Quiz 2 Review Flashcards
Formal Groups
Work groups defined by the organization’s structure that have designated work assignments and tasks
Informal Groups
groups that are independently formed to meet the social needs of their members
Synergy
Performance gains that result when individuals and departments coordinate their actions
Functional Teams
members come from the same department or functional area
Cross-Functional Teams
employees from about the same hierarchical level, but from different work areas, who come together to accomplish tasks
Problem-Solving Teams
a team from the same department or functional area that is involved in efforts to improve work activities or to solve specific problems
Self-Directed Teams
teams that determine their own objectives and methods by which to achieve them
Venture Teams
teams that operate semi-autonomously to create and develop new products, processes, or businesses
Virtual Teams
teams that use computer technology to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a common goal
Global Teams
teams with members from different countries
Composition
the degree of similarity or difference among group members on factors important to the group’s work
homogeneous teams
are more productive when the task is simple, sequential, requires cooperations, or requires quick actions
heterogeneous teams
are more productive when the task is complex, requires collective effort, demands creativity, and emphasizes thoroughness over speed`
larger teams
associated with lower satisfaction, participation decreases, and social interaction decreases
smaller teams
interact better, more motivated
Group Tasks
more people, more ideas
complexity
the ability of the group leader to deal with communication, conflict, and task activities
Odd numbers of members is…
best for more cohessiveness
informal leaders
engage in leadership activities without formal recognition, can be a tremendous asset or a major disruption
group norms
the standards against which the appropriateness of the behaviors of members are judged
Factors that increase cohesiveness
-homogenous composition
-mature development
-relatively small size
-frequent interactions
-clear goals
-success
-external threat
-large size
-physically dispersed
Equal talk time
best indicator of group performance
benefits of moving to teams
enhanced performance, employee benefits, reduced costs
Costs of moving to teams
-managerial role confusion/frustration
-managerial sense of loss of usefulness
-employee resistance to role changes
-cumbersome and lengthy team development process
-losses due to premature abandonment of the process
Life Cycle of Teams
it often takes 1+ years before performance returns to pre-team levels
Functional Conflict
Constructive, encourages differences of opinion, task focused
Dysfunctional Conflict
Destructive, agressive (person attacks), counterproductive, person focused
Hive Handicap Effect
women on all-women teams tend to be viewed unfavorably
social loafing
the tendency to put forth less effort in a group than individually
How to reduce social loafing
- Reduce team size
- Make individual contributions visible
- Make assignments more interesting
- Reward performance
Programmed Decision Making
routine, virtually automatic decision making that follows established rules or guidelines
non-programmed decision making
non-routine, occurs in response to unusual, unpredictable opportunities and threats
Classical Model
generate all alternatives and choose the best one (all information is known and mental capacity is infinite)
administrative model
bounded rationality, incomplete information, satisficing, subotimizing
bounded rationality
focus on a subset of information because cognitive limitations constrain our ability to interpret, process, and make decisions
incomplete information
uncertainty and risk, ambiguous information, time constraints and information costs
uncertainty vs. risk
risk is known, uncertainty is unknown
satisficing
stop examining alternatives once a solution with minimal qualifications is found
suboptimizing
accepting less than the best to avoid unintended negative outcomes on other parts of the organization
Fundamental Attribution Error
- If I do something bad, it’s not my fault (external cause)
- If they do something bad, it’s because they are a bad person (internal cause)
Confirmation Bias
tendency to force perceptions to fit our beliefs
Decoy Bias
When we are choosing between two alternatives, the addition of a third, less attractive option (the decoy) can influence our perception of the original two choices
groupthink
A pattern of faulty and biased decision making that occurs in groups whose members strive for agreement among themselves at the expense of accurately assessing information relevant to a decision.
nominal group technique
Group members write down ideas, read their suggestions to the whole group, and discuss and then individually rank the alternatives. Ideal for controversial decisions.
Delphi Technique
Group members do not meet face-to-face but respond in writing to questions posed by the group leader. Consensus used to identify the best solution. Ideal for geographically diverse teams, such as expert market forecasters.
1-3-6ing
Brainstorm as an individual, compare answers in a larger group, and then a larger group (used for team project)
Devil’s Advocacy
Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of a preferred alternative before it’s implemented
Typical Boss Traits
agentic (controlling), dominant, influential, competitive, presence, self-protecting
Best boss traits
Warm, humble, full of integrity, conscientious, thoughtful, unselfish
leadership
the use of noncoercive influence to direct and coordinate the activities of group members to meet a goal (not always in a position of power)
historical traits
height, race, gender, disability
current traits
personality, intelligence, integrity, emotional intelligence, motivation, self-confidence, knowledge of the business, charisma
Behavioral theories
- Assumes people can be trained to lead
- Provides the basis for leader training programs
- Based on research on behaviors of specific leaders
Job-Centered Behavior
Emphasizes the technical or task aspects of the job, focusing on accomplishing the group’s tasks
Employee-Centered Behavior
Emphasizes interpersonal relationships by taking a personal interest in the needs of employees
Fiedler’s LPC Contingency Model
Leadership effectiveness depends on the characteristics of the leader and the situation (leaders cannot change their orientations and should try to find situations that suit them)
Relationship-Oriented leaders
leaders concerned with developing good relations with their subordinates and to be liked by them (most effective in moderate situations)
Task-Oriented Leaders
leaders whose primary concern is to ensure that subordinates perform at a high level and focus on task accomplishment (most effective in favorable and unfavorable situations)
Path-Goal Theory
A theory of leadership suggesting that effective leaders clarify the paths (behaviors) that will lead to the desired reward (goal); based on expectancy theory
Task-Oriented Paths
directive and achievement-oriented leadership (boost expectancy)
directive leadership
tell followers which behaviors lead to performance
achievement-oriented leadership
set challenging performance goals and get out of the way
relationship-oriented paths
supportive and participative leadership (boosts expectancy and valence)
supportive leadership
care about followers, reduce discouragement
participative leadership
asks followers what outcomes they prefer
charismatic leadership
Leadership is based on leader’s personal charisma
Charisma is a personal characteristic of the leader which inspires support and acceptance
transformational leadership
the set of abilities that allows a leader to recognize the need for change, to create a vision to guide that change, and to execute the change effectively
transactional leadership
motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements
leadership substitutes
individual, task, and organizational characteristics that tend to outweigh the need for a leader to initiate or direct employee performance
leadership neutralizer
something that prevents a leader from having any influence and negates a leader’s efforts
strategic leadership
leading to achieve a superior alignment between the organization and its environment
ethical leadership
Leading based on consistent principles of ethical conduct
virtual leadership
leadership via distance technologies
