OB 221 Midterm Flashcards
organizational behavior
the study of what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations
organizations
groups of people who work interdependently toward some purpose
organizational effectiveness
a broad concept represented by several perspectives, including the organization’s fit w/ the external environment, internal subsystems configuration for high-performance, emphasis on organizational learning, and ability to satisfy the needs of key stakeholders
open systems
a perspective that organizations take their sustenance from the environment and, in turn, affect that environment through their output
organizational efficiency
the ratio of inputs to outcomes in the organization’s transformation process
organizational learning
a perspective that organizational effectiveness depends of the organization’s capacity to acquire, share, use and store valuable knowledge
intellectual capital
company’s stock of knowledge, including human capital, structural capital, and relationship capital
high-performance work practices (HPWP)
a perspective that effective organizations incorporate several workplace practices that leverage the potential of human capital
stakeholders
individuals, organizations, or other entities who affect, or are affected by, the organization’s objectives and actions
values
relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide a person’s preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations
ethics
the study of moral principles or values that determines whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad
corporate social responsibility
organizational activities intended to benefit society and the environment beyond the firm’s immediate financial interests or legal obligations
organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs)
various forms of cooperation and helpfulness to others that support the organization’s social and psychological context
counter-productive work behaviors (CWBs)
voluntary behaviors that have the potential to directly or indirectly harm the organization
job satisfaction
person’s evaluation of his or her job and work context
globalization
economic, social, and cultural connectivity with people in other parts of the world
surface-level diversity
the observable demographic or physiological differences in people, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical disabilities
deep-level diversity
differences in the psychological characteristics of employees, including personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes
work/life balance
the degree to which a person minimizes conflict between work and nonwork demands
virtual work
work performed away from the traditional physical workplace using information technology
organizational structure
the division of labor as well as the patterns of coordination, communication, workflow, and formal power that direct organizational activities
span of control
the number of people directly reporting to the next level in the hierarchy
centralization
the degree to which formal decision authority is held by a small group of people, typically those at the top of the organizational hierarchy
formalization
the degree to which organizations standardize behavior through rules, procedures, formal training, and related mechanisms
mechanistic structure
an organizational structure with a narrow span of control and a high degree or formalization and centralization
organic structure
an organizational structure with a wide span of control, little formalization and decentralized decision making
functional structure
a type of departmentalization that organizes employees around specific knowledge or other resources
divisional structure
a type of departmentalization that groups employees around geographic areas, outputs (products/services), or clients
team-based structure
a type of departmentalization built around self-directed teams that complete an entire piece of work
matrix structure
a type of departmentalization that overlays two organizational forms in order to leverage the benefits of both
organizational strategy
the way the organization positions itself in its setting in relation to its stakeholders, given the organization’s resources, capabilities, and mission
motivation
the forces within a person that affect the direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior
drives
neural states that energize individuals to correct deficiencies or maintain an internal equilibrium
needs
goal-directed forces that people experience
Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory
a motivation theory of needs arranged in a hierarchy, whereby people are motivated to fulfill a higher need as a lower one becomes gratified (bottom to top: physiological, safety, belongingness/love, esteem, self-actualization
positive organizational behavior
a perspective of organizational behavior that focuses on building positive qualities and traits within individuals or institutions as opposed to focusing on what is wrong with them
ERG theory
a needs hierarchy theory consisting of three fundamental needs: existence, relatedness, growth
Four-drive theory
a motivation theory based on the innate drives to acquire, bond, learn, and defend that incorporates both emotions and rationality
expectancy theory
a motivation theory based on the idea that work effort is directed towards behaviors that people believe will lead to desired outcomes
goal setting
the process of motivating employees and clarifying their role perceptions by establishing performance objectives
distributive justice
perceived fairness in the outcomes we receive relative to our contributions and the outcomes and contributions of others
procedural justice
perceived fairness of the procedures used to allocate resources as well as treatment of others throughout that exchange process
equity theory
a theory that explains how people develop perceptions of fairness in the distribution and exchange of resources
job design
the process of assigning tasks to a job, including the interdependency of those tasks with other jobs
job specialization
the result of division of labor in which each job includes a subset of the tasks required to complete the product or service
scientific management
systematically partitioning work into its smallest elements and standardizing tasks to achieve maximum efficiency
job characteristics model
a job design model that relates the motivational properties of jobs to specific personal and organizational consequences of those properties
skill variety
the extent to which employees must use different skills and talents to perform tasks within their job
task identity
the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole or an identifiable piece of work
task significance
the degree to which the job has an impact on the organization and/or larger society
job enrichment
occurs when employees are given more responsibility for scheduling, coordinating, and planning their own work
empowerment
a psychological concept in which people experience more self-determination, meaning, competence and impact regarding their role in the organization
ability
the natural aptitudes and learned capabilities required to successfully complete a task
competencies
skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and other personal characteristics that lead to superior performance
personality
the relatively enduring pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize a person, along with the psychological processes behind those characteristics
five-factor model (FFM)
the five abstract dimensions representing most personality traits: conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to experience, agreeableness, and extroversion
conscientiousness
a personality dimension describing people who are careful, dependable, and self-disciplined
neuroticism
a personality dimension describing people with high levels of anxiety, hostility, depression, and self-consciousness
extroversion
a personality dimension describing people who are outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive
self-concept
an individual’s self-beliefs and self-evaluation
self-efficacy
a person’s belief that he or she has the ability, motivation, correct role perceptions, and favorable situation to complete a task successfully
locus of control
a person’s general belief about the amount of control he or she has over personal life events
social identity theory
a theory that explains self-concept in terms of the person’s unique characteristics (personal identity) and membership in various social groups (social identity)
individualism
a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture emphasize independence and personal uniqueness
collectivism
a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture emphasize duty to groups to which people belong, and to group harmony
power distance
a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture accept unequal distribution of power in a society
uncertainty avoidance
a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture tolerate ambiguity (low uncertainty avoidance) or feel threatened by ambiguity and uncertainty (high uncertainty avoidance)
achievement nurturing orientation
a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture emphasize competitive versus cooperative relations with other people
moral intensity
the degree to which an issue demands the application of ethical principles
ethical sensitivity
a personal characteristic that enables people to recognize the presence and determine the relative importance of an ethical issue
perception
the process of receiving information about and making sense of the world around us
selective attention
the process of attending to some information received by our senses and ignoring other information
categorical thinking
organizing people and objects into preconceived categories that are stored in our long-term memory
mental models
visual or relational images in our mind representing the external world
stereotyping
the process of assigning traits to people based on their membership in social category
attribution process
the perceptual process of deciding whether an observed behavior or event is caused largely by internal or external factors
fundamental attribution error
the tendency to see the person rather than the situation as the main cause of that person’s behavior
self-serving bias
the tendency to attribute our favorable outcomes to internal factors and our failures to external factors
self-fulfilling prophecy
occurs when our expectations about another person cause that person to act in a way that is consistent with those expectations
halo effect
a perceptual error whereby our general impression of a person, usually based on one prominent characteristic, colors our perception of other characteristics of that person
primary effect
a perceptual error in which we quickly form an opinion of people based on the first information we receive about them
recency effect
a perceptual error in which the most recent information dominates our perception of others
false-consensus effect
a perceptual error in which we overestimate the extent to which others have beliefs and characteristics similar to our own
Johari window
a model of mutual understanding that encourages disclosure and feedback to increase our own open area and reduce the blind, hidden, and unknown areas
empathy
a person’s understanding of and sensitivity to the feelings, thoughts, and situation of others
learning
a relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavior tendency) that occurs as a result of a person’s interaction with the environment
tacit knowledge
knowledge embedded in our actions and ways of thinking, and transmitted through observation and experience
behavior modification
a theory that explains learning in terms of the antecedents and consequences of behavior
social learning theory
a theory stating that much learning occurs by observing others and then modeling the behaviors that lead to favorable outcomes and avoiding behaviors that lead to punishing consequences
