I/O Psychology Flashcards
Title VII of the CIvil RIghts Act of 1964
Title VII is the original Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Act
States that one cannot discriminate on the basis of sex, ethnicity, and a variety of other factors
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) created Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection in 1978
Use of any test that adversely affects hiring, promotion, or selection procedures constitutes discrimination
Use of such a test may still be acceptable IF test is validated, has utility, and no alternatives are available
Americans with Disabilities Act
1990
Bans discrimination in employment, transportation, access to public buildings, other settings
Requires that companies make reasonable accommodations for disabled individuals
Discrimination according to ADA
Using standards, employment tests, or other selection criteria that screen out an individual with a disability or class of individuals with disabilities, unless the test or criteria is shown to be job related and consistent with business necessity
ADA and substance anbuse
Prohibits discrimination against someone who has successfully completed or is currently participating in a drug rehab program and is no longer using drugs
NO stance for or against drug testing
Griggs vs. Duke Power Company (1971)
Court ruled that tests that measured broad abilities, in which minority group members passed at much lower rates than Whites, were unfair to use to make decisions of hiring and promotion
THUS, broad general testing was faulted and requirement was established that tests measure skills necessary for a particular job
Adverse Impact
80% or 4/5ths rule
Percentage of minorities selected must be at least 4/5ths of the percentage of non-minorities
Multiple selection rate for non-minorities by .80 to determine minimal acceptable rate for selection of minorities
Adverse impact example
Selection ratio for non-minority applications = 20/100=.20
Multiple .20*/80 = .16
Minimum acceptable rate for the selection of minority applicants would be 16%
Unfairness
When minorities and non-minorities score differently on the predictor test yet perform similarly on the criterion
Some theorists argue that unfairness rarely occurs
A cause of adverse impact
e.g. MCAT. Minorities routinely score lower but once in med school, perform just as well as non-minority counterparts
Differential Validity
When there are significantly different criterion-related validity coefficients for different groups on the same test
i.e. test is more valid for producing the performance of one group than it is for performance of another
Research suggests differential validity rarely occurs
Job analysis
Procedure for collection and analysis of data that provides information about the job tasks (job description) and job requirements (job specifications)
Involves identifying the skills, knowledge, etc required for successful job performance
How can data for a job analysis be obtained
Open-ended or structured interviews
Critical incident technique
Critical incident technique
involves ascertaining the specific actions that lead to desirable (successful) or undesirable (unsuccessful) consequences on the job
employee selection - biodata
standard application blank
weighted application blank- assigns weights to certain variables (e.g. college vs non-college grads)
biographical inventory aka biographical information blank (BIB) covers applicants life in greater detail
interviews
have worst criterion-related validity
better if structured, there are multiple interviewers, if interviewers are trained
interviewer biases
first impression, negative information, the contrast effect, interviewer prejudices, and the halo effect
first impression bias
tendency of the interviewer to be swayed by an initial impression of the candidate and to overlook the candidate’s presentation throughout the remainder of the interview
negative information bias
tendency for one or two negative items to cause the interviewer to overlook strengths or accomplishments
contrast effect
occurs when an interviewer’s ratings of a candidate are affected by the performance of a previous candidate (e.g. mediocre candidate gets rated more highly because the previous candidate was extremely pour)
interviewer prejudices
personal likes, dislikes, and beliefs of the interviewer that biases his or her view of the candidate
halo effect
generalizing from one characteristic to the entire candidate in either a positive or negative direction
commonly occurring halo effect - attractive individuals frequently seen as more competent, effective, and trustworthy
cognitive ability tests as a predictor of job performance
cognitive ability (e.g. Wonderlic Personality Test) and aptitude (e.g. typing tests) are very commonly used and tend to be quite good predictors of job success
personality tests
poor predictors of job performance
interest tests as predictor of job performance and job satisfaction
e.g. Holland’s Self-Directed Search
poor predictors of job success by DO correlate with job satisfaction
work sample tests and validity
both high content and criterion-related validity
tend to be more valid for minorities in comparison with other types of testing
test batteries as predictor of job performance
almost exclusively used in upper management and good predictors of job performance
assessment center
aka situational testing first used by German army in 1920s involves work samples very good criterion-related validity method of selection that places new job applicants and candidates for promotion in a simulated job situation so that their behaviors under stress can be observed or evaluated
assessment centers usually involve…
6 to 12 candidates at a time
work through series of exercises over several days
extensive interviews
may be given intelligence and personality tests, but most time devoted to exercises that simulate actual problems of high-level work
in-basket technique
presents applicants with typical problems and questions that managers would expect to find when they return from a vacation
leaderless group discussion
applicants meet as a group to discuss an actual business problem
leadership qualities and communication styles observed
references and letters of recommendation
often misleading because candidates tend to seek them from those who will give them favorable reviews
multiple regression approach to selection
compensatory technique - low scores on one predictor can be compensated by high scores on another predictor
multiple cutoff approach to selection
noncompensatory technique
only candidates who meet or exceed cutoff on each of the predictors will be considered
multiple hurdle approach
noncompensatory technique
predictors applied in a particular order and an applicant must pass the cutoff score on the first predictor to continue in the selection procedure
performance is a function of
ability, motivation, and opportunity
ability
research have found no differences in overall abilities between men and women
women tend to have lower expectations of success
motivation
reflected by person’s willingness to perform and can be measured by work effort
opportunity
related to environmental variables, including organizational support
performance appraisals - methods
objective, subject, focused on results rather than merit (e.g. management by objectives (MBO))
two types of subjective methods of performance appraisals
comparative vs. individual methods
comparative methods of performance appraisals
straight rankings
forced distribution
paired comparison
straight rankings
listing workers from best to worst
forced distribution
people are ranked to fit a distribution (e.g. few at top and bottom with most in middle)
paired comparison
each employee compared to every other employee in pairs
graphic ratings scales
ratings on several aspects of a job
BARS (behaviorally anchored ratings scales)
behavioral anchors based on critical incidents e.g. ranked on various aspects of the job that are linked to successful job performance
BOS (behavioral observation scale)
rating the extent to which a person engages in every behavior e.g. finishes projects on time
forced choice
rater must choose between two seemingly equally desirable or undesirable choices e.g. is reliable/agreeable, is headstrong/slow
behavioral checklist
checks off all adjectives that apply to the employee being rated
individual (absolute) methods of performance appraisals
graphic ratings scale BARS (behaviorally anchored rating scales) BOS (behavioral observation scale) forced choice behavioral checklist
management by objectives (MBO)
mutual agreement between employees and supervisors on goals to be achieved in a given time
2 phases: goal-setting and performance review
effectiveness of MBO
effective in increasing motivation and productivity
average gain of 44.6% (Rodgers & Hunter, 1991)
errors in evaluation
come from both instrument errors and rater errors
rater errors account for more significant problems
instrument errors in evaluation
deficiency and contamination errors
deficiency errors
excluding important aspects of the job from evaluations
contamination errors
rating an employee on a non-important aspect of the job
rater errors
task-based rater biases
ratee-based biases
task-based rater biases
occur when rater adopts an evaluation set based on the task
strictness set - rater overly strict, gives everyone low ratings
leniency set - rater is overly lenient and gives everyone high ratings
central tendency set - rater tends to rate everyone as about average
ratee-based biases
halo error - individual’s performance rating is based on one positive or negative aspect of the individual (e.g. style of dress)
personal biases - such as prejudices of certain ethnicities
supervisors tend to rate______more favorable
persons of their own race
Schmitt & Lappin, 1980
black and white raters gave lower performance appraisals to___________
black workers than white workers
Sackett & Dubois, 1991
women’s ratings were lower when they constituted less than ________ but higher when they constituted________
20% of the work group
more than 50% of the work group
older workers tend to be rated lower on________ and __________
interpersonal skills
overall job performance
recency biases
tendency of an evaluator to be most influenced by an employee’s recent behaviors
attribution errors
tendency of supervisors to attribute poor performance to internal factors for workers they don’t like and external factors for workers they do like
supervisors tend to rate employees higher when…
the supervisor participated in the hiring decision
strategies to improve ratings
training raters with instruments to be used
using multiple raters
having raters rate on an ongoing basis rather than once or twice per year
basing performance on clear and specific performance standards obtained through a job analysis
frame of reference training
successful strategy for reducing rater error
raters provided with clear and specific criteria for what constitutes the different levels of performance
non-participation training
e.g. watching video, listening to lecture
programmed instruction
makes use of booklets, interactive videotapes, and complex computer software
involves gradual presentation of material with feedback at each step
computer assisted instruction
derivative of programmed instruction
instruction is computer based
simulation training
training in environment that simulates actual job
job rotation
exposing trainees (usually managers) to different jobs and departments to acquaint them with all faces of the organization
group participation training
discussion, role playing, business games, sensitivity training, in-basket training, behavioral modeling
effect of individual differences on training
training does not always equalize differences in ability, it may actually magnify them
individual differences in ability to be trained can be predicted through cognitive tests, biographical dangers, attitude measures, and work samples
effect of pre-training expectations on training
individuals with a low sense of self-efficacy are less receptive than those with a high sense of self-efficacy
effect of motivation on training
trainees with higher levels of motivation learn more and are more likely to complete programs
motivation is affected by one’s sense of job involvement and by locus of control
active versus passive practice - effect on training
trainees learn the most when they are actively involved in the process
massed vs distributed (spaced) practice - effect on training
massed practice - providing all training in short period (e.g. one day)
spaced practice - training conducted over several session
in general, spaced practice is better for learning
whole and part learning - effect on training
whole learning - presenting the material all at once
part learning - presenting the material in smaller units
slower learners may be better able to master new materials when it is presented in smaller units
transfer of training - effect on training
application of training material to the work setting
to enhance transfer of training - overlearning and identical elements (similarity between training situation and actual work situation)
feedback - effect on training
people learn best with feedback
feedback should be offered as soon as possible
training is better when program allows for frequent feedback
reinforcement - effect on training
reinforcement affects speed of learrning
greater the reward, more rapidly the behavior will be learned
initially - continuous reinforcement, latter, reinforcement can be thinned
structural vs. developmental theories of career development
structural - focus on individual traits and occupational tasks (e.g. Holland’s theory)
developmental - focus on development across the life span (e.g. Super’s theory)
Holland’s Personality-Job Fit Theory
major assumption = individuals and job traits can be matched and close matches will correlate with job success and satisfaction
Holland’s typology of personality and work environments
RIASEC Realistic Investigative Artistic Social Enterprising Conventional
Holland’s Self Directed Search
each person receives a code with the letters that represent his/her personality (e.g. RI for realistic and investigative)
person can receive up to 3 letter codes
first letter represents dominant personality type
Realistic (Holland’s Typology)
Prefers physical activities that require skill, strength, and coordination
e.g. mechanic, drill press operator, farmer
Investigative (Holland’s Typology)
prefers activities that involve thinking, organizing, and understanding
e.g. biologist, economist, news reporter
Artistic (Holland’s Typology)
prefers ambiguous and unsystematic activities that allow creative expression
e.g. painter, musician, or writer
Social (Holland’s Typology)
prefers activities that involve helping and developing others
e.g. social worker, teacher, clinical psychologist
Enterprising (Holland’s Typology)
prefers activities with opportunity to influence others and obtain power
e.g. lawyer, real estate agent, small business manager
Conventional (Holland’s Typology)
prefers rule-regulated, orderly, and unambiguous activities
e.g. accountant, bank teller, file clerk
Congruence (Holland)
closer the work environment and personality type are on the hexagon, higher the degree of congruence
high level of congruence correlates to longevity at the job
Consistency (Holland)
how closely related an individual’s first two code letters are on the hexagon
higher the consistency, the more likely the person will exhibit stability in work history
Differentiation (Holland)
refers to distinctiveness of the profile
fewer personality types, greater differentiation
easiest to predict the behavior of individuals with highly differentiated profiles
Environmental Identity (Holland)
refers to an individual’s view that the work environment has a clear and stable system of goals and rewards
Vocational Identity (Holland)
refers to the clarity and stability of an individual’s own goals and interests
individuals with high vocational identity make decisions more easily and with greater confidence
Donald Super’s Life/Career Rainbow
theory posits that career decision-making involves a range of changes and decisions from career entry to retirement
career patterns are determined by SES factors, individual abilities, personal characteristics, and opportunities
Super’s five major stages of career development
growth (to age 14) exploratory (15-24) establishment (25-44) maintenance (45-64) decline or disengagement (65+)
career maturity (Super)
individual’s ability to effectively master the tasks of a given stage in preparation for moving to the next stage
Super’s 8 life roles
son/daughter, learner, worker, spouse/friend, homemaker, parent/grandparent, leisurite, and citizen
self-concepts (Super)
individuals express their self-concepts through choice of vocation
Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory of Career Development
career development is based on social learning, environmental conditions and events, genetic influences and learned experiences
people choose careers based on what they have learned through modeling and reinforcement
Tiedeman and O’Hara’s Theory of Career Development
focuses on the processes of differentiation and integration
also focuses on critical role that decision-making plays in career development
2 stages to every decision - anticipation and implementation/adjustment
Differentiation (Tiedeman and O’Hara)
making distinctions about the different aspects of oneself and the environment
Integration (Tiedeman and O’Hara)
refers to unifying these different aspects of self and environment
results in better decision, setting more refined goals, and developing more useful plans
Schein’s Career Anchor Theory
person’s self-concept acts as an anchor, or stabilizing force, determining what future occupational decisions will be made
Schein’s Career Anchors
Autonomy/independence security/stability technical/functional competence general managerial competence entrepreneurial creativity service/dedication to a cause pure challenge lifestyle
Scientific Management philosophy
Frederick Taylor
concerned with finding ways of increasing productivity
views workers as extensions of machines
Human Relations approach to management
arose in 1920s and 30s under the impact of the Hawthorne studies (focused on workers rather than productivity)
Hawthorne studies - general findings
psychological factors seemed more important in increasing productivity than the physical aspects of the work environment
Hawthorne Effect
productivity increased not because of changes in the environment, but simply because workers were being observed
Hawthorne studies - findings on work groups
revealed importance of informal work groups - workers developed their own standards and were reluctant to change them for fear of deviating from the group
workers considered adhering to the group’s norms even more important than the extra pay they would have earned for exceeding company standards
McGregor (1960)
Theory X and Theory Y
Theory X
management approach
assumes workers are lazy and must be coerced and directed since they have no ambition and no sense of responsibility
underlies typical bureaucracies
Theory Y
human relations approach
assumes that people find satisfaction with their work and that control and punishment are not necessary to bring about good performance
people are industrious and creative, seeking challenge and responsibility
people function best under leadership style that is participative
Theory Z
Ouchi’s 1981b book How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge
highlights 3 critical Japanese management strategies:
1) lifelong employment with an emphasis on loyalty
2) slow promotion with an emphasis on non-specialized career paths
3) high levels of group decision making
Trait theories of leadership
initial approach when studying leadership
based on assumptions there is a universal set of traits that can always distinguish good leaders from poor leaders, regardless of the situation
research has produced limited and inconsistent support for this approach
Meta-analyses about characteristics that distinguish between effective and ineffective leaders
drive leader motivation honesty and integrity self-confidence and emotional stability high cognitive ability knowledge of the company and industry
Trait approaches: authoritarian, democratic, vs. laissez faire leaders
authoritarian - delegates to employees in autocratic fashion
democratic - seeks employee input in various aspects of the organization*** greatest level of employee satisfaction
laissez faire leader - not very involved in overseeing the operations of the organization and often lets the employees make the decision
both democratic and authoritarian leaders appear to have better productivity than laissez faire leaders
Situational theories of leadership
broadly argue that the effectiveness of leadership is contingent upon the situation
Fielder’s Contingency (LPC) Theory
Situational theory of leadership
3 steps:
1) looks at whether leader (supervisor) is task-oriented or relationship oriented
High LPC (leader rates his/her least preferred coworker with a high rating, leader is considered relationship-oriented)
Low LPC (leader rates his/her least preferred coworker with a low rating, leader considered task-oriented)
2) situational control/favorableness assessed - affected by how easy or difficult the task is, how powerful the leader is, the relationship between the leader and subordinates
3) LPC theory predicts that low LPCs are most effective as leaders in situations that are highly favorable or unfavorable. High LPCs are most effective as leaders in moderately favorable situations
Situational Control.Favorableness
how likely it is that the task will be accomplished
Cognitive Resource Theory
in response to Fieldler’s original LPC theory
looks at whether directive vs. non-directive leadership style will be more effective depending on the ability of the employees as well as stress levels, experience of leader, and group support for the leader
Vroom and Yetton’s Normative Model
focuses on leader decision-making
most effective style depends on the importance of the decision, the degree to which subordinates accept it, and the time required to make the decision
House’s Path-Goal Theory
recommends that leader increase personal payoff for subordinates and make the paths to the payoffs easier by clarifying and reducing roadblocks
focus on finding out what each employee finds rewarding, accessing the employee’s strengths and weaknesses, and helping the employee achieve his/her goals
four types of leadership styles: directive, supportive, achievement oriented, and participative
Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership
looks at employee’s readiness to perform
if not ready, leader should tell them what to do
if ready, need less task orientation from the leader
four categories of readiness: telling, selling, participating, and delegating
Bernard Bass - Transactional vs. transformational leaders
transactional leaders - influences subordinates through daily, fairly emotionless exchanges; make use of rewards, management objectives, and other conventional means
transformational leader - aims to broaden and elevate the goals of the subordinates; utilize charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration
Five types of power involved in a worker’s willingness to comply with the request of a leader
reward power (position power) coercive power (position power) legitimate power (position power) referent power aka incremental power (personal power) expert power (personal power)
research on five types of power found…
presence of the combination of expert and referent power is most important reason for complying with a manager’s request (Yukl & Falbe, 1991)
Coercive power most negatively correlated with satisfaction
reward power
based on ability to provide rewards (e.g. performance bonuses)
coercive power
ability to punish (e.g. fire employee for poor performance)
legitimate power
based on hierarchy of the organization (e.g. power that comes from being in a supervisory position)
referent power
aka incremental power
ased on identifying with, admiring, or liking the person in the leadership position
expert power
comes form having expertise and skills in the relevant area
rational economic model of decision-making
aka the classical approach
bases decision on a clear definition of the problem, knowing all possible alternatives and consequences of choices, and then choosing the optimal decision
administrative approach to decision-making
aka satisficing style
associated with Herbert Simon
this approach is used when problems are ambiguous, only partial knowledge is available, and the first satisfactory alternative is chosen
conflict
can be intrapersonal, interpersonal, intergroup, or interorganization
conflict resolution can utilize a lose-lose approach typical with compromise, a win-lose approach common with competition or authority, or a win-win approach typical in collaborative and problem-solving situations
negotiation
can be two-party, group, integroup, or among constituencies (e.g. management versus labor)
distributive negotiation
involves parties claiming part of the pie
integrative/principled negotiation
involves attempting to enlarge the pie
arbitration
involves a third party who acts as a “judge” and issues a binding decision after listening to both powers
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy
lowest–>highest
physiological, safety, belonging and love (social), esteem, self-actualization
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy - at work
belonging needs can be satisfied through developing a social network
esteem needs can be satisfied through praise
self-actualization needs can be satisfied by giving employees opportunities for growth and responsibility
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy -research
theory has received little research support and is judged to have low scientific validity and applicability in the workplace
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
aka Motivator-Hygiene Theory (1966)
found that different factors accounted for job satisfaction as opposed to job dissatisfaction
lower level needs and higher level needs
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory - lower level needs
aka hygiene factors or dissatisfiers
relate to job context (e..g pay, working conditions, supervision, etc)
dissatisfaction results when lower level needs are not met
meeting them does not produce satisfaction
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory - higher level needs
aka motivators or satisfiers
related to job content and include needs for achievement, responsibility, and opportunity
meeting upper level needs can increase satisfaction and motivation
when these needs are not met, dissatisfaction does not result
Job enrichment
aka vertical loading
came out of Herzberg’s work
involves expanding jobs to give employees greater role in planning and performing their work, thus providing opportunity to build satisfiers into job content
results in increased satisfaction and performance, decreased turnover, decreased absenteeism
job enlargement
aka horizontal loading
came out of Herzberg’s work
expands variety of tasks the employee performs without increasing responsibility or autonomy
increases satisfaction, only slightly affects job performance
Alderfer’s Erg Theory
based on Maslow
Divides needs into those based on existence, relatedness, and growth
Rather than arranging needs hierarchically, Alderfer posits that all needs may influence a personal at the same time
Principle of frustration-regression –> if person frustrated, will move towards a previously met need
Satisfying a need will make the need even stronger (in contrast to Maslow)
Greater empirical support than Maslow
Principle of frustration-regression (Alderfer’s Erg Theory)
if person is frustrated, he/she will move towards a previously met need
research on Alderfer’s Erg Theory
more research support than Maslow
people with more educated parents have higher growth needs
women have lower existence needs and higher relatedness needs as compared to men
McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory
resulted from M’s experiments with TAT to measure needs
3 work-related needs: Need for Achievement (nACH), Need for Affiliation (nAFF), and Need for Power (nPower)
needs acquired over time
McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory - nACH
need for achievement
desire to do something better, solve problems, and master tasks
McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory - nAFF
need for affiliation
desire to establish and maintain friendly relations
McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory - nPOWER
need for power
desire to control, influence, and be responsible for others
Research on McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory
people can be trained to think more like nACH people
high nACH correlated with success of company
General Expectancy Theory
Vroom’s Valence-Instrumentality-Expectancy (VIE) theory
asserts that people behave in ways that are based on their personal expectancy that certain rewards will follow and that in the workplace employees perform at a level that results in the greatest payoff
psychological value (valence) or reward varies from individual to individual
three facets of this theory: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence (in that order)
General Expectancy Theory - Expectancy
expectancy of success on the task
General Expectancy Theory - Instrumentality
anticipation of rewards
General Expectancy Theory - Valence
value the rewards have for the employees
Adam’s Equity Theory
based on social comparison theory
looks at ratio of self-inputs/self-outcomes versus others’ inputs/others’ outcomes
Adams believes that inequity is a motivating state and that we adjust our performance based on things appearing fair or unfair
Locke’s Goal Setting Approach
five principles:
1) goals should be specific
2) goals should be of intermediate to high level of difficulty
3) workers must receive feedback
4) sense of self-efficacy will increase performance (linked with expectancy theory)
5) employees must accept the goals
research on rewards and punishment
performance-contingent rewards are strongly correlated with both performance and satisfaction
non-performance contingent rewards and punishment are not strongly linked with performance and satisfaction
job satisfaction relates to
work-related and personal factors
up to 30-40% of job satisfaction may be linked to genetic factors
relationship between pay and satisfaction - Maslow
pay could be seen as meeting physiological, safety needs, or esteem needs
relationship between pay and satisfaction - McLelland
sees pay as fulfilling different functions for individuals with different needs, as an important source of feedback for persons with high nACH, as a source of control for those with a high nPOWER, and as a source of affiliation for those with high nAFF (IF money comes in the form of group bonuses)
relationship between pay and satisfaction - Herzberg
notes that adequate salary might meet lower level needs and prevent dissatisfaction, while merit pay might meet upper level needs and increase satisfaction
Satisfaction and age
in general, job satisfaction increases with age, regardless of type of work or sex
satisfaction and gender
no clear patterns of gender differences found in terms of satisfaction
satisfaction and race
whites report more job satisfaction as compared to minorities and these differences are most significant among managers
satisfaction and occupational level
higher the overall occupation level, the higher the job satisfaction
satisfaction and health
correlation between job satisfaction and physical and mental health
satisfaction and productivity
weak positive correlation between satisfaction and productivity (.17)
satisfaction and absenteeism/turnover
moderate negative correlation (about .4) with absenteeism and turnover
satisfaction and pay
positive correlation between pay and satisfaction, especially fairness of pay
absenteeism and sex
sex is strongest correlation with absenteeism
females have higher levels of absenteeism
absenteeism and company size
less absenteeism in smaller companies
absenteeism and age
older workers have more unavoidable absence but fewer avoidable absences
turnover and age
older workers have decreased turnover
turnover and tenure
negative correlation between turnover and tenure
turnover and pay and opportunity for promotion
negative correlation between turnover and pay and opportunity for promotion
turnover and routine work
routine work results in increased turnover
turnover and productivity
no relationship
Human Factors Approach
concerned with physical aspects of the job
time and motion studies address ways to maximize speed and minimize wasted movement
focus is on “operator-machine” system, how humans and machines work together to accomplish a job
Psychological Approach
assumes that efficiency and effectiveness are correlated with satisfaction and that satisfaction allows people to meet self-actualization needs
includes job enlargement (horizontal loading), in which number of tasks increased without increasing responsibility level
four common organizational structures
traditional, project, team, multidimensional
traditional organizational structure
aka hierarchical
typical bureaucracy
“project” organizational structure
centered on specific products or services
“team” organizational structure
centered on work teams or groups that report to upper level managers
“multidimensional” organizational structure
involves more than one type of structure
participative organizational style
three assumptions
1) human relations - people want to participate
2) human resources - people are a valuable resource because they have knowledge and ideas
3) high involvement - people can be trusted to develop knowledge and skills in order to make important decisions about management and their work
quality-of-work-life programs (QWL)
QWL programs target changes in organizational style in various ways
workers are involved in teams that meet weekly to discuss problems in their areas of responsibility
have been found to have greater effect on satisfaction than performance
Quality Control circles (QQC)
based on work of Maslow, McClelland, and Herzberg
7-10 employees from same department
QCCs goal is improved quantity and quality of production
workers must be given greater responsibility for their work and must be allowed to participate in decision affecting the nature of the work and the way it is performed
Organizational Development
focuses on total organizational change and on systematic ways to bring about planned changed
Organizational Culture
involves beliefs, values, customs, and behaviors of the organization
research has found that companies with culture of high involvement and high participation consistently outperformed those that didn’t favor involvement and participation
communication networks - two types
centralized (one person in middle gets all the information) and decentralized (all members can communicate with one another)
satisfaction and communication networks
satisfaction greatest in less centralized networks
social loafing
aka Ringelmann effect
people don’t work as hard in a group as they do on their own
stages of group formation
forming, storming (including conflicts over leadership), norming (initial integration), performing (total integration), and adjourning
additive tasks
group members’ separate performances are added to produce a combined effect
e.g. group of scientists and engineers combine their talents to construct a space shuttle
disjunctive tasks
outcome is affected by the performance of the most effective group member
e.g. group meets to decide how to improve the company’s strategy and one person comes up with an outstanding idea
conjunctive tasks
group’s accomplishment is limited by the performance of the least effective member
e.g. one member of quality control team sleeps during his shift, resulting in significant product errors
group effectiveness
groups make better decisions when the problem has multiple parts that are susceptible to division of labor
heterogeneous groups make better decisions than homogeneous groups
ideal group size for decision-making and effectiveness is five to seven members
in situations requiring deliberations (e.g. juries), even number is more effective
group work is best when common goals are more important to members than individual goals
brainstorming
brainstorming improves group decision-making
risky shift
tendency of people in groups to make riskier decisions than if they were deciding as individuals
response polarization
tendency for people in groups to become more extreme in their views
groupthink
occurs in highly cohesive groups when group members seek occurrence, consensus, and unanimity more than they seek the best possible alternative
climate and quantity and quality of production
performance declines as temperature and humidity increase
illumination
inadequate lighting is a source of distress
noise
loud noises are threatening to hearing
perception of ability to control noise may be more important than the actual ability to control noise
color
different colors have different effects on emotion blues and greens - soothing red - excitement yellow and orange - alertness gray - depressing
music
increases production slightly for assembly job lines that are repetitive and simple
compressed work weeks
e.g. four ten-hour days
decreased anxiety, decreased turnover, increased satisfaction
initially positive effects on productivity that wear off over time
drawbacks - fatigue, customer complaints
rest breaks
breaks increase morale an productivity, reduce fatigue and boredom
maximum effect if taken during the fourth and eighth hour of work
shift work
most workers prefer day work
tendency for increased error and decreased output on the night shift
afternoon and night shifts are more stressful than day shifts
flextime
findings mixed regarding productivity and satisfaction
Associated with high levels of motivation and satisfaction and decreased absenteeism
Job evaluation
Conducted to determine the relative worth of job in order to set wages and salaries
