Organizational Behavior Ch. 7

Management by Objective

A goal-setting process in which a manager meets with his or her supervisor to set goals and evaluate the extent to which previously set goals have been achieved

Coalition

A group of managers who have similar interests and join forces to achieve their goals

Motivating Potential Score

A measure of the overall potential of a job to foster intrinsic motivation

Merit Pay Plan

A plan that bases pay on performance

Scientific Management

A set of principles and practices designed to increase the performance of individual employees by stressing job simplifications and specialization

Social Identity Theory

A theory that describes how individuals use the groups and organizations they are members of to define themselves

Goal-Setting Theory

A theory that focuses on identifying the types of goals that are most effective in producing high levels of motivation and performance and why goals have these effects

Organizational Politics

Activities in which managers engage to increase their power and to pursue goals that favor their individual and group interests

Social Information Processing Model

An approach to job design based on the idea that information from other people and employees own past behaviors influence employees perceptions of and responses to the design of their jobs

Job Characteristics Model

An approach to job design that aims to identify characteristics that make jobs intrinsically motivating and the consequences of those characteristics

Charismatic Power

An intense form of referent power that stems from an individuals personality or physical or other abilities which induce others to believe in and follow that person

Political Decision Making

Decision making characterized by active disagreement over which organizational goals to pursue and how to pursue them

Job Crafting

Employees proactively modifying the tasks that comprise their jobs, how they view their jobs and who they interact with while performing their jobs

Contingent Workers

Employees whom organizations hire or contract with on a temporary basis to fill needs for labor that change over time

Job Enrichment

Increasing an employee's responsibility and control over his or her work; also called vertical job loading

Job Enlargement

Increasing the number of tasks an employee performs but keeping all of the tasks at the same level of difficulty and responsibility; also called horizontal job loading

Referent Power

Informal power that stems from being liked, admired or respected

Expert Power

Informal power that stems from superior ability or expertise

Formal Power

Power that originates from a persons position in an organization

Informal Individual Power

Power that stems from personal characteristics such as personality, skills and capabilities

Time and Motion Studies

Studies that reveal exactly how long it takes to perform a task and the best way to perform it

Power

The ability of one person or group to do something they otherwise might not have done

Job Specialization

The assignment of employees to perform small, simple tasks

Job Simplification

The breaking up the work that needs to be performed in an organization into the smallest identifiable tasks

Autonomy

The degree to which a job allows an employee the freedom and independence to schedule work and decide how to carry it out

Experienced Meaningfulness of the Work

The degree to which employees feel their jobs are more important, worthwhile and meaningful

Knowledge of Results

The degree to which employees known how well they perform their jobs on continuous basis

Task significance

The extent to which a job has an impact on the lives or work of other people in or out of the organization

Task Identity

The extent to which a job involves performing a whole piece of work from its beginning to end

Skill Variety

The extent to which a job requires an employee to use different skills, abilities or elements

Experienced Responsibility for Work Outcomes

The extent to which employees feel personally responsible or accountable for their job performance

Feedback

The extent to which performing a job provides an employee with clear information about his or her effectiveness

Comparable Worth

The idea that jobs of equivalent value to an organization should carry the same pay rates regardless of differences in the work and the personal characteristics of an employee

Organizational Objectives

The overarching purpose of an organization, what it stands for and what it seeks to accomplish

Information Power

The power that stems from access to and control over information

Legitimate Power

The power to control and use organizational resources to accomplish organizational goals

Coercive Power

The power to give or withhold punishment

Reward Power

The power to give pay raises, promotion, praise, interesting projects and other rewards to subordinates

Job Design

The process of linking specific tasks to specific jobs and deciding what techniques, equipment and procedures should be used to perform those tasks

Goal

What an individual is trying to accomplish through his or her behavior and actions