Glossary

scientific management The dominant behavioral perspective in the U.S. between 1900 and
1950. It was championed by Frederick Taylor, an engineer who felt
that applying scientific principles to human behavior was an efficient
way to maximize performance.

human relations Took the view that the best way to improve production was to respect
approach workers and show concern for their needs. Became popular in the
1920s and remained influential through the 1950s.

hawthorne effect The boost in morale and improved productivity that can occur simply
because employees feel that management care enough about them to
investigate their working conditions.

contingency approach The dominant perspective in organizational behavior, it argues that

there's no single best way to manage behavior. What 'works' in any
given context depends on the complex interplay between a variety of
person and situational factors.

breakthrough culture A corporate value system which recognizes that normal business rules
and pressures don't apply to innovative thinking.

self-enhancing tactics Direct attempts to influence the perceptions of others via self
promotion (e.g., name dropping) and image control.

other-enhancing Indirect methods of influencing others' perceptions by boosting their

tactics self-image (e.g., flattery, opinion agreement).

audience extraction The process whereby perceivers (the audience) subtlely pulls/draws
behavior from others (also known as the Pygmalion effect).

audience selectivity This terms refers to our tendency as social observers to selectively
look for and process certain pieces of information about people to
form impressions

personal constructs A very general belief about what other people are like (e.g,
untrustworthy) that has wide effect on our perceptions of others
behavior.

halo effect A more specific perceptual bias that affects perceptions of others; in
particular, the use of one piece of information observed about a
person is used to infer other characteristics that may or may not be
there.

stereotypes A perceptual bias that involves using one characteristic about a

person - their group membership (e.g., race, gender, or age group) -
to infer other traits they think might also be present.
internal attribution Ascribing/assigning the cause of a person's behavior at work to
something about them (e.g, their effort, their innate ability, etc.).

external attribution Attributing the cause of work behavior to some reason that is external
to the person (e.g., bad luck, unfair circumstances, etc.).

actor-observer effect The tendency for observers to make internal attributions and for
actors to make external attributions for behavior.

self-serving A bias effect in attributions whereby people tend to take credit

attributions (internal attribution) for success and to make external attributions for
failure.

turnover The percentage of employees who leave the firm during a specified
time interval (usually a one year period)

affective commitment An employee's inclination to stay with and committed to a firm based
on their emotional attachment and identification with the firm and its
goals.

normative The degree to which an employee is committed to their company

commitment based on the influence of other people in the firm.

continuance A tendency to stay with a company that is based on a cost- benefit or

commitment economic analysis of options.

organizational The voluntary, 'above the call of duty' behaviors(e.g., talking up the
citizenship behaviors firm to outsiders, helping coworkers, etc.) that are vitally important
but often unrecognized sources of firm success.

glass ceiling A term that refers to the many barriers that can exist to thwart a
woman's rise to the top of an organization; one that provides a view
of the top, but a ceiling on how far a woman can go.

diversity programs A set of training and information dissemination programs that help
employees recognize the value of differences among people.

motivation Originates from movere-Latin for 'to move.' A process that arouses
and channels employee effort and behavior toward achieving goals.

content theories of Theories that identify the needs that arouse or energize employee
motivation behavior.

process theories of Theories that explain the processes by which employee behavior can
motivation be aroused and then directed.

Maslow's hierarchy of A theory which argues that people are motivated by five needs that
needs theory are triggered in a hierarchical order.
Herzberg's two-factor Motivation theory which argues that the factors which cause
theory satisfaction on the job are different than those which cause
dissatisfaction.

hygiene factors The factors in Herzberg's theory that cause dissatisfaction (e.g.,
working conditions, pay, and coworker relations).

motivating factors The factors in Herzberg's theory that cause satisfaction (e.g., need for
achievement, challenge, and recognition)

equity theory Theory which argues that perceptions of fairness drive motivation.
Employees decide whether their situation is unfair or not by
comparing themselves to others (e.g., friends, family, coworkers).

tiered wage system An approach to paying workers based on their hiring date. In their
simplest form, two wage classifications exist, with workers hired after
a particular date being paid much less than those already on the
payroll.

churning When firms fire many people and hire many people at the same time.

reinforcement theory A motivation theory which argues that by linking consequences to

behavior, desired behaviors can be strengthened and undesirable
ones eliminated.

positive reinforcement Administering a positive consequence (e.g., praise) to strengthen a

positive behavior.

negative Removing or stopping something unpleasant (e.g., eliminating time-

reinforcement consuming paperwork) to strengthen a positive behavior.

extinction Removing all reinforcement for a behavior, thereby letting it atrophy

on its own.

punishment Administering a sanction like docking pay in an effort to eliminate a

negative behavior.

goal theory A theory which argues that establishing future performance targets
can help motivate employees.

stretch targets Goals which are virtually unattainable. Often designed to encourage
'doing it different' rather than 'doing what we already do better.'

Management by A generic name for the systematic use of goal-setting throughout the
Objectives (MBO) firm. Usually involves a joint goal-setting process between managers
program and subordinates.

expectancy theory A motivation theory which argues that employees will choose to give
maximum effort if there's a decent chance that their efforts will lead
to performance and that achieving a certain level of performance will
result in valued outcomes (e.g., a big raise).
skill-based pay Programs that increase pay or give bonuses when employees can
programs demonstrate that they've acquired a new skill.

decision making The process of evaluating two or more options in order to reach the
best possible outcome.

rational-economic A set of decision making approaches, often that use aids and are
models quantitative in form, that try to maximize the use of information
and/or possible choices.

information-processing Rational models that focus on evaluating the quality and relative
models weight of various pieces of information that need to be combined
together to reach a decision.

decision-choice Rational models that shift the focus away from the information
models sources to the actual options in trying to reach a systematic decision.

administrative model A set of decision making principles that recognize that a completely
rational analysis of information and choice options is often not feasible
in realistic decision-making.

bounded rationality The understanding that rational decisions are very much bounded or
constrained by practical constraints (e.g., time, money, etc.).

satisficing A method for making decisions under bounded rationality; to choose

the first option that meets a set of minimal criteria that have been
established.

script A reference to a type of non-rational decision making that doesn't

make use of existing data, but instead is based on a commonly
understood sequence of behavior.

policy Similar to a script in that a policy can be a less than completely

rational decision making method. Involves the use of a pre-existing
set of decision steps for any problem that presents itself.

preferred focus The tendency to concentrate on the technical/rational side of decision

making or on the people/issues side.

problem clarity The need for structure in making decisions vs. a tendency to have
greater acceptance for ambiguity or vagueness in making decision.

directive style A decision making style characterized by a person who, while analytic,
doesn't enjoy juggling lots of data they make a decision and move on.

behavioral style A decision making who is very attuned to how decisions affect
employees and the work environment; tends to be more deliberate
and slower in style.
analytic style A style characteristic of someone who approaches decisions in a
highly rational way and who is capable of tolerating
uncertainty/ambiguity.

conceptual style A decision maker who can easily see 'the big picture' and is not
necessarily mired in the fine details.

heuristics Decision making shortcuts that everyone develops over time and use
to deal with the myriad of daily decisions; can sometimes lead a
manager astray, particularly if they are used as shortcuts.

representativeness A heuristic that leads us to choose options that have the appearance
heuristic of being correct, but often fail to take into account the appropriate
probability of option occurring.

conjunction fallacy Related to the representativeness heuristic in that instead of

decreasing our probability judgements for detailed, conjunctive
predictions, we actually often believe they are more likely to occur
than simple/single events themselves.

regression to the A heuristic that says humans fail to realize that the best predictor of
mean behavior is the mean performance; unusual performance (positive or
negative) is likely to move back toward the mean performance.

framing The tendency for a decision maker to be swayed by whether a

decision is pitched as a positive (e.g., gain) or negative (e.g., loss).

anchoring The heuristic tendency for our eventual decisions to be importantly

affected by the starting point (or anchor) of the decision process.

escalation of A tendency among decision makers try to recover sunk costs - to

commitment throw good money after bad.

groupthink Refers to a situation in which pressures for cohesion and togetherness

are so strong as to produce narrowly considered and bad decisions;
this can be especially true via conformity pressures in groups.

brainstorming A technique designed to overcome our natural tendency to evaluate

and criticize ideas and thereby reduce the creative output of those
ideas. People are encouraged to produce ideas/options without
criticizing, often at a very fast pace to minimize our natural tendency
to criticize.

nominal group A more elaborate attempt to separate the generation from the
technique evaluation of ideas in group settings. With the nominal group method,
ideas are generated in private and circulated later.

delphi technique A third, and even more elaborate attempt to reduce group criticism
and increase the generation of good decision options. Ideas are
generated in private, anonymously collated and presented to the
group.
compressed schedule A set of work schedules that use non-traditional methods of
completing a 40 hour work week (e.g., 4-40; 4 days of 10-hr work).

flextime A scheduling methods that gives employees control over their work
schedule; usually involves some 'core' times when employees must be
at work, and a set of 'flextime' that can be adjustable for various
employees.

job rotation The practice of shifting workers to different jobs at periodic intervals.

job enlargement Involves combining multiple tasks once performed by several people
into one job. As with rotation, it is designed to increase variety and
reduce boredom association with job simplification.

job enrichment Making fundamental change to the way that work gets done, well
beyond when the job is done (e.g., flextime, rotation) and how much
is done (enlargement).

job characteristics A model of how to put enrichment in practice, which involves -among
model other things - changing jobs so that they provide more feedback and
autonomy to those actually doing the jobs.

vertical job loading Combining various job tasks together which involve increasing the
skill set of an employee (as opposed to enlargement where

horizontal job loading Like vertical loading, this involves combining tasks, but unlike that
technique the additional tasks are added without requiring additional
skills).

advisory teams Small groups of employees (10-20) that meet a few hours a week to
suggest solutions to problems in their work (e.g., quality circle).

self-managed work If advisory teams point out problems, self-managed teams go further
teams and try to fix those problems. Team member exert considerable
influence on their group, some even hire/fire, and evaluate other
group members.

cross-functional teams Groups of employees from different areas of the organization who are
brought together to work on the same program; ideally the team has
all the expertise needed to complete even the most complex of
projects.

virtual team A group of physically dispersed people who work as a team via
alternative communication modes (e.g., video conferencing, e-mail,
etc.).

social loafing This is a tendency for a team member to put out less effort than they
would if they were working alone. Freeloading such as this can occur
when members' performance melds in and they can hide in the
crowd.

follower-centered Approaches that try to understand leadership by focusing on

leadership follower's needs and how they respond to leaders.
leader-centered Approaches that try to understand leadership by focusing on the
leadership leader's traits, skills, and behaviors.

situation-centered Approaches that try to understand leadership by focusing on how

leadership situational variables may impact leader effectiveness.

leader-member Explains leadership in terms of the relationship that develops between

exchange theory leaders and subordinates over time.

proactive ingratiation Involves the use of impression management tactics such as

strategies expressing agreement and offering praise.

exemplification An impression management tactic that involves self-sacrifice.

self-leadership A follower-centered approach to leadership which argues that

employees should look inward for motivation and initiative.

task-oriented behavior Leadership behavior focused on the task itself or getting the job done
(e.g., telling subordinates how to perform certain tasks).

relationship-oriented Leadership behavior focused on maintaining or improving relations

behavior with subordinates (e.g., developing, recognizing, and otherwise
supporting subordinates).

change-oriented Leadership behavior focused on making significant change happen

behavior (e.g., communicating an inspiring vision, gaining subordinate
commitment for change).

situational leadership A leadership model which argues that effective leadership involves
matching the right combination of task-oriented and relationship-
oriented behavior to the maturity level of subordinates.

path-goal theory An approach which argues that managers use the leadership style
which will best support subordinates given their characteristics and
the existing work system. The right style will raise subordinates'
expectations that their efforts will lead to good performance and that
desired rewards will follow.

least preferred co- Argues that how leaders view their least preferred co-worker indicates
worker (LPC) whether they have a relationship-oriented or a task-oriented
contingency theory leadership style. Which style is more effective depends on situational
favorability (i.e., the leader's position power, nature of leader-
member relations, and task structure).

leader substitutes A approach which examines how various situational factors can either
theory substitute for leadership (making leader behavior unnecessary) or
neutralize the impact of leader behavior.

charismatic leadership A form of leadership in which the leader is viewed as having

extraordinary abilities, being 'larger than life,' and inspiring
 tremendous effort. Often the result of a complex interplay between
leader characteristics, subordinate perceptions, and situational
pressures.

personal identification One way that charismatic leaders can influence subordinate self-
worth. Taps subordinates' needs to have someone to look up to and
may involve giving leaders unquestioned loyalty.

social identification Often the most positive way that charismatic leaders can influence
subordinate self-worth. Involves linking subordinates' work to the
good of a larger social entity.

narcissistic leaders Fundamentally insecure and self-absorbed individuals who often

pursue a
vision for selfish reasons. They manipulate subordinates and lack
concern for their welfare.

transformational Explains how some leaders are able to create loyal and committed
leadership theory subordinates who are willing to push themselves like never before in
the pursuit of radical change (i.e., through charisma and inspirational
motivation, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation).

power The extent to which a leader has the potential capacity to influence
others. Can come from personal, positional, and/or political sources.

influence tactics Behavioral strategies leaders use when trying to tap their sources of
power to influence others.

expertise A source of power to the extent that people around a manager view
him or her as an expert; someone whose knowledge and skills can
help them do their jobs.

referent power Power managers have when they are liked, admired, and given loyalty
by those around them.; may involve an intense emotional bonding
with the manager.

position power Power managers hold due to their role in the organization. May
include a manager's network of contacts, legitimate authority and
control over information, rewards, punishments, and the work
environment.

organizational politics Occurs when power sources and influence tactics are used to serve
personal goals or motives.

scapegoating Trying to shift the blame for a problem or failure away from yourself
(e.g., onto others or factors in the situation).

self-focused image Behaviors designed to make yourself look good or to create a more
management tactics favorable image of yourself with other people (e.g., boasting, working
hard when the boss is around, etc.)

other-focused image Behaviors designed to make polish someone else's image in the hopes
management tactics of getting what you want (e.g., flattering or praising your boss).
sandbagging Behaviors designed to project a weaker or more negative image than
is actually the case. The goal is often to lull opponents into a false
sense of security (i.e., so they let down their guard or exert less
effort).

avoiding style When faced with conflict, a person who uses this style often try to
ignore conflict all together rather than trying to directly resolve it.

accommodating style A style that involves trying to resolve conflict by giving in to the
desires of others, sometimes without raising conflicting points/issues
at all.

forcing style The exact opposite of an accomodating style - a person who is very
willing to use their power and authority to settle an argument.

compromising style A person using this style approaches conflict as a give-and-take

situation giving up something to get something else.

collaborating style A style that ranks high on both assertiveness and cooperation; often
called a win-win approach because efforts are made to see the best
options for both parties to conflict.

role conflict Refers to the fact that some jobs have built-in conflicting
requirements that pull the job occupant in separate ways.

role ambiguity The lack of clear expectations about your job or role in a firm can
produce role ambiguity, which in turn can produce stress.

burnout A feeling of physical and mental exhaustion that may start from work
stress, but eventually extend to many parts of one's life.

employee assistance Programs offered by companies to help employees deal with job
program (EAP) stress and with personal problems that may have developed from the
stress or other sources (alcohol/substance abuse help, counseling for
psychological symptoms, etc.).

family-supportive A series of programs (e.g., on-site day care) adopted by companies

policies that can help employees deal with work-family conflict and stress.

job redesign Efforts by firms to redesign how work is done to, among other things,
reduce job stress (discussed in Chapter 6 earlier).

corporate wellness Long-term programs that also act to increase and promote employee
programs health and reduce stress (fitness facilities, health classes, etc.).

verbal communication A reference to the many different ways you can get across your
message orally (meetings, phone calls, conversation).
nonverbal The many additional ways that communication is accomplished
communication beyond the oral or written word (e.g., expressions, eye contact, body
movements, etc.).

spacing A nonverbal behavior that refers to the typical amounts of space

between people as they interact and converse.

paralanguage Reference to qualities about one's speech that carry information about
the communication (e.g., speed, loudness, tenseness of one's voice).

context The effect of the background under which a message often takes on
more and richer meaning. Context is especially important in cross-
cultural interactions because some cultures are said to be high
context (the culture provides many understood ways to interpret
messages) or low context (the words themselves explicitly carry a lot
of the message).

downward Refers to communication flows from a company or boss down to the

communication affected employees.

upward A communication channel that allows for relatively free movement of

communication messages from those lower in the organization to those at higher
levels.

lateral communication Communication that flows relatively freely between people of

relatively equal power in organizations.

grapevine A reference to the well-known but unofficial and informal source of

information regarding company events/people; often a source of
information for those with relatively little power in a firm.

organizational Refers to how a company is put together and reflects some of the
structure underlying ways that people interact with one another in and across
jobs or departments.

functional structure A type of structure in which units and departments are organized
based on the activity or function that they perform.

product-based A type of structure in which all the jobs needed to produce and sell a
structure product or service are grouped together in the same unit.

customer-based Similar in some respects to product-based structures, this type of

structure structure uses customer groups or segments as an organizing
principle.

geographic-based A type of structure in which product lines, services, and/or functions

structure are organized by location.

matrix structure A hybrid approach to organizing which typically crosses a functional

approach with a product- or service-based design, often resulting in
employees having two bosses.
delegation Typically refers to a context in which a manager hands over the
responsibility and decision control for various tasks or jobs to others,
usually subordinates.

formalization The extent to which rules, policies, and procedures exist throughout
the organization.

bureaucracy An organization with a high degree of formalization.

mechanistic structure An organizational form in which people perform specialized jobs, the
flow of information comes largely from above, and there is
considerable formality in how work is done. Efficiency is usually the
primary goal with such structures.

organic structure An organizational form in which formality is low, power is

decentralized and jobs are less specialized and are often broadly
defined. Adaptability and flexibility in the face of rapidly changing
conditions are usually the primary goals with such structures.

corporate culture The whole collection of beliefs, values, and behaviors of a firm that
send messages to those within and outside the company about how
business is done.

rights of passage A set of rituals and ceremonies and other activities used over and
over again at special times to emphasize key organizational values.

mission statement An explicit statement of company philosophy that provides yet

another way to communicate culture.

socialization The whole process of cultural acclimation; the learning of

organizationally-useful behavior.

orientation phase The first few weeks or months on the job when it is particularly
important to communication cultural values to new employees.

mentors A person who can help smooth the integration of new employees into
a firm and its culture.

fearlessness culture A type of culture that can form in firms whose business involves
considerable risk and rapid feedback. Attracts and rewards people
willing to take chances and decisive.

persistence culture A business that involves relatively low risk but rapid feedback. The
culture encourages people who have energy and show perseverance.

one-shot culture A culture comprised of a slow feedback/high risk combination. People

who can tolerate uncertainly for long periods and is careful/detailed
oriented.
process culture Characterized by slow feedback/low risk combination. A culture that
promotes a major concern with the process of running an organization
more than specific outcomes.

ubuntu An indigenous African approach to management that emphasizes the

company as a community of relationships, with a particular emphasis
on solidarity.

domestic firm Firms who largely do business in their home country, although they
may export some of their products or services across borders.

international firm Those firms who have responded to stiff competition domestically by
expanding their sales abroad. They may start a production facility
overseas and send some of their managers, who report to a global
division, to that country.

multinational firm Firm who operate extensively in other countries and closely
coordinate effort across subsidiaries in those countries. They tend to
rely more on foreign nationals for their managerial talent.

global firm Firms are considered global if they produce high-quality products that
can be sold anywhere across globe, are international in their thinking,
and expatriates from around the globe comprise their managerial
pool.

civil law The most common legal system in the world, practiced in over 70
countries (e.g.,Germany, Japan, Turkey, etc.). Referred to as code
law since it is based on an elaborate list of rules about actions and
misdeeds, but considerable consistency in adjudication.

common law Also a popular legal system around the world (e.g., U.S., U.K, etc.).
In contrast to civil law's reliance on elaborate codes, common law
uses precedent or the balance of prior rulings to resolve disputes.

Islamic law A code-based legal system tied to religious stipulations put forth in
the Koran. While not strictly a legal system, the Koran does address
business concerns such as the need to honor agreements and to us
good faith in interactions.

political risk Refers to the many different actions of people, subgroups, and whole
countries that have the potential to affect the financial status of a
firm.

learning organization A firm which values continuous learning and is consistently looking to
adapt and change with its environment.

sensitivity training An interpersonal approach for promoting change that involves

developing a greater understanding of oneself and one's interactions
with other people.

team-building Group-level efforts designed to illustrate the value of teams as well as

techniques build cohesion and a common sense of purpose among team
members.
process consultation Involves interviewing people and observing work group processes to
uncover interpersonal stumbling blocks and related problems. A
change agent will then provide feedback aimed at improving the work
process.

survey methods Involve the administration of a questionnaire (e.g., by computer, in

paper and pencil form, or interview). Usually designed to assess
problems and improve information flow throughout the organization.