Organizational Effectiveness Test 1

Front 1

entrepreneur

Back 1

a person who creates a new company and is willing to bear the financial risks of creating a new company for the chance of making a profit

Front 2

individual level of analysis

Back 2

examines such issues as the personality, perceptions, attitudes, motivation, and values of people

Front 3

group level of analysis

Back 3

examines such issues as group roles, group norms, conformity, and status

Front 4

organizational level of analysis

Back 4

examines such issues as organizational structure, decision making, authority, reporting relationships, and span of control

Front 5

environment

Back 5

all of the external forces that impact individuals, groups, and organizations

Front 6

system

Back 6

the set of interrelated or interacting elements that form an entity, such as the solar system, the human body, the public transportation for a city, or a clock

Front 7

Open social system

Back 7

a system that is open to the environment in the sense that it depends on the environment to obtain resources and consume its products. All organizations are open social systems

Front 8

patterned activities

Back 8

the relatively stable and predictable events that continue to occur with consistency and regularity. These enduring activities are the basic elements that form an organization

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negative entropy

Back 9

while entropy refers to the dissolution or wearing down of energy and resources and moving to a state of balance, negative entropy refers to the reversal of this process and allows for the growth and increase in available energy and resources

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differentiation

Back 10

the process of creating a division of labor by creating specialized functions that are performed by different people and departments

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integration

Back 11

the process of coordinating all of the various specialized functions and events so that a system can continue to operate smoothly

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procurement subsystem

Back 12

acquires energy and resources from the external environment

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production subsystem

Back 13

the operations and activities that produce the product or service of the organization and serves as the foundation around which all other subsystems are organized

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distribution/disposal system

Back 14

the activities that are involved in delivering the organizations products or services to the next users in the value chain, such as customers or purchasers

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human resource subsystem

Back 15

the activities associated with selecting employees and motivating them to continue to participate in the organization, especially evaluating and rewarding

Front 16

adaptive subsystem

Back 16

the activities associated with making adaptive changes in the organization or its products, especially R&D activities

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managerial subsystem

Back 17

the decision-making activities associated with direction and supervising the events within an organization

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value chain

Back 18

organizations are linked together in a value chain to produce their products and services; each organization receives inputs from organizations upstream, adds value to them, and passes them on to downstream organizations

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boundary spanning activities

Back 19

activities that occur between one organization and other organizations in its environment, such as, purchasing new materials, gathering consumer info, evaluating customer satisfaction, and merchandising the products

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institutional function

Back 20

activities that help an organization to be accepted within its environment, such as public relations, lobbying, and protective legislation

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consensual validation

Back 21

refers to a common belief that is so widely shared that most members accept it as true, even though it may not match their personal feelings

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efficiency

Back 22

a measure of how well the organization translates inputs to outputs

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effectiveness

Back 23

a measure of how well an organization can convert inputs into outputs and then recycle them within the environment to produce new inputs

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resource acquisition approach

Back 24

measuring organizational effectiveness in terms of how many resources it can attract

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transformation approach

Back 25

measuring organizational effectiveness by how efficiently it converts inputs to outputs

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output approach

Back 26

measuring organizational effectiveness in terms of how many products and service it produces

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recycling approach

Back 27

an overall measure of the organizational effectiveness that assesses how well the organization is able to convert inputs to outputs and translate them into new resources to repeat the cycle

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constituency approach

Back 28

a measure of organizational effectiveness that is based on how well it serves stakeholders

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constituencies/stakeholders

Back 29

people who have a relevant interest in the success of an organization, including employees, owners, customers, suppliers, and members of the community

Front 30

organizational abuse

Back 30

organizational policies or events that injure or mistreat employees even though they are neutral and not intended to create harm

Front 31

experiential learning

Back 31

learning that comes from analyzing and observing everyday experiences

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theory

Back 32

a statement of functional relationships that helps us explain what is happening in the world we observe

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paradigm shift

Back 33

a new way of thinking about a situation or problem, using different assumptions or models

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hypothesis

Back 34

a provisional statement describing the potential relationship between two or more variables that we can test

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constructs

Back 35

words and concepts that help us identify the phenomena we want to study

Front 36

observational studies

Back 36

case studies that are based on the careful observation of the events and relationships that we see transpire

Front 37

field/correlation studies

Back 37

research studies that involve collecting data from people in actual work settings and examining the relationships between the variables that are measured

Front 38

field experiments

Back 38

research studies that occur in natural work situations in which an independent variable is changed and its effects on one or more dependent variables are assessed

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laboratory experiment

Back 39

a research study that is conducted in a behavioral science laboratory that serves to control extraneous variables while the effects of the independent variable are assessed regarding its impact on one or more dependent variables

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Hawthorne effect

Back 40

when people alter how they behave as a result of knowing that they are being observed or evaluated

Front 41

nondirective interviews

Back 41

interviews that encourage the person to openly share ideas and determine the flow of the discussion rather than following a scheduled list of questions

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patterned interviews

Back 42

an interview that follows a predetermined list of interview questions

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strategy

Back 43

the set of goals and policies designed to achieve competitive advantage in a particular marketplace

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competitive advantage

Back 44

having the ability to transform inputs into goods and services at a maximum profit on a sustained basis, better than one's competitors

Front 45

mission statement

Back 45

a statement that explains what an organization is trying to accomplish and why it exists

Front 46

imperfect competition

Back 46

an economic condition that allows an organization to achieve a competitive advantage because there are few competitors, numerous suppliers and buyers, asymmetric info, heterogeneous products, and barriers to entry

Front 47

cost leadership

Back 47

a competitive strategy that depends on being able to sell more products because they are less expensive

Front 48

differentiation

Back 48

a competitive strategy that depends on selling higher-priced products that are distinguished by such things as higher quality

Front 49

focus/niche strategy

Back 49

a competitive strategy that depends on selling a unique product within a segmented niche of the market

Front 50

SWOT method

Back 50

a method of developing a firm's strategy by examining it's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

Front 51

environmental scanning

Back 51

examining the conditions in the extended environment that might have an impact on the economic success of the firm, such as economic conditions, the supply of labor, and government regulations

Front 52

core competency

Back 52

the unique skills and resources that give and organization a competitive advantage

Front 53

structure

Back 53

the fixed relationships in an organization that describe which jobs are assigned to which departments, who has authority to make decisions, who reports to whom, and how many people each leader supervises

Front 54

systems

Back 54

the patterned activities of the various subsystems in an organization that keep it functioning

Front 55

culture

Back 55

the system of shared values and beliefs in an organization that influence the attitudes and behaviors of members and make each organization unique

Front 56

processes

Back 56

the interactions among members of an organization, especially the communication, leadership, decision making, and power

Front 57

resource based theory of the firm

Back 57

a strategy theory that focuses on examining the resource of a firm, rather than on the external environment, to find a competitive advantage

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core capability/ distinctive competence

Back 58

unique resources that provide an organization with a distinctive competence or unique competitive advantage

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domain

Back 59

the sectors or sub-environments surrounding each organization that impact how it interacts with its environment

Front 60

human resources sector

Back 60

labor market, universities, high schools, technical schools, employees in other firms

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raw materials sector

Back 61

suppliers, parts manufacturers

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financial resource sector

Back 62

banks, stock market, venture capitalists, savings and loans

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consumer market sector

Back 63

customers, clients, patients, students

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technology sector

Back 64

research institutes, R&D departments, new machines, scientific journals, automation

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industry sector

Back 65

competition, size and composition of similar firms

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economic sector

Back 66

economic growth, interest rates, unemployment rates, recession

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government sector

Back 67

federal, state, local laws, and agency requirements; judicial system; taxes; political process

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offshoring

Back 68

the practice of moving jobs from one country to another where they can be performed less expensively

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industrial organization I/O model

Back 69

A set of procedures for strategy making which start with the positioning of an enterprise with respect to product, value-adding activities or markets.

Front 70

five forces model

Back 70

a model that is used to examine a firm's competitive advantage within its industry by examining suppliers, buyers, rival firms, substitutes, and entrants

Front 71

competitor analysis

Back 71

an examination of the strengths and weakness of a firm's competitors; requires gathering of competitor intelligence

Front 72

environmental complexity

Back 72

refers to the number of external organizations an organization is required to interact with, and the nature of these interactions (either simple or complex)

Front 73

environmental stability

Back 73

refers to how much change occurs in a firm's products and the stability of its suppliers and buyers (either stable or unstable)

Front 74

cooptation

Back 74

including members of an outside group within the organization to secure their compliance and assistance

Front 75

interlocking directorate

Back 75

when the members of the board of directors of one company sit on the board of directors of another company; these individuals influence the policies and decisions of each organization in ways that guarantee interfirm cooperation

Front 76

strategic alignment of HRM

Back 76

establishing human resource policies and functions that are coordinated with and supportive of the organization's overall strategy and other organizational functions, such as production, marketing, and finance

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balanced scorecard

Back 77

balancing the interests and economic returns of all stakeholders including employees, owners, and customers by being fair, profitable, and socially responsible; key underlying premises 1) for businesses to succeed in the long run, the three stakeholders need to be simultaneously satisfied and 2) the interests of the three are interrelated

Front 78

long range business planning

Back 78

involves a strategic analysis of a firm's competitive advantages, and this analysis should also assess the availability of HR (this analysis is called environmental scanning)

Front 79

environmental scanning

Back 79

an examination of factors in the external environment that could have a significant impact on the future labor force, especially demographic changes, educational opportunities, and government legislation

Front 80

middle range business planning

Back 80

consists of setting specific goals the organization expects to achieve within the next two to five years

Front 81

short range business planning

Back 81

typically involves annual operating and budget plans that should simultaneously plan for adequate HR to achieve them

Front 82

succession planning

Back 82

an analysis of promotions and transfers that should project whether these changes will need additional training; identifying potential replacements for managerial and other key positions and creating developmental opportunities so these replacements will be ready for promotion when they are needed

Front 83

human resource information system HRIS

Back 83

a compilation of personnel info regarding employees that is usually stored on the Internet or in a company's computer system

Front 84

reducing workforce

Back 84

layoffs, attrition, reduced hours, early retirements

Front 85

attrition

Back 85

the practice of not replacing employees who leave, in an effort to reduce the size of the workforce

Front 86

yield ratios

Back 86

a ratio that shows how many job applicants at one stage of the recruitment process advance to the next stage

Front 87

promotion from within

Back 87

the practice of selecting from among current employees and promoting them to higher-level positions as those positions become vacant

Front 88

realistic job previews

Back 88

telling new recruits both the positive and the negative features of a job so that they have a realistic understanding of what it will be like

Front 89

internal recruiting

Back 89

promotion from within, job posting and bidding, contacts and referrals

Front 90

job posting and bidding

Back 90

the practice of filling a job vacancy by advertising the opening internally and allowing for current employees to apply for it

Front 91

nepotism

Back 91

the practice of showing unfair favoritism to family members and friends in the employment process

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professional employer organization

Back 92

a separate private company that manages the human resource functions, such as employment, performance, evaluation, compensation, and employee relations for the employees who work for another company

Front 93

contingent labor force

Back 93

workers who are temporary or on-call and not regularly employed on a full-time basis by a company

Front 94

selection

Back 94

two principles: 1) past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior and 2) organizations should collect as much reliable and valid data as economically feasible and use it to select the best applicants

Front 95

reliability

Back 95

repeatability or consistency of measurement

Front 96

validity

Back 96

ability to measure what it is expected to measure, such as successfully predicting job performance

Front 97

weighted application blanks

Back 97

a job application that can be scored and used to predict which applicants have a high likelihood of succeeding

Front 98

organizational fit

Back 98

the degree to which a prospective employee's attitudes and behaviors are perceived to match the firm's culture and value system

Front 99

behavioral interview

Back 99

a form of interviewing that involves asking applicants to describe specific behaviors associated with the critical dimensions of the job for which they are applying

Front 100

job sample tests

Back 100

a test that consist of a small, well-defined segment of the actual job that can be standardized for all applicants

Front 101

qualified privilege doctrine

Back 101

the right of employers to share relevant job-related previous work experience about an applicant without being guilty of slander or defamation of character

Front 102

negligent hiring

Back 102

when an employer fails to adequately investigate job applicants and hires someone who injures another and the employer knew or should have known that this employee had a tendency towards violence or criminal conduct

Front 103

clinical judgment

Back 103

making hiring decisions based on a subjective evaluation of each candidate's relative strengths

Front 104

weighted composite

Back 104

assigning weights to the various predictors and statistically combining them to make a hiring decision

Front 105

multiple cutoff

Back 105

identifying the minimum passing level for each step in the selection process and eliminating job applicants who fail to meet each criterion

Front 106

assessment center

Back 106

a series of selection activities that usually involve a group of applicants participating in group activities and individual tests, with evaluators observing them and discussing their ratings

Front 107

false positive error

Back 107

an error that occurs when a positive hiring decision has been made, but the new employee is not a satisfactory performer

Front 108

false negative error

Back 108

a selection error that occurs when an applicant is rejected who would have been a good performer

Front 109

line authority

Back 109

the right to make decisions and give orders to subordinates regarding activities that are directly involved in producing the organization's products and services

Front 110

staff authority

Back 110

the responsibility to advise and assist those who possess line authority

Front 111

advisory/counseling role

Back 111

offer guidance and assistance regarding human resource issues; serve as a consultant

Front 112

service role

Back 112

provide centralized services for other departments that HR can perform more efficiently

Front 113

control role

Back 113

enforce policies and functions that must be followed by everyone in the company (functional authority)

Front 114

implied promises

Back 114

a statement, usually in an employee handbook, that can be construed as a promise of continued employment, such as calling employees "permanent"

Front 115

yellow dog contract

Back 115

a statement employees were required to sign in which they agreed not to join a union

Front 116

(NLRB) national labor relations board

Back 116

an agency created by the National Labor Relations Act that is assigned to conduct fair representation elections and to resolve charges of unfair labor practices

Front 117

bargaining

Back 117

opening presentation of demands, analyzing the demands, compromise, informal settlement and ratification

Front 118

distributive bargaining

Back 118

a bargaining strategy in which each party tries to maximize its own outcomes at the expense of the other party

Front 119

integrative bargaining

Back 119

a bargaining strategy in which both parties work together cooperatively to achieve the best outcome for both

Front 120

good faith bargaining

Back 120

the requirement that both parties meet at reasonable times and places and make offers and counter-proposals in an effort to reach an agreement

Front 121

strike

Back 121

when employees refuse to work

Front 122

sit down strike

Back 122

when employees come to work but do not produce anything

Front 123

work slowdown

Back 123

when employees come to work but intentionally work slowly

Front 124

wildcat strike

Back 124

when employees walk off the job in violation of a valid labor agreement, usually against the direct orders of the labor union

Front 125

sickout

Back 125

when employees call in sick for work but they are not really sick

Front 126

lockout

Back 126

when employers lock the doors and refuse to allow workers to work; this is management's counter-weapon to strike

Front 127

Section 1981 (Civil Rights Act of 1866)

Back 127

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 that guarantees all citizens of the US the right to make and enjoy the benefits of contracts the same as white citizens

Front 128

Title VII

Back 128

The section of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

Front 129

Bona fide occupational qualifications (BFOQ)

Back 129

employers are allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion, sex, or national origin only when these attributes are necessary for the operation of their businesses; that is, when they are bona fide occupational qualifications; race is never a legitimate BFOQ

Front 130

business necessity

Back 130

when an otherwise illegal practice can be justified because it is necessary for the efficient operation of a business

Front 131

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Back 131

a government agency created by the Civil Rights Act (1964) responsible for enforcing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991; has the power to bring lawsuits against employers on behalf of an aggrieved person or a class of aggrieved persons

Front 132

conciliation

Back 132

an informal process of agreement used by the EEOC for resolving charges of discrimination

Front 133

affirmative action plans

Back 133

written plans for recruiting and hiring minorities and females if they are underrepresented in a company's labor force; these plans, which are required of government contractors and subcontractors, must contain goals and timetables for achieving them

Front 134

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)

Back 134

the government agency in the Department of Labor that reviews the affirmative action programs of government contractors and monitors their compliance

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systematic discrimination

Back 135

employment discrimination that results form the normal operation of HR practices, especially hiring, promoting, compensating, and training employees; when these practices create a disparate effect on the employment of minorities or females, EEO laws prohibit them

Front 136

reverse discrimination

Back 136

where white males are the victims of discrimination because preferential treatment is shown to females and minorities, often to achieve an affirmative action goal

Front 137

glass ceiling

Back 137

attitudinal and organizational barriers that inhibit the career advancement of women

Front 138

sexual harassment

Back 138

any unwelcome sexual advance, requests for sexual favors, or physical contact of a sexual nature, including conduct, that interferes with a person's performance or that creates an intimidating or hostile environment

Front 139

quid pro quo harassment

Back 139

a form of sexual harassment that requires a person to require a sexual favor in order to retain a job benefit ("this for that" harassment)

Front 140

hostile environment harassment

Back 140

where sexually-oriented activities create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment

Front 141

age harassment

Back 141

demeaning comments and actions directed toward older employees, such as age-related jokes, sarcasm, and derisive labels

Front 142

constructive discharge

Back 142

a decision constructed by a court that an employee who quit because of intolerable working conditions was essentially discharged

Front 143

Americans with Disabilities act

Back 143

the 1991 law that protects people with disabilities from employment discrimination and requires employers reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified individuals

Front 144

direct threat

Back 144

a disease or physical condition that poses a significant risk of substantial harm to the health or safety of the individual or others, such as a highly contagious disease among job holders who work in food preparation; the Americans with Disabilities Act does not protect people who pose a direct threat unless reasonable accommodations can be made to reduce the threat

Front 145

reasonable accommodation

Back 145

changes in the job or work environment that allow a disabled person to perform it; these changes should not be excessively expensive or interfere with normal operations

Front 146

otherwise qualified

Back 146

a handicapped individual who is capable of performing the essential functions of a job if barriers created by their handicap are overcome

Front 147

classical/respondent/ reflexive conditioning

Back 147

a form of learning involving responses of the autonomic nervous system where a conditioned stimulus is associated with a conditioned response

Front 148

reflexive responses

Back 148

responses that are governed by the autonomic nervous system, such as blood pressure, heart rate, salivation, and respiration rate

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unconditioned stimulus

Back 149

a stimulus that naturally elicits a reflexive response; by associating an unconditioned stimulus with a neutral stimulus, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that produces the same response, called a conditioned response

Front 150

conditioned stimulus

Back 150

a neutral stimulus that has become paired with a conditioned response through the process of classical conditioning

Front 151

conditioned response

Back 151

a response that has been paired with a conditioned stimulus

Front 152

stimulus generalization

Back 152

the process of using slightly different stimulus to elicit a response

Front 153

operant/instrumental conditioning

Back 153

a form of learning involving the association of a stimulus and a response that the person makes to obtain reinforcement

Front 154

discriminative stimulus

Back 154

a specific environmental stimulus that a person has learned to distinguish from other environmental stimuli and to respond to

Front 155

chaining

Back 155

the process of combining several stimulus response associations to form a complex behavior

Front 156

shaping

Back 156

the process of refining a response by selectively reinforcing closer and closer approximations of the desired response

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social cognitive theory

Back 157

a major theory of learning based on observational and symbolic learning; learning is influenced by what is reinforced, either extrinsically or through self-administered reinforcement, especially the anticipations of the future

Front 158

environmental determinism

Back 158

idea that since the environment contains both the cues for responding as well as the reinforcement, the environment can be designed to produce whatever behavior is desired (according to operant conditioning)

Front 159

reciprocal determinism

Back 159

a basic philosophy of social cognitive theory that suggests that there are reciprocal relationships among personality, behavior, and the environment; the environment influences individual behavior but individuals also influence their environment and can change it

Front 160

vicarious/imitative learning

Back 160

the process of learning new behaviors by observing others and modeling their behavior

Front 161

symbolic learning

Back 161

a process of learning that uses symbols such as words, mental images, and other cognitive associations

Front 162

andragogy

Back 162

a style of learning, called adult learning theory, that is experiential, problem-centered, flexible, and collaborative

Front 163

training

Back 163

the process of acquiring specific information or skills that tend to reduce the variability or range of responses by trainees

Front 164

development

Back 164

improving the intellectual or emotional abilities needed to do a better job

Front 165

education

Back 165

the process of acquiring general knowledge and information that usually results in a broadening of responses that students are likely to make

Front 166

systems model of training

Back 166

a model that views training as an ongoing cycle of assessing training needs, providing training, and evaluating how well the needs have been met

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principles of learning

Back 167

1) meaningful organization of materials, 2) practice and repetition, 3) motivation and active participation, 4) feedback: knowledge of results, and 5) transfer of training

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job instruction training

Back 168

an extensively used training technique that consists of showing a trainee how to perform a task and supervising the trainee's attempts to learn it

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apprenticeship

Back 169

a training technique in which the trainee, or apprentice, works under the direction of a skilled employee who teaches the apprentice how to perform the job

Front 170

internship

Back 170

a learning experience in which students are able to work for a period of time and apply the information they have learned

Front 171

job rotations

Back 171

a training technique that involves transferring the trainees to different jobs to broaden their focus and to increase their knowledge

Front 172

junior boards

Back 172

a training technique that consists of assigning new trainees to an executive board that is responsible for making a decision

Front 173

vestibule training

Back 173

training that occurs in a special training room that is a replication of the actual job situation

Front 174

teleconferencing

Back 174

a training method that involves the use of televised instruction between trainers and trainees in different locations

Front 175

computer based training

Back 175

training presented to learners using a computer, and often the Internet, which allows them to study on their own and at their own pace

Front 176

experiential training

Back 176

learning that usually occurs in groups, in which members participate in a group activity and then discuss what they have observed and learned

Front 177

socialization

Back 177

the process of acquiring socially acceptable attitudes and behaviors that conform to the standards of society or the organization

Front 178

organizational integration

Back 178

the process of integrating people into the organization by matching their objectives and goals with the objectives and goals of the organization

Front 179

rite of passage

Back 179

the process of advancing from one stage to another in the role transition process

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separation

Back 180

the first stage of the role transition process, in which people begin to disassociate themselves from their former role

Front 181

initiation

Back 181

the second stage of the role transition process, in which new members are tested and expected to prove themselves to be accepted in full fellowship

Front 182

assimilation

Back 182

the final stage of the role transition process, in which people are integrated into the new role

Front 183

anticipatory socialization

Back 183

the process of acquiring the attitudes and behaviors associated with a new role as people anticipate changing from one role to another

Front 184

reality shock

Back 184

realizing that a new role is not as glamorous as it appeared at first

Front 185

realistic job previews

Back 185

a recruiting strategy that involves telling applicants both the favorable and the unfavorable aspects of a job so they have a more realistic understanding of it and can make an informed decision

Front 186

hazing

Back 186

the harassment of new employees by senior coworkers

Front 187

sponsor

Back 187

a person assigned to mentor or help new employees become oriented and socialized into their new job