Exam 1 Review
CHAPTER 1
1. What are the four functions of management as offered by Fayol?
a. Controlling, Leading, Organizing, Planning (CLOP)
2. How do you define management? Describe Pfeffer’s People-Centered Practices and why they are important in
organizations.
a. Management - process of working with and through others to achieve organizational objectives efficiently and ethically.
b. 7 People-Centered Practices:
i. Job Security
ii. Careful Hiring
iii. Power to the People
iv. Generous Pay for Performance
v. Lots of Training
vi. Less Emphasis on Status
vii. Trust Building
viii.
Security Hiring gives Power through Performance and Training which lessens Status and improves Trust.
c. Why?
i. Because too many managers act counter to their declarations that people are their most important asset and if they
are not then there is undue emphasis on short-term profit.
3. What do the 4 P’s in the 4P Process of Continuous Improvement represent?
a. People - skill development, motivation, teamwork, personal development and learning, readiness to change and adapt,
increased personal responsibility for organizational outcomes, greater self-management, and decreased stress.
b. Processes - technological advancement, faster product development and production cycle times, system flexibility, leaner
and more effective administration, improved communication and information flow, organizational learning, and
participative and ethical decision making.
c. Products - better quality of goods and services, greater customer satisfaction, and job creation.
d. Productivity - reduced wast, reduced rework, more efficient use of: material, human, financial, and information
resources.
4. How has the role of a manager evolved in the 21st century?
a. Traditional view was on the manager and what is now being suggested is that the focus needs to shift off of the manager
to the employees.
b. Primary role has shifted to a facilitator, team member, teacher, advocate, sponsor, coach, and partner.
i. Used to be order giver, privileged elite, manipulator, and controller.
c. Belief in continuous life-long learning, generalist with multiple specialties.
i. Used to be periodic learning and narrow specialist.
d. Multicultural and multilingual.
i. Used to be monocultural and monolingual.
e. Primary source of influence is knowledge.
i. Used to be formal authority.
f. Broad-based input for joint decisions in their decision-making style.
i. Used to be limited input for individual decisions.
g. Views people as the primary resource.
i. Used to be viewed as potential problems.
h. Primary communication pattern is multidirectional.
i. Used to be vertical.
i. Ethical considerations are a forethought.
i. Used to be an afterthought.
j. Cooperative interpersonal relationships.
i. Used to be competitive.
k. Share and broaden access to the handling of power and key information.
i. Used to be hoard and restrict access.
l. Facilitates change.
i. Used to be resist change.
5. What are the levels of analysis in OB? Why are these important to the study of OB?
a. Three Levels:
i. Individual - psychology
ii. Group - sociology
iii. Organizational - OB
b. Important because each level is treated differently and plays a different role in OB and each level contributes a different
understanding.
6. What is the study of OB and what have various disciplines contributed to this field?
a. Study of OB is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to better understanding and managing people at work.
b. Contributions by Various Disciplines:
i. Behavioral Scientist - started calling for more attention to the human factor.
ii. Elton Mayo, Harvard Researcher - advised managers to attend to employees’ emotional needs.
iii. Mary Parket Follett, Consultant/Writer - saw employees as a complex bundle of attitudes, beliefs, and needs. Along
with the belief that employees should be pulled rather than pushed to motivate them.
iv. Douglas McGregor, Consultant/Writer - Theory X and Theory Y managers concept.
v. W. Edwards Deming, Mathematician - firmly established TQM.
vi. Contributions also come from: psychology, management, sociology, organization theory, social psychology,
statistics, anthropology, general systems theory, economics, information technology, political science, vocational
counseling, human stress management, psychometrics, ergonomics, decision theory, and ethics.
7. Contrast McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. Why are these important to organizations?
a. Theory X:
i. Most people dislike work and will avoid it when they can.
ii. Most people must be coerced and threatened with punishment before they will work. People require close direction
when they are working.
iii. Most people actually prefer to be directed. They tend to avoid responsibility and exhibit little ambition. They are
interested only in security.
b. Theory Y:
i. Work is a natural activity, like play or rest.
ii. People are capable of self-direction and self-control if they are committed to objectives.
iii. People generally become committed to organizational objectives if they are rewarded for doing so.
iv. The typical employee can learn to accept and seek responsibility.
v. The typical member of the general population has imagination, ingenuity, and creativity.
8. Describe Deming’s 85-15 rule and explain why this is important in organizations.
a. Definition - when things go wrong there is about an 85% chance the system is at fault and only about a 15% chance that
it is the individual employee’s fault.
b. It is important because the typical manager spends most of their time wrongly blaming and punishing individuals for
system failures.
9. Contrast human capital and social capital. Identify 5 measurable outcomes when building human capital.
a. Human Capital - the productive potential of one’s knowledge and actions.
b. Social Capital - the productive potential of strong, trusting, and cooperative relationships.
c. 5 Measurable Outcomes When Building Human Capital:
i. Leadership/Managerial Practices - effectiveness of managers/leaders’ ability to optimize the organization’s human
capital through communication, performance feedback, efforts to instill confidence, and demonstration of key
organizational values.
ii. Workforce Optimization - the organization’s success in optimizing the performance of its workforce by means of
developing and sustaining talent (skills, competencies, abilities, etc.) and guiding and managing its application on
the job.
iii. Learning Capacity - the organization’s overall ability to learn, change, and continually improve.
iv. Knowledge Accessibility - the extent of the organization's collaborativeness and its current efforts and ability to
share knowledge and ideas across the organization.
v. Talent Engagement - the organization’s ability to retain, engage, and optimize the value of its talent.
10. Describe POB and the dimensions of Luthan’s CHOSE model.
a. POB (Positive Organizational Behavior) - the study and improvement of employees’ positive attributes and capabilities.
b. Dimensions of Luthan’s CHOSE model:
i. Confidence - one’s belief in being able to successfully execute a specific task in a given context.
ii. Hope - one who sets goals, figures out how to achieve them, and is self-motivated to accomplish them.
iii. Optimism - positive outcome expectancy and/or a positive causal attribution, but is still emotional and linked with
happiness, perseverance, and success.
iv. Subjective Well-Being - beyond happiness emotion, how people cognitively process and evaluate their lives, the
satisfaction with their lives.
v. Emotional Intelligence - capacity for recognizing and managing one’s own and others’ emotions - self-awareness,
self-motivation, being empathetic, and having social skills.
CHAPTER 9
1. What is a group, formal group, and informal group? What functions do groups fulfill?
a. Group - two or more freely interacting people with shared norms and goals and a common identity.
b. Formal Group - formed by the organization.
c. Informal Group - formed by friends.
d. Organizational Functions of a Group:
i. Accomplish complex, interdependent tasks that are beyond the capabilities of individuals.
ii. Generate new or creative ideas and solutions.
iii.
Coordinate interdepartmental efforts.
iv.
Provide a problem-solving mechanism for complex problems requiring varied information and assessment.
v. Implement complex decisions.
vi.
Socialize and train newcomers.
e. Individual Functions of a Group:
i. Satisfy the individuals need for affiliation.
ii. Develop, enhance, and confirm the individual’s self-esteem and sense of identity.
iii.
Give individuals an opportunity to test and share their perceptions of social reality.
iv.
Reduce the individual’s anxieties and feelings of insecurity and powerlessness.
v. Provide a problem-solving mechanism for personal and interpersonal problems.
2. What are the stages of group development described by Tuckman?
a. Forming - the “ice-breaking” stage, group members tend to be uncertain and anxious about such thing as their roles, who
is in charge, and the group’s goals.
i. Low mutual trust, people hold back
ii. Leaders believe they have permanent control
b. Storming - time of testing.
i. Individuals test the leader’s policies and assumptions.
ii. Subgroups take shape creating subtle forms of rebellion.
iii.
Many groups stall here because open rebellion typically occurs.
c. Norming - group is challenged, by someone other than the leader, to resolve its power struggles so something can be
accomplished.
i. Questions of authority and power are resolved
ii. Team spirit is established
iii.
Group cohesiveness is formed (a “we” feeling).
d. Performing - focused on solving task problems.
i. Work gets done without hampering others.
ii. Open communication, strong cooperation, and lots of helping behavior.
iii.
Conflicts and job boundary disputes are handled constructively and efficiently.
e. Adjourning - work is done, time to move on to other things.
i. Sense of loss
ii. Celebrations of completion
iii.
Emphasis on lessons learned in group dynamics
3. What impact does group size have on a group? What can happen as group size increases? Why does this occur?
a. We never talked about this and there is nothing in this chapter that talks about this no matter how many times I read it.
b. Personal Opinion:
i. Group size allows for task and maintenance roles to be filled. If the group size continues to grow beyond the number
of roles available then duplicate work and disagreement escalates as people attempt to work on the same tasks and
they provide roadblocks for each other.
4. What are the differences between a group and a team?
a. Group - two or more freely interacting people with shared norms, goals, and a common identity.
b. Team - small group with complementary skills who hold themselves mutually accountable for common purpose, goals,
and approach.
c. A group becomes a team when:
i. Leadership becomes a shared activity.
ii. Accountability shifts from strictly individual to both individual and collective.
iii.
Group develops its own purpose or mission.
iv.
Problem solving becomes a way of life, not a part-time activity.
v. Effectiveness is measured by the group’s collective outcomes and products.
d. Groups that are at the performing stage.
5. Describe 5 aspects/characteristics of an effective team.
i. Leadership becomes a shared activity.
ii. Accountability shifts from strictly individual to both individual and collective.
iii.
Group develops its own purpose or mission.
iv.
Problem solving becomes a way of life, not a part-time activity.
v. Effectiveness is measured by the group’s collective outcomes and products.
6. What are roles, norms of behavior, group cohesiveness, team building, and groupthink?
a. Roles - expected behaviors for a given position.
b. Norms - shared attitudes, opinions, feelings, or actions that guide social behavior.
c. Group Cohesiveness - a “we” feeling binding group members together.
d. Team Building - experiential learning aimed at better internal functioning of groups.
e. Groupthink - Janis’s term for a cohesive in-group’s unwillingness to realistically view alternatives.
7. What elements comprise team task functions and maintenance functions?
a. Task Functions
i. Initiator - suggests new goals or ideas.
ii. Information Seeker/Giver - clarifies key issues.
iii.
Opinion Seeker/Giver - clarifies pertinent values.
iv.
Elaborator - promotes greater understanding through examples or exploration of implications.
v. Coordinator - pulls together ideas and suggestions.
vi.
Orienter - keeps group headed toward its stated goal(s).
vii.
Evaluator - tests group’s accomplishments with various criteria such as logic and practicality.
viii.
Energizer - prods group to move along or to accomplish more.
ix.
Procedural Technician - performs routine duties.
x. Recorder - performs a “group memory” function by documenting discussion and outcomes.
b. Maintenance Functions:
i. Encourager - fosters group solidarity by accepting and praising various points of view.
ii. Harmonizer - mediates conflict through reconciliation or humor.
iii.
Compromiser - helps resolve conflict by meeting others “half way”.
iv.
Gatekeeper - encourages all group members to participate.
v. Standard Setter - evaluates the quality of group processes.
vi.
Commentator - records and comments on group processes/dynamics.
vii.
Follower - serves as a passive audience.
8. What are the 3 dimensions of trust and how can trust be built in an organization?
a. 3 Dimensions of Trust:
i. Overall Trust - expecting fair play, the truth, and empathy.
ii. Emotional Trust - having faith that someone will not misrepresent you to others or betray a confidence.
iii.
Reliableness - believing that promises and appointments will be kept and commitments met.
b. How to Build Trust:
i. Communication - keep team members and employees informed by explaining policies and decisions and providing
accurate feedback. Be candid about one’s own problems and limitations, tell the truth.
ii. Support - be available and approachable. Provide help, advice, coaching and support for team members’ ideas.
iii.
Respect - delegation, in the form of real decision-making authority, is the most important expression of
managerial respect. Actively listening to the ideas of others is a close second. Empowerment is not possible without
trust.
iv.
Fairness - be quick to give credit and recognition to those who deserve it. Make sure all performance
appraisals and evaluations are objective and impartial.
v. Predictability - be consistent and predictable in your daily affairs. Keep both expressed and implied promises.
vi.
Competence - enhance your credibility by demonstrating good business sense, technical ability, and
professionalism.
CHAPTER 10
1. Describe the steps of the decision making process as outlined in class.
a. Identify the problem
b. Develop decision criteria
c. Give a weight to each of the criteria
d. Develop alternatives
e. Analyze the alternatives with a rating system from (1-10)
f. Multiple step 5 by the weight.
g. Add up all of the numbers in step 6.
h. Pick the alternative with the highest number.
i. Act on the alternative chose.
2. How is the modified Kepner-Tregoe method used to guide decision making?
a. It bases everything on a weighting system that prevents personal biases from being used in making a decision.
3. Differentiate between rationality, bounded rationality, and intuition. Which is preferred in organizational settings?
a. Rationality - logical decision making.
b. Bounded Rationality - constraints that restrict decision making.
c. Intuition - making a decision based on your feelings or past experiences without conscious thought.
d. Preferred - a rational method is preferred; however, the reality is that the rational method is very difficult or almost
impossible to achieve in life so the bounded rationality method is what is actually used in most cases.
4. Define optimizing, satisficing, tolerance for ambiguity, minority dissent, and judgmental heuristics.
a. Optimizing - choosing the best possible solution.
b. Satisficing - choosing a solution that meets a minimum standard or is “good enough”.
c. Tolerance for Ambiguity - ability to perceive ambiguity in information and behavior in a neutral and open way.
d. Minority Dissent - publicly advocating and pursuing beliefs, attitudes, ideas, procedures, and policies that go against the
“spirit of the times” and challenge the position or perspective assumed by the majority.
e. Judgmental Heuristics - rules of thumb or shortcuts that people use to reduce information-processing demands.
5. Describe the decision-making biases.
a. Selective Search for Evidence - looking for evidence that supports the wanted outcome rather than all evidence.
b. Acceptance of the first alternative that looks like it might work.
c. Inertia - unwillingness to change thought patterns that we have used in the pas in the face of new circumstances.
d. Selective Perception - actively screening-out information we don’t think is important.
e. Wishful Thinking/Optimism Bias - want to see things in a positive light which distorts perception and thinking.
f. Recency - pay more attention to recent information
g. Repetition Bias - willingness to believe what we have been told most often by the most people
h. Anchoring and Adjustment - decisions are unduly influenced by initial information that shapes view of subsequent
information.
i. Group Think - peer pressure to conform to opinions held by the group
j. Source Credibility Bias - reject something if we have bias agains the person, organization, or group to which the person
belongs.
k. Incremental Decision Making and Escalation Commitment - we look at a decision as a small step in a process and this
tends to perpetuate a series of similar decisions.
l. Attribution asymmetry - we tend to attribute our success to our abilities and failures to bad luck.
m. Role Fulfillment - we conform to the decision making expectations that others have of someone in our position.
n. Underestimating Uncertainty - we think we have more control over events than what we really do.
6. Describe the various decision making styles.
a. Directive - Low tolerance for ambiguity, oriented towards task/technical concerns.
b. Analytical - High tolerance for ambiguity, orientated towards task/technical concerns.
c. Conceptual - High tolerance for ambiguity, orientated towards people and social concerns.
d. Behavioral - Low tolerance for ambiguity, orientated towards people and social concerns.
7. Differentiate between knowledge management, tacit knowledge, and explicit knowledge. How do these impact organizations?
a. Knowledge Management - implementing systems and practices that increase the sharing of knowledge and information
throughout an organization.
b. Tacit Knowledge - information gained through experience that is difficult to express and formalize.
c. Explicit Knowledge - information that can be easily put into words and shared with others.
d. Important to organizations because it improves the quality of their decision making, reduces cost, and increases
efficiency.
8. What are the advantages and disadvantages to group decision making?
a. Advantages:
i. Greater pool of knowledge - a group can bring much more information and experience to bear on a decision or
problem than can an individual acting alone.
ii. Different perspectives - individuals with varied experience and interests help the group see decision situations and
problems from different angles.
iii.
Greater comprehension - those who personally experience the give and take of group discussion about
alternative courses of action tend to understand the rationale behind the final decision.
iv.
Increased acceptance - those who play an active role in group decision making and problem solving tend to
view the outcome as “ours” rather than “theirs”.
v. Training ground - less experienced participants in group action learn how to cope with group dynamics by actually
being involved.
b. Disadvantages:
i. Social pressure - unwillingness to “rock the boat” and pressure to conform may combine to stifle the creativity of
individual contributors.
ii. Domination by a vocal few - sometimes the quality of group action is reduced when the group gives in to those who
talk the loudest and longest.
iii.
Logrolling - political wheeling and dealing can displace sound thinking when an individual’s pet project or
vested interest is at stake.
iv.
Goal displacement - sometimes secondary considerations such as winning an argument, making a point, or
getting back at a rival displace the primary task of making a sound decision or solving a problem.
v. “Groupthink” - sometimes cohesive “in-groups” let the desire for unanimity override sound judgment when
generating and evaluating alternative courses of action.
CHAPTER 2
1. Discuss the layers and functions of organizational culture.
a. Layers of Organizational Culture:
i. Observable Artifacts - the physical manifestation of an organization’s culture and visible behaviors exhibited by
people and groups. Easier to change than the less visible aspects of organizational culture.
ii. Espoused Values - the stated values and norms that are preferred by an organization. Typically established by the
founder.
iii.
Enacted Values - the values and norms that are exhibited by employees. The values that employees ascribe
to an organization based on their observations of what occurs on a daily basis.
iv.
Basic Assumptions - unobservable organizational values that have become so taken for granted over time that
they become assumptions that guide organizational behavior and are highly resistant to change.
b. Four Functions of Organizational Culture
i. Give member an organizational identity.
ii. Facilitate collective commitment.
iii.
Promote social system stability. Positive and reinforcing work environment.
iv.
Shape behavior by helping members make sense of their surroundings. Why the organization does what it
does and how it intends to accomplish its long-term goals.
2. Describe the process of cultural change.
a. Not doing this one because this was part of another class and, again, not covered in class or in this chapter.
3. Define organizational socialization, the 3 phases included in the model and the associated outcomes.
a. Organizational Socialization - the process by which employees learn an organization’s values, norms, and required
behaviors.
b. 3 Phases:
i. Anticipatory Socialization - occurs before an individual joins an organization, and involves the information people
learn about different careers, occupations, professions, and organizations.
ii. Encounter Phase - employees learn what the organization is really like and reconcile unmet expectations.
iii.
Change and Acquisition - requires employees to master tasks and roles and to adjust to work group values
and norms.
c. Associated Outcomes:
i. Performs role assignments
ii. Remains with organization
iii.
Spontaneously innovates and cooperates
iv.
Generally satisfied
v. Internally motivated to work
vi.
High job involvement
4. Describe the various socialization tactics.
a. Collective vs. Individual
i. Collective socialization consists of grouping newcomers and exposing them to a common set of experiences rather
than treating each newcomer individually and exposing him or her to more or less unique experiences.
b. Formal vs. Informal
i. Formal socialization is the practice of segregating a newcomer from regular organization members during a defined
socialization period versus not clearly distinguishing a newcomer from more experienced members. Army recruits
must attend boot camp before they are allowed to work alongside established soldiers.
c. Sequential vs. Random
i. Sequential socialization refers to a fixed progression of steps that culminate in the new role, compared to an
ambiguous or dynamic progression. The socialization of doctors involves a lock-step sequence from medical school,
to internship, to residency before they are allowed to practice on their own.
d. Fixed vs. Variable
i. A serial process is one in which the newcomer is socialized by an experienced member, whereas a disjunctive
process does not use a role model.
e. Investiture vs. Divestiture
i. Investiture refers to the affirmation of a newcomer’s incoming global and specific role identities and attributes.
Divestiture is the denial and stripping away of the newcomer’s existing sense of self and the reconstruction of self in
the organization’s image. During police training, cadets are required to wear uniforms and maintain an immaculate
appearance, they are addressed as “officer” and told they are no longer ordinary citizens but are representatives of
the police force.
5. If you were asked to design a new member orientation to help an employee socialize into your organization, what would
you include? Why would that ben an essential element?
a. Test the newcomer to determine their personality and what the best socialization process would be for them. Of course,
there would be a standard for each “personality” type based on if they are work oriented or people oriented to make sure
that everyone receives the same information though it may come in different timings or from different people. If it was
someone like myself who is more work oriented, rather than socially oriented, I would recommend the following:
b. Put the newcomer through training first to ensure that all information is received prior to any on-the-job training. This is
essential because if someone does not understand the expectations, beliefs, and values of the company and their specific
position, then there can be no going forward.
c. Place the newcomer in Mentor training with a senior member who can basically answer any of the difficult questions that
may be asked. This is essential as for people of this personality type, if the person training them is perceived as “green”
or inefficient then it may make them question if their talents will be properly used within the company and make create a
negative image in the employee’s mind that could cause conflict later on down the road.
d. Once the employee finishes the mentoring process (with the knowledge that that person will always be available in the
future) then the mentor will introduce the newcomer to the entire team through in a manner that does not interrupt
workflow or cause a prolonged pause in working. This is essential for someone of this personality type as work is key in
their mind and by interrupting to meet someone, the newcomer will only be thinking about the minutes passing by and not
really focusing on meeting someone. It may be best to have the team get together during lunch to meet the newcomer so
that there is no stress associated with “interrupting”.
e. After introduction period is complete, then the newcomer would be placed in with the group in their work area with a list
of who is in there group, who can help them with what tasks, and who to contact in various situations to ensure that the
newcomer has as much information as possible starting off. This is essential because most newcomers feel a sense of loss
and hesitation in interrupting people when they are working, so by knowing who to contact when and how, there is a
sense that it is okay to contact these people and there is not a need to interrupt someone just to figure out who to go to.
6. Define mentoring and the associated implications.
a. Mentoring - process of forming and maintaining developmental relationships between a mentor and a junior person.
b. Job and Career Satisfaction - likely to be influenced by the consistency between an individual’s career goals and the type
of developmental network at their disposal.
c. Developer’s Willingness to Provide Career and Psychosocial Assistance - a function of the protege’s ability, potential,
and the quality of the interpersonal relationship.
d. Enhances the Effectiveness of Organizational Communication - increases the amount of vertical communication both up
and down an organization and provides a mechanism for modifying or reinforcing organizational culture.
7. How does a person build an effective mentoring network?
a. Become the perfect protege - invest ample time and energy to develop and maintain a network of developmental
relationships. Trust and respect are needed among network members.
b. Engage in 360-degree networking - share information and maintain good relationship with those above, below, and at the
same level as yourself.
c. Commit to assessing, building, and adjusting the mentor network - begin by assessing the competencies you want to build
then find mentors that can assist in building your desired competencies, before changing network members commensurate
with changes in your experience and knowledge.
d. Develop divers, synergistic connections - find and develop relationships with multiple, diverse mentors. Pursue both
formal and informal mentoring opportunities.
e. Realize that change is inevitable and that all good things come to an end. Most mentoring relationships last an average of
5 years. When a relationship ceases to be beneficial, end the mentoring relationship.
OTHER
1. Of the material covered to date, which has been the most helpful in your understanding of organizational behavior, and how
will this affect you in the future?