Midterm Flashcards
What is Organizational Behaviour?
Is the study of people and what they think, feel amend do within an organization.
It is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behaviour within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organizations effectiveness.
It is an interdisciplinary f study drawing upon: psychology, social psychology, sociology, and anthropology.
Why organizations use Org. Behaviour?
o All organizational members benefit from understanding organizational behaviour
o Understanding processes studied by the field of organizational behaviour may lead to improved individuals, groups, and organizations,
o “The success of our organizations is directly dependent on the effective use of Human Resources”
Why study org. Behaviour
o To learn..
More about organizations and how they function
How to predict what people might due under certain circumstances
o To help…
Achieve their goals
Create positive outcomes & address negative outcomes
o To improve…
Training leadership development, decision making, and organizational design
o Almost everything you do gives you the opportunity to see OB in action
What is perception?
o “The process of taking in, interpreting, and taking action based on information that is obtained from the environment” (Elsback / Keyes)
o “A process by which we organize and interpret sensory impressions to give meaning to our environment. What we perceive can be substantially different from objective reality.”
Factors that contribute to perception
- The perceiver
- The object
- The context
The perceiver:
Experience
Knowledge base
Values
Emotions
Motivation
Personality
The object
Novelty – what is new or different
Appearance
Motion
Sounds
Size
Background
Prolixity
Similarity
The context
- Time
- Work setting
- Social setting
Limitations & Bais’ of Perception
o Selective Perception – the process where information is consistent with peoples values and beliefs is noticed, and information that us not ignored.
o Hindsight Bias – looking back, deciding that an event was inevitable.
o In-group Favoritism – preferential treatment to a member of your group, even if unintended.
o Halo Effect – one positive characteristic of a person effects all other perceptions of that person.
o Horns Effect – one negative characteristic of a person effects all other perceptions of that person.
o Self-Fulfilling Prophecy – when someone’s expectations influence the behaviour of another person to meet those expectations.
o Self-Serving Bias – when people take credit for personal success, but deny responsibilities for failures.
o Bias Blind Spot – when people honestly do not see, or flat out ignore their own bias.
o Stereotype – deciding that someone holds a certain trait based on a category.
What are Attitudes
• Evaluative statements – either positive or negative, concerning objects, people, or events.
• They reflect how we feel about something.
• Attitude influences an individuals choice of action, and responses to challenges, incentives, and rewards.
Three components of Attitudes
• Cognitive component: a descriptive of, or belief in the way things are. It is stating a fact.
• Affective component: the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.
• Behavioral component: an intention to behave in a certain way based on the previous two components.
What is diversity?
• The similarities and differences among people…the process of valuing differences in experience background, and perspective.”
• The state of being different
Levels of Diversity
- Surface level
- Deep level
Surface Level Diversity
• Surface level of diversity: differences in easily perceived characteristics. These do not necessarily reflect how people think or feel but may end to stereotyping
o Gender
o Age
o Generational
o Race- heritage
o Ethnicity
o Disability
o Ability
Deep Level Diversity
• Deep-level Diversity differences that are not easily seen and progressively becoming more important for determining similarities as people get to know one another better
o Values
o Personality
o Work preferences
o Hidden disabilities
o Religion
o Sexual-orientation & gender identity
Challenges of Diversity
• Discrimination – making judgments of individuals based on stereotypes and assumptions
• Communication – “simple often unintended words and behaviors, signs and symbols, can lead to misunderstandings, embarrassment, conflict, or vent lost
What is Motivation
• Motivation: the intensity, direction, and persistence of effort a person shows in reaching a goal
o Intensity: how hard a person tries
o Direction: where effort is channeled
o Persistence: how long effort is maintained
Theory X
Theory X: the assumption that employees dislike work, will attempt to avoid it, and must be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment if they are to perform
Theory y
Theory Y: the assumption that employees like work, are creative, seek, responsibility, and can exercise self-direction and self-control if they are committed to the objectives.
Types of motivation
o Intrinsic Motivation: doing things because they feel personally meaningful or satisfying
A love/passion for what you are doing
An attitude of thankfulness
A posture of Worship
o Extrinsic Motivation: seeking to meet other people’s expectations
Shame/blame
Punishment/reward
Needs Theory of Motivation
- Self Actualization (self-fulfillment needs): achieving ones full potential, including creative activities.
- Esteem needs (Psychological needs): prestige of feeling of accomplishment.
- Belongingness & Love needs (Psychology needs): intimate relationships, friends.
- Safety needs (Basic Needs): security & safety.
- Physiological Needs (Basic needs): food, water, warmth, rest.
From Individual to Team Member
• Members bring with them their personalities and previous experiences. There are some essential elements that need to be resolved to become a team.
o Roles
A role is set of expected behaviour patterns associated with someone occupying a given position in a social unit.
Groups benefit when individuals know their roles
Role overlaid occurs when what is expected of a person far exceeds what he or she is able to do.
Role under-load occurs when too little is expected of someone, and that person feels that he or she is not contributing to the group.
o Norms
Acceptable standards of behaviour within a group that are shared by the groups members. Norms car as a means of influencing the behaviour of group members, with a minimum of external controls.
Creating Effective Teams
• Context:
o The four contextual factors that appear to be most significantly related to team performance are the presence of
Adequate resources.
Effective leadership.
A climate of trust.
A performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions.
• Composition:
o Includes variables that relate to how teams should be staffed.
• Work Design:
o Is the work suitable for a team.
• Team Processes:
o Process variables includes member commitment to a common purpose, establishment of specific team goals, team efficacy, shared mental models, a managed level of conflict, and a system of accountability.
