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obm test 2

Terms in this set (70)

3 ethical frameworks for decision making
1. utilitarianism - focus on outcomes
- greatest good for greatest # of ppl, prioritizes proficiency

2. rights - focus on individuals
- make decisions consistent with liberties and privileges, prioritizes free speech, right to privacy and due process

3. justice - focus on distribution of benefits/costs
- Impose and enforce rules fairly and impartially so that there is equal distribution of benefits and costs, Prioritizes equitable distribution of benefits
selective perception
A perceptual filtering process based on interests, background, and attitude (i.e. we don't choose randomly)
halo effect
Drawing a general impression based on a single characteristic (emphasis on positive qualities: intelligence, appearance)
contrast effects
Our reaction is influenced by others we have recently encountered (the context of the observation)
overconfidence bias
Overconfidence in one's ability to make sound decisions: overestimating probability of being right
anchoring bias
Tendency to fixate on initial information and fail to adequately adjust for subsequent information
confirmation bias
Seeking out information that reaffirms our past choices and discounting information that contradicts past judgments
availability bias
Basing judgments on information that is readily available (impact, recency, significance)
escalation of commitment
Staying with a decision even when there is clear evidence that it is wrong (connection to failure)
risk aversion
Preferring a sure thing over a risky outcome (connection to creativity and innovation)
hindsight bias
Believing falsely that we could have predicted the outcome of an event after that outcome is already known (inflating our ability to make accurate predictions)
rational decision making model
Focused on consistency and maximum value of choices within specified constraints
1.Define the problem
2.Identify the decision criteria
3.Allocate weights to the criteria
4.Develop the alternatives
5.Evaluate the alternatives
6.Select the best alternative
assumptions of rational decision making model
Complete knowledge of the situation
All relevant options are known in an unbiased manner
The decision maker seeks the highest utility
This model is seldom actually used: it's more of a goal than a practical method
Thus, it's objective in design, but usually not in practice...
bounded rationality
constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity
The limited information-processing capability of human beings makes it impossible to assimilate and understand all the information necessary to optimize decision-making
People seek solutions that are satisfactory and sufficient, rather than optimal (they "satisfice")
Satisficing is not always bad - depends on context
decision making in bounded rationality
Simpler than rational decision making, decision making under ________ ___________ is composed of three steps:
1.Limited search for criteria and alternatives - familiar criteria and easily found alternatives
2.Limited review of alternatives - focus on alternatives, similar to those already in effect
3.Satisficing - selecting the first alternative that is "good enough"
intuitive decision making
A non-conscious process created out of distilled experience (least rational...)
Relies on links between distinct facts and information
Engages our emotions
Research is mixed on role of intuition
Can be a powerful complement to rational analysis in decision making
organizational constraints on decision making
Performance evaluations - Managers suppressing negative information
Reward systems - Risk-averse organizations prioritize conservatism
Formal regulations - Policy and procedure limiting alternatives
System-imposed time constraints - Time sensitivity limiting alternatives
Historical precedents - Past decisions impacting present alternatives
attribution theory
Suggests that perceivers try to "attribute" the observed behavior to a type of cause:
Internal - behavior is believed to be under the personal control of the individual
i.e. dispositional components (i.e. late for work because of oversleeping)
External - the person is forced into the behavior by outside events/causes
i.e. situational components (i.e. late for work because of a traffic jam)
determinants of attribution
Distinctiveness - whether an individual displays different behaviors in different situations (the uniqueness of the act)
i.e. if late, break other commitments? Consensus - does everyone who faces a similar situation respond in the same way as the individual did
i.e. only one late or late among others? Consistency - does the person respond the same way over time
i.e. always late?
fundamental attribution error
Tendency to underestimate influence of external factors and overestimate influence of internal factors
i.e. manager making assumptions about performance due to employee laziness vs. competition/innovation in the marketplace
self-serving bias
attribution error. Occurs when individuals overestimate their own (internal) influence on successes and overestimate the external influences on their failures
i.e. student earning good grade on exam relating the event to his/her intelligence (internal) vs. a student earning a poor grade relating to unfair questions on the exam (external)
three-stage model of creativity
the proposition that creativity involves three stages:

causes (creative potential and creative environment),

creative behavior (problem formulation, information gathering, idea generation, idea evaluation)

creative outcomes (innovation)
expectancy theory (vroom)
Strength of our tendency to act is dependent on the strength of the expectation of a desired outcome

Comprehensive analysis to identify:
Relevant forces in the individual
Relevant forces in the environment
Action-driven
Reward system, role clarification, structure of responsibilities
Simplicity has been criticized
Employees and managers make assumptions based on perception
three key relationship in expectancy theory
1.Effort-performance: perceived probability that exerting effort leads to successful performance

2.Performance-reward: the belief that successful performance leads to desired outcome

3.Rewards-personal goals: the attractiveness of organizational outcome (reward) to the individual
organizational justice
overall perception of what is fair in the workplace (ex. i think this is a fair place to work)

includes: distributive justice, procedural justice, informational justice, interpersonal justice

contingencies:
1.Subjective nature of fairness - role of perception
2.Inputs and outcomes valued differently across cultures
distributive justice
perceived fairness of OUTCOME

ex. i got the pay raise i deserved
procedural justice
perceived fairness of the PROCESS used to determine the outcome

ex. i had input into the process that was used to give raises and was given a good explanation of why i got what i did
informational justice
degree to which employees are provided explanations for decisions and kept informed

ex. my supervisor explained that the decision wasn't his to make
interpersonal justice
perceived degree to which one is treated with dignity and respect

ex. when telling me about my raise, my supervisor was very nice and complementary
reinforcement theory
Behavior is a function of consequences
__________ conditions behavior
Behavior as environmentally, rather than cognitively rooted
Consequences (i.e. reinforcers) increase probability that behavior will be repeated
Application to organizations: rewarding and reinforcing desired behavior while punishing undesired behavior
mcclelland's theory of needs
High achievers prefer jobs with:
Personal responsibility
Feedback
Intermediate degree of risk (50/50)
High achievers are not necessarily good managers
Personal recognition focus
High nPow and low nAff is related to managerial success
Motivating a team and moving towards a given direction
NOTE: implications for today's organizations
Empirically supported, but has least impact in practice
employee recognition programs
Can be as simple as a spontaneous comment
Can be formalized in a program
_____________ is THE MOST POWERFUL WORKPLACE MOTIVATOR - and the least expensive - but fairness is important
Pay incentives may be more motivating in the short-term, but intrinsic motivators are important to sustain motivation over time
flexible benefits program
turns the benefits package into a motivational tool

Individual employees value the components of benefits packages differently
participative management
Subordinates share a significant degree of decision-making power with superiors
To be effective:
Followers must have confidence and trust in leaders
Leaders should avoid coercion and stress organizational consequences of decisions
Only a modest influence on productivity, motivation, and job satisfaction
employee involvement
A participative process that uses the input of employees to increase their commitment to the organization's success
Participative management (Modest empirical validity)
Representative participation (Minimal empirical validity)
flextime
Some discretion over when worker starts and leaves
60% of US firms adopt some form of flex time
job sharing
Two or more individuals split a traditional job
18% of US firms adopt job sharing (2014)
Germany utilized this approach in adverse economic conditions
telecommunting
Working remotely
50% of US, UK, and German firms utilize this approach
10-20% in developing countries
Prosocial motivation can suffer in absence of relationships
job characteristics model
jobs are described in terms of five core dimensions:
Skill variety - using different skills/talents
Task identity - completion of parts or whole of the work
Task significance - impact on lives of others
Autonomy - discretion to individual to complete work
Feedback - assessment of work effectiveness
motivating jobs must:
Be autonomous
Provide feedback
Be meaningful
relational job design
Designing work so employees are motivated to promote the well-being of the organization's beneficiaries
Relate stories from customers who have benefited from the company's products or services
Connect employees directly with beneficiaries
Connection between prosocial motivation and CSR initiatives
job rotation (cross training)
The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another
Can increase job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and reduce turnover
Can decrease efficiency of decision-making, increase costs, and reduce overall productivity
nominal group technique (NGT)
Restricts discussion during the decision-making process to encourage independent thinking

Permits the group to formally meet but does not restrict independent thinking
Generates a large number of ideas
brainstorming
Generates a list of creative alternatives

Problem: production blocking as impediment to sharing ideas
Develops group cohesiveness
group think
by-product of a decision
Group PRESSURES FOR CONFORMITY deter the group from critically appraising unusual, minority, or unpopular views
Members pressured to suppress, withhold, or modify true feelings and beliefs
Leads to unanimous agreement over reasoned problem-solving
Groups focused on performance vs. learning are particularly vulnerable
group property 1: roles
The set of expected behavior patterns that are attributed to occupying a given position in a social unit
role perception
our view of how we're supposed to act in a given situation
Selection of stimuli
role expectations
how others believe you should act in a given situation
Psychological contract - unwritten agreement
role conflict
conflict experienced when multiple roles are incompatible
Work-family conflict most significant source of stress
group property 2: norms
■Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the group's members
■Norms and emotions
■Emotional contagion: individual to group influence
■Norms and conformity
■Reference groups play a role in how individuals conform to others in a group - perception biases and errors
■Norms and behavior
■Asch studies: members avoid being different
■Hawthorne experiments: group standards are set and enforced by the group itself`
group property 3: status
A socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others
Determined by:
The power a person wields over others
One's ability to contribute to a group's goals
An individual's personal characteristics

High-status members often have more freedom to deviate from norms and are better able to resist conformity pressures

High status people are more assertive
Lower status members may not participate
Group interaction and creativity may suffer
group property 4: size
Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks - members perform better
Large groups are consistently better at solving problems necessitating novel approaches
social loafing
tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than alone
Group Property 5: Cohesiveness
The degree to which members of the group are attracted to each other and motivated to stay in the group

Performance-related norms are the moderating variable for productivity and cohesiveness
Learning-related norms yield mutual accountability
High cohesiveness with high norms gives higher productivity
group property 6: diversity
the degree to which members of the group are similar to or different from one another
_________ increases group conflict but may improve group performance in the long term
Socialization is key to leveraging diversity Types of group _________
■Surface level ________
■Deep level _________
team process and success factors
Common plan and purpose: learning vs. performance, reflexivity
SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound
Team efficacy: ability, knowledge sharing, and trust
Shared mental models: how to achieve set out goals
Low levels of conflict: relationship, task, process
Minimized social loafing: individual and joint accountability
the four types of teams
1. Problem-solving
2. Self-managed
3. Cross-functional
4. Virtual
problem-solving teams
5-12 members often from the same department
Share ideas or suggest improvements
Rarely given authority to unilaterally implement any of their suggested actions
Focused on improving quality, efficiency, and work environment
self-managed teams
10-15 employees in highly related, interdependent jobs
Team takes on supervisory responsibilities:
Work planning and scheduling
Assigning tasks
Operating decisions/actions
Working with customers
May select, evaluate, and supervise members
Effectiveness is dependent on the situation
cross-functional teams
Members from same level, but diverse areas, within and between organizations
Exchange knowledge and expertise
Develop new ideas and solve problems
Coordinate complex projects
Development may be time consuming due to overall complexity, leadership ambiguity, and high levels of diversity in knowledge
virtual teams
Technology ties dispersed teams together:
Importance of trust, progress monitoring, and publicity of team's efforts
Special challenges:
Less social rapport and direct interaction
Difficulty dispersing information
Determining communication level
Managing virtual teams:
Ensure trust is established among members
Monitor progress closely
Publicize the efforts and products of the team throughout the organization
Promote shared leadership among team members to optimize performance
multiteam systems
Collections of two or more interdependent teams that share a superordinate goal
A 'team of teams'
Deployed to offset negative impact of team size on performance and effectiveness
Ex: coordination response following a car accident necessitates ambulance team, emergency room team, and recovery team, all working towards the same aim
Can be the best choice depending on task structure and process
Role of 'boundary spanners' in organizations - connecting diversified knowledge between units
Role of leadership in coordinating efforts to optimize team performance across units
why teams?
Better utilize employee talents
Are more flexible and responsive to change
Democratize and motivate
team effectiveness model
•Model generalizes across types of teams
•Assumes teamwork is better than individual work
•Focuses on objective measures of effectiveness

combines three factors:
- CONTEXT: adequate resources, leadership, structure, climate of trust, performance evaluation and reward systems
- COMPOSITION: abilities of members, personalities, allocating roles, diversity, size, member flexibility and preferences
- PROCESS: common purpose, specific goals, team efficacy, conflict levels, social loafing
context factors in team success
Presence of adequate resources
Information, equipment, staffing, encouragement, administrative support
Effective leadership and structure
Delegating responsibilities and facilitating collaboration
Climate of trust in the team
Can be a dynamic and vulnerable factor
Performance evaluation and reward system that reflects team contributions
Individual and group recognition mechanisms
cross-cultural communication barriers
Semantics - literal and figurative translation
Word connotations - different meanings
Tone differences - formal/informal
Differences in addressing conflict
cultural context
High context culture: China, Korea, Japan - Indirect: nonverbal, situational, & status/reputation cues

Low context culture: Europe & North America - Direct: explicit meaning significance, directness, & resolution
communication network types
-CHAIN: when accuracy is important, very formal, clear hierarchy
-WHEEL: when a leader needs to emerge, central control, strong leader needed
-ALL CHANEL: when high satisfaction is prioritized, Not formal - fluid arrangement (self-managed team)

no one network is better than the other, depends on the context
three modes of communication
Oral
Advantages: speed, rapid feedback, rich exchange
Disadvantages: potential for message distortion

Written
Longest-lasting form: words / symbols
Advantages: written record
Disadvantages: potential for misinterpretation

Nonverbal
Body language conveys extent of affinity for another
Relative perceived status between a sender & receiver
Meaning changes with intonation, facial expression, & physical distance
4 steps to creative behavior
1.Problem formulation: identify a problem or opportunity that requires a solution as yet unknown
2.Information gathering: possible solutions incubate in an individual's mind
3.Idea generation: develop possible solutions from relevant information and knowledge
4.Idea evaluation: evaluate potential solutions and identify the best one
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