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Bachelor Exam > Organizational Behavior > Flashcards

Organizational Behavior Flashcards

1
Q

What is the difference between an open system and a closed system?

A

A closed system hardly interacts with the outside world or management, while most organizations are open systems, where the output of one system is the input of another

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2
Q

What is a “tenured” position?

A

A position with a certain job security, difficult to fire this person

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3
Q

What is Organizational Behavior?

A

OB studies the influence that individuals, groups and structure have on behavior within organizations and aims to apply that knowledge to improve a company’s effectiveness

Goal is also to predict human behavior in organizations

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4
Q

What employability skills are supported through Organizational Behavior?

A

(1) Think analytically and critically
(2) Make better decisions
(3) Communicate and collaborate more effectively with others
(4) Act with a sense of social responsbility in the workplace

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5
Q

What are some of the core topics of Organizational Behavior?

A
  • Motivation
  • Leader behavior and power
  • Interpersonal communication
  • Group structure and processes
  • Attitude development and perception
  • Change processes
  • Conflict and negotiation
  • Work design
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6
Q

What is a systematic study?

A

examines relationships, attempts to attribute causes and effects, and bases conclusions on scientific evidence (assumes behavior is not random)

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7
Q

What are some contributions that big data can have on an organization? (positive or negative)

A
  • applied towards making effective decisions & managing organizational change
  • causes rise in AI and usage level of machineries
  • machines can often fail to capture the obvious “big picture” and may ignore their own limits (limitation)
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8
Q

What is a difference between Psychology, Social Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology?

A

Psychology –> focus on individuals (learning, motivation, personality, etc)

Social Psychology –> Focus on groups, ppl’s influence on one another (communication, behavioral change, etc)

Sociology –> Studies ppl in relation to their social environment/culture Focus on Groups (Power, Conflict, etc) and/or an Organization system (organizational culture, change, etc)

Anthropology –> study of societies in order to learn about human beings
Focus on groups (Cross-cultural analysis, comparative values, etc) and/or organization system (Organizational environment, culture, etc)

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9
Q

What does “Group Cohesion” mean?

A

= extent to which members of a group support and validate one another at work. When employees trust each other, seek common goals, and work together to achieve these common ends, the group is cohesive.

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10
Q

What are a few of the most important managerial activities?

A
  • Traditional Management (Decision making, planning, controlling)
  • Communication
  • HRM (Motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing & training)
  • Networking (socializing, politicking)
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11
Q

What is a manager’s largest/lowest contribution to success & what is the largest contribution to effectiveness?

A

Success:
largest contribution is Networking, lowest contribution is HRM

Effectiveness:
largest contribution is Communication, lowest contribution is Networking

–> Managers who explain their decisions and seek information from colleagues and employees - even if the information turns out to be negative- are the MOST EFFECTIVE

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12
Q

Interesting fact Workforce Demographics

A

OB can help explain what a shift in workforce demographics (e.g. decreasing birth rate in development countries –> shift towards an older workforce) mean for companies

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13
Q

Interesting questions to ask in regards to Workforce Diversity

A

Should we treat all employees alike, or adapt to accomodate each other’s differences?

What are the legal requirements in each country that protect workplaces from prejudice, discrimination, and inequality?

How can we recognize the strengths in our diversity?

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14
Q

What is the difference between surface-level diversity and deep-level diversity?

A

Surface-level diversity = differences in easily perceived characteristics (gender, race, age) that mainly activate stereotypes and don’t necessarily reflect what people think/feel

Deep-level diversity = differences in values, personality and work preferences

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15
Q

How does “bad” discrimination differ from the “normal” discrimination?

A

Discrimination per se means noticing a difference between things, which is not necessarily bad (e.g. noticing that one employee is more qualified than another).

However, BAD discrimination happens when we allow our behavior to be influences by stereotypes

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16
Q

What does “stereotyping” mean?

A

Judging someone based on our perception of the group to which that person belongs

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17
Q

Name 3 challenges/opportunities for Organizational Behavior!

A
  • Responding to Globalization
  • Managing workplace diversity
  • Improving people skills
  • Responding to economic pressures
  • Improving customer service
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18
Q

What is the Attribution theory and what 2 types does it differ?

Bonus: What are the 3 factors that determine which type of attribution there is?

A

Attribution theory: People see, draw a conclusion & then judge

  • Dispositional attribution = ppl assign reason of behavior to an internal characteristic
  • Situational attribution = ppl assign reason to the (external) situation
  1. Distinctiveness
  2. Consensus
  3. Consistency
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19
Q

What is the difference between Stereotypes, Prejudices & Discrimination?

A

Prejudice –> Stereotyping –> Discriminating

  • Prejudice is a preconceived evaluative attitude, often unconscious
  • Stereotypes is the belief that all members of the same group are alike
  • Discrimination is the behavior to treat a social group differently due to stereotypes
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20
Q

What are the 3 sides of the Dark Triad? Explain them!

A

1) Machiavellianism = degree to be manipulative and to do whatever is necessary (“the end justifies the means”) –> I GET EVERYTHING I WANT

2) Narcissism = tendency to be arrogant, high sense of self-importance, person requires excessive admiration –> I AM THE MOST IMPORTANT

3) Psychopathy = lack of concern for others, lack of guilt –> I DON’T CARE ABOUT OTHERS

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21
Q

What is the Situation Strength Theory?

A

Situation strength theory = the strength of the situation determines the effect of the personality to the behavior of a person

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22
Q

What are the 5 Cultural Dimensions of Hofstede?

A
  • Power Distance
  • Individualism vs Collectivism
  • Masculinity vs Feminity
  • Uncertainty avoidance
  • Long-term versus short-term orientation
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23
Q

What is the difference between a work group and a work team?

A

Work group –> share information, make decisions to help one another
Work team –> positive synergy through coordinated effort, results are greater than sum of individual inputs

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24
Q

Define the following 4 kinds of teams:
- Problem-Solving Teams
- Self-Managed Teams
- Cross-functional Teams
- Virtual Teams

A
  1. Problem-Solving Teams (HR)
    - Members often from same department, share ideas & suggest improvements
  2. Self-managed Teams (HR BP & Generalists)
    - Employees in highly-related jobs, plan & schedule, assign tasks, operate actions,…
  3. Cross-functional Teams (BlueCollar Project)
    - Members from same level, but diverse areas
    - Exchange information
    - Coordinate complex projects
    - More time-consuming due to complexity and diversity
  4. Virtual Teams (Consulting Project HU Utrecht)
    - Computer technology ties dispersed team together
    - Less social rapport, more task-oriented
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25
Q

What are the 3 key components of effective teams?

A
  1. Contextual Components (e.g. presence of resources, effective leadership, climate of trust)
  2. Team Composition Components (e.g. abilities of members, personalities, allocation of roles, diversity)
  3. Process Components (e.g. goals, team efficacy, level of conflicts, social loafing)
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26
Q

What are 3 questions that could be asked to evaluate if it makes sense to shape a group to a team?

A
  • Can the work be done better by more people? (Complexity of work)
  • Are the assembled goals bigger than the aggregate sum of goals? (Common purpose)
  • Are the members interdependent (Interdependence)
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27
Q

What is the difference between formal and informal groups?

A

Formal –> defined by the organization’s structure

Informal –> not organizationally, but voluntarily determined

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28
Q

What are the 4 types of groups? (2 formal, 2 informal)

A
  • Command group (organ. chart - formal)
  • Task group (working together to complete a task - formal)
  • Interest (specific objective of shared interest - informal)
  • Friendship (common characteristics - informal)
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29
Q

What are the 5 stages of Tuckman’s Team Development Model?

A
  1. Forming (uncertainty)
  2. Storming (conflicts)
  3. Norming (cohesion)
  4. Performing (goal-orientation)
  5. Adjourning (breaking up)

Critics include that groups could also go back to a stage & multiple stages could happen simultaneously

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30
Q

What is the difference between roles & norms?

A

Role = expected behavior attributed to a given position
Norm = expected behavior within a group, shared by all members

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31
Q

What did the Ash studies reveal? (Conformity experiments)

A

Group members avoid being visibly different & often feel pressured to align with others. People conform for 2 reasons –> they want to fit in & they believe the group is more informed than they are

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32
Q

What is Conformity?

A

Compliance with standards, rules, laws; “doing what the group does”

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33
Q

What is Assertiveness?

A

Ability to speak up for ourselves in a way that is honest and respectful

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34
Q

What does the equity theory say?

A

Employees weigh what they put into a job and what they get out of it and then compare it with the input-output ratio of others, to see if its fair
–> focuses on determining whether the distribution of resources is fair

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35
Q

What is diffusion of responsibility?

A

social phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action when other witnesses are present

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36
Q

What is Social Loafing and what are measures to prevent it?

A

= phenomenon where people tend to exert less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when working alone (mostly applicable when individual contributions are not visible)

–> Can be prevented by increasing competition within the group, engage in peer evaluations, distribute based on individual contributions

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37
Q

What are advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making?

A

+ generate more complete information
+ increased diversity of views
+ increased acceptance of a solution
- takes longer
- conformity pressures
- discussions can be dominated by one or a few members

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38
Q

How do you define efficiency and effectiveness?

A

Efficiency = doing things right
Effectiveness = doing the right things

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39
Q

What is group polarization?

A

= when a person shifts to an extreme opinion when in a group

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40
Q

What is the Nominal Group Technique when it comes to decision making?

A

= decision making process that starts with silently brainstorming ideas, individual presentation and recording of ideas –> restricts discussion during the decision making process to encourages independent thinking

41
Q

What are the 5 levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory?

A
  1. Physiological needs (food, water, warmth, rest,…) –> Basic needs
  2. Safety needs (employment, insurance, etc.) –> Basic needs
  3. Social needs (friends, good relationships) –> Psychological needs
  4. Esteem needs (prestige, confidence, achievements) –> Psychological needs
  5. Self-actualization (achieving full potential) –> Self-fulfillment needs
42
Q

What do theory X and theory Y by Douglas McGregor argue?

A

Theory X –> people are lazy, resist change and must be punished or rewarded to be productive

Theory Y –> people are ambitious & seek self-responsibility, want to contribute

43
Q

What and how does the two factor theory measure?

A
  1. Hygiene Factors, like having good working conditions, interpersonal relations, job security, payment, a supervisor, etc. –> if they are there, employee is NOT DISSATISFIED; if they are NOT there, employee is DISSATISFIED
  2. Motivation Factors, like achievement, recognition, responsibility, etc. –> if there, employee is SATISFIED; if NOT there, employee is NOT SATISFIED
44
Q

What are the 3 Needs of McClelland’s Theory of Needs?

A
  1. Need for Achievement
  2. Need for Power
  3. Need for Affiliation
45
Q

What does the Self-Determination Theory tell us?

A

people prefer to have control over their actions –> motivation decreases when they feel they are forced to do something they previously enjoyed

46
Q

What does the Cognitive Evaluation Theory say?

A

deals with effects of external consequences on internal motivation –> extrinsic rewards that were previously intrinsically rewarding, tend to decrease motivation over time (e.g. pay)

47
Q

How does Management by Objectives work?

A
  1. Organization sets overall goals
  2. Manager & employee set goal for employee together
  3. Manager reviews periodically & evaluates achievement
  4. Results are used as basis to start again

–> biggest impact is motivational advantage (employees learn more about company goals, feel important & see how they contribute)

48
Q

What does the Social Learning Theory tell us?

A

People learn from one another through observation, imitation and modeling

49
Q

What is self-efficacy?

A

the belief to be capable of performing a task
–> reflects understanding of what skills one can offer in a group
–> can be increased by gaining experience or seeing someone else doing it

50
Q

What does the Expectancy Theory say?

A
  • Effort-Performance = if I put enough effort in, I will perform well
  • Performance-Reward = if I perform well, I will get the reward I am hoping for
  • Reward-Personal Goals = if I get the reward I hope for, I will achieve my goals
51
Q

What idea does the Job Characteristics Model share?

A

based on idea that task itself is key to employee motivation. Boring job decreases motivation, while challenging job increases motivation

–> JCM can help to redesign jobs by adjusting any of the following 5 core job dimensions:
- Autonomy
- Feedback
- Task Significance
- Task Identity
- Skill Variety

52
Q

Name two ways on how jobs can be redesigned & explain them!

A
  • Job Rotation = periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another
  • Job Enrichment = increase of planning control, execution and evaluation of work (more responsibilities)
53
Q

What do Flextime, Job Sharing and Telecommuting have in common?

A

All of them are alternative work arrangements

54
Q

What are two types of employee involvement processes?

A
  • Participative Management –> sharing some decision making power with employees
  • Representative Participation –> small group of employees represents workforce to participate in decisions affecting personnel (works council)
55
Q

What is the difference between internal & external equity when it comes to considering what to pay employees?

A

Internal equity –> the worth of the job to the organization

External equity –> competitiveness in the labor market (e.g. IT)

56
Q

What are some major strategic reward considerations/decisions for managers?

A
  • What to pay employees
  • How to pay employees (time based, piece-rate, bonuses, profit sharing, Stock Ownership Plans, etc.)
  • What benefits to offer
  • How to construct recognition programs
57
Q

What does the Johari Window model tell us?

A

= framework that helps to increases self-awareness & understanding of others through communication
1. Open area = clear for all
2. Blind area = unclear for self –> ask!
3. Hidden area = unclear for others –> tell!
4. Unknown area = unclear for all –> shared discovery!

58
Q

How does the Communication Process work?

A
  1. Sender –> Message to be sent –> Encodes message
    NOISE
  2. Message goes in channel
    NOISE
  3. Receiver –> Message received –> Decodes message
    NOISE
  4. Feedback back to Sender
59
Q

What are key differences of the formal small-group networks “Chain”, “Wheel” and “All-Channel” in Communication?

A

Chain –> 1 to 1 to 1 to 1 –> gives best accuracy

Wheel –> One person exchanging with multiple people, facilitates leadership development

All-Channel–> everyone to everyone, has highest satisfaction due to participation

60
Q

What is the Grapevine?

A

informal (gossip) communication process that emerges if situation is important, causes anxiety and has ambiguity

–> not controlled by management, perceived as reliable
–> measures against it can be to maintain open communication & use it as feedback tool for new ideas

61
Q

Name 3 Cross-Cultural Communication Barriers!

A
  • Semantics - words can have different meaning for different people
  • Word connotation - words can have different meanings in different languages
  • Tone differences - tone changes in some cultures depending on context
  • Differences in perception - different world views
62
Q

What is the difference between a Low-Context-Culture and a High-Context-Culture?

A

While Low-Context-Cultures usually focus just on words and are straightforward, High-Context-Cultures communicate based on body language, tone & the overall context (indirect)

63
Q

What are the 3 factors that are influencing our perception?

A
  • Factors in the perceiver (attitudes, experience, expectation, interests, etc)
  • Factors in the situation (time, work setting, social setting)
  • Factors in the target (motion, sound, size, background, novelty, etc)
64
Q

What does the Fundamental Attribution Error say?

A

people tend to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors (judgy)

65
Q

What does the Self-serving bias say?

A

people tend to attribute their successes to internal factors

66
Q

What are common shortcuts in judging others?

Explain them!

A
  • Selective perception –> any characteristic that makes someone/something stand out will increase likeliness that it will be perceived (as we cannot perceive everything)
  • Stereotyping
  • Halo/Horn effect –> drawing a general positive/negative conclusion on the basis of a single characteristic
  • Contrast effects –> our reaction to one person is influenced by other persons we have recently met
67
Q

What are the 6 steps of Rational Decision Making?

A
  1. Define the problem
  2. Identify decision criterias
  3. Allocate wights to criterias
  4. Develop alternatives
  5. Evaluate alternatives
  6. Select the best alternative
68
Q

What is Bounded Rationality?

A

= behavioral bias that occurs in decision making, where people attempt to satisfice, rather than optimize

69
Q

What does the Overconfidence Bias refer to?

A

causes us to think we are better in some areas than we really are –> individuals who’s abilities are weakest are most likely to overestimate their performance and ability

70
Q

What does the Anchoring Bias refer to?

A

people’s tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information they receive on a topic (e.g. first tshirt you see costs 1000€, second tshirt you see costs 200€, the 2nd one appears to be cheap, OR airfares with additional costs)

71
Q

What does the Confirmation Bias refer to?

A

type of selective perception. People seek information that confirms/reaffirms past choices and discount/ignore information that contradicts past judgements (e.g. choosing same product/supplier again to confirm the right decision was made in the first place, despite there are better offers)

72
Q

What does the Confirmation Bias refer to?

A

type of selective perception. People seek information that confirms/reaffirms past choices and discount/ignore information that contradicts past judgements (e.g. choosing same product/supplier again to confirm the right decision was made in the first place, despite there are better offers)

73
Q

What does the Availability Bias refer to?

A

tendency for people to base quick judgements on information that is readily available

e.g. people become unsure about flying in an airplane when there was a crash the other day

74
Q

What does Escalation of Commitment mean?

A

Staying with a decision even when there is clear evidence that it’s wrong

75
Q

What does the Randomness Error refer to?

A

Tendency to believe we can predict the outcome of random events

76
Q

What does Risk Aversion mean?

A

tendency to prefer a sure thing over a risky one –> people will more likely engage in risk-seeking behavior for negative outcomes (if they have sth to lose), and risk-averse behavior for positive outcomes (if they could win sth), when under stress

77
Q

What does the Hindsight Bias refer to?

A

tendency to believe falsely that one has accurately predicted the outcome of an event, after that outcome is actually known

78
Q

Why do people negotiate?

A

to agree on how to share limited resources

to create something new that neither party can do on their own

to resolve a problem

79
Q

What is the difference between tangibles and intangibles in a negotiation situation?

A

Tangibles = price or terms of agreement

Intangibles = underlying psychological motivations such as winning, losing, or saving face)

80
Q

What does BATNA refer to?

A

Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement –> best alternative course of action if negotiations fail

81
Q

What are the 5 styles of Conflict Management?

A
  1. Inaction –> avoiding conflict (low assertiveness, but also low cooperativeness)
  2. Contending –> competing attitude (high assertiveness, but low cooperativeness)
  3. Yielding –> accommodating attitude (low assertiveness, high cooperativeness)
  4. Problem-Solving –> collaborative attitude (high assertiveness, high cooperativeness)
  5. Compromising –> trying to seek for win-win
82
Q

What does “Locus of Control” mean?

A

extent to which people believe they have control over the outcomes of events in their lives, as opposed to external factors

83
Q

What is Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)?

A

behavior that is not part of the formal job requirements, but promotes effective functioning (e.g. helping others, extending job activities, avoiding conflicts, etc.)

84
Q

What does Cognitive Dissonance refer to?

A

any incompatibility/inconsistency between attitudes and/or behavior (e.g. smoking despite being convinced that smoking is harmful)

85
Q

What are the 5 dimensions of Emotional Intelligence?

A
  1. Self-awareness
  2. Self-management
  3. Self-motivation
  4. Empathy
  5. Social skills
86
Q

Why is it important to understand personalities?

A

 You can find a better job-person fit.
 You get to understand different approaches to work.
 You become a better manager.

87
Q

What is “assumed similarity”?

A

people assume that others are like them (and ignore diversity)

88
Q

What is “Operant Conditioning”?

A

argues that behavior is a function of its consequences –> people learn to behave to get what they want or to avoid what they don’t want

89
Q

What does “Groupthink” mean?

A

extensive pressure of others in a strongly cohesive group that causes individual members to change their opinions

90
Q

What does the Path-Goal Theory state?

A

unlike Fiedler, who thought that leadership style is fixed, the theory states that it can vary on the situation and can be changed accordingly. Leadership behavior can be either directive, supportive, participative or achievement-oriented, dependent on the environmental factors (task structure, formal authority system, work group) and employee factors (locus of control, experience, perceived ability)

91
Q

What is the difference between transactional and transformational leaders?

A

transactional leaders lead mainly through social exchanges, while transformational leaders stimulate and inspire for extraordinary outcomes (being part of a great idea)

92
Q

What does “verbal intonation” mean?

A

= tone (it’s not what you say, but how you say it)

93
Q

What does Knowledge Management refer to?

A

cultivating a learning culture in which organizational members systematically gather knowledge and share it with others –> “Where can I go to get a certain advise and who can be a good resource?”

94
Q

Why is control in an organization important?

A
  • clarifies whether goals are met and if they are not met, gives reason why
  • gives feedback on performance and thus minimizes chance of problems
  • controls and backup plans help minimize work disruptions, such as disasters, financial pressures and scandals
95
Q

What are the 3 steps of the control process?

A

1: Measure actual performance

#2: Compare actual performance against standard
#3: Take managerial action

96
Q

What does “scrutiny” mean?

A

critical observation/examination

97
Q

At which points in time are “feedforward control”, “concurrent control” and “feedback control” and what do they refer to?

A

Feedforward –> controls are implemented BEFORE an activity begins –> prevents anticipated problems before actual occurrences of the problem (e.g. setting policies, engaging in pre-hiring screening, etc)

Concurrent –> control takes place while the monitored activity is in progress (e.g. direct supervision, or software that makes spelling checks)

Feedback –> control after activity is done –> corrective action; changes can only be done when production has been completed (e.g redesign control measures, evaluations, etc)

98
Q

What is the aim of the balanced scorecard and what are its four investigated areas?

A

= a well structured report that helps managers to control activities

  1. Learning & Growth
  2. Finances
  3. Customers
  4. Business Processes

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