comm 321 - M1 Flashcards
1
Q
4 major contexts of OB
A
- designing and changing organizations
- communicating decisions
- understanding individuals
- leading others
2
Q
Why is OB important
A
- effective OB leads to higher return on investment
- key skill: understanding group dynamics and how we come to consensus
- need to be aware of impact of:
- organizational dynamics
- people skills
- how to get things done
3
Q
Organizational Behaviour [def]
A
investigates the impact individuals, groups and structure have on the behaviour within organizations
purpose: apply knowledge to improve an organization’s effectiveness
4
Q
Organization [def]
A
consciously coordinated social unit, composed of a group of people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common set of goals (not just companies)
5
Q
Challenges – 3 levels
A
- individual
- individual differences
- job satisfaction
- empowerment
- behaving ethically
- group
- working with others
- workforce diversity
- organization
- temporary employees
- improving quality and productivity
- developing effective employees
- work-life balance
- create a positive work environment
- global competition
6
Q
Perception
A
- process by which individuals organize and interpret their impressions in order to give meaning to their environment
- people’s behaviour is due to their perception, not their reality
7
Q
What influences perception?
A
- the perceiver
- heavily influenced by perceiver’s personal characteristics
- the target
- more likely to be noticed: loud, extremely attractive/unattractive
- motion, sounds, background, proximity
- the situation
- time, location, light
- *always consider expectations: things stand out when they are not what you expect
8
Q
Perceptual errors
A
- attribution theory: how we judge people differently depending on whether it is internally or externally caused (distinctiveness, consensus, consistency)
- selective perception
- halo effect
- contrast effect: reaction to one person often influenced by other recently encountered people
- stereotyping
- prejudice
- anchoring
- swimmers body illusion
9
Q
Nudging
A
- positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions
- gently pushing people into the direction you want
- goal: influence behaviour and decision-making of groups or individuals
- through scarcity (i.e. “we have 5 left”) and social proof (i.e. reviews, ratings)
10
Q
Personality
A
stable patterns of behaviour and consistent internal states that determine how an individual reacts to and interacts with people
- measurable traits that someone possesses (MBTI, MMPI)
11
Q
Terms for personality
A
- machiavellianism: degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that the ends can justify the means
- will get things done no matter what
- narcissism: arrogant, grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive admiration, and has a sense of entitlement
12
Q
Emotions
A
- any intense feelings that are directed in reactant to someone or something
- emotion dissonance: inconsistencies between what people feel, and the emotions they show
- surface acting: hiding one’s inner feelings to display what is expected
- deep acting: trying to modify one’s true inner feelings to convince yourself to match what is expected
- difference with mood: less intense, lacks contextual stimulus (can just wake up and feel that way)
13
Q
Terms for emotions
A
- emotional labor: when an employee expresses organizationally-desired emotions during interpersonal interactions
- emotional intelligence
- ability to be self-aware
- can detect emotion in others
- manage emotional cues and information
- understanding emotional intelligence helps:
- reduce stress
- read situations and people
- optimize environment around you
- emotions in the global workplace
- very different across cultures
- interpretations of emotions vary across cultures
- difference in expressions
14
Q
Values [def]
A
- conviction that a specific mode of conduct/end-of-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite mode of conduct/end-of-state existence
- what is right, good or desirable
- influences attitudes and behaviour
- stable and enduring
15
Q
Rokeach’s Values
A
- terminal values: desirable end-state
- what you end up with
- i.e. happiness, self-respect
- instrumental values: preferable ways of behaving
- how you get there - means to achieve terminal value
- i.e. cheerful, helpful
16
Q
Hofstede’s framework of assessing cultures
A
- Power Distance
- Individualism
- Masculinity v Feminity
- Uncertainty Avoidance
- Long term v Short term orientation
- Indulgence v Restraint
17
Q
Shared Values
A
- shared values between employees and organization leads to:
- more positive work attitudes
- lower turnover
- greater productivity
- main clashes:
- generational differences
- main source of values are when you are younger)
- elders, baby boomers, generation X, generation Y, etc
- cultural differences
- francophone v anglophone
- indigenous values
- generational differences
18
Q
Attitudes
A
- can change instantly (minute to minute)
- contrasts with values which are stable
- affects job behaviour
- 3 key characteristics:
- job satisfaction (the worst kind is passive destructive)
- commitment
- employee engagement
- levels of commitment:
- affective: individual has relationship to organization
- normative: obligation to stay with organization
- continuance: individual stays with organization based on perceived cost of leaving (nowhere to go)
19
Q
Core Job Dimensions - why is it important
A
- the more there are, the happier people are
- determines employee happiness and productivity
20
Q
Core Job Dimensions - what are they
A
- skill variety: degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities
- have to be good at many things to be good at your job
- provide through job rotation and job enlargement
- task identity: degree to which job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work
- degree to which you are responsible for everything
- provide through job enrichment
- task significance: degree to which job has substantial impact on lives or work of others
- autonomy: degree to which job provides substantial freedom, independence and discretion to individual
- have choice on how to run your day
- provide through job enrichment
- feedback: degree to which carrying out work activities required by job results in individual obtaining direct and clear feedback
21
Q
Core Job Dimensions - how to increase them
A
- job rotation
- (+) makes the work more challenging
- (+) reduces boredom
- (+) trains more skills
- (-) high training costs
- (-) creates disruptions
- (-) in the short term, reduces productivity
- job enlargement: horizontal expansion of jobs
- increase number and variety of tasks
- (+) makes people feel more useful: feeling potential
- (-) does not necessarily add challenge - just adding more things to do
- job enrichment: vertical expansion of jobs
- focus more on content of jobs
- increases degree of planning, execution and evaluation
- (+) expands freedom and independence
- (+) increases responsibility
22
Q
Job Characteristics Model
A
- Core Job Dimensions > Critical Psychological States > Personal Work Outcomes
23
Q
How to form flexible workplaces
A
- compressed workweek (4 days, 10 hours)
- (+) increase enthusiasm, morale and commitment
- (-) people cannot be productive the last 2 hours, but will eventually adjust
- (-) logistical issues - interferes with people’s schedules
- cannot pick up children
- clients expect you to be opened 5 days
- flextime: discretion when to start and end work and breaks
- (+) improves productivity and satisfaction - can align with personal demands
- (-) lack of community (different lunch breaks)
- (-) hard to schedule meetings / book meetings
- (-) hard to organize and keep track as management
- (-) not suitable for all jobs
- (-) people busy proving they are busy
- telecommuting (= work from home)
- not often done due to trust and control aspects from employer’s POV
- (+) can be more productive (not wasted on commute, disruptions)
- (-) miss out on social aspect, feel isolated
24
Q
Organization Culture
A
- a system of shared values and norms: several distinct dimensions combine to form a company culture
- values: what matters
- norms: accepted attitudes and behaviours
- can be seen through:
- physical artifacts: what you see, hear and feel
- intangible activities and routines
- underlying values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations
25
How organization culture forms
- founders usually have significant influence on company culture
- employees learn culture / is reinforced through:
- stories
- rituals
- language
- material symbols
26
Reading a culture
- physical surroundings: help shape appropriate feelings and reactions in customers and employees
- music: can have powerful effect on perceptions and behaviours even if played at barely audible levels
- structural characteristics of music are perceived holistically: tempo, volume, harmony (i.e. fast tempo + high volume = increases arousal)
- people tend to adjust their pace to match the tempo of music
- smell: have distinct characteristics, and can be used to solicit emotional, physiological and behavioural responses
- memory is most closely linked to smell
- ambient smell: one that pervades an environment
- colour: can be stimulating, calming, expressive, disturbing, cultural, exuberant, symbolic
- people you meet (i.e. formal, causal, serious)
- what questions you should ask: background (founders, current managers, how management dealt with crisis or critical event)
27
Organization Structure
- pyramid: hierarchical
- flat: more popular now
28
Defining Structure
- work specialization: degree to which tasks in the organization are subdivided into separate jobs
- departmentalization: how jobs are grouped together (by function, product, geographic, etc)
- chain of command: continuous line of authority that extends from upper organization levels to the lowest level, and clarifies who reports to whom
- span of control: the average # of employees that report to a manager
- centralization: degree to which decision-making is concentrated at a single point in the organization
- formalization: degree to which jobs are standardized
29
traditional organization structures
- simple structure (most small businesses)
- simple: fast, flexible, low maintenance
- inadequate for growth: info overload at the top
- bureaucracy
- ability to perform standardized activities efficiently
- can create subunit conflict
- matrix
- combines functional and product departmentalization
- has dual chain of commands
- efficient allocation of specialists
- can cause confusion and power struggles
30
Modular Organization
- small organization that outsources major business functions
- technology and globalization has led to increase of modular organizations
31
Kotter's 8 step plan
- learning to deal with change is a crucial skill
- who you want on your team: different levels/types of people, external people
- to ensure change stays: must ensure it gets part of the organization -- get it on paper
32
Power
- coercive power: based on fear
- reward power: achieve compliance based on ability to distribute rewards others view as valuable (opposite of coercive)
- legitimate power: result of position in formal hierarchy of organization
- title creep: can mislead others
- consider positioning (in the marketplace)
- expert power: influence based on special skills or knowledge (vastly eroded by Internet)
- referent power: possession of desirable resources or personal traits
- information power: power comes from access to and control over information
33
3 possible responses to power
- commitment: enthusiastic and persistent
- compliance: minimal effort, no initiative
- resistance: refuse, stall, argue
34
Where do people get power from
- head of states / politicians: have all the bases of power
- legitimate power, coercive power, reward power, information power, referent power
- business leaders and entrepreneurs
- reward power, coercive power, referent power, expert power
35
Communication Channels
- channel richness: face-to-face > video conferencing > telephone > 2-way radio > written, addressed documents > unaddressed documents
- 10 levels of intimacy: talking > video chat > phone > letter > IM > text message > email > facebook messenger > facebook status > twitter
36
Communication
- important to understand how communication flows in any organization
- access to information is necessary for making good decisions
- downward communication: top > bottom
- very heavily guarded: too many messages can get diluted
- potential issues: info overload, distorted by personal interpretation
- upward communication: bottom > top
- potential issues: fear of reprisal, filters, lack of action
- management by walk-about
- if you don't do it often enough, will lose affect
- potential negatives: CEO starts promising things that manager cannot deliver, people change their behaviour when CEO is around
37
Grapevine
- social network of informal communication through which messages flow throughout an organization
- speedy and spontaneous
38
Barriers to Organization Communication
- physical barriers
- distortion
- ambiguous
- stress
- politics
- unreliable transmission
- status differences
- organizational culture
- lack of basic communication skills
39
6 C's of Communication
- completeness
- conciseness
- consideration
- concreteness
- clarity
- courtesy
40
Presenting
- number 1 tip: consider audience
- deliver message according to your audience
41
Presentation Format
- intro: tell them what you are going to talk about
- body: getting to details
- conclusion
42
Verbal Performance
- practice beforehand out loud
- time yourself
- slow down speaking
- cue cards
- remember courage: message is more important than my nerves
43
First Impressions
- very important due to anchoring bias: typically make up our minds quickly, and not change them very often
- introductions, small talk
44
Elevator Pitch
- practice giving your own elevator pitch
- 45 seconds max
- power of 3: the amount of things people remember
- frame things upfront: "i'm going to tell you 3 things: A, B, C"
- helps you be more organized in your thoughts
45
Interviewing
- consider purpose of the question
- types of questions:
- situational: hypothetical situation [can compare between applicants]
- behavioural: past behaviour [hard to compare]
- for bright applicants:
- issue: usually well-prepared, give well-rehearsed answers
- make more unstructured sections / thinking questions
- key question: what does it take for you to be successful here?
- asking people to put their own integrity behind their answer makes things different
46
Weaknesses in interview
- 3 different levels:
- weakness disguised as a strength
- weakness you're working on
- weakness related to the job
- purpose: honesty, self-awareness, ability to be diplomatic
47
Key Questions
- have you got the skills, expertise and experience to perform the job?
- are you enthusiastic and interested in the job and company?
- will you fit into the team, culture and company?
48
Compensation
- salaries = how difficult it is to replace you + how much value do you bring to people
- not just about salaries, but about all financial returns (benefits)
49
Equity considerations
- comparing ratio of their input to the outcome with comparison to others
- internal equity: comparing within organizations
- external equity: comparing across organizations
50
Pay-for-performance
- pay that varies with some measure of individual or organizaitonal performance
- merit pay
- individual incentives
- profit sharing
- gainsharing
- stock ownership
51
CEO : Employee Ratio
- gap is getting higher and higher
- cannot change at a company / regional level > has to be worldwide
- more money, more problems
- $75,000 is the benchmark amount that makes employee's happy > after this, additional income has no increase in happiness
