Organizational Behaviour - Definitions Flashcards
Job Satisfaction
A collection of attitudes that workers have about their jobs
Job Descriptive Index (JDI)
A questionnaire to evaluate 5 facts of satisfaction: People, Pay, Supervision, Promotions, and Work itself
Emotional Regulation
Requirement for people to conform to certain “display rules” in their job behaviour in spite of their true mood or emotions
Emotional Contagion
Tendency for moods and emotions to spread between people or throughout a group
Sender-Receiver Model of Communication
Encoding -> Transmitting -> Decoding
Mum Effect
Tendency to avoid communicating unfavourable news to others
Punctured Equilibrium Model
A model of group development that describes how groups with deadlines are affected by their first meetings and crucial midpoint transitions. Consists of: Phase 1, Midpoint Transition, Phase 2
Additive Tasks (Groups)
Tasks in which group performance is dependent on sum of performance of individual group members
Disjunctive Tasks (Groups)
Tasks in which group performance is dependent on performance of the best group member
Process Losses (Groups)
Group performance difficulties stemming from problems of motivating and coordinating larger groups
Conjunctive Tasks (Groups)
Tasks in which group performance is limited by performance of poorest group member
Role Ambiguity
A lack of clarity of job goals or methods
Role Conflict
Occurs as a condition of being faced with incompatible role expectations
Intersender Role Conflict
2+ role senders provide role occupant with incompatible expectations
Interrole Conflict
Several roles held by one occupant that result in incompatible expectations
Person-Role Conflict
Role demands call for behaviour that’s incompatible with the personality or skills of a role occupant
Group Cohesiveness
The degree to which a group is attractive to its members
Free Rider Effect
People lower their effort to get a free ride at the expense of their group members
Sucker Effect
People lower their effort b/c of the feeling that others are free riding
Collective Efficacy
Shared beliefs that a team can successfully perform a given task
Self-Managed Work Teams
Work groups that have the opportunity to do challenging work under reduced supervision. Groups regulate much of their own members’ behaviour
Cross-Functional Teams
Work groups that bring people with different functional specialities together
Interpersonal Conflict
The process that occurs when one person, group, or organizational subunit frustrates the goal attainment of another
Relationship Conflict
Interpersonal tensions among individuals that have to do with their relationship per se, not the task at hand
Task Conflict
Disagreements about the nature of the work to be done
Process Conflict
Disagreements about how work should be organized and accomplished (e.g. disagreements about responsibility, authority, and resource allocation)
Stress
A psychological reaction to the demands inherent in a stressor that has the potential to make a person feel tense or anxious
Passive Response (Stress Response)
Individual has little direct control over effects of stress
Active Response (Stress Response)
Individuals can cope with previous aspect of stress episode
Role Overload
Requirement for too many tasks to be performed in too short a time period
Rationalization (Stress Reaction)
Attributing socially acceptable reasons or motives to one’s actions so they appear reasonable and sensible, at least to oneself
Projection (Stress Reaction)
Attributing one’s own undesirable ideas and motives to others so they seem less negative
Displacement (Stress Reaction)
Directing feelings of anger at a ‘safe’ target rather than expressing them where they may be punished
Reaction Formation (Stress Reaction)
Expressing oneself in a manner that’s directly opposite to the way one truly feels, rather than risking negative reactions to one’s true position
Compensation (Stress Reaction)
Applying one’s skills in a particular area to make up for failure in another area
Leadership
The use of power and influence to direct the activities of followers towards goal achievement
Trait Theory of Leadership
Leadership depends on personal qualities or traits of the leader
Path-Goal Theory
Robert House’s theory concerned with the situations under which various leader behaviours are most effective (Participative, Supportive, Directive, Achievement Orientated)
Directive Behaviour (Path-goal theory)
Directive leaders should schedule work, maintain performance standards, and let employees know what’s expected of them
Supportive Behaviours (Path-goal theory)
Supportive leaders are friendly, approachable, and concerned with pleasant interpersonal relationships
Participative Behaviour (Path-goal theory)
Participative leaders consult with employees about work-related matters and consider their opinions
Achievement-Orientated Behaviour (Path-goal theory)
Encourage employees to exert high effort and strive for high level of goal accomplishment; express confidence that employees can reach goals
Leader-Member Exchange Theory
Theory of leadership that focuses on quality of the relationship that develops between a leader and an employee. The theory states that all relationships between managers and subordinates go through three stages. These are:
Role-Taking
Role-Making
“Routinization.”
Social Exchange Theory
Social behaviour is the result of an exchange process. The purpose of this exchange is to maximize benefits and minimize costs. People weigh the potential benefits and risks of social relationships, and when the risks outweigh the rewards, people will terminate or abandon that relationship.
Cognitive Resource Theory
Leadership theory that focuses on conditions in which a leaders cognitive resources (intelligence, expertise, and experience) contribute to effective leadership
Contingency Theory
Fred Fiedler’s theory that states that the association between leadership orientation and group effectiveness is contingent on how favourable the situation is for exerting influence
Participative Leadership
Involving employees in making work-related decisions
Time-Driven Model of Leadership
A model that suggests that seven factors, including the importance of the decisions, the expertise of the leader, and the competence of the followers, combine to make some decisions-making styles more effective than others in a given situation. We need leaders for each of these types of situations
Life Cycle Theory of Leadership
A theory stating that the optimal combination of initiating structure and consideration for leadership depends on the readiness of the employee in the work unit.
Idealized Influence (Leadership Behaviour)
The power held by a leader who behaves in ways that earn the admiration, trust, and respect of followers, causing followers to want to identify with and emulate the leader
Inspirational Motivation
A type of influence in which the leader behaves in ways that foster an enthusiasm for and commitment to a shared vision of the future.
Intellectual Stimulation
A type of influence in which the leader behaves in a way that challenges the followers to be innovative and creative by questioning assumptions and reframing old situations in new ways.
Individualized Consideration (Leadership)
The extent to which a leader attends to each follower’s needs and is a mentor, coach or guide to the follower.
Information Overload
Reception of more information than is necessary to make effective decisions
Perfect Rationality
Decision strategy that is completely informed, perfectly logical, and oriented toward economic gain
Bounded Rationality
Decision strategy that relies on limited information and reflects time constraints and political considerations
Projection Bias
The faulty perception by decision-think that others think, feel, and act as they do.
Availability Bias
The tendency for people to base their judgements on information that is easier to recall.
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency for people to judge others behaviours as being due to internal factors such as ability, motivation, or attitude.
Organizational Culture
Shared beliefs, values, and assumptions that exist in an organization. Culture is developed from Beliefs and Values
Organizational Development
A planned, ongoing effort to change organizations to be more effective and more human
Gallop Q12 (Model of Engagement)
A survey that examines Basic needs, Management support, Teamwork, Growth
Self-Managing Teams
Teams that make decisions and solve problems concerning work production
Self-Designing Teams
Teams that make decisions and solve problems concerning work production and control team design and membership
Semi-Autonomous Work Groups
Teams that make decisions and solve problems concerning work production
C-Type Conflicts (Team Dysfunction)
Conflicts related to cognitive issues
A-Type Conflicts (Team Dysfunction)
Conflict related to affective (interpersonal) issues
Functional Departmentalization (Org Structure)
An organization is organized into departments based upon the respective functions each performs for the organization
Product Departmentalization (Org Structure)
An organizational strategy that divides employees into teams to work on all aspects of a particular project or product line
Customer Departmentalization (Org Structure)
Grouping activities on the basis of common customers or types of customers
Geographic Departmentalization (Org Structure)
Grouping activities on the basis of territory
Matrix Departmentalization (Org Structure)
Combining functional and product (project) departmentalization designs to improve the synchronization of multiple components for a single activity
Boundaryless Departmentalization (Org Structure)
A design that is not defined by, or limited to, the horizontal, vertical, or external boundaries imposed by a predefined structure.
Employee Engagement Components
Motivation, Satisfaction, Commitment
5 Factors Personality Model
A set of five broad trait dimensions or domains, often referred to as the “Big Five”: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism , Openness to Experience
Affective Commitment
How much employees want to stay at their organization
Continuance Commitment
How much employees feel the need to stay at their organization
Normative Commitment
How much employees feel they should stay at their organization
Span of Control
The number of subordinates that a manager can successfully supervise
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
Self-Actualization, Esteem, Belonging, Safety, Physiological
Legitimate Power
Power derived from a person’s position or job in an organization
Reward Power
Power derived from the ability to provide positive outcomes and prevent
negative outcomes
Referent Power
Power derived from being well liked by others
Coercive Power
Power derived from the use of punishment and threat
Expert Power
Power derived from having special information or expertise that’s valued by an
organization
