parent-country nationals | Individuals sent from the country in which the firm is headquartered. Often called expatriates. |
path–goal leadership model | Theory that suggests a leader needs to influence followers' perceptions of work goals, self-development goals, and paths to goal attainment. |
perceived job content | The characteristics of a job that define its general nature as perceived by the person who does the job. |
perception | The process by which an individual gives meaning to the environment. It involves organizing and interpreting various stimuli into a psychological experience. |
personality | A stable set of characteristics and tendencies that determine commonalities and differences in people's behavior. |
personality test | Test used to measure emotional, motivational, interpersonal, and attitude characteristics that make up a person's personality. |
person–environment [P–E] fit | The extent to which work provides rewards that meet the person's needs and to which the employee's skills match the requirements of the job. |
person–role conflict | A type of conflict that occurs when the requirements of a position violate the basic values, attitudes, and needs of the individual occupying the position. |
political behavior | Behavior outside the normal power system designed to benefit an individual or a subunit. |
pooled interdependence | Interdependence that requires no interaction between groups because each group, in effect, performs separately. |
position analysis questionnaire [PAQ] | A method of job analysis that takes into account human characteristics as well as task and technological factors of jobs and job classes. |
position power | A factor in the Fiedler contingency model that refers to the power inherent in the leadership position. |
positive reinforcement | Action that increases the likelihood of a particular behavior. |
power | Ability to get others to do what one want them to do. |
power distance | The degree to which members of a society accept differences in power and status among themselves. |
procedural justice | The perceived equity or fairness of the processes and procedures used to make resource and reward allocation decisions. |
process conflict | Type of intragroup conflict in which group members disagree as to the best method to accomplish a particular task. |
process motivation theories | Theories that describe and analyze how behavior is energized, directed, sustained, and stopped. |
processes | Activities that breathe life into organization structure. Common processes are communication, decision making, socialization, and career development. |
programmed decisions | Situations in which specific procedures have been developed for repetitive and routine problems. |
psychodynamic personality theories | Freudian approach that discusses the id, superego, and ego. Special emphasis is placed on unconscious determinants of behavior. |
psychological contract | An implied understanding of mutual contributions between a person and his or her organization. |
psychological contract violation | The perception of the person that his or her firm has failed to fulfill or has reneged on one or more obligations. |
punishment | An uncomfortable consequence for a particular behavior response or the removal of a desirable reinforcer because of a particular behavior response. Managers can punish by application or removal. |
Pygmalion effect | The enhanced learning or performance that results from others having positive expectations of us. |
qualitative overload | Occurs when people feel they lack the ability to complete a job or that performance standards are too high. |
quality of work life [QWL] | Management philosophy that enhances employee dignity, introduces cultural change, and provides opportunities for growth and development. |
quantitative overload | Results from having too many things to do or insufficient time to complete a job. |
readiness | The followers' skills and willingness to do a job. |
reciprocal causation | Argument that follower behavior affects leader behavior and leader behavior influences follower behavior. |
reciprocal interdependence | Interdependence that requires the output of each group in an organization to serve as input to other groups in the organization. |
recognition | Management acknowledgement of work well done. |
reengineering | The redesign of business processes to achieve significant improvement in cost, service, quality, and speed. |
referent power | Power based on charisma due to personality or style of behavior. |
relationship conflict | Type of intragroup conflict in which group members are aware of interpersonal incompatibilities among themselves that can lead to feelings of dislike. |
reward power | A person's ability to reward the behavior of others. |
role | An organized set of behaviors expected of an individual in a specific position. |
role conflict | Occurs when an individual's compliance with one set of expectations conflicts with compliance with another set of expectations. |
role set | Others' expectations for behavior of a person in a particular role. |
self-efficacy | The belief that one can perform adequately in a situation. Self-efficacy has three dimensions: magnitude, strength, and generality. |
sequential interdependence | Interdependence that requires one group to complete its task before another group can complete its task. |
situational attributions | Attributions that emphasize the environment's effect on behavior. |
situational theories of leadership | An approach to leadership that advocates that leaders understand their own behavior, the behavior of their subordinates, and the situation before utilizing a particular leadership style. This approach requires the leader to have diagnostic skills in human behavior. |
skill-based pay | Wages paid at a rate calculated and based on the skills employees possess and display in performing their jobs. |
skills | Task-related competencies. |
skunkworks | A small group of engineers, technicians, and/or designers who are placed on a specialized team and isolated from the rest of the organization; the team's goal is to rapidly develop innovative ideas, products, or services. |
social category diversity | Explicit differences between members of a group based on race, gender ethnicity, and/or age. |
social learning | The extension of Skinner's work initiated by note psychologist Albert Bandura. Bandura views behavior as a function of a continuous interaction between cognitive [person], behavioral, and environmental determinants. Contrary to Skinner, Bandura believes that cognitive functioning must not be ignored in explaining and modifying behavior. |
social loafing | When individuals within a group hold back what they contribute to the group's effort and performance. |
social support | The comfort, assistance, or information received through formal or informal contacts with individuals or groups. |
socialization | The process by which organizations bring new employees into the culture. |
span of control | The number of subordinates reporting to a specific superior. The span is a factor that affects the shape and height of an organizational structure. |
spirituality | A state of experience that can provide a person with a sense of direction and support inner wholeness or connectedness. |
stakeholder approach to effectiveness | Perspective that emphasizes the relative importance of different groups' and individuals' interests in an organization. |
stereotype | An overgeneralized, oversimplified, and selfperpetuating belief about people's personal characteristics. |
strategic contingency | Event or activity of crucial importance to completing a project or accomplishing a goal. |
stress | An adaptive response, mediated by individual differences, that is a consequence of any action, situation, or event that places special demands on a person. |
stressor | A potentially harmful or threatening external event or situation that contributes to perceived stress. |
structure | Blueprint that indicates how people and jobs are grouped together in an organization. Structure is illustrated by an organization chart. |
substitutability | Extent to which other subunits can perform the job or task of a subunit. |
superordinate goals | Goals that cannot be achieved without the cooperation of the conflicting groups. |
system | A grouping of elements that individually establish relationships with each other and that interact with their environment both as individuals and as a collective. |
task conflict | Type of intragroup conflict in which group members have differences in viewpoints and opinions regarding what the group's task is. |
task structure | Factor in Fiedler contingency model that refers to how structured a job is with regard to requirements, problem-solving alternatives, and feedback on job success. |
team building | Encouraging people who work together to meet as a group to identify common goals, improve communications, and resolve conflicts. A traditional intervention focusing on work groups, it has been given renewed interest as organizations rediscover the power of team effort. |
technological change | Any application of new ways of transforming resources into products or services. |
technology | Physical and mental actions by an individual to change the form or content of an object or idea. |
telecommuting | Performing all or some portion of a job at sites away from the central work site. |
Thematic Apperception Test [TAT] | A projective test that uses a person's analysis of pictures to evaluate such individual differences as need for achievement, need for power, and need for affiliation. |
third-country nationals | Employees from a country other than where the parent company is headquartered. |
360-degree feedback | Comparison of feedback evaluations of a person's boss, subordinates, and peers. |
trait personality theories | Theories based on the premise that predispositions direct the behavior of an individual in a consistent pattern. |
trait theory of leadership | Theory that attempts to identify specific characteristics [physical, mental, personality] associated with leadership success. Relies on research that relates various traits to certain success criteria. |
transactional leadership | Leader identifies what followers want or prefer and helps them achieve level of performance that results in rewards that satisfy them. |
transformational leadership | Ability to inspire and motivate followers to achieve results greater than originally planned for internal rewards. |
Type A [managers] | Managers who are aloof and cold toward others and are often autocratic leaders. Consequently, they are ineffective interpersonal communicators. |
Type B [managers] | Managers who seek good relationships with subordinates but are unable to express their feelings. Consequently, they are usually ineffective interpersonal communicators. |
Type C [managers] | Managers more interested in their own opinions than in those of others. Consequently, they are usually ineffective interpersonal communicators. |
Type D [managers] | Managers who feel free to express their feelings to others and to have others express their feelings; the most effective interpersonal communicators. |
uncertainty avoidance | The degree to which people are comfortable with ambiguous situations and with the inability to predict future events with accuracy. |
upward communication | Upward communication flows from individuals at lower levels of the organization structure to those at higher levels. Among the most common upward communication flows are suggestion boxes, group meetings, and appeal or grievance procedures. |
valence | The strength of a person's preference for a particular outcome. |
value diversity | Differences in group members' opinions regarding what the group's tasks, goals, or mission should be. |
values | The conscious, affective desires of wants of people that guide their behavior. Basic guidelines and beliefs that a decision maker uses when confronted with a situation requiring choice. |
virtual team | A team that utilizes information technology and telecommunications so that members in remote locations can work together on projects. |
Vroom-Yetton model | Leadership model that specifies leadership decision-making procedures most effective in each of several different situations: two autocratic [AI, AII]; two consultative [CI, CII]; one oriented toward joint decisions of the leaders and group [GII]. |