MGT 291
Study guide.
Module 1
Organizational Behavior is a field of study of human behavior for improving an organizations effectiveness.
Four basic management functions:
- Planning: setting goals, establishing strategy to pursue goals, forecasting future threats/opportunities
- Organizing: designing organization’s structure, identifying tasks that need to be done, hiring, delegating tasks, creating a chain of command, rules of communication
- Leading: directing/coordinating the work of others, influencing, motivating, maintaining morale, resolving individual group conflicts
- Controlling: monitoring performance, taking appropriate actions to get back on track
Three management skills:
- Effective at work
- Helps you become a more effective employee/manager
- Organizations benefit as a whole
Define “independent variable” and “dependent variable”.
Moderator → “when to work” dependent situation
Mediator → “why it works” explanatory mechanism
Common dependent variables: productivity, creativity, dysfunctional behaviors, work attitudes
Common independent variables: individual level (personality, motivation), group level (leadership, work team), organization level (HR policies)
Scientific Management → management to principles of efficiency derived from experiments in methods of work and production, especially from time-and-motion studies to find the “one best way”
Four Principles of Scientific Management:
- Science, Not Rule of Thumb
- Harmony, Not Discord
- Cooperation, Not Individualism
- Development of Each and Every Person to His / Her Greatest Efficiency and Prosperity
Hawthorn effect → we preform better when people are watching
Human Relations Movement → workers are not essentially interchangeable parts motivated solely by money
The System Perspective: Organization is a system of elements and environment functioning as a whole
- Shows importance of workplace environment
- Focuses on flow and interaction of workplace elements
Contingency/Situational Perspective: Situations and outcomes are based on many variables
Universal Perspective: presumes a direct cause-and-effect linkage between variables
Organizational citizenship: behavior positive to contribution outside strict requirements of the job
Dysfunctional behaviors: organizational performance detracting behaviors
“Scientific Method” steps:
- Theory
- Hypothesis
- Data
- Verification
The Reading- “Theory X and Y” and Relevant Class-Concept Videos/Presentations:
Theory X Workers → Controlling Management:
- Dislike work
- Must be supervised and pushed to perform
- Avoid responsibility
- Prefer to be directed
- Lower-levels needs
Theory Y Workers → Empowering Management:
- Like work
- Self-direct
- Seek responsibility if motivated
- Creative if motivated
- Higher-level needs
Module 2
Current diversity trends and major benefits of diversity for business:
- Better decisions
- Better creativity, innovation, and competitive advantage
- Better hiring and engagement
- It’s legally required
Diversity → observable and unobservable things among people
Surface-level diversity: demographics (education, nationality, religion, and ethnicity)
Deep-level diversity: psychographics (personality, values, opinions, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles)
Six barriers to diversity inclusion:
- Stereotype (pattern completing)
- Prejudice (preconceived notions)
- Perceived threat of loss
- “Like me” bias (tribal, we like those who are like us)
- Unequal access to organization networks
- Ethnocentrism (my culture is better than others)
Reciprocal mentoring → pair senior with junior employees
Discrimination → employment decisions are not job related
Affirmative Action → reactively correct past injustice
Misconceptions: people don’t know the criteria
Equal employment opportunity (EEO) legislation → proactively prevent discrimination
- Civil Rights Act (Title VII) → employment race, color, sex, religion, and origin
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act → 40+ age, no retirement required
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- American with Disabilities Act → essentially qualified
- What is reasonable accomodation?
Diversity Management Program →
- Education
- Enforcement
- Exposure
Three diversity paradigms:
- Discrimination and Fairness Paradigm
- Demographic based, denies difference
- “All the same. Differences don‘t matter.”
- Access and Legitimacy Paradigm
- Demographic based, isolated differences
- Learning and Effectiveness Paradigm
- Demographics and psychographics
- “With our differences”
IBM four pillars of change:
- Leadership support
- Employee engagement
- Integral management practices
- Linked to business goals
“Why Most Diversity Programs Fail”
Main reason for failure of diversity programs: Efforts can make things worse. Most focus on controlling manager’s behaviors that approach tends to activate bias
Three tools for Effective Diversity Programs:
- Engagement: prompt them to act in ways that support a particular view, their opinions can shift toward that view
- Contact: ex: whites fighting alongside blacks came to see them as soldiers first and foremost
- Social Accountability: plays on need to look good in the eyes around us; ex: discuss grades with peers can lead to judging work based on quality
Module 3
Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions:
- Individualism/collectivism
- Power distance — Authoritarian ←→ Egalitarian
- Uncertainty avoidance — High (Risk-adverse) ←→ Low (Entrepreneur)
- Masculinity/Femininity
- Long-term/Short-term values
The Big Five:
- Openness
- Consciouncessness
- Extraversion
- Agreeableness
- Neuroticism
Locus of control: Circumstances are result of → one’s actions | external factors |
Self-efficacy: confidence in specific task
Self-esteem: confidence in overall self
Emotional intelligence:
- Self-awareness
- Self-management
- Self-motivation
- Empathy
- Social skills
Person-job fit
Person-group fit
Person-organization fit
Person-vocation fit (profession)