NUS MNO1001 Exam Cheat Sheet Nov 08

National University of Singapore
Management & Organisation MNO1001
Academic Year 08/09 Semester 1 November 2008
Term Exam Cheat Sheet

2 Page Cheat Sheet
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Week 3: Individual Differences and Behaviour

Values, Attitudes (affective, cognitive, behavioural), job satisfaction, job involvement, organizational commitment
Work Behaviours, performance, productivity, organisational citizenship behaviours, counterproductive behaviours, absenteeism, turnover
Personality nature, nurture, salient in weak situations, organisational personality
The Big Five extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, conscientiousness
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (preference for perceiving and processing info), extroversion(people objects) vs introversion(concepts ideas), sensing(5 senses) vs intuition(unconscious), thinking(logic) vs feeling(values) judging(structure) vs perceiving(flexibility)
Type A(competitive, achievement-oriented, impatient)
vs B(relaxed, easy-going, patient)
Other Traits locus of control, self monitoring, self-esteem, self-efficacy EQ (emotions, socially aware) CQ (learn cultures, body language, confidence)

Week 4: Social Perception

Selective attention, learned, context dependent, unconscious, often inaccurate
Perceptual Biases self fulfilling prophecy, primacy effect (first impressions last, especially negative ones) recency effect (recent information is the most outstanding) halo effect (overall impression)projection bias (think other people behave the same)
Attribution Theory fundamental attribution error (see behaviours as being caused by person rather than situation esp if highly consistent, low in distinctiveness and low in consensus) self-serving bias (take personal credit for success blame others for mistakes)
Social Identity Theory social groups (gender, age, nationality) process (categorise people, homogenise, differentiate groups from other groups) Stereotyping (sex, age, race) results (discrimination, prejudice) to overcome (increase interaction, affirmative action, diversity training)
Overcoming Biases difficult to change, be conscious, focus on objective facts, explore external causes, perspective taking
Learning (change in behaviour) Behaviour Modification through consequences, Positive reinforcement (reward), Punishment, Negative reinforcement (absence of consequence increase frequency), Extinct (absence of consequence decrease frequency) Variable schedule of reinforcement is more effective
Social Learning Theory (we model behaviours that lead to positive outcomes and avoid behaviours that lead to negative outcomes, vicarious learning, self reinforcement) Experimental learning

Week 5: Motivation

Employee What do I want?
Need based theories, Needs: Physiological or psychological requirements that demand attention and direct behaviour
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs basic to highest levels, 1)Physiological (need for food, clothing, comfort), 2)Safety (physical, emotional security, avoidance of violence), 3)Belongingness (love, friendship, affection), 4)Esteem (self respect, status, reputation) 5)Self-actualisation (self-fulfilment, increasing competence, use abilities to fullest)
McClelland’s Acquired Needs (learned and reinforced through life experiences) Need for Achievement (feedback and recognition not money, entrepreneurs) Affiliation (conforming, social approval, avoid conflicts, service oriented jobs) Power (lead and dominate, personal power, social power, institutional power, Politicians)
Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory Hygiene Factors (causes dissatisfaction) Lower level needs, Job context(salary, working conditions, supervisors) Motivating Factors (causes satisfaction) Higher level needs, Job Content (work achievement, responsibility, advancement)
Employee How do i get what I want? Process theories
Equity Theory (compare inputs/outputs, underpaid/overpaid) Reduce inequity behaviourally (change own inputs/outputs, get others to change, quit job) Reduce inequity cognitively (distort own inputs/outputs, distort other’s, change comparison) Distributive (are rewards fair) Procedural (process fair, unbiased, consistent, input from all relevant parties) Interactional (treated with dignity and respect)
Expectancy Theory (people are motivated if they can get what they want, choose to work hard on things that produce most valuable rewards) Expectancy (does effort lead to performance) Instrumentality (does performance lead to reward) Valence (which rewards are valued more) all add up to Motivational Force
Employer what can i give? Reinforcement theory (explains behaviour change)
Thorndike’s law of effect, repeat behaviour with positive consequences, don’t repeat behaviour with negative consequences
Skinner’s operant conditioning, experiments, behaviour modification: use reinforcement theory to change behaviour (same as in Social Perception)
Employer how can i give you what you want?
Goal setting theory motivate by setting goals that are Specific, Challenging, Achievable, SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and have Target dates
Job Characteristics Model assumption that employees are Motivated by the three psychological states, Have desire for growth, Have necessary knowledge and skills, Satisfied with work context. assumption that Work can be redesigned to characteristics, Skill variety, Task identity, Task significance, Autonomy, Feedback
Applying Motivation Theories McGregor’s Theory X (pessimistic, negative view of workers, lazy irresponsible, resist change, lack ambition)
vs Theory Y (optimistic view, hardworking, self directed, creative)
Extrinsic (payoff received from other, pay)
vs Intrinsic Rewards (Satisfaction from performing work itself, achievement)

Week 6: Group and Teams

Team qualities complementary skills, common purpose, performance goals and approach, and mutual accountability
Five Stages of Development Forming (getting acquainted), Storming (personalities and roles emerge), Norming (conflicts resolved, relationships develop, unity emerges), Performing (solving problems & completing the assigned task) Adjourning (Preparing for disbandment)
Group Structure Size, Small teams require less time to develop, coordinate and resolve differences. Large teams have more resources and diverse inputs. Role, Socially determined expectations of how an individual should behave in a specific position. Task vs relationship orientated roles.
Levels of Task Interdependence High: Reciprocal. Medium: Sequential, Low: Pooled.
Norms General guidelines and rules of behaviour that most group members follow, tend to be enforced to help group survive, clarify role expectation, help individuals avoid embarrassing situations, emphasise group’s important values and identity.
Cohesiveness The degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their tendency to stick together. Can be achieved by keeping team small, encouraging interaction and cooperation, increase in-group similarity (emphasize common characteristics and interests), identify environmental threats, creating a public image, making it somewhat difficult to join.
Cohesiveness and Performance Team norms support company goals: moderately high to high performance with increase in cohesiveness. Team norms oppose company goals: Moderately low to low performance with increase in cohesiveness.
Problems, Groupthink Blind unwillingness to consider alternatives. Team members friendly and tight knit but are unable to think outside the box. Results in few alternative ideas and limiting other information. Symptoms: Invulnerability, stereotyping of opposition, rationalisation, self censorship, illusion of unanimity, peer pressure. Can be avoided by allowing criticism and other perspectives.
Social Loafing tendency for people to limit their involvement & perform at a lower level when working in groups. Common when someone else has the expertise, lack self confidence, individual output not visible (eg large teams), uninteresting or unimportant tasks, low task interdependence, low collectivist orientation of members.
Conflict process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected. Causes: competition for scarce resources and time pressure, inconsistent goals or procedures, ambiguous roles and responsibilities, individual differences (personality, status) miscommunication or lack of communication. Optimal level of conflict is Medium.
Negative conflict: hinders organisation’s performance, threatens its interests
Constructive conflict: benefits organisation and serves its interests, can increase by promoting friendly competition, changing culture/procedures, bringing in outsiders. Can also manufacture it: devil’s advocate, assign someone to play a critic to generate critical thinking and reality testing. Dialectic method, have two people or groups play opposing roles.
Building an Effective Team Shared Performance Goals (agree on specific, measurable, challenging, attainable goals, establish a sense of urgency). Create a Joint Work Product (shape a common purpose). Motivation Through Mutual Accountability (all members take responsibility for doing their part to meet goal). Develop High Levels of Complementary Skills (members have unique skills, roles allocated effectively). Define a common working approach (similar working styles, set expectations and rules of behaviour during first meeting). Spend Time Together (fun sustains and is sustained by performance). Continual Feedback (positive reinforcement: celebrate small wins, recognition, praise. See failures as learning opportunities)

Week 7: Decision Making

Programmed decisions: repetitive and routine.
Non-programmed decisions: non-routine and unfamiliar.
Decision Making Style combination of how an individual perceives and responds to information. Differs according to, Value Orientation (task and technical issues OR people and social concerns). Tolerance for ambiguity (extent to which one has a need for structure or control)
High Tolerance + Task & technical concerns: Analytical (takes longer for decisions, respond well to uncertain events)
High Tolerance + People and Social concerns: Conceptual (broad perspective, rely on intuition and discussions, can be indecisive)
Low Tolerance + Task & technical: Directive (efficient, practical, logical)
Low Tolerance + People and Social: Behavioural (people oriented, avoid conflicts, can be indecisive, hard time saying no)
Rational/Classical Model assumes managers make logical decisions that will be optimal for the organisation (prescriptive). Stage 1: identify problem or opportunity. 2: think up alternative solutions. 3: evaluate alternatives & select solution. 4: implement & evaluate solution chosen.
Weakness: assumptions/reality. Goals: Clear/Ambiguous. Information: Factual/Perceptually Distorted. Rationality: Unlimited/Bounded by constraints. Timing: Simultaneous/Sequential. Standards: Absolute criteria/Implicit favourite. Solutions: Optimal/Satisficing. Process: Algorithmic/Socio-psychological.
Making Better Decisions Managers are shifting toward
Knowledge Management (continuous learning and sharing of knowledge)
Evidence Based Decision Making (put aside beliefs/wisdom and act on facts)
Decision Traps and Biases in addition to perceptual biases. Status Quo Trap (perpetuate current status) Framing Trap (framed as gains or losses) Anchoring Trap/Adjustment bias (make decisions on initial figure) Confirmation bias (seek info to support view and discount data opposing) Availability bias (use information from memory only) Representative bias (generalise from small sample or single event) Sunk Cost bias (too costly to abandon) Escalation of commitment (increase commitment despite negative info, due to pride)
Group Decision Making Risks Group Polarisation (tendency for teams to make more risky decisions than if alone) Diffusion of responsibility (not feel personally responsible for outcomes) Groupthink (conformity pressure)
Good Decisions Quality cannot be judged by consequences (poor implementation, intervening events) Judge by quality of process: Careful Problem Framing (define and redefine problem, consider multiple alternatives and sources of info, establish criteria for evaluating alternatives) Good Participation (stakeholders adequately represented, believe what they say matters) Enhance Decision Making Process (test for bias, examine risks, constructive conflicts, ethical concerns) Document Justifications for Decisions (audit trail, evidence of participation)

Week 8: Power And Influence

Sources Legitimate, Reward, Coercive, Expert, Referent
Contextual Power Substitutability (hold valuable resources, lack of alternatives) Centrality (number of people affected/dependent) Visibility (people aware of your power) Social Network (who you know)
Influence Tactics Rational persuasion (logic, reason, facts) Inspirational appeals (emotions, ideals, values) Personal appeals (friendship & loyalty) Ingratiating tactics (being humble and friendly) Consultation (get others to participate) Exchange tactics (past favours, trade)
Hard Influence Tactics Legitimating tactics (implied support from superiors, rules, policies) Coalition tactics (getting others to support) Pressure tactics (demands, threats, intimidation)
Principles of Interpersonal Influence Similarity Principle (uncover similarities) Empathy (signal acceptance, understanding) Ingratiation Principle (praise, acknowledge) Co-optation (win-win components) Foot in the Door (small favours first, show you can deliver) Reciprocity (initiate and respond) Self-Interest (share credit)
Leaders as Advocates clear and realistic objectives, understand political landscape, linkages to key stakeholders, use reason, relationships, and reciprocity before retribution.
12 Angry Men Architect: Charisma, inspiring, honesty, integrity, openness to experience. High in job centered (stop members playing games to focus) and employee centered behaviour (attention to old man). Used selling approach by explaining and persuading when jury unable to see inconsistencies in evidence but willing to listen. Transformational Leader, transformed goals and decision making process, communication skills, empowering the team. Shared leadership also seen.

Week 9: Leadership

Leadership ability to influence employees to voluntarily pursue org. Goals
Managers legitimate power to plan, organise and control Leaders create vision and strategic plan which managers implement.
Trait Theories Desired Traits: Competence (knowledge, experience), Character (honesty, integrity), Meta-analyses Timothy Judge: extroversion, openness, conscientiousness, personality more important than intelligence
Integrity most important leadership competency, authentic leadership (act with sincerity, high moral capacity to judge dilemmas)
Limitations implies a universal approach, alternative combinations of traits/competencies might work as well, subjective, indicate leadership potential, not actual leadership
Behavioural Theories University of Michigan: Job-centered behaviour (pay attention to job and work procedures) Employee-centered behaviour (pay attention to employee satisfaction and making work groups cohesive) Ohio State University: Initiating structure (concern for production and getting the job done eg organising, enforcing rules, setting goals, clarifying roles) Consideration (concern for people, establishing good relations with employees eg doing favours, explaning things, attending to needs)
The Managerial Grid (Blake & Mouton) high concern for people + low concern for production: Country Club Management. high people + high production: Team. low people + low production: Impoverished. Low people + high production: Task Centered.
Contingency Approaches effective leadership behaviour depends on the situation.
Situational Leadership Theory (Hersey & Blanchard) adjust according to readiness (willingness and ability). unable + unwilling: Telling (high task, low relationship). unable + willing: Selling (high task + high relationship). able + unwilling: Participating (low task, high relationship). able + willing: Delegating (low task, low relationship).
Leadership Substitutes training and experience replace task orientation, cohesive team replaces supportive leadership, self-leadership replaces achievement-orientated leadership. Substitutes help but don’t completely substitute for real leadership.
Transformational Leaders Leading (changing org to fit environment), Change agents. Charisma is distinct from transformational leadership, a personal trait that might help transform or just help the leader, might have opposite effect, creates dependence and not empowerment. Encourage employees to grow and excel by giving them challenging work, more responsibility, empowerment, mentoring. Good at communicating company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats so employees see them as personal challenges.
Can improve employee satisfaction, performance, org citizenship, creativity. Limitations: Circular Logic (leaders effective by definition), Universal Theory (need a contingency oriented theory, recognise difference across cultures)
Transactional Leaders Managing (link job performance to rewards), Ensure employees have necessary resources, Apply contingency leadership
Shared Leadership Leadership not restricted to formal positions, Anyone in the org may and should lead in various ways at various times, Effective companies encourage employees to lead when needed (change champions)
Servant Leaders focus on providing service to others (meeting goals of both followers and org) rather than themselves.
Cultural Issues in Leadership Societal cultural values and practices (shape leader’s values/norms, influence decisions and actions) Some leadership styles are universal (charismatic visionary), some differ across cultures (participative works better in some cultures)
Gender Issues in Leadership Male and Female leaders have similar task and people oriented leadership, Participative leadership style used more often by females, Past Evidence: women rated less favourably due to stereotyping. Recent Evidence: women rated more favourably than men in emerging leadership styles (coaching teamwork)

Week 10: Organisational Structure & Culture

Organisation Chart Vertical hierarchy, Horizontal specialisation
Fundamental Issues Differentiation: divide people and activities to achieve efficiency. Integration: coordinate activities of sub-groups to achieve goal.
Differentiation Approaches: Functional Structures: more common, similar specialties put together. Advantages: clear lines of authority, greater control, efficiency, clear career paths. Disadvantages: as activities increase coordination inefficiency increases, reduced horizontal adaptability and responsiveness.
Divisional Structure: diverse specialties in groups (product, customer, geographic divisions) Advantages: coordination within division, increased specialisation and responsiveness, leadership development at divisional level. Disadvantages: operating costs in redundancy of managerial and functional activities, reduced inter-divisional communication and coordination, competition for resources at divisional level, goal displacement.
Hybrid Structure Integration Mechanisms: Vertical (standardisation: authority, rules, policies, planning and control systems, incentives and compensation systems). Horizontal (Mutual Adjustment: meetings, informal communication). Vertical and Horizontal (Integrator and boundary-spanning roles, matrix structures)
Matrix Structure combines functional and divisional chains of command so there is two of them, vertical and horizontal. Advantages: full access to resources, coordination for fast roll-out, increased flexibility, increased motivation. Disadvantages: dual authority conflicts, unclear career structures.
Contingency Approach Factors that affect design of structure: Environment, Technology, Organisational Life Cycle, Organisational Size.
Mechanistic Structure Degree of differentiation of division of labour: high, specialist. Hierarchy: tall. Span of Control: narrow. Decision Rights: authority, rules, plans. Technology: standardised, simple, sequential. Environment: stable. Strategy: cost effectiveness, defensive. Work Values: safety and economic interests. Mgmt Philosophy: theory X authoritarian.
Organic Structure Degree of differentiation of division of labour: low, generalist. Hierarchy: flat. Span of Control: wide. Decision Rights: meetings, teams, informal communication. Technology: custom, intensive, reciprocal. Environment: unstable. Strategy: differentiation, proactive/learning. Work Values: growth, fulfilment & self expression. Mgmt Philosophy: theory Y participative.
Building Better Bureaucracies (Adler) Organic: Low bureaucracy technical structure + Enabling social structure. Autocratic: Low bureaucracy + Coercive. High bureaucracy: Enabling or Coercive Bureaucracy.
Move from Coercive to Enabling in Design (expert design no revision > employees test and suggest improvements), Structure (unchallenged standards > flexible improvisation, best practice), Power (top down control > shared control), Culture (mistakes are costly > mistakes help learning).

Week 11: Organisational Culture & Change

Culture shared beliefs and values that guides behaviour of members. At Invisible Level: core culture, values, beliefs, assumptions. At Visible Level, expressed in symbols, stories, heroes, rites and rituals.
Culture Faces Organisational Socialisation (process by which values are maintained and passed on) Formal Statements (philosophy, mission, values, slogans) Organisational structure and policies (Performance criteria: recruitment, promotion, dismissal. Rewards: titles, promotions, bonuses, training) Physical Design (office layout, building) Leader behaviours (reaction to crises, interviews)
Culture Formation Founders (leader beliefs and values) Firsts (events, lessons learned) Facilitating Practices (do’s and don’ts)
Culture Focus Strength (strength of culture linked to long term financial success Fit (Internal: culture should fit business or strategic context) Adaptive (External: effective cultures help organisations anticipate and adapt to environmental changes)
Culture Functions Organisational Identity, Sense-making Device, Collective Commitment, Social System Stability
Disney Culture Faces: characters, people & dress & policies, ceremonies, language. Focus: happiest place on earth; magic kingdom, all american, magical, always positive, obsessed with consistency/control, unlimited imagination. Formation: walt, facilitating practices that reinforce values, organisational socialisation. Functions: quality, commitment, control.
Organisational Socialisation in the ‘Smile Factory’ open/selective, informal/forma, individual/collective, disjunctive/serial, investiture/divestiture, fixed promotion/variable promotion schedule, focused/comprehensive, discrete/continuous
Problems becoming a corporate cult, over-commitment and life imbalance, unacceptable values
Forces for Change Outside Forces: demographic characteristics (age, education, skill level, gender, immigration) market changes (mergers & acquisitions, domestic & international competition, recession) technological advancements (manufacturing automation, office automation) social & political pressures (leadership, values) Inside Forces: employee problems (unmet needs, job dissatisfaction, absenteeism & turnover, productivity, participation/suggestions) manager’s behaviour (conflict, leadership, reward systems, structural reorganisation)
Areas of Change People (perceptions, attitudes, performance, skills) Technology (machine or process) Structure and Culture (flatten hierarchical structure, create teams) Strategy (marketplace changes)
Resistance to Change Individual Differences (people’s predispositions towards change, personality conflicts, fear of failure and unknown) Group Level (peer pressure, disruption of cultural traditions or group relationships) Organisational Level (climate of mistrust, lack of tact or poor timing, non-reinforcing reward systems, loss of status or job security)
Lewin’s 3 Stage Change Model 1) Unfreezing (managers encourage employees to become more open to innovation) 2) Changing (managers convey that change is a learning process that continues) 3) Refreezing (managers encourage employees to make changes part of their normal way of doing things)
Kotter’s 8 Steps for Leading Change 1) Establish sense of urgency 2) Create powerful coalition 3) Develop vision and strategy 4) Communicate vision 5) Empower people to work on vision 6) Plan and create short term wins 7) Consolidate gains and produce more change 8) Anchor new approaches in culture. Independent Week Video: Innovation at IDEO (Shopping Cart)

Week 12: Communication and the Global Environment of Management

Communication transferring information and understanding, managers spend much time communicating, both written and oral communication
Channels Media Richness: High (face to face communication, best in non-routine situations) to Low (impersonal written media like newsletters) Formal vs Informal, Information Technology (internet, email, information overload)
Barriers Physical, Semantics, Facework, Individual and Cultural Differences (poor communication/listening skills, lack of trust, stereotypes, prejudice, gender difference) Non-Verbal Communication: very informative, can express through eye contact, gestures, time and setting, authentic vs inauthentic
Improving Communication Writer/Speaker: simple, concise, direct. Listener/reader: focus attention, resist distractions, correct biases, ask questions.
Carl Rogers client-centered approach importance of individual, listening, empathy, unconditional positive regard. Create Rogerian conditions in groups, unfreeze habitual routines, learn new communication skills, bring back to organisation.
Globalisation Economic Differences: economic systems (free market or not) economic development, infrastructure, exchange rates. Political Differences: government systems, political risk, laws.
Cultural Differences Language, religion
Hofstede’s Four Dimensions (national cultures) 1) Individualism/collectivism: extent of social bond 2) Power Distance: acceptance of inequality in power 3) Uncertainty Avoidance 4) Masculinity/Femininity: embrace of stereotypical male or female traits)
More Dimensions from the Globe project gender differentiation, assertiveness, future orientation, performance orientation, humane orientation
Creating Value in Diverse Teams Map: understand the differences. Bridge: communicate, take differences into account. Integrate: bring together and leverage the differences. Create Value: develop and execute high quality solutions effectively.