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164 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Decision-making |
is the process of choosing from among several alternatives. |
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Problem solving |
involves finding the answer to a question. |
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Problem solving |
It is a form of decision-making where the issue is unique. Alternatives must be developed without the aid of a programmed decision rule. |
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Define the problem. Analyze the alternatives. Make a choice. Take action. Evaluate the result. |
The Decision-making Process |
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Define the problem. |
This is a stage of information gathering and deliberation. It specifies why a decision is needed and what it should accomplish. |
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Analyze the alternatives. |
This is the stage where possible alternative courses of action and their anticipated consequences are evaluated for costs and benefits. |
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Make a choice. |
This is the stage where a choice is made to pursue one (1) course of action rather than others. Criteria used in making the choice typically involve costs and benefits, timeliness of the result, impact on stakeholders, and ethical soundness. The organization and individuals must also consider who makes the decision. |
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Take action. |
In this stage, actions are taken to put the preferred course of action into practice. Organizations that use participation and involvement will gain not only inputs and insights, but also commitment needed to support the decision. |
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Evaluate the result. |
This is a stage that measures performance results against initial goals and examines both anticipated and unanticipated outcomes. This is also where organizations exercise control over their actions, being careful to ensure that the desired results are achieved, and undesired side effects are avoided. |
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Programmed Non-Programmed |
Types of Decision-making |
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Programmed |
This is a decision that recurs often enough for a decision rule to be developed. A decision rule is a statement that tells a decision maker which alternative to choose based on the characteristics of the decision situation. Programmed decisions rely on existing rules and standard procedures, and applies uniform processing to a decision problem. |
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Non-programmed |
This is a decision that recurs infrequently and for which there is no previously established decision rule. These unstructured events require creative problem solving for effective decision-making. |
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Certainty Risk Uncertainty |
Decision Environments |
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Certainty |
Under this conditions , the manager knows what the outcomes of each alternative of a given action will be and has enough information to estimate the probabilities of the various outcomes. |
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Risk |
Under this condition, the decision maker cannot know with certainty what the outcome of a given action will be but has enough information to estimate the probabilities of various outcomes. |
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Uncertainty |
Under this condition, the decision maker lacks enough information to estimate the probability of possible outcomes. |
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The problem may be stated too broadly or too narrowly. Second, the organization or individual may focus on problem symptoms instead of causes. Third, organizations or individuals may choose the wrong problem to deal with. |
There are three (3) mistakes that can happen in" Define the problem" |
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Rational Model Bounded Rationality Model Garbage Can Model Intuition Model Political Decision-making Model |
Decision-making Models |
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Rational Model |
This is a systematic, step-by-step process for making decisions. This approach assumes that the organization is dedicated to making logical choices and doing what makes the most sense economically. This approach has several strengths. It forces the decision maker to consider a decision in a logical,sequential manner, and the in-depth analysis of alternatives enables the decision maker to choose on the basis of information rather than emotion or social pressure. However, the rigid assumptions of this approach are often unrealistic. The amount of information available to managers is unusually limited either by time or cost constraints, and most decision makers have a limited ability to process information about alternatives. The rational model sees decision-making as proceeding sequentially from beginning to end. It does not have dynamic properties, such as revising the goal or extending the search for new alternatives. Finally, because organizations cannot predict the future, it is unlikely that decision makers will know all possible outcomes of each alternative. |
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Bounded Rationality Model |
This model assumes decision makers have limitations that constrain rationality in the decision process. Those limits include the absence of complete information about alternatives and their results, cost constraints, time constraints, and limitations in dealing with complex problems. Because of these limitations, decision makers might not consider all possible alternatives and therefore, might not choose the alternative that maximizes a goal. Instead, the decision maker picks an alternative that is good enough to reach the goal. Selecting a satisfactory, but not optimal goal is known as satisficing. The bounded rationality model is both open and dynamic. Decision makers consider the forces and constraints imposed by the environment of the decision. As new information comes into the decision process, they can change both the goal of the decision problem and the set of alternatives. If the decision maker does not find a satisficing alternative in the set under consideration, he/she broadens the search for more alternatives. |
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Garbage Can Model |
This model views problems, solutions, participants, and situations as all mixed together in a dynamic field of organizational forces. The contents of a real garbage can may consist of whatever people have tossed into the can; a decision-making garbage can is much the same. Whatever is in the can when a decision is needed contributes to that decision. In many organizations where the setting is stable and the technology is well-known and fixed, tradition, strategy, and the administrative structure help order the contents of the garbage can. |
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Intuition Model |
In this model, decision makers tend to deal with many aspects of the problem at once, jump quickly from one issue to another, and act on hunches from experience or on spontaneous ideas. This approach is common under conditions of risk and uncertainty. Intuition is the ability to recognize quickly and readily the possibilities of a given situation. Its presence offers the potential for creativity and innovation in decision making. While intuition isn’t rational, it isn’t necessarily wrong nor does it always contradict rational analysis. Intuition is a highly complex and highly developed form of reasoning that is based on years of experience and training. But does this mean that we should always favor the more intuitive and less systematic approach? Most likely not – organizations, like individuals, should combine analytical and intuitive approaches to create new and unique solutions to complex problems. |
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Political Decision-making Model |
This model assumes that groups and individuals in organizations pursue their self-interests and try to reach the decision that serve those interests. Problem definition, data search and collection, information exchange, and evaluation criteria are methods used to bias the outcome in favor of the individual, group or department. This model sees decision making as a power- and conflict-based process featuring bargaining and compromise as ways of reducing conflict. The decisions that emerge from this process usually do not satisfy everyone involved. |
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Heuristics Biases |
Decision-making Problems |
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Heuristics |
These are simplifying strategies or rules of the thumb used in making decisions. serve a useful purpose in making it easier to deal with uncertainty and limited information common to problem situations, but they can also lead to systematic errors that affect the quality of decisions made. |
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Availability heuristic Representativeness heuristic Anchoring and adjustment heuristic |
Heuristics types |
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Availability heuristic |
This heuristic involves assessing a current event or decision based on past occurrences that are easily available in one’s memory. An example of this is deciding not to launch a new product because the last product launched was a failure. |
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Representativeness heuristic |
This heuristic involves assessing the likelihood that an event will occur based on one’s stereotypes of similar occurrences. An example is a team leader who selects a new member, not because of any special qualities of the person, but because the individual comes from a department that is known to have produced several high performers in the past. |
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Anchoring and adjustment heuristic |
This is a rule that decision makers use to get a starting point for a decision and then adjust beyond that point. An example is a manager who makes salary increase recommendations for key personnel simply by adjusting their base salaries by a percentage amount. |
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Biases |
When heuristics are not applicable for a problem, decision makers may use it that lead to wrong or irrational decisions. |
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Confirmation error Hindsight trap Framing error Contrast bias Overconfidence bias |
Biases types |
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Confirmation error |
This is the tendency to seek confirmation for what is already thought to be true and neglect opportunities to acknowledge or find opposing information. It is similar to selective perception in a sense that it involves only factors in a situation that support a preexisting opinion. |
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Hindsight trap |
In this bias, the decision maker overestimates the degree to which he or she could have predicted an event that has already taken place. It may foster feelings of inadequacy or insecurity in dealing with future decision situations. |
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Framing error |
This is the tendency to make different decisions based on how a question or situation is phrased. For example, a buyer may prefer to buy an item priced at P99.99, compared to when it is priced at P100. |
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Contrast bias |
This bias involves judging things erroneously based on a reference that is near / opposed to them. For example, a manager sees three (3) employee presentations. The first presenter is unprepared and makes a negative impression on the manager. The second employee is only average. The third presentation was well-thought out and logically presented. But because the performance difference between the first presenter and the second presenter is greater than the difference between the second presenter and third presenter, the manager may tend to think that the second presenter is the best rather than the third presenter. |
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Overconfidence bias |
When people are given a factual question and asked to judge the probability that our answers are correct, people tend to be far too optimistic. When people say they are 100% sure of an outcome, they tend to be only 75-80% correct. |
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Escalation of commitment Randomness error Risk aversion |
Other Errors in Decision-making |
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Escalation of commitment |
This refers to staying with a decision even when there is clear evidence that it’s wrong. |
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Randomness error |
This refers to people’s tendency to believe that they can predict the outcome of random events, particularly when we turn imaginary patterns into superstitions. |
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Risk aversion |
This is a tendency to prefer a sure thing over a risky outcome. |
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Performance evaluation Reward systems Formal regulations System-imposed time constraints Historical precedents |
Organizational Constraints on Decision-making |
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Performance evaluation |
Managers are strongly influenced by the criteria on which they are evaluated. |
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Reward systems |
The organization’s reward system influenced decision makers by suggesting which choices have better personal payoffs. If the organization rewards risk aversion, managers are more likely to make conservative decisions. |
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Formal regulations |
All organizations create rules and policies to program decisions and get individuals to act in the intended manner. In so doing, they limit decision choices. |
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System-imposed time constraints |
Almost all important decisions come with explicit deadlines. These conditions make it difficult, if not impossible, for managers to gather all the information they like before making a final choice. |
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Historical precedents |
Choices made today are largely a result of choices made over the years. |
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Ethical Decision-making |
Ethics is the philosophical study of morality or standards regarding good character and conduct.
A moral problem is one that has major ethical consequences for the decision maker or for others.
A moral dilemma involves a choice between two (2) or more ethically uncomfortable alternatives. |
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Ethics |
is the philosophical study of morality or standards regarding good character and conduct. |
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Moral problem |
is one that has major ethical consequences for the decision maker or for others. |
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moral dilemma |
involves a choice between two (2) or more ethically uncomfortable alternatives. |
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Utilitarianism Rights Justice |
Ethical considerations should be an important criterion in all organization decision-making. There are three (3) ways to frame decisions ethically. |
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Utilitarianism |
This criteria proposes making decisions solely on the basis of their outcomes, ideally to provide the greatest good for the greatest number. |
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Rights |
This criteria states that decisions must be consistent with fundamental liberties and privileges, as set in the law. It means respecting and protecting the basic rights of individuals, such as the right to privacy, free speech, and due process. |
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Justice |
This criterion focuses on imposing and enforcing rules fairly and impartially to ensure justice or an equitable distribution of benefits and costs. |
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Leadership |
It is a social influence process involving two (2) or more people: the leader and the follower. |
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Leadership |
It is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals. |
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Leadership |
The process of influencing others and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives. |
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Leadership |
It is both a process and a property. As a process, it involves the use of non-coercive influence. As a property, it is the set of characteristics attributed to someone who is perceived to use influence successfully. |
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Managers sustain and control organizations. They follow an organization’s present vision and do not create a new vision. They solve problems and try to bring order to the workplace, while building commitment to organizational goals. The role of management is to promote stability or to enable the firm to run smoothly. Leaders have a vision of how the organization can have a better future and can inspire followers to pursue that vision. They take risks especially if they perceive high payoffs from a course of action. They actively seek opposing views to identify options to a course of action. The role of leadership is to promote adaptive or useful changes. |
Leadership vs. Management |
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Trait Approach Behavioral Theories Contingency Leadership |
Early Approaches on Leadership |
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Trait Approach |
This approach attempts to identify stable and enduring character traits that differentiate effective leaders. They focus on personal qualities and characteristics. |
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Energy adjustment or stress tolerance Prosocial power motivation Achievement orientation Emotional maturity Self-confidence Integrity Perseverance or tenacity Cognitive ability, intelligence, social intelligence Task-relevant knowledge Flexibility |
Trait approach (under) |
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Energy adjustment or stress tolerance |
physical vitality and emotional resilience |
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Prosocial power motivation |
a high need for power exercised primarily for the benefit of others |
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Achievement orientation |
need for achievement, desire to excel, drive to success, willingness to assume responsibility, and concern for task objectives |
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Emotional maturity |
well-adjusted; does not suffer from severe psychological disorders |
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Self-confidence |
general confidence in self and in the ability to perform the job of a leader |
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Integrity |
consistency with espoused values, honesty, and trustworthiness. |
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Perseverance or tenacity |
Ability to overcome obstacles; strength of will. |
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Cognitive ability, intelligence, social intelligence |
ability to gather, integrate, and interpret information, intelligence, and understanding of social setting |
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Task-relevant knowledge |
knowledge about the company, industry, and technical aspects |
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Flexibility |
ability to respond appropriately to changes in setting |
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Behavioral Theories |
The ____ tried to identify the behaviors that differentiated leaders. They imply that we can train people to be leaders. It also assumes that leadership is important to performance and other work-related outcomes. |
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Michigan Studies Ohio State Studies |
Behavioral Theories (under) |
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Michigan Studies |
In the late 1940s, researchers at the University of Michigan wanted to identify the leadership pattern that result in effective performance. After the interviews,the researchers derived two (2) basic forms of leader behaviors: employee-centered and production-centered. Employee-centered supervisors are those who place strong emphasis on their subordinates’ well-being. In contrast, production-centered supervisors are more concerned with getting the work done. These two (2) styles of leader behavior were presumed to be at the opposite ends of a single dimension. The Michigan researchers suggested that any given leader could exhibit either job-centered or employee-centered behavior, but not both at the same time. In general, employee- centered supervisors were found to have more productive workgroups than production- centered supervisors. |
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employee-centered production-centered |
two (2) basic forms of leader behaviors (Michigan studies) |
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Employee-centered supervisors |
are those who place strong emphasis on their subordinates’ well-being. |
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production-centered supervisors |
are more concerned with getting the work done. |
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Ohio State Studies |
These were conducted at around the same time as the Michigan studies. This study focused on two (2) leader behaviors: consideration and initiating structure. A leader high in consideration is sensitive to people’s feelings. A leader high in initiating structure is concerned with identifying the task requirements and clarifying aspects of the work agenda. Unlike the employee-centered and job-centered leader behaviors, it is possible for a leader to show both consideration and integrating structure behaviors at the same time. At first, the Ohio State researchers thought that a leader high in consideration would have more highly satisfied or better performing subordinates. Later results, however, suggested that individuals in leadership positions should be high in both consideration and initiating structure. |
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consideration initiating structure |
two (2) leader behaviors (Ohio state studies) |
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A leader high in consideration |
is sensitive to people’s feelings. |
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leader high in initiating structure |
is concerned with identifying the task requirements and clarifying aspects of the work agenda. |
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Contingency Leadership |
These theories viewed successful leadership as dependent upon the leader’s situation. The goal of situational theory is to identify key situational factors and specify how they interact to determine appropriate leader behavior. |
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LPC Theory of Leadership (Least Preferred Coworker) Path-Goal Theory of Leadership |
Contingency leadership (under) |
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LPC Theory of Leadership |
This was proposed by Fred Fielder in the mid-1960s. LPC stands for “Least Preferred Coworker” and it is also the name of the scale that Fielder used in his study. |
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LPC Theory of Leadership |
This theory assumes leaders are predisposed towards being task-oriented or people-oriented. Task-oriented leaders are directive, structure situations, set deadlines, and make task assignments. Relationship-oriented leaders are not strongly directive, focus on people, and desire positive social interaction. Fielder argues that high-LPC leaders (those who describe their LPC very positively) have a relationship-motivated style, whereas, low-LPC leaders have a task-motivated style. Although the two (2) types of leaders are similar to the behavioral dimensions, the LPC theory assumes that it is hard to change a predisposition to a particular leadership style. |
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Task-oriented leaders |
are directive, structure situations, set deadlines, and make task assignments. |
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Relationship-oriented |
leaders are not strongly directive, focus on people, and desire positive social interaction. |
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Path-Goal Theory of Leadership |
Robert J. House developed this to resolve inconsistencies of the LPC Theory. This theory assumes that a leader’s key function is to adjust his or her behaviors to complement situations such as the work setting. It also suggests that effective leaders clarify the paths (behaviors) that will lead to the desired rewards (goals). It identifies four (4) types of leader behaviors: |
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Directive Supportive Participative Achievement-oriented |
four (4) types of leader behaviors (Path-Goal Theory of Leadership ) |
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Directive – Directive leaders |
focuses on what must be done, when it must be done, and how it must be done. It clarifies performance expectations and the role of each subordinate in the workgroup. |
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Supportive – Supportive leaders |
are concerned about their subordinates as people and the needs they are trying to satisfy. They are open, warm, friendly, and approachable. |
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Participative |
These leaders consult with subordinates and seriously consider subordinates’ ideas before making decisions. |
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Achievement-oriented |
These leaders emphasize excellence in subordinate performance and improvements in performance. They set high performance goals and show confidence in people’s abilities to reach those goals. |
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LMX Theory (Leader-Member Exchange Theory) Situational Leadership Model |
Contemporary Views on Leadership |
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The Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX Theory) |
emphasizes the quality of the working relationship between leaders and followers. This theory refers to the degree which leaders and followers have mutual respect for one another’s capabilities, have a deep sense of mutual trust, and a strong sense of obligation to each other. It suggests that supervisors establish a special relationship with a small group of trusted subordinates known as the “in-group”. The in-group often receives special duties requiring more responsibility and autonomy, and they may also receive special privileges, such as more discretion about work schedules. Members of the “out-group” receive less of the supervisor’s time and attention. They are likely to be assigned the more mundane tasks the group must perform and receive fewer rewards and overall weaker support from the leader. In-groups tend to have a higher quality of relationships with their leader than the out-groups. Research suggests that high- quality of it is associated with increased employee satisfaction and productivity, decreased turnover, increased salaries, and faster promotion rate. |
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Situational Leadership Model |
This model indicates that there is no single best way to lead. Hersey and Blanchard focus on the situational contingency of maturity, or readiness, of followers. Readiness is the extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task. They argue that situational leadership requires adjusting the leader’s emphasis on task behaviors (e.g. giving guidance and direction) and relationship behaviors (e.g. providing emotional support) according to the readiness of the followers to perform the tasks. It identifies four (4) leadership styles. |
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Readiness |
is the extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task. |
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telling/directive style selling/coaching style participating/supporting style delegating style |
four (4) leadership styles. (Situational Leadership Model ) |
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telling/directive style |
is best for low follower readiness. This style defines roles for people who are unable and unwilling to take responsibility themselves. It eliminates and insecurity about the task that must be done. |
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selling/coaching style |
is best for people with low to moderate follower readiness. This style offers both task direction and support for people who are unable but willing to take task responsibility. It involves combining a directive approach with explanation and reinforcement in order to maintain enthusiasm. |
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participating/supporting style |
is best for moderate to high follower readiness. Able but unwilling followers require supportive behavior to increase their motivation. By allowing followers to share in decision-making, this style helps enhance the desire to perform tasks. |
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delegating style |
is best for followers with high readiness. This style provides little directions and support for the task on hand. It allows able and willing followers to take responsibility for what needs to be done. |
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Charismatic Leadership Transformational Leadership |
Inspirational Leadership |
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Charismatic Leadership |
This is a type of influence based on the leader’s personal charisma. Charisma is defined as a form of interpersonal attraction that inspires support and acceptance. Charismatic leaders are the leaders who, by the force of their personal abilities, are capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers. All other factors being equal, someone with charisma is more likely to be able to influence others than someone without charisma. . |
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Charisma |
is defined as a form of interpersonal attraction that inspires support and acceptance. |
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Charismatic leaders |
are the leaders who, by the force of their personal abilities, are capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers. |
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Transformational Leadership |
This is the set of activities that allows the leader to recognize the need for change, to create a vision to guide that change, and to execute the change effectively. It involves anticipating future trends, inspiring followers to understand and embrace a new vision of possibilities, developing others to be better leaders, and building the organization or group into a community of challenged and rewarded individuals. |
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Authentic Leadership Servant Leadership Ethical Leadership |
Moral Leadership |
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Authentic Leadership – Authentic leaders |
know who they are, know what they believe in and value, and act on those values and beliefs openly and sincerely. The primary quality produced by authentic leadership is trust. Authentic leaders share information, encourage open communication, and stick to their ideals. |
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Servant Leadership |
is based on the idea that the primary purpose of business should be to create a positive impact on the organization’s employees as well as the community. Servant leaders go beyond their self-interest and focus on opportunities to help followers grow and develop. The do not use power to achieve ends, they emphasize persuasion. |
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Ethical Leadership |
This is characterized by caring, honest, principled, fair, and balanced choices by individuals who act ethically, set clear ethical standards, communicate about ethics with followers, and reward as well as punish others based on ethical or unethical conduct. |
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Task feedback Training and experience Professionalism Staff support Group cohesion Intrinsic satisfaction |
Substitutes to Leadership (under) |
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Substitutes to Leadership |
These characteristics reduce the importance of the leader while improving employee performance. Substitutes replace the need for a leader’s support or ability to create structure. |
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Task feedback |
receiving feedback on performance from the task itself (e.g. Automated systems) |
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Training and experience |
gaining the knowledge to act independently of the leader |
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Professionalism |
having a professional specialty that offers guidance (e.g. being a consultant in a project allows some freedom to direct others instead of the leader) |
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Staff support |
receiving information and assistance from outside staff |
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Group cohesion |
working in an interdependent and close-knit work group |
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Intrinsic satisfaction |
driving personal satisfaction from one’s work |
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Neutralizers to Leadership |
These characteristics also reduce the importance of the leader but have no impact on employee performance. Instead, it is a block between the leader and the subordinate. They make it difficult for leader behavior to make any difference to employee outcomes. |
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Task stability Formalization Inflexibility Spatial distance |
Neutralizers to Leadership (under) |
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Task stability |
having tasks with a clear, unchanging sequence of steps |
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Formalization |
having written policies and procedures that govern one’s job |
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Inflexibility |
working in an organization that prioritizes adherence to the rules |
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Spatial distance |
being separated from one’s leader by physical space |
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Stress |
The excitement, feeling of anxiety, and/or physical tension that occurs when the demands or stressors placed on the individual are thought to exceed the person’s ability to cope. |
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Stress |
This is a person’s adaptive response to a stimulus that places excessive psychological or physical demands on that person. |
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Stress |
A person experiences stress when an event in his/her environment presents a constraint, an opportunity, or an excessive physical or psychological demand. |
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General Adaption Syndrome (GAS) |
According to this model, each person has a normal level of resistance to stressful events. Some people can tolerate a great deal of stress and others much less, but all people have a threshold at which stress starts to affect them. The GAS begins when a person first encounters a stressor. From then, the person would experience three (3) stages |
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Alarm Resistance Exhaustion |
three (3) stages of GAS. |
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Alarm |
At this stage, the person may feel some degree of panic and begin to think about how to cope with the situation. The person’s body also begins to fight or adjust to the stressor by increasing heart rate, respiration, muscle tension, and blood sugar. |
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Resistance |
If the stressor is too extreme, the person may simply be unable to cope with it. In most cases, however, the individual is able to use his/her own strength to resist the negative effects of the stressor. The person’s body tries to return to the normal state by adapting to the stressor. Often, this is the end of the GAS. |
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Exhaustion |
This stage occurs with constant exposure to the stressor without any resolution. This is the stage where the person gives up and can no longer fight the stressor. The damaging effects of stress occur in this stage of the stress response. |
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distress or eustress |
The stress response leads to either |
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Distress |
is the dysfunctional result of stress. A person suffers distress when he/she does not successfully adapt to a stressor or does not remove the stressor from his/her environment. It is the unpleasant stress that accompanies negative events. |
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Eustress |
is a positive result of stress that occurs when the person has successfully adapted to the stressor or when the degree of stress has not exceeded his/her ability to adapt to it. It is the pleasurable stress that accompanies positive events. |
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Type A Type B |
Behavior Patterns during Stress |
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Type A |
These individuals are extremely competitive, highly committed to work, and have a strong sense of time and urgency. They also tend to be aggressive, impatient, and highly work- oriented. They have a lot of drive and motivation and wants to accomplish as many as possible in a short period of time. |
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Type B |
These people are less competitive, less committed to work, and have a weaker sense of time urgency. They feel less conflict with either people or time and has a more balanced, relaxed approach in life. They have more confidence and is able to work at a constant pace. |
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Organizational Stressors Life Stressors |
Common Causes of Stress |
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Task demands Physical Role Interpersonal |
Organizational Stressors (under) |
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Organizational Stressors |
These are various factors in the workplace that cause stress. |
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Task demands |
These are stressors associated with the specific job a person performs. Some jobs are more stressful than the others. Other jobs may pose physical threats to a person’s health. The person may also experience stress due to work overload. Lack of job security may also cause stress; stress generally increases during periods of layoff. |
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Physical demands |
These are stressors associated with the job’s physical setting, such as the temperature and lighting conditions and the physical requirements that the job makes on the employee. For example, working outdoors in extreme temperatures can result to stress. Strenuous labor or poorly designed offices can also lead to stress. Too much noise can distract people from doing their jobs. Other organizations with shifting work schedules may also cause disruptions for people because it affects sleep and leisure time activities. |
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Role demands |
A role is a set of expected behaviors associated with a particular position in a group or organization. Role demands are stressors associated with the role a person is expected to play. People expect individuals who hold a certain role to act in specific ways, while the individual tries to enact that role. However, errors in this process can also result to stress. Role ambiguity results when a role is unclear – perhaps because of vague instructions or poor job descriptions. Role conflict occurs when a person is expected to play two (2) incompatible roles. For example, an employee may be asked by his/her manager to work overtime but at the same time want to spend time with his/her family. Role overload happens when the expectations for the role exceed the individual’s capabilities or when the individual has too many roles to fulfill. |
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role |
is a set of expected behaviors associated with a particular position in a group or organization. |
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Role ambiguity |
results when a role is unclear – perhaps because of vague instructions or poor job descriptions. |
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Role conflict |
occurs when a person is expected to play two (2) incompatible roles. For example, an employee may be asked by his/her manager to work overtime but at the same time want to spend time with his/her family. |
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Role overload |
happens when the expectations for the role exceed the individual’s capabilities or when the individual has too many roles to fulfill. |
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Interpersonal demands |
These stressors are associated with group pressures, leadership, and personality conflicts. Group pressure may include pressure to restrict output, conform to the group’s norms, or to agree with the group goals. Leadership styles may also cause stress- if the leaders of an organization hinder an employee’s growth, the employees will feel stressed. |
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Life Stressors |
The events outside the organization can also influence stress in organizational setting. Life stressors can be categorized in terms of life change and life trauma. |
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Life change Life trauma |
Life stressors (under) |
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Life change |
This is any meaningful change in an individual’s personal or work situation. Too many it over a short period of time can lead to health problems. |
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Life trauma |
This is any upheaval in an individual’s life that alters his/her attitudes, emotions, or behaviors. |
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Individual consequences Organizational consequences Burnout |
Consequences of Stress |
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Individual consequences |
Stress can have behavioral, psychological, or physical consequences. Under behavioral consequences, people can choose to smoke or drink. Other possible behavioral consequences are aggression, violence, and appetite disorders. Psychological effects of stress include depression and difficulty sleeping. Finally, an individual experiencing extreme stress may be prone to heart diseases and other illness, such as headaches and ulcers. |
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Organizational consequences |
Stress can also affect organizations. These consequences include decline in performance, withdrawal, and negative changes in attitudes. The employees may produce less or give lower-quality work. The managers may make poor decisions or disrupt working relationships. Withdrawal behaviors are characterized by absenteeism and quitting – people who are having a hard time coping with stress in their organizations are more likely to call in sick or to consider leaving the organization. Withdrawal behaviors also manifest when employees start missing deadlines, taking longer lunch breaks, or not caring about the organization. Attitudinal consequences include a decrease in job satisfaction, morale, organizational commitment, and motivation. People may also be more prone to complain about work or do just enough to get by. |
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Burnout |
is the general feeling of exhaustion that develops when an individual simultaneously experiences too much pressure and has too few sources of satisfaction. Occupations with high level of burnout include nurses, customer service representatives, and social workers. People who experience burnout are usually emotionally invested in their work, derive a major part of their self-esteem from their work, and have few interests away from work. They also have high performance standards for themselves. |
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Stress Management |
The actions and initiatives that reduce stress by helping the individual understand the stress response, recognize stressors, and use coping techniques to minimize the negative impacts of severe experienced stress. |
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Stress Management |
Its goal is to maintain stress at an optimal level for the individual and the organization. Not all stress should be reduced, because some stress is unavoidable, and some amount of stress is not bad for many people. |
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• Encourage more organizational communication with the employees so that role demands are clarified. • Encourage employees’ participation in decision-making. • Grant the employees greater independence, meaningful and timely feedback, and greater responsibility. • The organizational goals should be SMART goals. • Encourage decentralization. • Have a fair and just distribution of incentives and salary structure. • Promote job rotation and job enrichment. • Create a just and safe work environment. • Have an effective hiring and orientation procedure. • Appreciate the employees when they accomplish and over-exceed their targets. |
Organizational Strategies for Managing Stress |
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• The employees should make a “to-do” list daily, prioritize the acts in the list and plan the acts accordingly. Employees should also take regular breaks at work. By effective time management, employees can achieve their targets promptly, meet work pressures, and avoid stress. • Indulge in physical exercises. It helps in the effective blood circulation, keeps people fit, and diverts the mind from work pressures. • Encourage a healthy lifestyle. Take regular sleep, have plenty of water, have healthy eating habits. Promote relaxation techniques. • The employees should build social support. They should have close connections with trustworthy peers who can listen to their problems and boost their confidence level. This social network will help the employees to overcome stress. • Recognize and minimize the tendency to be a perfectionist. • Concentrate on balancing work and family life. Always take time to have some fun. • Do not remain focused on yourself, help others. This will release some stress. |
Individual Strategies for Managing Stress |
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Analyze the alternatives |
Organizations or individuals at this stage must be clear on exactly what they know and what they need to know. They should also identify key stakeholders and consider the effects of each possible course of action on them. |
