MGMT 102
Midterm Study Guide
Chapter 1: What is Organizational Behavior?
1. Identify the key individual outcomes in the studies of organizational behavior and describe the factors that
affect these key outcomes.
○ 2 primary outcomes of interest to OB researchers:
■ Job Performance (employees have goal to perform their jobs well managers have goal to
maximize employee’s job performance)
■ Organizational Commitment (employees have goal to remain a member of an organization
they respect, managers have goal to ensure that employees stay with the firm longterm)
○ Factors that affect the 2 primary outcomes:
■ Individual Mechanisms
● Job satisfaction, stress, motivation, trust/justice/ethics, learning + decision making
■ Individual Characteristics
● Ability
● Personality + cultural values
■ Group Mechanisms
● Leadership: styles + behaviors, power + negotiation
● Teams: processes + communication, characteristics + diversity
■ Organizational Mechanisms
● Organizational culture
● Organizational structure
2. Explain the Rule of One-Eighth.
○ Half of the organizations do not believe there is connection between people and profit
○ Half of those who see the connection try to make a single change, rather than comprehensive changes
○ Half of the firms that make comprehensive changes persist long enough for those changes to make a
difference
○ ½x½x½=⅛
3. Explain the scientific method and its impact on Organizational Behavior.
○ Cycle: Theory ⇒ Hypothesis ⇒ Data ⇒ Verification
○ Helps show correlation
4. Briefly explain the difference between correlation and causality.
○ Correlation ≠ Causation
○ Proving causation requires correlation
■ Temporal precedence
■ Eliminating alternative explanations
5. Briefly describe the four different ways of knowing things. Which way do you believe provides the soundest
explanation and most compelling support?
○ Experience
■ Based on prior experiences and interactions
○ Intuition
■ “Gut feeling”
○ Authority
■ From professors and other reputable/trustable sources
○ Science
■ Science itself
■ Experiments
■ Soundest explanation
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■
*Most compelling support
Chapter 2: Job Performance
6. Define job performance and discuss its elements.
○ The value of a set of behaviors that contribute, either positively or negatively, to organizational goal
accomplishment
○ Not the consequences or results of behavior, but the behavior itself
7. Define task performance and explain its dimensions.
○ Behaviors directly involved in transforming organizational resources into the goods or services an
organization produces, typically a mix of:
■ Routine task performance, adaptive task performance, and creative task performance
8. Define job analysis, explain its importance in determining job performance, and list and the basic steps
involved in job analysis. If you don’t conduct a job analysis yourself, where can you find information on job
analyses?
○ 1. Generate a list of activities involved in a job/divide into dimensions
○ 2. Each activity is rated by subject matter experts
○ 3. Activities that are rated highly in importance and frequency are retained and used to define task
performance
○ Important to evaluate performance on the basis of behaviors within employee’s control with feedback
rather than on the basis of sales, also can ensure following standardized and efficient procedures
○ O*NET​ (Occupational Information Network) is a government database online created to help with job
analysis for organizations who find it impractical to do it themselves,
9. Kate is a very friendly and helpful person. She goes out of her way to help her coworkers who struggle with
their tasks. Kate attends the optional meetings that are scheduled for the employees. She also maintains a
good attitude with everyone even in trying times. Which behavior relevant to job performance is Kate
demonstrating? Elaborate on this behavior and its types.
○ Citizenship Behavior
■ Voluntary employee activities that may or may not be rewarded but contribute to the
organization by improving the overall quality of the setting or context in the workplace
■ Types:
● Organizational (behaviors which benefit the larger org by supporting, defending,
improving, being loyal)
○ Voice (constructive suggestions to improve functions)
○ Civic Virtue (attending voluntary meetings)
○ Boosterism (representing the org in a positive way outside of work)
● Interpersonal
○ Helping others
○ Courtesy (keeping others in the loop)
○ Sportsmanship (maintaining good attitude with coworkers)
10. What is counterproductive behavior? What are the different types of counterproductive behavior? How is
counterproductive behavior related to OCB?
○ Behaviors that intentionally hinder organizational goal accomplishment
■ Property deviance
● Sabotage, theft
■ Production deviance
● Wasting resources, substance abuse
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Political Deviance
● Gossiping, incivility
■ Personal Aggression
● Harassment, abuse
11. Describe some of the trends that affect job performance in the contemporary workplace.
○ Knowledge work is becoming more prevalent than jobs involving physical activity (work requiring
cognitive engagement), is more fluid and dynamic
■ Expectations are way higher for finished work, which can be overwhelming
○ Service work, work that provides goods to customers via electronic, verbal, or physical interaction =
55% of economic activity in US
■ This increase has more immediate and obvious task performance repurcussions
■ Maintaining a positive work environment is even more vital
12. Discuss briefly the four types of job performance management techniques.
○ Management by Objectives (MBO): ​bases employee evaluations on whether they achieve specific
performance goals within a time frame, works best where performance can be quantified
○ Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS): ​measure performance by directly assessing job
performance behaviors, typically takes an average score across all dimensions, can help
develop/improve employees thru feedback
○ 360-degree Feedback: ​collecting performance information from subordinates, peers, customers, and
themselves rating their own performance, comparing ones ratings with others, unclear how some
information from the various sources should be weighted, raters may give biased evaluations if they
believe the info will be used for compensation, this method is best suited for improving or developing
employee talent
○ Forced Ranking: ​Jack Welch of GE used a “vitality curve”, requiring managers to rank employees in
top 20%, middle 70%, or bottom 10%, “rank or yank”, “dead man’s curve”
■
Chapter 3: Organizational Commitment
13. Define organizational commitment. Briefly describe the three types of organizational commitment and their
characteristics.
○ Definition: the desire on the part of an employee to remain a member of the org
○ Affective Commitment: ​desire to remain a member due to an emotional attachment, because you
want to
○ Continuance Commitment: ​desire to remain a member due to being aware of the costs associated
with leaving, because you need to (benefits, promotions, supporting family)
○ Normative Commitment: ​desire to remain a member due to a feeling of obligation, because you
ought to
14. Define embeddedness. Which type of commitment does it strengthen?
○ Employees’ links to their organization and community, tied to continuance commitment by giving
more reasons for them to stay in their current positions
15. Differentiate between the erosion model and the social influence model.
○ Erosion model: employees with fewer bonds will be most likely to quit the organization
○ Social influence model: employees with direct links to “leaversw” will become more likely to leave too
16. Describe the four types of employees using the combination of two variables: organizational commitment and
task performance.
○ Stars - possess high commitment and high task performance (role models - uses voice)
○ Citizens - possess high commitment and low task performance (loyal but doesn’t use voice)
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Lone Wolves - possess low commitment but high task performance (only cares about being
marketable, doesn’t care that much about company - exit)
○ Apathetics - low levels of both (neglect)
17. Describe the four general ways of responding to negative events at work.
○ Exit
○ Voice
○ Loyalty
○ neglect
18. Explain the different kinds of psychological withdrawals.
○ Actions that provide a mental escape from the work environment
■ Daydreaming, socializing, looking busy, moonlighting (using work time and resources to
complete something other than their job duties), cyberloafing (using the internet for personal
entertainment
19. Describe the different forms of physical withdrawal.
○ Short or long term physical escape
■ Tardiness, long breaks, missing meetings, absenteeism, quitting
○
Chapter 4: Job Satisfaction
20. Define satisfaction. What are the facets of satisfaction?
○ A pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences.
○ Facets of Satisfaction:
■ Pay satisfaction
■ Promotion satisfaction
■ Supervision satisfaction
■ Coworker satisfaction
■ Satisfaction with the work itself
21. What is the Job Characteristics Theory? Describe its parts and why a manager would want to use it.
○ Describes the central characteristics of intrinsically satisfying jobs
○ 5 parts (VISAF):
■ Variety - different activities that involve a number of different skills and talents
■ Identity - an identifiable piece of work that employees can easily point to and say “i did that”
■ Significance - belief that the job really matters and impacts lives of people
■ Autonomy - degree to which a job provides freedom, independence, and discretion to the
individual performing the work
■ Feedback - employees get a clear sense of how they did on that specific task
22. What is Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory? What are the two factors? What are some of the elements included in
each factor?
○ States that there are certain factors in the workplace that cause job satisfaction while a separate set of
factors cause dissatisfaction, all of which act independently of each other.
23. What are the components of satisfaction?
24. Define emotions. Identify five positive and five negative emotions.
○ States of feeling that are often intense, last for only a few minutes, and are clearly directed at and
caused by someone or some circumstance
25. Why is it important for restaurant servers, flight attendants, and retail salespeople to be able to control their
emotions? Write a short note on the importance of emotional labor. Support your answer with examples.
26. What are the work value categories?
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27. Describe the Value-Percept theory.
○ Argues that job satisfaction depends on whether you perceive that your job supplies the things that
you value
○ Dissatisfaction = (V want - V have) x (V importance)
28. Describe the effects of job satisfaction on performance and commitment.
Chapter 6: Motivation
29. What is employee engagement? Why is it important?
○ High levels of intensity and persistence in work effort
30. Identify and explain the mathematical formula for expectancy theory.
○ Describes the cognitive process that employees go through to make choices among different
voluntary responses
31. Martha was assigned to present the bank's financial statement to its shareholders. The management chose
Martha because she was good at negotiating and had the skills to tackle any question thrown her way. Though
Martha was not confident in the beginning, she managed to pull it off with ease.
32. Define self-efficacy and identify and explain its determinants.
○ The belief that a person has the capabilities needed to execute the behaviors required for task success
○ Determinants:
■ Past accomplishments - the degree to which they have succeeded or failed in similar sorts of
tasks in the past
■ Vicarious experiences - taking into account their observations and discussions with others
who have performed such tasks
■ Verbal persuasion - friend, coworkers, and leaders can persuade employees that they “get the
job done”
■ Emotional Cues - negative feelings can inflict doubts while positive ones can bolster
confidence levels
33. What is the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation? Give some examples of outcomes
associated with each of these. Are you more motivated by extrinsic or intrinsic outcomes?
○ Extrinsic motivation - motivation that is controlled by some contingency that depends on task
performance
○ Intrinsic motivation - motivation that is felt when task performance serves as its own reward
34. Identify and explain some factors that alter the effects of goal setting on task performance.
○
35. Describe equity theory. Identify and explain the possible outcomes of equity theory comparisons and ways to
restore the balance for each outcome.
○ Acknowledges that motivation doesn’t just depend on your own beliefs and circumstances but also on
what happens to others.
36. What is Goal Setting Theory? Why does it increase motivation? Describe the strategies for fostering goal
commitment.
○ Views goals as the primary drivers of the intensity and persistence of effort
○ Strategies:
■ Specific and difficult goals
■ Task strategies
■
37. What is psychological empowerment? Identify the four concepts that can make work tasks intrinsically
motivating. Explain each concept.
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○ Reflects an energy rooted in the belief that work tasks contribute to some larger purpose
38. Explain how motivation relates to job performance and organizational commitment.
Chapter 8: Learning and Decision Making
39. Organizations impart certain types of knowledge to employees through formal training whereas some forms
of information cannot be communicated through such training. Identify and compare the two types of
knowledge this information represents.
○ Explicit learning - things you learn from books or manuals
○ Tacit knowledge - things you learn only through experience
40. Explain each of the four contingencies of reinforcement.
○ Used to modify employees’ behavior
○ 4 kinds:
■ Positive reinforcement - positive outcome follows a desired behavior
■ Negative reinforcement - when an unwanted outcome is removed following a desired
behavior
■ Punishment - when an unwanted outcome follows an unwanted behavior
■ Extinction - removal of a consequence following an unwanted behavior
41. Compare and contrast the five schedules of reinforcement.
○ Continuous reinforcement - happens when a specific consequence follows each and every occurrence
of a desired behavior
○ Fixed interval schedule - workers are rewarded after a certain amount of time, and the length of time
between reinforcement periods stays the same
○ Variable interval schedule - designed to reinforce behavior at more random points in time.
○ Fixed ratio schedules - reinforce behaviors after a certain number of them have been exhibited
○ Variable ratio schedules - reward people after a varying number of exhibited behaviors
42. Define social learning theory. Explain the four steps of the modeling process.
○ Argues that people in organizations have the ability to learn through the observation of others
○ 4 steps of modeling process:
■ Attentional - pay attention to what the model is doing
■ Retention - remember the action even when model is gone
■ Production - learner must have appropriate skills to reproduce behavior
■ Reinforcement - learner must view the model receiving reinforcement for the behavior and
then receive it themself
43. Explain the two methods that employees can use to make decisions.
○ Programmed decisions - almost automatic due to past experiences
○ Intuitive decision during a crisis - be creative and think of solutions quickly
44. Compare and contrast rational decision making and bounded rationality.
○ Rational decision making - offers a step by step approach to making decisions that maximize
outcomes by examining all available alternatives
○ Bounded rationality - the notion that decision makers simply do not have the ability or resources to
process all available information and alternatives to make an optimal solution.
45. Discuss the concept of attribution, as well as faulty attribution, along with the three dimensions—consensus,
distinctiveness, consistency—by which people form judgments of other people's actions. How does the level
of each (low or high) lead to a judgment of external or internal causes behind another person's behavior? Give
examples.
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○
○
○
○
Fundamental attribution error - argues that people have a tendency to judge others’ behaviors as due
to internal factors
■ Self-serving bias occurs when we attribute our own failures to external factors while our own
successes to internal factors
Consensus: did others act the same way under similar situations?
Distinctiveness: does this person tend to act differently in other circumstances?
Consistency: does this person always do this when performing this task?
46. Sara walked in late for a meeting with the managers. Would the board consider this one incident in relation to
Sara's promotion? What are the factors the board could consider?
47. Define the term heuristics, discuss the relationship between heuristics and biases, and explain at least two of
the associated biases with examples. Why do people fall prey to these biases, and what is faulty about them?
○ Heuristics - simple, efficient rules of thumb that allow us to make decisions more easily.
○ Selective perception - the tendency for people to see their environment only as it affects them and as
it is consistent with their expectations
○ Projection bias - assuming that others think and feel like you
○ Social identity theory - holds that people identify themselves by the groups to which they belong and
perceive and judge others by their group memberships
○ Stereotype - occurs when assumptions are made about others on the basis of their membership in a
social group
○ Availability bias - the tendency for people to base their judgement on information that is easier to
recall.
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