Industrial Chapter 8 Essay – Flashcards

-It measures three aspects of the job-characteristics theory: (1) employees' perceptions of the job characteristics, (2) employees' level of the growth need, and (3) employees' job satisfaction -It is a self-report inventory consisting of short descriptive phrases about the various job characteristics -Respondents rate how accurately each statement describes their job

-Evidence suggested that certain characteristics influence behavior and attitudes at work, but these characteristics do not influence all employees in the same way -For example, the research documented individual differences in the need for growth. People with a high growth need were found to be more affected by changes in job characteristics than were people with a low growth need

-It deals with both motivation and job satisfaction -The motivator needs: produces job satisfaction. The higher needs motivates employees to high job performance. They are internal to the work itself. They include the nature of the individual job tasks and the worker's level of responsibility, achievement, recognition, advancement, and career development and growth. -Hygiene needs: produce job dissatisfaction. The word hygiene relates to the promotion and maintenance of health. They are external to the tasks of a particular job and involve features of the work environment, such as company policy, supervision, interpersonal relations, working conditions, and salary and benefits. When they are not satisfied, the result is job dissatisfaction.

-Affective Commitment: the employee identifies with the organization, internalizes its values and attitudes, and complies with its demands -Behavioral Commitment: the employee is bound to the organization only by peripheral factors such as pension plans and seniority, which would not continue if the employee quit -Normative commitment: involves a sense of obligation to remain with the employer, a feeling that develops when employee receive benefits such as tuition reimbursement or specific skills training.

-Closely related to motivation and job satisfaction is job involvement, that is, the intensity of a person's psychological identification with a job -Usually, the higher one's identification or involvement with a job, the greater is one's job satisfaction. -Another variable allied with motivation and job satisfaction is organizational commitment, that is, the degree of psychological identification with or attachment to the company for which a person works.

-a characteristic of successful executives -this desire to accomplish something, to do a good job, and to be the best typifies many people, not only business leaders -People who have a high degree of the need for achievement derive great satisfaction from working to accomplish some goal, and they are motivated to excel in whatever task they undertake

-Achievement Motivation Theory -Needs Hierarchy Theory -Motivator-Hygiene (Two-Factor) Theory -Job Characteristics Theory

-the notion that motivation is influenced by our perception of how equitably or fairly we are treated at work -Adams proposed that in any work environment - whether office, shop, factory, or classroom - we assess our inputs (how much effort we put into the work) and our outcomes (how much reward we receive for the work) -if we think we are getting less than other people, the feeling of tension or inequity that results will motivate use to take action, to do something to bring about a state of equity. If we perceive that we are receiving the same ratio of reward-to-effort that others are receiving, then a state of equity exists.

-Valence-Instrumentality-Expectancy (VIE) theory -Equity theory -Goal-Setting theory

-Content theories of motivation focus on the importance of the work itself and the challenges, growth opportunities, and responsibilities work provides for employees. These theories deal with the content of motivation, that is, with the specific needs that motivate and direct human behavior -Process theories do not focus directly on work but rather deal with the cognitive processes we use in making decisions and choices about work

-it asserts that people make choices based on their perceived expectancy that certain rewards will follow if they behave in a certain way -in the workplace, employees will choose to perform at the level that results in the greatest payoff or benefit. -they will be motivated to work hard if they expect this effort to lead to positive outcomes such as a promotion or pay raise and if those outcomes will be instrumental in leading to other desired results

-the primary pay scheme for production workers -through a time-and-motion analysis of a production job, an average or standard number of units produced in a given time can be determine. This incentive program is based on this rate. -in theory, the system provides an incentive for high job performance - the more units produced, the higher the wage - but it seldom works in practice -surveys show that most workers prefer a straight hourly payment system

-specific consequences of layoffs can include feelings of guilt, resentment, depression, and anxiety about the future, as well as, physical complaints, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, divorce, spouse and child abuse, and thoughts of suicide -Many people who have lost their jobs feel a sense of betrayal

-the longer a person has been employed by a company, the stronger the link between organizational commitment and job performance -government employees have lower organizational commitment than employees in the private sector. Government employees are also likely to be lower in job satisfaction.

-Productivity: strong and significant relationship between job satisfaction and job performance; the higher the reported satisfaction, the higher the level of performance -Prosocial and Counterproductive Behavior: high job satisfaction has been related to prosocial behavior, that is, to helpful behaviors directed at customers, co-workers, and supervisors to the benefit of employees and their organization -Absenteeism: those who believed their organizations were not fulfilling their obligations in terms of job security, opportunities for promotion, and pay increases were far more likely to take days off than were those who were satisfied with organizational policies -Turnover: organizational commitment is strongly related to turnover. The greater a person's commitment to the job and the company, the less likely he or she is to quit

-Job Descriptive Index (JDI) contains scales to measure five job factors: pay, promotion, supervision, the nature of the work, and the characteristics of one's co-workers. It can be completed in 15 minutes and has been published in several languages -Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) is a rating scale for various levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, ranging from "very satisfied" to "very dissatisfied." It covers 20 job facets including advancement, independence, recognition, social status, and working conditions. It takes 30 minutes to complete; a 10-minute form is also available. -These questionnaires have high construct validity.

-Combine small, specialized tasks to form larger work units; this enhances skill variety and task identity -Arrange tasks in natural, meaningful work units to make the worker responsible for an identifiable unit; this enhances task identity and task significance -Give workers responsibility for direct contact with clients or end users; this enhances skill variety, autonomy, and feedback -Give workers authority, responsibility, and control over the job tasks; this increases skill variety, task identity, task significance, and autonomy -Arrange for workers to learn regularly how well they are performing the job; this increases feedback

1. Skill Variety: the extent to which workers use various skills and abilities on the job. The more challenging a job, the more meaningful it will be 2. Task Identity: the unity of a job - that is, whether it involves doing a whole unit of work or completing a product instead of making only part of a product on an assembly line 3. Task Significance: the importance of a job to the lives and well-being of co-workers or consumers 4. Autonomy: the amount of independence employees have in scheduling and organizing their work 5. Feedback the amount of information employees receive about the effectiveness and quality of their job performance.

-Age: job satisfaction increases with age; the lower job satisfaction is reported by the youngest workers -Gender: the research evidence about possible differences in job satisfaction between men and women is inconsistent and contradictory. Psychologists have found no clear pattern of differences in job satisfaction -Race: more White than non-White employees report satisfaction with their jobs -Cognitive ability: it does not appear to be a significant determinant of job satisfaction but it may be important when related to the type of work a person choses -Job Experience: during the initial stage of employment, new workers tend to be satisfied with their jobs. Job satisfaction appears to increase after a number of years of experience and to improve steadily thereafter -Use of Skills: people are happier at work if they have the chance to use their abilities -Job Congruence: the higher the congruence - the closer the fit between a person's skills and attributes and the job's requirements - the greater the job satisfaction -Organizational Justice: when workers believe they are being treated unfairly (a perceived lack of organizational justice), their job performance, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment are likely to decline -Personality: research suggests that employees who are more satisfied in their work are better adjusted and more emotionally stable. Two personality factors related to job satisfaction are alienation and locus of control -Job Control: people who can exercise greater control over their job duties will be more highly motivated to perform well and will experience greater satisfaction -Occupational Level: the higher the occupational or status level of a job, the higher the job satisfaction

-it means putting forth extra effort, doing more for an employer than the minimum requirements of the job -it includes such behaviors as "taking on additional assignments, voluntarily assisting other people at work, keeping up with the developments in one's field or profession, following company rules even when no one is looking, promoting and protecting the organization, and keeping a positive attitude and tolerating inconveniences at work

-the fairness of one's pay can be more important than the actual amount -survey respondents who believed that people with similar qualifications earned more than they did reported dissatisfaction with their pay. They thought they were being paid less than they deserved. -It is not surprising then, that people who think they salaries are higher than those of their colleagues are likely to be more satisfied with their pay

-Job satisfaction refers to the positive and negative feelings and attitudes employees hold about a job -Research shows a positive and reciprocal relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction in the short term; that is, each one influenced the other. -Over time, however, the impact of life satisfaction on job satisfaction was significantly stronger, which indicates that life satisfaction may be the more influential of the two factors

1. Physiological needs: the basic human needs, including food, air, water, and sleep, and the drives for sex and activity 2. Safety needs: the needs for physical shelter and for psychological security and stability 3. Belonging and love needs: the social needs for love, affection, friendship, and affiliation that involve interaction with and acceptance by other people 4. Esteem needs: the needs for self-esteem and for esteem, admiration, and respect from other people 5. Self-actualization need: the need for self-fulfillment, for achieving our full potential and realizing our capabilities

1. remove some management controls over employees and increase their accountability and responsibility for their work, thus increasing employee autonomy, authority, and freedom 2. create complete or natural work units where possible; for example, allow employees to produce a whole unit instead of one component of that unit. This policy increases the likelihood that employees will regard their work as meaningful within the total organizational process 3. provide regular and continuous feedback on productivity and job performance directly to employees instead of through their supervision 4. encourage employees to take on new, challenging tasks and to become experts in a particular task or operation

-merit pay, or pay for performance, means that the better performing workers in an organization are paid more than the less productive workers -there is widespread disagreement among managers about the behaviors that they consider important in making decisions about a worker's pay increase -the managers may fear that if subordinates do not receive a sufficient salary, they will withhold their support or reduce their productivity to make the manager look bad -there is also evidence that not everyone who receives a merit pay increase reacts to it positivity

-Locke argued that our primary motivation in a work situation is defined in terms of our desire to achieve a particular goal -the goal represents what we intend to do at given time in the future -for example, we may set the goal of graduating from college with honors, or achieving the highest sales record in the company, or getting a pay raise within a year so we can buy a new house