Ch. 9 - Learning & Training Flashcards
Learning
Relatively permanent changes in an employee’s knowledge or skill that result from experience
Decision Making
The process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem
Expertise
Knowledge & skills that distinguish experts from novices
What are the 2 types of knowledge that employees learn?
Tacit Knowledge
Explicit Knowledge
Tacit Knowledge
Knowledge that employees can only learn through experience
Explicit Knowledge
Knowledge that is easy to communicate and available to everyone
According to research, what is responsible for the differences between experts and novices?
Learning (not intelligence or innate differences like many people believe)
90% of knowledge contained in organizations occurs in _____ form
tacit
Reinforcement (operant conditioning)
Peoples’ tendency to repeat a behaviour if they are rewarded for doing so
Contingencies of Learning
Four specific consequences used by organizations to modify employee behaviour:
-Positive Reinforcement
-Negative Reinforcement
-Punishment
-Extinction
Positive Reinforcement
Reinforcement contingency in which a positive outcome follows a desired behaviour
Negative Reinforcement
Reinforcement contingency in which an unwanted outcome is removed following a desired behaviour
Punishment
An unwanted outcome that follows an unwanted behaviour
Extinction
The removal of a positive outcome following an unwanted behaviour
An employee must eat lunch under supervision because they have been taking long lunch breaks. Which contingency of reinforcement applies here?
Punishment
What are the two most commonly used forms of reinforcement by managers?
Positive Reinforcement
Extinction
Why are positive reinforcement and extinction the preferred forms of reinforcement in the workplace?
Both positive reinforcement and extinction deliver their intended results without creating feelings of hostility and conflict
Schedule of reinforcement
The timing of when contingencies are applied or removed
What are the schedules of reinforcement used to modify behaviour?
Continuous Reinforcement
Fixed-interval schedule
Variable-interval schedule
Fixed-ratio schedule
Variable-ratio schedule
Continuous Reinforcement
A schedule of reinforcement in which a specific consequence follows each and every occurrence of a certain behaviour. Allows for the most rapid learning.
Why might continuous reinforcement not be effective?
It is difficult to maintain. To maintain continuous reinforcement, managers need to reward employees every time the desired occurs (impractical).
Fixed-interval schedule
A schedule in which reinforcement occurs at fixed time periods (eg. every month). The most common reinforcement schedule.
Variable-interval schedule
A schedule in which reinforcement occurs at random periods of time. Employees become more likely to exhibit the desired behaviour at all times rather than just at fixed times.
Fixed-ratio schedule
A schedule in which reinforcement occurs following a fixed number of desired behaviours.
Variable-ratio schedule
A schedule in which behaviours are reinforced after a varying number of occurrences
Which schedule of reinforcement tends to lead to the highest levels of performance?
Variable-ratio schedules
Social learning theory
Theory that argues that people in organizations learn by observing others
Behavioural Modelling
Employees observing other peoples’ actions, learning from what they observe, and then repeating the observed behaviour
What is the best way to acquire tacit knowledge?
Behavioural modelling
What are the 4 steps of the modelling process?
Attentional Processes
Retention Processes
Production Processes
Reinforcement
Attentional Processes
Learner focuses attention on the critical behaviours exhibited by the model
Retention Processes
Learner must remember the behaviours of the model when the model is no longer present
Production Processes
Learner must have the appropriate skill set and be able to reproduce the behaviour
What are the different types of goal orientations?
Learning Orientation
Performance-prove Orientation
Performance-avoid Orientation
Learning Orientation
Building competence is deemed more important by an employee than demonstrating competence. Failure is viewed positively as it means an increase in knowledge and skills in the long run
Performance-prove Orientation
Employees focus on demonstrating competence so that others think favourably of them
Performance-avoid Orientation
Employees focus on demonstrating competence so that others will not think poorly of them
What is the biggest issue with performance-oriented goal orientation?
People mainly work on tasks they are already good at and they view failure as an indicator of their ability and competence.
What are the benefits of a learning goal orientation?
Improvements in:
self-confidence
feedback-seeking behaviour
learning strategy development
learning performance
Programmed Decisions
Decisions that are automatic because the decision-maker’s knowledge allows them to recognize the situation and the needed course of action
Intuition
Emotionally charged judgement arising through quick, nonconscious, and holistic associations
Crisis Situation
An urgent problem that must be addressed immediately
Nonprogrammed Decisions
Decisions made by employees when a problem is new, complex, or not recognized
Rational Decision-Making Model
A step-by-step approach to making decisions to maximize outcomes by examining all available alternatives:
1. Identify the problem
2. Develop criteria for making a decision
3. List all possible alternatives
4. Evaluate alternatives against criteria
5. Choose the solution that maximizes value
6. Repeat if solution does not deliver expected outcome
Bounded Rationality
People do not have the ability or resources to process all available information and alternatives when making a decision
Satisficing
Choosing the first acceptable alternative (not necessarily the best option, but “good enough”)
What are some common reasons for making bad decisions?
Limited information
Faulty perceptions
Faulty attributions
Escalations of commitment
Selective Perception
People’s tendency to see the environment only as it affects them as it is consistent with their expectations
Projection Bias
People’s false belief that others think, feel, and act the same way they do
Social Identity Theory
People identify with groups and judge others by their group memberships
Stereotype
Assumptions made about others based on their social group membership
Heuristics
Simple and efficient rules of thumb that allow us to make decisions more easily
Availability Bias
Tendency to base judgments on information that is easier to recall. Easier to recall information is not always correct
Name the common decision-making biases
Anchoring
Framing
Representativeness
Contrast
Recency
Ratio Bias Effect
Anchoring
Tendency to rely too heavily on one trait or piece of information when making decisions
Framing
Tendency to make different decisions based on how a question or situation is phrased/presented.
Representativeness
Tendency to assess the likelihood of an event by comparing it to a similar event and assuming the likelihood will be similar
Contrast
Tendency to judge things incorrectly based on a nearby reference
Recency
Tendency to weigh recent events more than earlier events
Ratio Bias Effect
Tendency to judge the same probability of an unlikely event as lower when the probability is presented in the form of a ratio of small numbers rather than of larger numbers
Fundamental Attribution Error
Tendency to judge others’ behaviours as being due to internal factors. Underestimate the impact of external factors on others.
Internal Attribution
Individuals factors such as ability, motivation, or attitudes are responsible for a behaviour
External Attribution
Environmental factors are responsible for a behaviour
How can we determine whether to attribute a behaviour to internal factors or external factors?
Consensus
Distinctiveness
Consistency
Consensus (Attribution)
Whether others behave the same way under similar circumstances
High -> External Attribution
Low -> Internal Attribution
Distinctiveness (Attribution)
Whether the person acts in the same way in different circumstances
High -> External Attribution
Low -> Internal Attribution
Consistency (Attribution)
Whether a person has behaved the same way in similar circumstances
High -> Internal Attribution
Low -> External Attribution
Escalation of Commitment
A decision-maker continues to follow a failing course of action due to high commitment
What is the relationship between Learning and Job Performance?
Moderate positive relationship
What is the relationship between Learning and Organizational Commitment?
Weak positive relationship
Training
Knowledge transfer from more experienced employees to less experienced employees
Communities of practice
Groups of employees who learn from one another through collaboration over an extended period of time
Transfer of training
Occurs when employees retain and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and behaviours required for their job after training ends
Self-serving bias
When one attributes one’s own failures to external factors and success to internal factors
