COM 229 (Lippert) Spring 2009
Study Guide for Exam #2
Chapters 6-9
This is meant only as a guide for your study in preparation for the exam. You are responsible for the
class material, power points, lecture notes, chapter readings, and class activities. The primarily
objective test consists of multiple choice, true/false, matching (from below), and one short answer.
Good luck.
Chapter Six
 The Critical Approach looks at sites of domination
 The pervasiveness of power-sources of power
 Control of means of production, gender, and organizational discourse
 What do ideology and hegemony mean?
 What is emancipation?
 The theory of Concertive Control-control, identification, and discipline
 Feminist theories with focus on sexual harassment
 Framing devices (p. 115)
Concertive Control: A theory which attempts to explain how power relationships can be transformed
in an era of team-based and “alternative form” organizations. This theory is characterized by the
following concepts: control, identification, and discipline.
Critical Approaches: Approaches to organizational analysis that consider organizations as sites of
domination and see theory as a force that can emancipate individuals from these dominating forces.
Deconstruction: A method of postmodern analysis in which texts are taken apart in order to reveal
social and political meanings. Deconstruction involves an exploration of privileged and marginalized
meanings within a text.
Emancipation: The goal of critical theorists, in which people are liberated from restrictive ideologies
and power relationships.
Feminist Theory: Critical theory that explores the ways in which organizational processes and
structures are shaped by patriarchy and gender relationships.
Hegemony: The process in which a dominant group leads another group to accept domination as the
norm.
Ideology: Taken-for-granted assumptions about reality that shape our beliefs about what exists, what
is possible, and what is good.
Liberal Feminism: A group of feminists who believe that remedies for female subordination should
come from within the system and that women should work to gain their fair share of control in
institutions currently run by men.
Means of Production: According to Marxist theory, the actual work processes involved in production.
Modes of Production: According to Marxist theory, the economic conditions that underlie the
production process.
Radical Feminism: Proponents of this form of feminism believe that emancipation for women can
only occur through the destruction of male-dominated institutions or through the total separation of
women from these institutions.
Chapter Seven
 Definition of assimilation (socialization & individualization)
 Phases of socialization (anticipatory socialization, encounter, & metamorphosis)
 Content of socialization
 Spotlight on Scholarship
 Employment interview, newcomer info-seeking tactics & role development processes
 Uncertainty reduction and LMX theories
 In-group & out-group
Exam review-Lippert 2
 Symmetrical & asymmetrical relationships
 Your example of anticipatory socialization
 Organizational exit
 Approaches to Assimilation Process (p. 136)
Anticipatory Socialization: The socialization process that occurs before an individual enters the
organization. Information about the occupation and the organization are critical during this time.
Assimilation: According to Jablin, the ongoing behavioral and cognitive processes by which
individuals join, become integrated into, and exit organizations.
Collective Socialization: A group process allowing recruits to go through new experiences together.
Disjunctive Socialization: A socialization process in which no role models are available for the
newcomer.
Encounter: This phase in the socialization process occurs at the "point of entry" into the organization
and refers to when the employee first confronts work on the job.
Individual Socialization: A socialization process that occurs apart from other new employees.
Inverted Funnel Approach: An approach to employment interviewing in which closed-ended questions
are used at the beginning of the interview followed by open-ended questions as the interview
progresses.
Leader-Member Exchange Theory: Graen's perspective that organizational roles are developed
through interaction between supervisors and subordinates. This process involves three phases: role
taking, role making and role routinization.
Metamorphosis: The final stage of the socialization process when the new employee has made the
transition from an outsider to an insider.
Out-Group Relationships: Leader-member relationships that are characterized by low trust, support,
and rewards, and the use of formal authority rather than mutual influence.
Role-Making Phase: A phase of the role development process in which role behavior is negotiated by
the leader and member.
Role-Routinization Phase: The final phase of the role development process in which role behaviors are
well-understood by both the supervisor and subordinate.
Role-Taking Phase: A phase of the role development process in which the superior attempts to
discover the relevant talents and motivations of the employee through testing.
Serial Socialization: A socialization process in which experienced organizational members serve as
role models and mentors.
Socialization: One of two aspects of the assimilation process in which the organization tries to
influence the adaptation of individuals through formal and informal means.
Chapter Eight
 Rational models of decision-making (Classical approach & normative model)
 Satisficing process vs. optimizing model (March & Simon)
 Intuitive process-Analogical
 Garbage can model
 Group phase model-Fisher’s model (Orientation, conflict, emergence, reinforcement)
 Functional Theory
 Symbolic Convergence Theory
 Multiple sequence model-Typology of small group decision paths-frequency (table 8.1)
 What is groupthink & symptoms of Groupthink
 Five factors that can lead group to low quality decisions
 The “right kind” of conflict (cognitive & affective)
 Dialectical inquiry & devil’s advocacy
 Effects of participation in decision making
Exam review-Lippert 3
 Models of the participation process (affective & cognitive)
 Democratic workplace-definition
 Paradoxes of participation
 Approaches to Decision making process (p. 155)
Bounded Rationality: The idea that decision makers attempt to make logical decisions, but they are
limited by cognitive limits and practical limits of organizational life.
Decision Premises: The assumptions upon which decisions are made.
Decision Situation: The context in which a decision is made.
Devil's Advocacy: A process whereby groups arrive at decisions through a formal critique of
subgroup assumptions and recommendations.
Dialectical Inquiry: A process whereby groups arrive at decision through an iterative consideration of
subgroup counterproposals regarding decision assumptions and recommendations.
Groupthink: A mode of thinking where a group is more concerned with appearing cohesive and
maintaining group relations than they are with making a high quality decision.
Optimizing: A decision making process in which decision makers are attempting to find the single
best solution to an organizational problem.
Satisficing: A decision making process in which the search is not for a single optimal solution but for
a solution that will work well enough for dealing with the situation.
Workplace Democracy: An approach that extends organizational participation to include the realization
of democratic standards in the workplace through a system of governance that values individual goals
and feelings in addition to organizational objectives.
Chapter 9
 Consider a good metaphor for conflict. Be able to explain and relate it to conflict.
 What is a good example of a conflict? Be able to break it down and describe the components
as described by the Putnam & Poole’s definition from the book.
 What are the four “I’s”?
 Be familiar with the assumptions of conflict as discussed in class.
 What are the locations of conflict (contexts)?
 Phases of conflict-process
 Know each conflict style, the grid, description, critiques, and possible tactics that go along with
each one.
 Compare distributive and integrative bargaining.
 How does third party conflict resolution work and what are the possible roles?
 What other factors affect conflict management? (personal, relational, organizational)
 How do you describe organizational “climate” and “communication climate?”
 Be able to describe and define the components of Gibbs’ Defensive and Supportive Climates
 Approaches to conflict management process (p. 175)
Definitions
Accommodating: A conflict management style characterized by satisfying another's needs while
sacrificing one's own needs.
Accuracy: The degree to which one individual can predict another individual's position on a topic.
Agreement: The degree to which individuals hold similar views on a topic.
Arbitrator: A third-party conflict negotiator who has the power to make decisions (often binding) after
hearing the proposals and arguments of the parties involved in the conflict.
Avoidance: A conflict management style characterized by little concern for the needs of self and others.
Bargaining: A form of conflict management during which participants negotiate mutually shared rules and
then cooperate within these rules to gain a competitive advantage over their opponent.
Collaboration: A conflict management style characterized by a high concern for both self and others.
Exam review-Lippert 4
Competition: A conflict management strategy characterized by little concern for the needs of the other
and a high concern for one's own needs.
Compromise: A conflict management strategy characterized by partially satisfying needs of the other
and needs of self.
Distributive Bargaining: A type of bargaining in which the conflicting parties are working to
maximize their own gains and minimize their own losses.
Inquisitor: A third-party conflict resolution role that involves control over both process and outcomes
of conflict resolution.
Integrative Bargaining: A type of bargaining in which the conflicting parties try to maximize gains for
both parties.
Mediator/Advisor: A third-party conflict resolution role that involves counseling parties while
maintaining control over both process and outcome.
Short answer
 Select either Concertive Control theory, Feminist Theory, Assimilation Model, Functional
Theory, Symbolic Convergence, Uncertainty Reduction, or LMX theory and complete the
following: (1) Identify and describe the components, (2) indicate what the theory or model
predicts, suggests, or explains, (3) indicate what is missing or a possible extension, and (4)
provide a real, practical example to illustrate how the theory applies to something you
might encounter in an organization.
EXTRA CREDIT
 Provide an example of a conflict and identify the components.