comm 321 - M1

Question 1

4 major contexts of OB

Answer 1

• designing and changing organizations
• communicating decisions
• understanding individuals
• leading others

Question 2

Why is OB important

Answer 2

• 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

Question 3

Organizational Behaviour [def]

Answer 3

investigates the impact individuals, groups and structure have on the behaviour within organizations

purpose: apply knowledge to improve an organization’s effectiveness

Question 4

Organization [def]

Answer 4

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)

Question 5

Challenges – 3 levels

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

Perception

Answer 6

• 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

Question 7

What influences perception?

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

Perceptual errors

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

Nudging

Answer 9

• 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)

Question 10

Personality

Answer 10

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)

Question 11

Terms for personality

Answer 11

• 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

Question 12

Emotions

Answer 12

• 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)

Question 13

Terms for emotions

Answer 13

• 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

Question 14

Values [def]

Answer 14

• 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

Question 15

Rokeach’s Values

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

Hofstede’s framework of assessing cultures

Answer 16

• Power Distance
• Individualism
• Masculinity v Feminity
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Long term v Short term orientation
• Indulgence v Restraint

Question 17

Shared Values

Answer 17

• 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

Question 18

Attitudes

Answer 18

• 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)

Question 19

Core Job Dimensions - why is it important

Answer 19

• the more there are, the happier people are
• determines employee happiness and productivity

Question 20

Core Job Dimensions - what are they

Answer 20

• 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

Question 21

Core Job Dimensions - how to increase them

Answer 21

• 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

Question 22

Job Characteristics Model

Answer 22

• Core Job Dimensions > Critical Psychological States > Personal Work Outcomes

Question 23

How to form flexible workplaces

Answer 23

• 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

Question 24

Organization Culture

Answer 24

• 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

Question 25

How organization culture forms

Answer 25

• founders usually have significant influence on company culture
• employees learn culture / is reinforced through:
  
  • stories
  • rituals
  • language
  • material symbols

Question 26

Reading a culture

Answer 26

• 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)

Question 27

Organization Structure

Answer 27

• pyramid: hierarchical
• flat: more popular now

Question 28

Defining Structure

Answer 28

• 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

Question 29

traditional organization structures

Answer 29

• 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

Question 30

Modular Organization

Answer 30

• small organization that outsources major business functions
• technology and globalization has led to increase of modular organizations

Question 31

Kotter’s 8 step plan

Answer 31

• 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

Question 32

Power

Answer 32

• 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

Question 33

3 possible responses to power

Answer 33

• commitment: enthusiastic and persistent
• compliance: minimal effort, no initiative
• resistance: refuse, stall, argue

Question 34

Where do people get power from

Answer 34

• 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

Question 35

Communication Channels

Answer 35

• 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

Question 36

Communication

Answer 36

• 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

Question 37

Grapevine

Answer 37

• social network of informal communication through which messages flow throughout an organization
• speedy and spontaneous

Question 38

Barriers to Organization Communication

Answer 38

• physical barriers
• distortion
• ambiguous
• stress
• politics
• unreliable transmission
• status differences
• organizational culture
• lack of basic communication skills

Question 39

6 C’s of Communication

Answer 39

• completeness
• conciseness
• consideration
• concreteness
• clarity
• courtesy

Question 40

Presenting

Answer 40

• number 1 tip: consider audience
• deliver message according to your audience

Question 41

Presentation Format

Answer 41

• intro: tell them what you are going to talk about
• body: getting to details
• conclusion

Question 42

Verbal Performance

Answer 42

• practice beforehand out loud
• time yourself
• slow down speaking
• cue cards
• remember courage: message is more important than my nerves

Question 43

First Impressions

Answer 43

• very important due to anchoring bias: typically make up our minds quickly, and not change them very often
• introductions, small talk

Question 44

Elevator Pitch

Answer 44

• 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

Question 45

Interviewing

Answer 45

• 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

Question 46

Weaknesses in interview

Answer 46

• 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

Question 47

Key Questions

Answer 47

• 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?

Question 48

Compensation

Answer 48

• 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)

Question 49

Equity considerations

Answer 49

• comparing ratio of their input to the outcome with comparison to others
• internal equity: comparing within organizations
• external equity: comparing across organizations

Question 50

Pay-for-performance

Answer 50

• pay that varies with some measure of individual or organizaitonal performance
  
  • merit pay
  • individual incentives
  • profit sharing
  • gainsharing
  • stock ownership

Question 51

CEO : Employee Ratio

Answer 51

• 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