W.1 - Introduction & Organisational Behavior (lecture & chapter 1, 2, 4) Flashcards
Hawthorne effect
positive responses in attitudes and performance when researchers pay attention to a particular group of workers
Hawthorne studies
a focus on the role of human behavior in
organisations.
“theory of motivation”
Mayo’s work was the beginning of
the human relations movement.
What is organisational behaviour (OB)?
- research?
- type of psychology field?
- the study of individuals and their behaviors at work.
- Interdisciplinary and multi-level research.
- focus on applied social psychology
Evidence-based management (EBM)
- The ability to translate research into practice
- reduces judgement error in decisions making
EBM (3 categories)
- select the best available evidence
- systematic decision making
- re-evaluating & adapting
Four kinds of evidence in EBM
- Scientific (emperical studies)
- Practitioners (professional expertise)
- Organisation (internal data)
- Stakeholders (values & concerns)
Critical thinking:
“… persistent effort to examine any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of evidence that supports it and the further conclusions to which it tends”
(examination, beliefs, knowledge, evidence, conclusion)
Critical thinking skills: 5 parts
- Logic
- Reflection
- Dual processing
- Attention to detail
- Decision making
Critical thinking skills: Logic
• Logic (rely on reason, weigh evidence)
Critical thinking skills: Reflection
• Reflection (examine assumptions, recognise
biases)
Critical thinking skills: Dual processing
• Dual processing (consider different
viewpoints, start over when necessary)
Critical thinking skills: Detail
• Attention to detail (study many sources, be
thorough)
Critical thinking skills: Decision
• Decision making (develop contingency plans)
Agile working
Agile working =
independent of place
(and time)
- flexible work spaces (work from home)
Outcome variables in OB
• Performance and productivity
- Quality and quantity of work
- Motivation
- Work-related attitudes
- Organisational commitment
- Job satisfaction
- Engagement
- Employee well-being
- Employee withdrawal
- Turnover (intentions)
- Absenteeism
What is personality?
…defined as “regularities in feeling, thought and action that are characteristic of an individual”
- transformational leadership style
2. transactional leadership style
transactional leadership: (motivates w. rewards)
leadership behaviors that motivate followers through rewards and corrective actions
transformational leadership: (work for change)
leadership behaviors that mobilize extra effort from followers through emphasis on change through articulating a new vision for the organization
From DNA to personality: 7 theories/tests/models
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
- The Big Five
- Psychological capital
- Type A vs Type B
- Machiavellianism
- Self-monitoring
- Risk taking
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)…
… is the most often administered personality test
in organisational setting
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI):
- based on what theories:
- assesses what personality type?
- predicts what?
• Based on Carl Jung
• Claims to assess your ‘true’ (unconscious)
personality type
• Predicts behaviour
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Four general personality preferences:
- Introversion (I) vs extraversion (E)
- Sensing (S) vs intuition (N)
- Thinking (T) vs feeling (F)
- Judging (J) vs perceiving (P)
Critical thinking of the Myer Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) (4 parts)
- Assumes 4 dichotomies, not continuous traits
- Judging vs perceiving, not Jungian theory
- Test-retest reliability between 61-90%
- Classifying people into 16 categories is questionable
The Big Five
- Openness to experience
- Conscientiousness
- Extraversion
- Agreeableness
- Neuroticism
The Big Five: Conscientiousness
- reliable predictor of job performance
- predicts entrepreneurship
- predicts deviant behavior
- predicts turnover
The Big Five: Openness to experience
- predicts entrepreneurship
- predicts turnover
The Big Five: Neuroticism
- predicts entrepreneurship
The Big Five: Agreeableness
- predict entrepreneurship
- predicts turnover
The Big Five: Extraversion
- predicts turnover
Turnover:
the rate at which employees leave a workforce and are replaced
Person-Environment (PE) fit:
when an individual’s personality is aligned with their environment, it results in job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and better performance on the job
Two types of PE fit:
- Person-Organisation (PO) fit
* Person-Job (PJ) fit
Person-Organisation (PO) fit:
- Match between a person’s individual values and
those of the organisation they work for - Selection by the organisation as well as the
employee - Results in increased job satisfaction,
organisational commitment, and better performance
Person-Job (PJ) fit:
Job characteristics are aligned with employees’ personality, motivations, and abilities
Person-Job (PJ) fit: Two forms
Two forms:
• Demands-abilities (DA) fit
• Needs-supplies (NS) fit
Person-Job (PJ) fit: Poor vs Good
- Poor fit = burnout
- Good fit = higher salary
What is an attitude?
Attitude = A psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour
–> how positive or negative you feel about, think about, or act towards a topic or entity
What is an attitude?
triangle situation
- Cognitive (belief)
- Affective (feelings)
- Behavioral (intention)
Job satisfaction
“A pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experience.”
Job satisfaction: classifications
- Antecedents
- Correlates
- Consequences
Job Description Index
- Work
- Pay
- Promotion
- Supervision
- Coworkers
Organizational commitment: definition
an employee’s desire to remain a member of an organization
Organizational commitment: related to (+ & -)
Commitment is related to:
• absenteism (-)
• work motivation (+)
• performance (+)
Organizational commitment: Three components
• Affective commitment (emotional
attachment)
• Continuance commitment (cost of
leaving)
• Normative commitment (moral
obligation to stay)
Perceived Organisational Support (POS)
Employees’ perception of whether or not the organisation values their contributions and cares about their wellbeing
Perceived Organisational Support (POS): Favourable treatment
Favourable treatment in terms of:
• fairness
• supervisor support
• rewards & job conditions
How to INCREASE POS (Perceived Organizational Support)
• Implement supportive workforce services
(Give recognition for work, promotion opportunities)
• Be fair and equitable
(Use fair and transparent procedures)
• Set realistic goals and provide rewards
(Reward high individual performance, differentiate
high achievers)
• Offer individualized benefits
(Not everyone values the same rewards)
• Support supervisors
(Supported supervisors can more easily support their subordinates)
• Train people to be supportive
(Supervisors who feel supported by their employees treat them better)
• Promote social networks
(Employees can also support each other)
• Start support even before employment
(Positive expectations of POS result in higher POS after employment)
Absenteeism
any failure to report for or remain at work as scheduled, regardless of the reason.
Applied Cognitive Psychology
the study of how people interact in groups and addresses significant
challenges facing leaders as organizations use teams more regularly to get things done
job satisfaction + employee
OB researchers study how job satisfaction
affects employee well-being
Evidence-Based Approach
integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research
Individual level:
Industry level:
individual level: the most basic level
industry level: the aggregate of productive enterprises in a particular field, often named after its principal product or service (for example, the health care industry)
organizational citizenship behavior (OCB):
considered to be performance beyond the expectations of a person’s job description—
extra-role performance
organizational level:
an entire entity structured and managed to pursue collective goals with a structure that determines relationships between the different activities and the members
team level:
the group level of analysis
What does it mean;
Theory X:
Theory Y:
Theory X:
leaders assume that people are basically lazy, don’t like to work, and avoid responsibility
Theory Y:
leaders assume that people are internally motivated, like to work, and will accept responsibility
turnover intentions:
employees’ thoughts about quitting their jobs
The Hawthorne Effect
… refers to the fact that people will modify their behavior simply because they are being observed.
