Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts and Chapter Summaries
Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts
Here are the answers to the questions in the study guide:
Chapter 9: Groups & Teams at Work
- The stages of group development according to the four-stage model are: forming, storming, norming, and performing.
- The punctuated equilibrium model proposes that groups go through periods of inertia interspersed with drastic revolutions.
- Team cohesion refers to the unity and commitment members feel toward the team and its tasks. It can be built through shared goals, interdependence, competition with other groups, etc.
- Groupthink is the tendency for highly cohesive groups to strive for unanimity and shut out dissenting viewpoints, which can lead to poor decision-making.
- Social loafing is the tendency for people to put in less effort when working in a group compared to when working individually.
- The key difference is that teams are groups with specific roles and complementary skills who are committed to a common team purpose or set of team performance goals.
- Different roles in teams include task roles (e.g., completer, monitor), relationship roles (harmonizer, encourager), individual roles, leadership roles, etc.
- Different types of teams include manager-led, self-managed, virtual, product development, services, action/negotiation, etc.
- Keys to effectively leading teams include setting a clear direction, building trust and psychological safety, facilitating teamwork, ensuring accountability, providing resources, etc.
- Keys to designing effective teams include having a meaningful team purpose, the right mix of skills, mutual accountability, committed members, and an enabling team context/structure.
- Teams can be effectively managed through establishing norms/contracts, building psychological safety, conducting productive meetings and after-action reviews, coordinating members, and dealing with issues like poor performance or lack of communication.
- Common problems teams face include starting off on the wrong foot, domineering members, social loafing, poor coordination, unhealthy team conflict, groupthink, etc.
Chapter 11: Decision Making and Creativity at Work
- Group decisions tend to be better for complex, open-ended issues where multiple perspectives are valuable. Individual decisions tend to be better for routine, well-structured problems.
- Groupthink refers to concurrence-seeking tendencies that can cause highly cohesive groups to shut out dissenting viewpoints and make poor decisions. It stems from an illusion of invulnerability, rationalization, stereotyping, self-censorship, etc.
- Techniques for better group decision-making include consensus, the Delphi technique, ethical champions, majority rule, nominal group technique, etc.
Chapter 12: Leading at Work
- Early trait approaches proposed that effective leaders possessed certain personality traits like intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability.
- Behavioral approaches emphasized that effective leaders displayed both task-oriented behaviors (e.g., planning, coordinating) and people-oriented behaviors (e.g., supporting, developing).
- Contingency theories proposed that leadership effectiveness depends on the situation, including subordinates’ characteristics and the complexity/structure of the task.
- Fiedler’s Contingency Model matched leadership style (task vs. relationship-oriented) to situational favorability based on leader-member relations, task structure, and position power.
- The Situational Leadership model prescribed leadership styles based on subordinates’ competence and commitment for a given task.
- Path-Goal Theory identified four leadership styles (directive, supportive, participative, achievement-oriented) based on maximizing subordinates’ motivation and clarifying paths to goals.
- Transformational leadership inspired changes in attitudes/behaviors and performance beyond ordinary expectations.
- Transactional leadership motivated followers through contingent reward and management by exception.
- Leader-Member Exchange theory focused on the unique relationship developed between a leader and each follower.
- Servant leadership prioritized serving others’ needs and developing their full potential.
Chapter 13: Power, Influence, and Politics
- Power is the potential ability to influence the behavior of others and control resources.
- The more a person is dependent on you, the more power you have over them.
- Six bases of power: legitimate, reward, coercive, expert, referent, and informational.
- Influence is the behavioral process of using sources of power to change attitudes and behaviors of others.
- Commonly used influence tactics include rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, consultation, ingratiation, personal appeals, exchange, legitimating, pressure, coalition, etc.
- Choice of tactics depends on factors like power differential, reasons for compliance, potential costs/risks, urgency, etc.
Chapter 14: Organizational Structure & Change
- Building blocks: centralization, formalization, hierarchical levels, departmentalization, mechanistic vs. organic structures.
- Contemporary forms: matrix, boundaryless, learning organizations.
- Reactions to change include resistance, anxiety, fear, hostility.
- People resist change due to lack of trust, belief that change is unnecessary, economic threats, disruption of habits, etc.
- Lewin’s 3 stages: unfreezing, change, refreezing. Kotter’s 8 steps include creating urgency, forming guiding coalition, developing vision/strategy, communicating change, empowering action, creating short-term wins, consolidating gains, anchoring change.
Chapter 15: Organizational Culture
- Culture is the shared values, principles, traditions, and ways of doing things that influence organizational members and differentiate one organization from others.
- The three levels are artifacts (visible), espoused values (stated), and basic underlying assumptions.
- Key dimensions include attention to detail, outcome vs. process focus, employee vs. job focus, collaborative vs. competitive, decisiveness, risk tolerance, etc.
- Visible elements include organizational rituals, language, stories, physical arrangements, dress, etc.