationship than actually exists

Understand Biases: Hindsight Bias. Be able to apply the biases as well as identify them when presented with a scenario.

the tendency to believe falsely that one has accurately predicted the outcome of an event, after that outcome is actually known

What is fundamental attribution error?

the tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal or personal factors