Chapter 9: Learning and Decision-Making Flashcards
Learning
A relatively permanent change in an employee’s knowledge or skill that results from experience
- key difference between novices and experts
- impact on decision-making
Decision-making
Process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem
- more knowledge and skills more accurate and sound decisions
Why do some employees learn to make decisions better than others?
Expertise: knowledge and skills that distinguish experts from novices
Types of knowledge
Explicit: easily communicated and available to everyone
E.g. taught during training sessions
Tacit: only learnt through experience
E.g. intuition, skills, practical intelligence, mental modes
- know how to do it but hard to explain
What are the 3 methods of learning?
- Reinforcement
- Observation
- Experience
Reinforcement
Learn by observing link between voluntary behaviour and the consequences that follow it
4 contingencies of reinforcement
- Positive: positive outcome follows DESIRED behaviour
E.g. praise for desired behaviour - increased pay, promotions, recognition - Negative: unwanted outcome follows DESIRED behaviour
E.g. getting yelled at when you don’t get to work on time so now you go to work on time - Punishment: unwanted outcome follows UNWANTED behaviour
E.g. suspending an employee for always showing up late - Extinction: removal of a positive outcome/consequence following UNWANTED behaviour
E.g. Removing attention when a child acts childish
Schedules of Reinforcement (5)
- Continous
- Fixed Interval
- Variable Interval
- Fixed Ratio
- Variable Ratio
Continuous
- simplest schedule
- new learning acquired most rapidly
- impractical for most jobs
- short-lived
Fixed interval or variable interval
Interval = time
Fixed-interval: reinforcement occurs at fixed time periods (average performance)
Variable-interval: reinforcement occurs at random periods of time (moderately high performance)
Fixed ratio or variable ratio
** based on number of actual behaviours**
Fixed ratio: reinforcement following fixed number of behaviours (high performance)
Variable ratio: behaviours reinforced after varying number of them have been exhibited (very high)
Observation
Social learning theory: argues people in organizations learn by observing others
Steps of behaviour modelling
- Employees observe actions of others
- Employees must remember actions of model after they’re not present
- Employees must have appropriate skills to reproduce actions
- Employee must view the model receiving reinforcement of behaviour and then receive it themselves
Goal Orientation
The activities and goals that people prioritize
After goal orientation: 2 options
A. Learning orientation: focus on building competence
B. Performance orientation: focus on demonstrating competence
After performance orientation: 2 options
A. Performance prove: demonstrate competence so others think favourably of them
B. Performance avoid: demonstrate competence so others won’t think poorly of them
Methods of decision-making
Programmed: somewhat automatic decisions because decision maker’s knowledge allows them to recognize situation and course of action to be taken
- Crisis situation: change that results in an urgent problem that must be addressed immediately
Non-programmed decisions: decisions made when problem is new, complex or not recognized
- rational-decision making model can be used
Rational-decision making model
Step-by-step approach to making decisions that is designed to maximize outcomes by examining all available alternatives
- Determine criteria
- Generate list of alternatives
- Evaluate alternatives against criteria
- Choose solution that maximizes value and results in best outcome
- Implement solution
- Evaluate solution
Common reasons for problems in decision-making (4)
- Limited info
- Faulty perceptions
- Faulty attributions
- Escalation of commitment
Problem #1: Limited Information
- people subject to bounded rationality
Bounded rationality: notion that people do not have ability or resources to process all available info and alternatives when making a decision
E.g. tend to pick 1st acceptable alternative
Problem #2 Faulty perceptions
Selective perception: tendency for people to see their environment only as it affects them and as it is consistent with their experience
- Projection bias
- Stereotypes
- Availability bias
- Anchoring effect
- Framing
- Representative bias
- Contrast bias
- Recency effect
- Ratio effect
Projection bias
Made by decision makers that other others think, feel and act as they do
Social identity theory: people identify themselves according to the various groups to which they belong and judge others according to the groups they associate with
Stereotype and Availability bias
Stereotype: assumptions made about others based on their social group membership
E.g. females aren’t good leaders
Availability bias: tendency for people to base judgements on info that is easier to recall
Anchoring effect and Framing
Anchoring effect: tendency to rely too heavily or anchor one piece of info
Framing: tendency to make different decision based on how a question or situation is phrased
Representative bias and Contrast Effect
Representative bias: tendency to assess likelihood of an event by comparing it to similar events and assuming will be similar
Contrast effect: tendency to judge things continuously based on a reference near to them
Recency effect and Ratio effect
Recency effect: weigh recent events more than earlier events
Ratio effect: to judge same possibility of an unlikely event as lower when probability is presented in form of a ratio of smaller vs larger numbers
Problem #3: Faulty Attributions
Process by which causes or motives assigned to explain people’s behaviour
Internal: blame individual factors - ability, motivation
External: blame environmental factors - bad weather or traffic
Errors in attributions
Fundamental attribution error: tendency for people to judge others’ behaviours as due to internal factors
Self-serving bias: attributing one’s failure to external factors and success to internal factors
Attribution decision framework
Consensus: did others act the same way under similar situations?
Distinctiveness: does the person tend to act different in other circumstances?
Consistency: does the person always do this when performing this task?
Internal att - low consensus, high distinctiveness, low consistency
External att - high consensus, high distinctiveness, low consistency
Problem #4: Escalation of commitment
Decision to continue to follow a failing course of action
- Why? may wish to avoid looking incompetent or admit they made a mistake
Learning effect on job performance?
Learning effect on organizational commitment?
Job performance: - moderate (+) - employees with more knowledge and skill have higher TP Organizational commitment: - weak (+) - " " higher affective commitment
Training
Systematic effort by organizations to facilitate learning of job-related knowledge and behaviour
Knowledge transfer: exchange of knowledge between employees
Types of Knowledge transfer
Behaviour modelling training: previous
Communities of practice: groups of employees who learn from one another through collaboration over extended period of time
Transfer of training: when employees retain and demonstrate knowledge, skills and behaviours required for their job after training ends
Climate for transfer: an organizational environment that supports the use of new skills
