I/O Flashcards
(74 cards)
Compressed Workweek
The compressed workweek is an alternative work schedule that involves decreasing the number of work days by increasing the number of hours worked each day. It is associated with better supervisor ratings of employee performance, employee overall job satisfaction, and employee satisfaction with the work schedule, with the effects being strongest for employee attitudes.
Need Hierarchy Theory (Maslow)
Maslow’s need hierarchy theory proposes that people have five basic needs that are arranged in a hierarchical order such that a need higher in the hierarchy doesn’t serve as a source of motivation until all lower needs have been fulfilled. These needs, in order, are physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. The research has not been very supportive of Maslow’s theory.
Multiple Regression And Multiple Cutoff
Multiple regression and multiple cutoff are methods for using multiple predictor scores. Multiple regression is a compensatory method, while multiple cutoff is noncompensatory.
Adverse Impact/80% rule
Adverse impact occurs when use of a selection test or other employment procedure results in substantially higher rejection rates for members of a legally protected (minority) group than for the majority group. The 80% rule can be used to determine if adverse impact is occurring. When using this rule, the hiring rate for the majority group is multiplied by 80% to determine the minimum hiring rate for the minority group.
Two-Factor Theory (Herzberg)
Herzberg’s two-factor theory is a theory of both motivation and satisfaction that places satisfaction and dissatisfaction on two separate continua. Motivator factors (increased autonomy, responsibility, control, etc.) contribute to satisfaction and motivation when they are present; while hygiene factors (pay, pleasant working conditions) contribute to dissatisfaction when they are absent.
Work Shifts
Of the three fixed shifts, the swing shift has the most negative impact on family roles and social activities. However, the graveyard shift (night) is associated with the most social, health, and work-related problems (e.g., higher accident rates, lower performance quality) that are attributable, at least in part, to sleep deprivation. Several investigators have looked at factors that prevent or reduce the adverse effects of the graveyard shift, and one factor that has received consistent support is freedom of choice: Employees who choose to work the night shift report fewer physical and psychological problems than those who are assigned to that shift (e.g., Barton, 1994; Wise, 1993).
Expectancy Theory
Expectancy theory regards job motivation as the result of three elements: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. The highest levels of motivation occur when an employee believes that high job effort results in high task success (high expectancy), that high success leads to the attainment of certain outcomes (high instrumentality), and that the outcomes are desirable (positive valence).
Methods of Training (Job Rotation, Behavioral Modeling, Vestibule Training)
Training in organizations can be on-the-job or off-the-job. Job rotation is an example of the former; behavioral modeling and vestibule training are examples of the latter. Vestibule training takes place in a simulated work environment and is useful when on-the-job training would be too dangerous or disruptive.
Yerkes-Dodson Law
The Yerkes-Dodson Law predicts that the highest levels of performance are associated with moderate levels of arousal - i.e., the relationship between arousal and performance takes on the shape of an inverted-U.
Situational Leadership
Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership model proposes that the best leadership style depends on the job maturity of the workers, which is a function of ability and willingness to assume responsibility. It distinguishes between four leader styles - telling, selling, participating, and delegating.
Contingency Theory (Fiedler)
Fiedler’s contingency theory proposes that a leader’s effectiveness is related to an interaction between the leader’s style and the nature (favorableness) of the situation. Low LPC leaders (leaders who describe their least preferred coworker in negative terms) are most effective in very unfavorable or very favorable situations; while high LPC leaders (leaders who describe their least preferred coworker in positive terms) are better in moderately favorable situations.
Comparable Worth
Comparable worth is also known as pay equity and refers to the principle that jobs that require the same education, experience, skills, and other qualifications should pay the same wage/salary regardless of the employee’s age, gender, race/ethnicity, etc.
Incremental Validity (section ratio, baseline rate)
Incremental validity refers to the increase in decision-making accuracy resulting from the use of a new predictor. It is maximized when the predictor’s validity coefficient is high, the selection ratio is low, and the base rate is moderate. (The selection ratio is the ratio of number of jobs to job applicants; the base rate is the proportion of successful decisions without the new predictor.)
Path-Goal Theory
Path-goal theory is based on the assumption that an effective leader is one who can help carve a path for subordinates that allows them to fulfill personal goals through the achievement of group and organizational goals. It proposes that the best leadership style (directive, supportive, participative, or achievement-oriented) depends on certain characteristics of the worker and the work.
Relative Techniques (Paired Comparison, Forced Distribution)
Relative techniques are subjective measures of job performance that compare an employee’s performance to that of other employees. When using the paired comparison technique, the rater compares each ratee with every other ratee in pairs on one or more dimensions of job performance. When using the forced distribution technique, the rater assigns ratees to a limited number of categories based on a predefined normal distribution on one or more dimensions of job performance.
Equity Theory
Equity theory proposes that an employee’s motivation is related to the employee’s comparison of his/her input/outcome ratio to the input/outcome ratios of others performing the same or similar jobs. A perception of inequity leads to attempts to restore equity, with the perception of underpayment inequity (the belief that one is putting more into the job than one is getting from it) leading to more adverse outcomes than overpayment inequity does (the belief that one is putting less into the job than one is getting from it).
Job Enrichment And Job Enlargement
Job enrichment is a method of job redesign that is based on Herzberg’s two-factor theory and involves making a job more challenging and rewarding in order to increase job motivation and satisfaction. It must not be confused with job enlargement, which involves increasing the number and variety of tasks included in a job without increasing the worker’s autonomy, responsibility, etc.
Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory
Krumboltz’s social learning theory focuses on career decision-making and proposes that a person’s decisions are influenced by four factors - i.e., genetic endowment and special abilities, environmental conditions and events, learning experiences, and task approach skills.
Consideration And Initiating Structure
The Ohio State University studies found that the behavior of leaders can be described in terms of two independent dimensions - consideration (person-centered style) and initiating structure (task-oriented style).
Scientific Management
As described by Taylor, scientific management involves (a) scientifically analyzing jobs into their component parts and then standardizing those parts; (b) scientifically selecting, training, and placing workers in jobs for which they are mentally and physically suited; (c) fostering cooperation between supervisors and workers to minimize deviation from scientific methods of work; and (d) having managers and workers assume responsibility for their own share of their work.
Realistic Job Preview
A realistic job preview is a method of providing accurate and complete information about the job and the organization to job applicants. Its primary goal is to reduce turnover by reducing disillusionment caused by unrealistic expectations about the job.
Differential Validity And Unfairness
Differential validity exists when the validity coefficient of a predictor is significantly different for one subgroup than for another subgroup (e.g., lower for African American job applicants than for White applicants). Unfairness occurs when members of the minority group consistently score lower on a predictor but perform approximately the same on the criterion as members of the majority group. Differential validity and unfairness are potential causes of adverse impact.
Group Polarization
Group polarization is the tendency of groups to make more extreme decisions (either more conservative or more risky) than individual members would have made alone.
Super (Self Concept, Career Maturity, Life Career Rainbow)
According to Super’s life-space, life-span theory, the selection of a job involves finding a job that matches one’s self-concept (which reflects one’s values, personality, interests, etc.). The theory also emphasizes the importance of career maturity, which is the ability to cope with the developmental tasks of one’s life stage. The Life-Career Rainbow relates an individual’s major life roles to five life stages and is useful for helping a career counselee recognize the impact of current and future roles and stages on career planning.
