Chapter 1 - what is organizational behavior? Flashcards
Manager
An individual who achieves goals
through other people.
Organization
A social unit, composed of two or more people, that works
to achieve a common goal or set of goals.
What are a manager’s primary activities?
- planning
- organizing
- leading
- controlling
What is meant by planning?
defining goals
establishing strategy
making plans to coordinate activities
What is meant by organizing?
Determining:
what tasks are to be done
who is to do them
how the tasks are to be grouped
who reports to whom
where decisions are to be made
what is meant by leading?
motivating employees
directing others
selecting the most effective communication channels
resolving conflicts
what is meant by controlling?
Monitoring activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as planned and correcting any deviations
name the 3 types of interpersonal roles
figurehead
leader
liaison
describe a figurehead
perform legal or social routine duties
describe a leader
Responsible for the motivation and direction of employees
describe a liaison
have a network of contacts who give favors and information
name the three informational roles
Monitor
Disseminator
Spokesperson
describe a monitor
Receives a lot of information
they are like the center of internal and external information of the organization
describe a disseminator
Communicates information from outsiders or employees to members of the organization
describe a spokesperson
Communicates information to outsiders on behalf of the organization
is an expert in the organization’s industry
name the four decisional roles
Entrepreneur
Disturbance handler
Resource allocator
Negotiator
describe an entrepreneur
start new projects that improve the organization’s performance
describe a disturbance handler
responsible for making the correct decisions when the organization faces unexpected disturbances
describe a resource allocator
responsible for allocating human, physical, and monetary resources
describe a Negotiator
discuss issues and bargain with other units (internal or external) to gain advantages for their own unit
what 3 skills are needed for a manager to achieve their goals?
technical skills
human skills
conceptual skills
describe technical skills
The ability to apply
specialized knowledge or expertise.
describe human skills
the ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people.
describe conceptual skills
The ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations.
what are traditional managerial activities?
Decision making, planning, and controlling
what are communication activities?
Exchanging routine information and processing paperwork.
what is human resource management?
Motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, and training
what is net working?
Socializing and interacting with outsiders.
What is organisational behavior?
the study of what people do in an organization and the way their behavior affects the organization’s performance.
what is systematic study?
trying to connect causes and effects to relationships and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence.
what is Evidence-based management (EBM)?
Basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence.
what is intuition?
An instinctive feeling not
necessarily supported by research.
what four sciences does OB pull from?
Psychology
Social psychology
Sociology
Anthropology
what are contingency variables?
“x leads to y, but only under conditions specified in z”
Situational factors that moderate the relationship between two or more variables.
what is workforce diversity?
organizations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other characteristics.
what are ethical dilemmas and ethical choices?
Situations where people need to define right and wrong conduct
what is stress?
A psychological process that occurs
in response to environmental pressures.
what is task performance?
The combination of effectiveness and efficiency at doing core job tasks.
what is withdrawal behavior?
The set of actions employees take to separate themselves from the organization
what is group cohesion?
The extent to which members of a group support and validate one another while at work.
what is group functioning?
The quantity and quality of a group’s work output.
what is productivity?
The combination of the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization.
what is organizational survival?
The degree to which an organization is able to exist and grow over the long term.
