Organizational Behavior Exam - Semester 3

Organizational Behavior Exam - Semester 3

• Covers 10 multiple choice questions (20 marks), 4 short answer questions (10 lines each, 20 marks), and 2 long answer questions (15 lines each, 60 marks)

Components of Organizational Behavior

• Sociology: Measures social systems
• Social: Interpersonal and working relationships
• Anthropology: How different cultures interact
• Psychology: Attitudes and changes in workplace behavior

Important Factors in Organizational Behavior

• People: Improving efficiency, monitoring external factors, coordination between levels.
• Structures: Organizational structure and coordination.
• Technology: Completing tasks faster and to a higher standard.
• Environment: Working environment enables employee motivation. Internal and external environments are considered.
• Teamwork: Increased efficiency by sharing tasks, ideas, and responsibilities. Team dynamics play a vital role in employee retention and lower training costs.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

• Inborn ability
• Logical reasoning
• Abstract thinking
• Recognizing high intelligence

Emotional Quotient (EQ)

• Emotional intelligence that can be developed through experience

Personality Theories

• Idiographic: Personality traits that are individual to a person
• Nomothetic: Personality traits that vary to specific dimensions across the population.
• Freud's Psychodynamic Theory: The Id, Ego, and Super Ego that impact personality.
• Eysenck's Type Theory: Different personality types based on emotional stability and extroversion.
• Cattell's Trait Theory: Exploring surface and source traits. Cattell's 16 personality factor questionnaire

The Big 5 (OCEAN)

• Openness
• Conscientiousness
• Extroversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism (Emotional Stability)

Self-Esteem

• Individual's perception of self-worth.

Self-Efficacy

• Belief in one's ability to perform a task.

Locus of Control

• Internal: Believing one's actions control their outcomes.
• External: Believing external forces control their outcomes.

Myers Briggs Type Indicator

• Categorizes personality types (e.g., introvert/extrovert)

Perceptual Process

• Environmental stimuli are encountered
• Stimuli are selected and organized
• Reactions to stimuli are developed
• Stimuli and situations are interpreted.
• Perceptual distortions: errors in judgement, stereotypical thinking, prejudice

Attribution Theory

• Identifying reasons for behaviors. Consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness factors are assessed to understand the causes behind behavior.

Attitude Components

• Cognitive: Belief about a topic
• Affective: feelings about a topic
• Behavioral: Actions reflecting beliefs and feelings

Prejudice

• Negative attitudes toward specific groups.

What is Value?

• Importance a person assigns to an object or concept

What are Attitudes?

• Shaped by social factors from parents, friends, and culture.

External Environments Affecting Job Satisfaction

• Family, social, professional, macro economic, societal beliefs, and religion.

Iceberg Theory

• Visible aspects of culture (behavior, language).
• Invisible aspects of culture (traditions, history, religion)

Power Distance

• How people view and accept power distribution. Hierarchical order often associated with high power distance.

Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Individualism: Prioritizes individual needs.
• Collectivism: Prioritizes group needs

Masculinity vs. Femininity

• Masculinity: Driven by competition, success, achievements.
• Femininity: Striving for quality of life and care for others.

Uncertainty Avoidance

• Degree of tolerance for the unknown in a society. High scores associate with strict rules and regulations.

Task Characteristics Approach

• Framework for understanding how task properties influence employee motivation, satisfaction, and performance.
• Job attributes shaped by social cues.

Organizational Commitment

• Continuous commitment: Risks involved with leaving the organization
• Affective commitment: Emotional investment
• Normative commitment: Perceived moral obligation to the organization

Prosocial Behaviours

• Actions that benefit the organization

Deviant Behaviours

• Actions that are negative and detract from the organization

Presenteeism

• Showing up to work while ill but not being productive.

Motivation Factors

• Factors that cause job satisfaction

Hygiene Factors

• Factors that prevent job dissatisfaction

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

• Hierarchy of human needs, progressing from basic physiological to self-actualization.

Herzberg's 2-Factor Theory

• Hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction; motivating factors cause satisfaction.

McClelland's Theory of Needs

• Need for achievement, affiliation, and power drive human behavior.

Equity Theory

• Individuals compare their circumstances to others'

Expectancy Theory

• Thought process in choosing actions based on their consequences

Goal Setting Theory

• Importance of conscious goals and intentions in human behavior

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Bound (SMART) Goals

• Well-defined goals help improve performance.

Positive and Negative Reinforcement

• Increasing desired behavior (positive) and lessening undesired behavior (negative)

Tuckman Model

• Stages of team development (forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning)

Successful Team Characteristics

• Interpersonal skills, open communication, and commitment.

Training Evaluation Methods

• Reactions , learning, behavior, and results

Interactive Process

• Method of training

Psychological Stress Symptoms

• Physiological and behavioral symptoms of stress.

Environmental and Organizational Stress Factors

• Internal and external factors that cause stress.

Coping Strategies to Manage Stress

• Individual strategies to alleviate stress (listening to music, yoga, meditation, etc.)
• Management strategies implemented by the organization to reduce stress

Leadership Theories

• Distributed leadership (group of leaders to problem-solve).
• Charismatic leadership (leader with a positive attribute).
• Transformational leadership (starts with a vision and inspires change).
• Transactional leadership (managing/supervising employees).