Focus Problem: Impulse Buying Let x represent the dollar

MGMT 3720 Organizational Behavior Study Guide Chapter 5: Personality and Values Vocabulary  Personality: o The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.  Heredity: o Factors determined at conception; one’s biological, physiological, and inherent psychological makeup. o The ultimate explanation of the individual’s personality is the molecular structure of the genes, located in chromosomes  Personality traits o Enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior.  Myers­Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) o A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types.  Big Five Model: o A personality assessment model that taps five basic dimensions.  Extraversion: o A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive.  Agreeableness: o A personality dimension that describes someone who is good­natured, cooperative, and trusting.  Conscientiousness o A personality dimension that describes someone who is responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.  Emotional Stability o A personality dimension that characterizes someone as calm, self­ confident, secure (positive) versus nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative)  Openness to experience o A personality dimension that characterizes someone in terms of imagination, sensitivity, and curiosity.  The Dark Triad o A constellation of negative personality traits consisting of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy.  Machiavellianism o The degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means.  Narcissism: o The tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self­ importance, require excessive admiration, and have a sense of entitlement.  Psychopathy o The tendency for a lack of concern for others and a lack of guilt or remorse when their actions cause harm  Approach­Avoidance Framework o The framework by which individuals react to stimuli, whereby approach motivation is attraction to positive stimuli and avoidance motivation to our aversion to negative stimuli. o While the approach has provided some important insights into behavior in organizations, there are several unresolved issues.  Core Self­Evaluation (CSE) o Bottom­line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities, competence, and worth as a person.  Self­monitoring o A personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational factors.  Proactive personality o People who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs.  Situation­strength Theory o A theory indicating that the way personality translates into behavior depends on the strength of the situation  Trait Activation Theory (TAT) o A theory that predicts that some situations, events, or interventions “activate” a trait more than others.  Values: o Basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end­state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end­state of existence  Value system: o A hierarchy based on a ranking of an individual’s values in terms of their intensity.  Terminal values: o Desirable end­states of existence; the goals a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime. o Ex: Prosperity, economic success, freedom, world peace  Instrumental values o Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one’s terminal values. o Ex: autonomy, self­reliance, personal discipline, kindness  Personality­job fit theory o A theory that identifies six personality types and proposes that the fit between personality type and occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover.  Power distance: o A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally.  Individualism o A national culture attribute that describes the degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups  Collectivism o A national culture attribute that describes a tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them  Masculinity: o A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which the culture favors traditional masculine work roles of achievement, power, and control. Societal values are characterized by assertiveness and materialism.  Femininity: o A national culture attribute that indicates little differentiation between male and female roles; a high rating indicates that women are treated as the equals of men in all aspects of the society.  Uncertainty avoidance o A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them.  Long­term orientation o A national culture attribute that emphasizes the future, thrift, and persistence  Short­term orientation o A national culture attribute that emphasizes the past and present, respect for tradition, and fulfillment of social obligations. Review Questions 1. What is personality a. Personality is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others. 2. How do we typically measure personality a. We measure personality through self­report surveys and observer­ratings surveys 3. What factors determine personality a. Heredity and environment (more so, heredity) 4. What is the Myers­Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI), and what are its strengths and weaknesses a. It is a personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types. b. The MBTI can be valuable for increasing self­awareness and providing career guidance, but because results tend to be unrelated to job performance, managers probably shouldn’t use it as a selection test for job candidates. 5. What are the key traits in the Big Five personality model and how do the traits predict behavior at work a. Extraversion: i. A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive. b. Agreeableness: i. A personality dimension that describes someone who is good­ natured, cooperative, and trusting. c. Conscientiousness i. A personality dimension that describes someone who is responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized. d. Emotional Stability i. A personality dimension that characterizes someone as calm, self­ confident, secure (positive) versus nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative) e. Openness to experience i. A personality dimension that characterizes someone in terms of imagination, sensitivity, and curiosity. 6. How does the situation or environment affect the degree to which personality predicts behavior a. Situation­strength Theory i. A theory indicating that the way personality translates into behavior depends on the strength of the situation b. Researchers have analyzed situation strength in organizations in terms of 4 elements: i . Clarity 1. The degree to which cues about work duties and responsibilities are available and clear. 2. Jobs high in clarity produce strong situations because individuals can readily determine what to do, thus increasing the chances that everyone behaves similarly. ii . Consistency 1. The extent to which cues regarding work duties and responsibilities are compatible with one another. 2. Jobs with high consistency represent strong situations because all cues point toward the same desired behavior. iii . Constraints 1. The extent to which individuals’ freedom to decide or act is limited by forces outside their control 2. Jobs with many constraints represent strong situations because an individual has limited discretion. iv . Consequences 1. The degree to which decisions or actions have important implications for the organization or its members, clients, supplies, etc. 2. This represents strong situations because the environment is probably more heavily structured to guard against mistakes c. Trait Activation Theory (TAT) i. A theory that predicts that some situations, events, or interventions “activate” a trait more than others. 7. What is the difference between terminal and instrumental values a. Terminal values: i. Desirable end­states of existence; the goals a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime. ii. Ex: Prosperity, economic success, freedom, world peace b. Instrumental values i. Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one’s terminal values. ii. Ex: autonomy, self­reliance, personal discipline, kindness 8. Do values differ across generations How so a. Baby boomers: large cohort born after World War II when veterans returned to their families and the times were good i. Age: 40s to mid 60s ii. Dominant work values: success, achievement, ambition, dislike of authority, loyalty to career b. Xers: shaped by globalization, two­career parents, MTV, AIDS and computers i. Age: Late 20s to early 40s ii. Dominant work values: Work/Life balance, team­oriented dislike of rules; loyalty to relationships c. Millennials: Have high expectations and seek meaning in their work i. Age: Under 30 ii. Dominant work values: confident, financial success, self­reliant but team­oriented; loyalty to both self and relationships 9. What are Hofstede’s five value dimensions of national culture a . Power distance: i. A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally. b . Individua vs. collectivism: i. A national culture attribute that describes the degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups ii. Collectivism 1. A national culture attribute that describes a tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them c . Masculinity vs. femininity i. Masculinity: 1. A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which the culture favors traditional masculine work roles of achievement, power, and control. Societal values are characterized by assertiveness and materialism. ii. Femininity: 1. A national culture attribute that indicates little differentiation between male and female roles; a high rating indicates that women are treated as the equals of men in all aspects of the society. d . Uncertainty avoidance i. A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them. e . Long­term vs. short­term orientation i. Long­term orientation 1. A national culture attribute that emphasizes the future, thrift, and persistence ii. Short­term orientation 1. A national culture attribute that emphasizes the past and present, respect for tradition, and fulfillment of social obligations. Chapter 6: Perception and Individual decision making Vocabulary  Perception: o A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.  Attribution theory: o An attempt to determine whether an individual’s behavior is internally or externally caused.  The Fundamental attribution error o The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others.  Self Serving Bias o The tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors and put the blame for failures on external factors.  Selective Perception o The tendency to selectively interpret what one sees on the basis of one’s interests, background, experience, and attitudes.  Halo effect: o The tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic.  Contrast effect o Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that is affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.  Stereotyping: o Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs.  Self­fulfilling prophecy: o A situation in which a person inaccurately perceives a second person, and the resulting expectations cause the second person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception.  AKA Pygmalion effect  Decisions o Choices made from among two or more alternatives  Problem o A discrepancy between the current state of affairs and some desired state.  Rational o Characterized by making consistent, value­maximizing choices within specified constraints.  Rational decision­making model o A decision­making model that describes how individuals should behave in order to maximize some outcome.  Bounded rationality o A process of making decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity.  Intuitive decision making o An unconscious process created out of distilled experience o Intuitive decision making occurs outside the conscious thought; relies on holistic associations, or links between disparate pieces of information; is fast; and is affectively charged, meaning it engages the emotions.  Anchoring Bias o A tendency to fixate on initial information, from which one then fails to adequately adjust for subsequent information.  Confirmation Bias o The tendency to seek out information that reaffirms past choices and to discount information that contradicts past judgments  Availability Bias o The tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is readily available to them  Escalation of commitment o An increased commitment to a previous decision in spite of negative information  Randomness error o The tendency of individuals to believe that they can predict the outcome of random events.  Risk Aversion o The tendency to prefer a sure gain of a moderate amount over a riskier outcome, even if the riskier outcome might have a higher payoff.  Hindsight bias o The tendency to believe falsely, after an outcome of an event is actually known, that one would have accurately predicted that outcome.  Utilitarianism o a system in which decisions are made to provide the greatest good for the greatest number  Whistle blowers o Individuals who report unethical practices by their employer to outsiders.  Behavioral Ethics o Analyzing how people actually behave when confronted with ethical dilemmas.  Creativity o The ability to produce novel and useful ideas.  Three­stage model of creativity o The proposition that creativity involves three stages: causes (creative potential and creative environment), creative behavior, and creative outcomes (innovation).  Problem Formulation o The stage of creative behavior which involved identifying problem or opportunity that requires a solution that is as yet unknown  Information o The stage of creative behavior when possible solutions to a problem incubate in individual’s mind.  Idea generation o The process of creative behavior that involves developing possible solutions to a problem from relevant information and knowledge.  Idea evaluation o The process of creative behavior involving the evaluation of potential solutions to problems to identify the best one. Review Questions: 1. What is perception and what factors influence our perception a. Perception: i. A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. b. Factors can reside in the perceiver, situation, or target c. Factors in the Perceiver i. Attitudes v ii. Motives iii. Interests iv. Experience v. Expectations d. Factors in the situation i. Time ii. Work setting iii. Social setting e. Factors in the target i. Novelty ii. Motion iii. Sounds iv. Size v. Background vi. Proximity vii. Similarity 2. What is attribution theory a. Attribution theory: i. An attempt to determine whether an individual’s behavior is internally or externally caused. 3. What are the three determinants of attribution a. That determination depends largely on three factors: i. Distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency b. Distinctiveness refers to whether an individual displays different behaviors in different situations. c. If everyone who faces a similar situation responds in the same way, we can say the behavior shows consensus. d. Consistency: Does a person respond the same way over time 4. What are the implications of attribution theory for explaining organizational behavior a. Internally caused behaviors are those an observer believes to be under the personal behavioral control of another individual b. Externally caused behavior is what we imagine the situation forced the individual to do. 5. What shortcuts do people frequently use in making judgments about others a. Selective Perception i. The tendency to selectively interpret what one sees on the basis of one’s interests, background, experience, and attitudes. b. Halo effect: i. The tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic. c. Contrast effect i. Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that is affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics. d. Stereotyping: i. Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs. e. Specific applications of shortcuts in organizations i. Employment interview ii. Performance expectations iii. Performance evaluation f. Self­fulfilling prophecy: i. A situation in which a person inaccurately perceives a second person, and the resulting expectations cause the second person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception. 1. AKA Pygmalion effect 6. What is the link between perception and decision­making How does affect the other a. Decisions i. Choices made from among two or more alternatives b. Problem i. A discrepancy between the current state of affairs and some desired state. c. Every decision requires us to interpret and evaluate data from multiple sources that we need to screen, process and interpret. Our perceptions will tell us which data are relevant to the decision and which are not. 7. What is the rational model of decision­making How is it different from bounded rationality and intuition a. Rational decision­making model i. A decision­making model that describes how individuals should behave in order to maximize some outcome. 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 ii. Most decisions don’t follow the rational model b. Bounded rationality i. A process of making decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity. ii. Most problems don’t have an optimal solution because they are too complicated to fit the rational decision­making model, so people satisfice; they seek solutions that are satisfactory and sufficient. iii. The solution represents a satisficing choice—the first acceptable one we encounter—rather than an optimal one. c. Intuitive decision making i. An unconscious process created out of distilled experience ii. Intuitive decision making occurs outside the conscious thought; relies on holistic associations, or links between disparate pieces of information; is fast; and is affectively charged, meaning it engages the emotions. 8. What are some common decision biases or errors people make a. Overconfidence Bias i. We tend to be overconfident about our abilities and the abilities of others; also, we are not usually aware of this bias ii. Individuals whose intellectual and interpersonal abilities are the weakest are most likely to overestimate their performance and ability. iii. There’s a negative relationship between entrepreneurs’ optimism and performance of their new ventures. b. Anchoring Bias i. A tendency to fixate on initial information, from which one then fails to adequately adjust for subsequent information. c. Confirmation Bias i. The tendency to seek out information that reaffirms past choices and to discount information that contradicts past judgments d. Availability Bias i. The tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is readily available to them e. Escalation of commitment i. An increased commitment to a previous decision in spite of negative information f. Randomness error i. The tendency of individuals to believe that they can predict the outcome of random events. g. Risk Aversion i. The tendency to prefer a sure gain of a moderate amount over a riskier outcome, even if the riskier outcome might have a higher payoff. h. Hindsight bias i. The tendency to believe falsely, after an outcome of an event is actually known, that one would have accurately predicted that outcome. 9. How do individual differences and organizational constraints influence decision­ making a . Individual Differences b. Personality i. Conscientiousness may affect escalation of commitment ii. High self­esteem are strongly motivated to maintain it, so they use the self­serving bias to preserve it. c. Gender i. Rumination refers to reflecting at length (overthinking problems) ii. Women spend more time analyzing the past, present, and future. iii. Can lead to careful consideration of problems and choices or make problems harder to solve, increase regret over past decisions, and increase depression. d. Mental Ability i. People with higher levels of mental ability are able to process information more quickly ii. Smart people are just as likely to fall prey to anchoring, overconfidence, and escalation of commitment e. Cultural differences i. We need to recognize that the cultural background of a decision maker can significantly influence the selection of problems, the depth of analysis, the importance placed on logic and rationality, and whether organizational decisions should be made autocratically by an individual manager or collectively in groups. f . Organizational Constraints g. Performance Evaluation i. Managers are influenced by the criteria on which they are evaluated h. Reward system i. The organization’s rewards system influences decision makers by suggesting which choices have better personal payoffs. i. Formal regulations i. All but the smallest organizations create rules and policies to program decisions and get individuals to act in the intended manner: in doing so, they limit decision choices j. System­Imposed Time Constraints i. Almost all important decisions come with a deadline k. Historical Precedents i. Decisions aren’t made in a vacuum; they have a context. ii. Individual decisions are points in a stream of choice; those made in the past are like ghosts that haunt and constrain current choices. 10. What are the three ethical decision criteria, and how do they differ a. 1) Utilitarianism i. a system in which decisions are made to provide the greatest good for the greatest number ii. Promotes efficiency and productivity, but sidelines the rights of some individuals, particularly those with minority representation b. 2) Make decisions consistent with fundamental liberties and privileges, as set forth in documents such as the Bill of Rights. i. Whistle blowers 1. Individuals who report unethical practices by their employer to outsiders. ii. The use of rights protects individuals from injury and is consistent with freedom and privacy, but it can create a legalistic environment that hinders productivity and efficiency. c. 3) To impose and enforce rules fairly and impartially to ensure justice or an equitable distribution of benefits and costs. i. A focus on justice protects the interests of the underrepresented and less powerful, but it can encourage a sense of entitlement that reduces risk taking, innovation, and productivity. 11. What is creativity, and what is the three­stage model of creativity a. Creativity i. The ability to produce novel and useful ideas. ii. Creativity allows the decision maker to fully appraise and understand problems, including seeing problems others can’t see. b. Three­stage model of creativity i. The proposition that creativity involves three stages: causes (creative potential and creative environment), creative behavior, and creative outcomes (innovation). Chapter 7: Motivation Concepts Vocabulary  Motivation o The processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal  Hierarchy of Needs: o Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of five needs—physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self­actualization—in which, as each need is substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant.  Lower­order needs: o Needs that are satisfied externally, such as physiological and safety  Higher­order needs: o Needs that are satisfied internally, such as social, esteem, and self actualization  Physiological o Hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, other bodily needs  Safety o Security and protection from physical and emotional harm  Social o Affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship  Esteem o Internal factors such as self­respect, autonomy, and achievement, and external factors such as status, recognition, and attention.  Self­actualization o Drive to become what we are capable of becoming; includes growth, achieving our potential, and self­fulfillment  Theory X: o The assumption that employees dislike work, are lazy, dislike responsibility, and must be coerced to perform  Theory Y: o The assumption that employees like work, are creative, seek responsibility, and can exercise self­direction.  Two­Factor Theory: o A theory that relates intrinsic factors to job satisfaction and associates extrinsic factors with dissatisfaction. Also called motivation­hygiene theory.  Hygiene Factors: o Factors—such as company policy and administration, supervision, and salary—that, when adequate in a job, placate workers. When these factors are adequate, people will not be dissatisfied.  McClellands Theory of Needs o A theory that states achievement, power, and affiliation are three important needs that help explain motivation.  Need for achievement (nAch) o is the drive to excel, to achieve in relationship to a set of standards.  Need for power (nPow) o is the need to make others behave in any way they would not have otherwise.  Need for affiliation (nAff) o is the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships.  Self­determination theory: o A theory of motivation that is concerned with the beneficial effects of intrinsic motivation and the harmful effects of extrinsic motivation.  Cognitive evaluation theory: o A version of self­determination theory, which holds that allocating extrinsic rewards for behavior that had been previously intrinsically rewarding, tends to decrease the overall level of motivation if the rewards are seen as controlling.  Self­concordance o The degree to which people’s reasons for pursuing goals are consistent with their interests and core values  Job engagement o The investment of an employee’s physical, cognitive, and emotional energies into job performance.  Goal­setting theory o A theory that says that specific and difficult goals, with feedback, lead to higher performance  Management by objectives (MBO) o A program that encompasses specific goals, participatively set, for an explicit time period, with feedback on goal progress.  Promotion Focus o A self­regulation strategy that involves striving for goals through advancement and accomplishment  Prevention focus o A self­regulation strategy that involves striving for goals by fulfilling duties and obligations.  Self­Efficacy Theory o An individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a task.  Reinforcement Theory o A theory that says that behavior is a function of its consequences  Behaviorism o A theory that argues that behavior follows stimuli in a relatively unthinking manner.  Equity theory o A theory that says that individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others and then respond to eliminate any inequities.  Organizational justice o An overall perception of what is fair in the workplace, composed of distributive, procedural, informational, and interpersonal justice.  Distributive justice o Perceived fairness of the amount and allocation of rewards among individuals  Procedural justice o The perceived fairness of the process used to determine the distribution of rewards  Interpersonal justice o The degree to which employees are treated with dignity and respect  Informational justice o The degree to which employees are provided truthful explanations for decisions.  Expectancy theory o A theory that says that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.  Effort­performance relationship o The probability perceived by the individual that exerting a given amount of effort will lead to performance.  Performance­reward relationship. o The degree to which the individual believes performing at a particular level will lead to the attainment of a desired outcome  Rewards­personal goals relationship o The degree to which organizational rewards satisfy an individual’s personal goals or needs and the attractiveness of those potential rewards for the individual. Review Questions 1. What are the three key elements of motivation a. Intensity, direction, persistence 2. What are some early theories of motivation a. Hierarchy of Needs Theory, Theory X and Theory Y, Two­Factor Theory, and McClellands Theory of Needs 3. How do the predictions of self­determination theory apply to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards a. Self­determination theory: i. A theory of motivation that is concerned with the beneficial effects of intrinsic motivation and the harmful effects of extrinsic motivation. 4. What are the implications of employee job engagement for management a. Job engagement i. The investment of an employee’s physical, cognitive, and emotional energies into job performance. 5. What are the key principles of goal­setting theory, self­efficacy theory, and reinforcement theory a. Goal­setting theory i. A theory that says that specific and difficult goals, with feedback, lead to higher performance ii. Specific goals increase performance iii. Difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher performance than easy to do goals iv. Goal setting theory assumes an individual is committed to the goal and determined not to lower or abandon it. v. The individual believes he or she can achieve the goal and wants to achieve it. vi. Management by objectives (MBO) 1. A program that encompasses specific goals, participatively set, for an explicit time period, with feedback on goal progress. 2. Four ingredients common to MBO programs are goal specificity, participation in decision­making, an explicit time period, and performance feedback. b. Self­Efficacy Theory i. An individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a task. ii. The researchers who developed self­efficacy theory, Albert Bandura, proposes four ways self­efficacy can be increased: 1. Enactive mastery—gaining experience with the task/job 2. Vicarious modeling—becoming more confident because you see someone else doing the task 3. Verbal persuasion—becoming more confident because someone convinces you that you have the skills necessary to be successful 4. Arousal—leads to an energized state, so the person is psyched up and performs better. iii. Pygmalion effect or Galatea effect 1. A form of self­fulfilling prophecy in which believing something can make it true c. Reinforcement Theory i. A theory that says that behavior is a function of its consequences 1. Takes a behavioral view, arguing that reinforcement conditions behavior. 2. Behavior is environmentally caused 3. Goal­setting is a cognitive approach: an individual’s purposes direct his or her action. ii. Operant conditioning theory, probably the most relevant component of reinforcement theory for management, argues that people learn to behave to get something they want or to avoid something they don’t want. iii. Behaviorism 1. A theory that argues that behavior follows stimuli in a relatively unthinking manner. 6. How is organizational justice a refinement of equity theory a. Equity theory i. A theory that says that individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others and then respond to eliminate any inequities. b. Organizational justice i. An overall perception of what is fair in the workplace, composed of distributive, procedural, informational, and interpersonal justice. ii. Distributive justice 1. Perceived fairness of the amount and allocation of rewards among individuals iii. Procedural justice 1. The perceived fairness of the process used to determine the distribution of rewards iv. Interpersonal justice 1. The degree to which employees are treated with dignity and respect v. Informational justice 1. The degree to which employees are provided truthful explanations for decisions. 7. What are the key tenets of expectancy theory a. Expectancy theory i. A theory that says that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. b. Focuses on three relationships i. Effort­performance relationship ii. Performance­reward relationship iii. Rewards­personal goals relationship c. Expectancy Theory: Individual effort  individual performance  organizational rewards  personal goals 8. What are some contemporary theories of motivation, and how do they compare to one another a. Expectancy theory predicts employees will exert a high level of effort if they perceive a strong relationship between effort and performance, performance and rewards, and rewards and satisfaction of personal goals. b. The performance­reward relationship will be strong if the individual perceives that performance is rewarded. c. If cognitive evaluation theory were fully valid in the actual workplace, we would predict here that basing rewards on performance should decrease the individual’s intrinsic motivation d. Reinforcement theory enters the model by recognizing that the organization’s rewards reinforce the individual’s performance. Chapter 8: Motivation: From Concepts to Applications Vocabulary  Job characteristics model (JCM) o A model that proposes that any job can be described in terms of five core job dimensions: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback.  Skill variety o is the degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities so the worker can use specialized skills and talents.  Task identity o is the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work.  Task significance o is the degree to which a job affects the lives or work of other people.  Autonomy o is the degree to which a job provides the worker freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling work and determining the procedures for carrying it out.  Feedback o is the degree to which carrying out work activities generates direct and clear information about your own performance.  Motivating potential score (MPS) o A Predictive index that suggests the motivating potential in a job.  Job sharing o An arrangement that allows two or more individuals to split a traditional 40­hour­a­week job.  Telecommuting: o Working from home at least two days a week on a computer that is linked to the employer’s office.  Job rotation o The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another with similar skill requirements at the same organizational level.  Job enrichment o The vertical expansion of jobs, which increases the degree to which the worker controls the planning, execution, and evaluation of the work.  Employee involvement o A participative process that uses the input of employees and is intended to increase their commitment to the organization’s success.  Participative management o A process in which subordinates share a significant degree of decision­ making power with their immediate superiors.  Representative Participation o A system in which workers participate in organizational decision making through a small group of representative employees.  Variable­pay program: o a pay plan that bases a portion of an employee’s pay on some individual and/or organizational measure of performance.  Merit­Based Pay o Based on performance appraisal ratings o Allows employers to differentiate pay based on performance o Creates perceptions of relationships between performance and rewards  Bonus o A pay plan that rewards employees for recent performance rather than historical performance.  Skill­based pay o A pay plan that sets pay levels on the basis of how many skills employees have or how many jobs they can do. Review Questions 1. What is the job characteristics model How does it motivate employees a. Job characteristics model (JCM) i. A model that proposes that any job can be described in terms of five core job dimensions: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. b. Five core job dimensions: i. Skill variety is the degree to which a job requires a variety of different activities so the worker can use specialized skills and talents. ii. Task identity is the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work. iii. Task significance is the degree to which a job affects the lives or work of other people. iv. Autonomy is the degree to which a job provides the worker freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling work and determining the procedures for carrying it out. v. Feedback is the degree to which carrying out work activities generates direct and clear information about your own performance. c. Motivating potential score (MPS) i. A predictive index that suggests the motivating potential in a job. ii. To be high on motivating potential, jobs must be high on at least one of the three factors that lead to experienced meaningfulness and high on both autonomy and feedback. 2. What are the three major ways that jobs can be redesigned In your view, in what situations would one of the methods be favored over the others a. Job rotation i. The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another with similar skill requirements at the same organizational level. ii. Strengths: reduces boredom, increases motivation, and helps employees better understand their work contributions. iii. Weaknesses: creates disruptions, requires extra time for supervisors addressing questions and training time, and reduced efficiencies. b. Job enrichment i. The vertical expansion of jobs, which increases the degree to which the worker controls the planning, execution, and evaluation of the work. c. Relational Job Design: To make jobs more pro­socially motivating: i. Connect employees with the beneficiaries of their work 1. Relate work stories from customers who have found the company’s products or services to be helpful. ii. Meet beneficiaries firsthand. 3. What are the alternative work arrangements of flextime and telecommuting a. Flextime: “Flexible work time” i. Employees must work a specific numbers of hours per week but are free to vary their hours of week within certain limits. b. Telecommuting i. Working from home at least two days a week on a computer that is linked to the employer’s office. 1. Virtual office 2. Well­known organizations actively encourage telecommuting ii. Advantages 1. Larger labor pool 2. Higher productivity 3. Less turnover 4. Improved morale 5. Reduced office­space costs iii. Disadvantages 1. Employer a. Less direct supervision of employees b. Difficult to coordinate teamwork c. Difficult to evaluate non­quantitative performance 2. Employee a. May not be noticed for his or her efforts 4. What are employee involvement programs How might they increase employee motivation a. Employee involvement i. A participative process that uses the input of employees and is intended to increase their commitment to the organization’s success. b. Participative management i. A process in which subordinates share a significant degree of decision­making power with their immediate superiors. ii. Joint decision making iii. Acts as a panacea for poor morale and low productivity iv. Trust and confidence in leaders is essential v. Studies of the participation­performance have yielded mixed results. c. Representative Participation i. A system in which workers participate in organizational decision making through a small group of representative employees. 5. How can flexible benefits motivate employees a. Flexible benefits i. A benefits plan that allows each employee to put together a benefits package individually tailored to his or her own needs and situation. b. There are three basic types of programs: i. Modular plans: pre­designed with each module put together to meet the needs of a specific group of employees. ii. Core­plus plans: a core of essential benefits and a menu­like selection of other benefit options. iii. Flexible spending plans: employees set aside pretax dollars up to the amount offered in the plan to pay for particular benefits, such as healthcare and dental premiums. 6. What are the motivational benefits of intrinsic rewards a. Intrinsic rewards: employee recognition programs i. Organizations are increasingly recognizing that important work rewards can be both intrinsic and extrinsic ii. Rewards are intrinsic in the form of employee recognition programs and extrinsic in the form of compensation systems. 1. Financial incentives might be more motivating in the short­ term, but nonfinancial rewards are more important in the long­term.