Chapter 9

Question 1

Learning

Answer 1

A relatively permanent change in an employee’s knowledge or skill that results from experience.

Question 2

Decision making

Answer 2

The process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
- The more knowledge and skills employees possess, the more likely they are to make accurate decisions.

Question 3

Expertise

Answer 3

The knowledge and skills that distinguish experts from novices.

Question 4

Explicit knowledge

Answer 4

Knowledge that is easily communicated and available to everyone. (if you can put it in a manual or write it down, it’s likely an example of explicit knowledge).

Question 5

Tacit knowledge

Answer 5

Knowledge that employees can only learn through experience. (not easily communicated but could be the most important aspect of what we learn in organizations).

Question 6

Operant conditioning process

Answer 6

Antecedent (Condition that precedes behaviour. Ex. Manager sets specific and difficult goal) –> Behaviour (Action performed by employee. Ex. Employee meets assigned goal.) –> Consequence (Result that occurs after behaviour. Ex. Employee receives a bonus)

Question 7

Contingencies of reinforcement

Answer 7

Four specific consequences used by organizations to modify employee behaviour.

Question 8

Positive reinforcement

Answer 8

Occurs when a positive outcome follows a desired behaviour.
- Employees must see a direct link between their behaviours and desired outcomes

Question 9

Negative reinforcement

Answer 9

Occurs when an unwanted outcome is removed following a desired behaviour.
- Doing something to avoid getting yelled at or a manager removing unliked tasks from and employee’s workload because the employee performs well in another aspect of the job.

Question 10

Punishment

Answer 10

Occurs when an unwanted outcome follows an unwanted outcome.
- Employees are given something they don’t like as a result of performing behaviours that the organization doesn’t like.

Question 11

Extinction

Answer 11

Occurs when there is the removal of a positive consequence following an unwanted behaviour.
- Ex. employees receive attention from co-workers when they act in ways that are somewhat childish at work. Finding a way to remove the attention
- Can be purposeful or accidental
- Positive reinforcement and extinction should be the most common forms of reinforcement used to create learning.

Question 12

Schedules of reinforcement

Answer 12

The timing of when contingencies are applied or removed.

Question 13

Continuous reinforcement

Answer 13

A schedule of reinforcement in which a specific consequence follows each and every occurrence of a certain behaviours.
- Difficult to maintain.
- Not long lasting. Once consequence stops so does desired behaviour.
- Potential level of performance is high

Question 14

Fixed-interval schedule

Answer 14

A schedule whereby reinforcement occurs as fixed time periods.
- Most common form
- Potential level of performance is average
- Ex. paycheque

Question 15

Variable-interval schedule

Answer 15

A schedule whereby reinforcement occurs at random periods of time.
- Potential level of performance is moderately high

Question 16

Fixed-ratio schedule

Answer 16

A schedule whereby reinforcement occurs following a fixed number of desired behaviours.
- Potential level of performance is high.
Ex. Piece-rate pay.

Question 17

Variable-ratio schedule

Answer 17

A schedule whereby behaviours are reinforced after a varying number of them have been exhibited.
- Potential level of performance is very high.
- Ex. Commission pay.

Question 18

Social learning theory

Answer 18

Argues that in addition to learning through reinforcement, people in organizations have the ability to learn through the observation of others.

Question 19

Behavioural modeling

Answer 19

Employees observing the actions of others, learning from what they observe, and then repeating the observed behaviour.

Question 20

Learning orientation

Answer 20

Building competence is deemed more important than demonstrating competence.

Question 21

Performance-oriented people

Answer 21

These people tend to work mainly on tasks that they are good at.
* Performance-prove orientation – demonstrating competence so that others think favourably of them.
* Performance-avoid orientation - demonstrating competence so that others will not think poorly of them.

Question 22

Programmed decisions

Answer 22

Decisions that are somewhat automatic because the decision maker’s knowledge allows them to recognize the situation and the course of action to be taken.

Question 23

Nonprogrammed decisions

Answer 23

Decisions made by employees when a problem is new, complex, or not recognized.

Question 24

Rational decision-making model

Answer 24

A step-by-step approach to making decisions that is designed to maximize outcomes by examining all available alternatives. Steps include:
1. Identify the criteria that are important in making the decision, taking into account all involved parties.
2. Generate a list of all available alternatives that might be potential solutions to the problem.
3. Evaluation of the alternatives against the criteria laid out in step 1
4. Select the alternative that results in the best outcome.
5. Implement the alternative.

This model has numerous problems.

Question 25

Bounded rationality

Answer 25

The notion that people do not have the ability or resources to process all available information and alternatives when making a decision.

Question 26

Satisficing

Answer 26

Occurs when decision makers select the first acceptable alternative considered.

Question 27

Selective perception

Answer 27

The tendency for people to see their environment only as it affects them and as it is consistent with their expectations.

Question 28

Projection bias

Answer 28

The faulty perception by decision makers that others think, feel and act as they do.

Question 29

Social identity theory

Answer 29

A theory that people identify themselves according to the various groups to which they belong and judge others according to the groups they associate with.

Question 30

Stereotype

Answer 30

Assumptions made about others based on their social group membership.

Question 31

Heuristics

Answer 31

Simple, efficient rules of thumb that allow us to make decisions more easily.

Question 32

Availability bias

Answer 32

The tendency for people to base their judgements on information that is easier to recall.

Question 33

Anchoring

Answer 33

The tendency to rely too heavily, or “anchor”, on one trait or piece of info when making decisions, even when the anchor might be unreliable or irrelevant.

Question 34

Framing

Answer 34

The tendency to make different decisions on the basis of how a question or situation is phrased.

Question 35

Representativeness

Answer 35

The tendency to assess the likelihood of an event by comparing it to a similar event and assuming it will be similar.

Question 36

Contrast

Answer 36

The tendency to judge things erroneously based on a reference that is near to them.

Question 37

Recency

Answer 37

The tendency to weigh recent events more than earlier events.

Question 38

Ratio effect

Answer 38

The tendency to judge the same probability of an unlikely event as lower when the probability is presented in the form of a ratio of smaller rather than of larger numbers.

Question 39

Fundamental attribution error

Answer 39

The tendency for people to judge others’ behaviours as being due to internal factors such as ability, motivation, or attitudes.

Question 40

Self-serving bias

Answer 40

Occurs when we attribute our own failures to external factors and our own successes to internal factors.

Question 41

Escalation of commitment

Answer 41

A common decision-making error, in which the decision maker continues to follow a failing course of action.

Question 42

Relationship between learning and job performance and organizational commitment.

Answer 42

Learning has a moderate positive effect on job performance.

Learning has a weak positive effect on organizational commitment.