Chapter 9 - Learning and Decision Making Flashcards
learning
a relatively permanent change in an employee’s knowledge or skill that results from experience
decision making
the process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem
expertise
knowledge and skills that distinguish experts from novices and less experienced people
(easily able to do repetitive behaviour)
two types of knowledge
explicit knowledge
- sitting down at a desk to learn / easily communicated
- training
- learned through books
- written or verbal communication
- general information
two types of knowledge
tacit knowledge
- what employees learn through experience
- very difficult to articulate to others
- highly personal in nature
- based on experience
- job situation specific
methods of learning
- tacit knoweldge is built off of explicit knowledge
- tacit knowledge = most important strategic asset
-IMP: employees learn through reinforcement, observation and experience
reinforcement
B.F skinner - operant conditioning
- oberserving the link between our voluntary behaviour and the consequences that follow it
- repeat behaviours that =positive and don’t repeat behaviours that=negative
operant conditioning components
- antecedent: what is expected from eployee
- behaviour: action performed by employee
- consequence: result that occurs after behaviour
contingencies of reinforcement
positive reinforcement
a reinforcement contingency in which a positive outcome follows a desired behaviour
contingencies of reinforcement
negative reinforcement
occurs when an unwanted outcome is removed following a desired behaviour
–> used to increase desired behaviours
contingency
punishment
occurs when an unwanted outcome follows an unwanted behaviour
reinforcement
extinction
- extinguish a behaviour by witholding a positive reinforcement that encouraged the behaviour
fixed interval schedule
a schedule whereby reinforcement occurs at fixed time periods
- pay cheque
variable interval schedule
a schedule whereby reinforcement occurs at random peirod of time
- studies show that this leads to HIGHER levels of performnce than fixed schedules
- supervisor walk by
observation
social learning theory
theory that argues that people in organizations learn by observing others
behavioural modeling
observing other people’s reactions and repeating the observed behaviour
the modelling process
observing other people’s reactions and repeating the observed behaviour
1. behavioural modelling
attentional processes
learner focuses attention on the critical behaviours exhibited by model
2.model process
retention processes
learner must remember the behaviours of the model once it is no longer present
3. modelling process
production processes
learner must have the appropriate skill set and be able to reproduce the behaviour
4. the modelling process
reinforcement
the learner must view the model receiving the reinforcement for the behaviour and then recieve it themself
goal orientation
learning orientation
a predisposition or attitude according to which building competence is deemed important
enjoy working on new kinds of tasks, even if they fail earlier
goal orientation
peformance-prove orientation
a predisposition or attitude by which employees focus on demonstrating their competence so others think favorably of them
goal orientation
performance avoid orientation
a predisposition or attitude by which employees focus on demonstrating their competence so that others will not think poorly
methods of decision making
programmed decisions
somewhat automatic decisions because the decision maker’s knowledge allows them to recognize the situation and the course of action to be taken
programmed decisions can come from
intuition
emotionally charged judgements that arise through quick, nonconcious and holistic associations
crisis situation
a change that results in an urgent problem that must be addressed immediately
Five steps for communicating intent to others
- here’s what I think we face
- here’s what I think we should do
- here’s why
- here’s what we should keep our eye on
- now, talk to me
nonprogrammed decision
decisions made by employees when a problem is complex, new or not recognized
regarding programmed decisions
general rule of thumb
higher in the corporate ladder = less programmed decisions
rational decision-making model
a step by step approach to making decisions that are designed to maximize outcomes by examining all available alternatives
rational decision making model: step by step
- identify the criteria that are important in making the decision
- generate a list of all available alternatives that might be potential solutions to the problem
- evaluation of those alternatives against criteria
- selct the alternative that results in the best outcome
- implement the alternative
decision making problems/limited info
bonded rationality
the notion that people do not have the ability or resources to process all available information and alternatives when making a decision
decision making problems/limited info
Two major problems for making decisions
- people have to filter and simplify information to make sense of their complex environment
- people cannot consider every single alternative when making a joke
decision making problems/limited info
satisficing
when a decision amker is doing who chooses the first acceptable alternative considered
faulty perceptions
selective perception
tendency for people to see their environment only as it affects them and as it is consistent with their expecations
you only see what you want to see
faulty preceptions
projection bias
the faulty perception by decision makers that make others think, feel and act as they do
–> projecting thoughts/attitudes onto other people
faulty perception
social identity theory
people identify themselves according to the various groups to which the belong and judge others according to the groups they associate with
- based on demographics, job and where you’re from
faulty perception
stereotype
occurs when assumptions are made about others on the basis of their membership in a social group
faulty perception
heuristics
simple and efficient rules of thumb that allow one to make deicisions more easily
faulty perception
availability bias
the tendency for people to base their judgements on information that is easier to recall
decision-making biases
anchoring
tendency to rely too heavily on one piece of information when making decisions
decision-making biases
framing
tendency to make different decisions on the basis of how a question or situation is
decision-making biases
representativeness
the tendency to assess the likelihood of an event by comparing it to a similar event and assuming it will be similar
decison makign bias
contrast
the tendency to judge things erroneously based on a reference that is near to them
decision making bias
Recency
the tendency to weigh recent events more than earlier events
decision making bias
ratio effect
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
faulty attributions
fundamental attribution error
the tendency for people to judge others behavior as being due to internal factors such as ability, motivation or attitudes
faulty attributions
self serving bias
when one attributes one’s own failures to external factors and success to internal factors
faulty attributions
consensus
did others act the same way under similar situations?
distinctiveness
does this person tend to act differently in other circumstances?
consistency
does this person always do this when performing this task?
internal attribution
individual factors such as ability/motivation are to blame
external attribution
environmental factors are to blame
escalation of commitment
a common decison-making error, in which the decision maker continutes to follow a failing course of action
what does training do?
gives employees more knowledge and a wider array of experiences that they can use to make decisions
