mgmt. 363 ch 8 (learning and decision making)

crisis situation

a change - whether sudden or evolving - that results in an urgent problem that must be addressed immediately

problem

a difference between the ideal stated and the actual stated

external

an (internal/external) attribution will occur if there is high consensus, high distinctiveness, and low consistency

internal

an (internal/external) attribution will occur if there is low consensus, low distinctiveness, and high consistency

performance-prove orientation

focus on demonstrating their competence so that others think favorably of them -acquire skills so that others think favorable of me

performance-avoid orientation

focus on demonstrating their competence so that others will not think poorly of them -acquire skills so that others don't think i'm not smart

positive reinforcement and extinction

should be the most common forms of reinforcement used by managers to create learning among their employees

selective perception

the tendency for people to see their environment only as it affects them and as it is consistent with their expectations -screen out the information that isn't what you want to hear

clustering illusion

the tendency to see patterns in random data -ex: rolling dice; gambling on red or black

knowledge transfer

the transfer of knowledge from older, experienced workers to younger employees

interval

time driven

reinforcement, observation and experience

we learn through what three things

tacit knowledge

what employees can typically learn only through experience -up to 90% of the knowledge contained in organizations occurs in this form -not easily communicated -highly personal in nature

nonprogrammed decisions

when a situation arises that is new, complex, and not recognized, it calls for this on the part of the employee -as employees move up the corporate ladder, a larger percentage of their decisions become less and less programmed -much more variability; experience more problems

heuristics

when confronted with situations of uncertainty that require a decision on our part, we often use _____ - simply, efficient, rules of thumb that allow us to make decisions more easily

positive reinforcement

-Contingency used to increase desired behaviors occurs when a positive outcome follows a desired behavior -most common type of reinforcement; increased pay, promotion

negative reinforcement

-Contingency used to increase desired behaviors occurs when an unwanted outcome is removed following a desired behavior -perform a task to not get yelled at

factors necessary for true learning

-changes in behavior are repeated over time -behavioral changes become permanent

Behavior

-component of operant conditioning -action performed by employee -employee meets assigned goal

Consequence

-component of operant conditioning -result that occurs after behavior -employee receives a bonus

Antecedent

-component of operant conditioning -condition that precedes behavior -manager sets specific and difficult goal

Attribution Process

-consensus -distinctiveness -consistency

punishment

-contingency used to decrease undesired behavior -occurs when an unwanted outcome follows an unwanted behavior -suspension; firing

extinction

-contingency used to decrease undesired behavior -occurs when there is the removal of a consequence following an unwanted behavior -stop laughing at off-color jokes

The modeling process

1) attentional 2) retention 3) production 4) reinforcement

Steps in rational decision making

1) identify the criteria that are important in making the decision 2) generate a list of all available alternative that might be potential solutions to the problem 3) evaluation of those alternatives against the criteria laid out in step one 4) select the alternative that results in the best outcome 5) implement the alternative

1000

Companies spend $_________ per person per year on training

Representativeness

Decision making bias -the tendency to assess the likelihood of an event by comparing it to a similar event and assuming it will be similar

Ratio Bias Effect

Decision making bias -the tendency to judge the same probability of an unlikely event as lower when the probability is presented in the form of a ratio of smaller rather than of larger numbers

Contrast

Decision making bias -the tendency to judge things erroneously based on a reference that is near to them

Framing

Decision making bias -the tendency to make different decisions based on how a question or situation is phrased

Anchoring

Decision making bias -the tendency to rely too heavily, or "anchor", on one trait or piece of information when making decisions even when the anchor might be unreliable or irrelevant

Recency

Decision making bias -the tendency to weigh recent events more than earlier events

Faulty Attributions

Decision making problems -Fundamental attribution error -self-serving bias

Consensus

Did OTHERS act the same way under SIMILAR situations?

Consistency

Does THIS PERSON always do this when performing THIS TASK?

Distinctiveness

Does THIS PERSON tend to act differently in other CIRCUMSTANCES?

fundamental attribution error

Faulty attribution -argues that people have a tendency to judge others' behaviors as due to internal factors

Self-serving bias

Faulty attribution -occurs when we attribute our own failures to external factors and our own successes to internal factors

moderately; weakly

Learning is _________ correlated with job performance and _____ correlated with organizational commitment

125

Organizations spend roughly $_______ Billion a year on training

climate for transfer

an environment that can support the use of new skills -Transfer of training can be fostered if organizations create this -Facilitators: opportunities to use the learned skills; peer support; perceived supervisor support

Social learning theory

argues that people in organizations have the ability to learn through the observation of others

Limited information

decision making problems -bounded rationality -satisficing

Faulty Perceptions

decision making problems -selective perception -projection bias -social identity theory -stereotype

programmed decisions

decisions that become somewhat automatic because people's knowledge allows them to recognize and identify a situation and the course of action that needs to be taken -odds of making decision goes up because you have done it over and over again; routine

variable interval schedule

designed to reinforce behavior at more random points in time -performance a little higher -ex: supervisor walk-by

intuition

emotionally charged judgments that arise through quick, nonconscious and holistic associations -this decision making is perhaps never more important than it is during a crisis

Behavior modeling training

ensures that employees have the ability to observe and learn from those in the company with significant amounts of tacit knowledge

communities of practice

groups of employees who work together and learn from one another by collaborating over an extended period of time

behavioral modeling

happens when employees observe the actions of others, learn from what they observe, and then repeat the observed behavior -have to actually do it yourself

social identity theory

holds that people identify themselves by the groups to which they belong and perceive and judge others by their group memberships

attribute

how to distribute cost

outcome bias

judging the decision based on the outcome rather than how exactly the decision was made in the moment

knowledge

more and more people are going into __________ based jobs

ratio

number driven

stereotype

occurs when people make assumptions about others on the basis of their membership In a social group

transfer of training

occurs when the knowledge, skills, and behaviors used on the job are maintained by the learner once training ends and generalized to the workplace once the learner returns to the job

rational decision-making model

offers a step-by-step approach to making decisions that maximize outcomes by examining all available alternatives -"perfect way to make decisions"

projection bias

one false assumption people tend to make when it comes to other people is the belief that others think, feel, and act the same way they do -causes problems in decision making because it limits our ability to develop appropriate criteria for a decision and evaluate decisions carefully

escalation of commitment

refers to the decision to continue to follow a failing course of action -people have a tendency, when presented with a series of decisions, to escalate their commitment to previous decisions, even in the face of obvious failures

expertise

refers to the knowledge and skills that distinguish experts from novices and less experienced people

decision making

refers to the process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem -greater of this, the more likely they are to make accurate and sound decisions

Learning

reflects relatively permanent changes in an employee's knowledge or skill that result from experience

fixed ratio schedule

reinforce behaviors after a certain number of them have been exhibited -ex: every time finish 10 items, get paid; piece-rate pay

Training

represents a systematic effort by organizations to facilitate the learning of job-related knowledge and behavior

learning goal orientation

research has shown that ______ improves self-confidence, feedback seeking behavior, learning strategy development, and learning performance

satisficing

results when decision makers select the first acceptable alternative considered -idea accepting some option that meets minimally accepted standards

variable ratio schedule

reward people after a varying number of exhibited behaviors -highest level of performance -ex: commission pay

operant conditioning

says that we learn by observing the link between our voluntary behavior and the consequences that follow it

attentional processes

step of the modeling process -learner focuses attention on the critical behaviors exhibited by the model

production processes

step of the modeling process -learner must have the appropriate skill set and be able to reproduce the behavior

retention processes

step of the modeling process -learner must remember the behaviors of the model once the model is no longer present

reinforcement

step of the modeling process -learner must view the model receiving reinforcement for the behavior and then receive it themselves

ostrich effect

the decision to ignore dangerous or negative information by "burying" one's head in the sand, like an ostrich -"if I don't look, it wont be real"

Explicit knowledge

the kind of information you're likely to think about when you picture someone sitting down at a desk to learn -relatively easily communicated

third

the letter "R" is used more often as the ______ letter of a word -availability bias says otherwise

solve a problem

the need to make a decision is triggered by the need to ...

bounded rationality

the notion that decision makers simply do not have the ability or resources to process all available information and alternatives to make an optimal decision -tend to be guided by the things we know

Attribution

the process through which we determine the cause of our behavior and that of other people

Continuous reinforcement

the simplest schedule and happens when a specific consequence follows each and every occurrence of a desired behavior -early on- yields high level performance, but starts to decline -ex: praise -new learning acquired most rapidly under this

availability bias

the tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is readily available to them -just make a decision by what we easily recall -letter "R" placement example

Learning orientation

where building competence is deemed more important than demonstrating competence -view failure in positive terms- as a means of increasing knowledge and skills in the long run -enjoy working on new kinds of tasks, even if they fail during their early experiences

Fixed interval schedule

where workers are rewarded after a certain amount of time, and the length of time between reinforcement periods stays the same -least effective -ex: paycheck -single most common