Organizational Behavior Glossary G–I

G

Gain sharing, a formula-based group incentive plan

Goal-setting theory, a theory that says that specific and difficult goals, with feedback, lead to higher performance

Grapevine, an organization’s informal communication network

Groups, two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives

Groupshift, a change in decision risk between a group’s decision and an individual decision that a member within that group would make; the shift can be toward either conservatism or greater risk

Groulithink, a phenomenon in which the norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action

H

Halo effect, the tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic

Heredity, factors determined at conception; one’s biological, physiological, and inherent psychological makeup

Hierarchy of needs, Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of five needs—physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization—in which, as each need is substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant

High-context culture, culture that relies heavily on nonverbal and subtle situational cues in communication

Hindrance stressors, stressors that keep you from reaching your goals (for example, red tape, office politics, confusion over job responsibilities)

Hindsight bias, tendency for us to believe falsely, after an outcome is actually known, that we would have accurately predicted the outcome

Hygiene factors, factors—such as company policy and administration, supervision, and salary—that, when adequate in a job placate workers; when these factors are adequate, people will not be dissatisfied

I

Idea champions, people who actively and enthusiastically promote the idea, build support, overcome resistance, and ensure that the innovation is implemented

Illegitimate political behavior, actions that violate the implied rules of the game

Illusory correlation, the tendency of people to correlate two events when in reality there is no connection

Imitation strategy, a strategy that seeks to move into new products or new markets only after their viability has already been proven

Impression management (IM), process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them

Individualism, the degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups and believe in individual rights above all else

Informal channels, communication channels that are created spontaneously and that emerge as responses to individual choices

Information overload, a condition in which information inflow exceeds an individual’s processing capacity

Initiating structure, the extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure his or her role and those of employees in the search for goal attainment

Innovation, a new idea applied to initiating or improving a product, process, or service

Innovation strategy, a strategy that emphasizes the introduction of major new products and services

Institutionalization, a condition that occurs when an organization takes on a life of its own, apart from any of its members, and acquires immortality

Instrumental values, preferable codes of behavior or means of achieving one’s terminal values

Integrative bargaining, negotiation that seeks one or more settlements that can create a win/win solution

Intentions, decisions to act in a given way

Interacting groups, typical groups in which members interact with each other face-to-face

Interactional justice, the perceived degree to which individual is treated with dignity, concern, and respect

Interactionist view of conflict, the belief that conflict is not only a positive force in a group but is also an absolute necessity for a group to perform effectively

Interest groups, people working together to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned

Intergroup development (ID), efforts to change the attitudes, stereotypes, and perceptions that groups have of each other

Intuition, a gut feeling not necessarily supported by research

Intuitive decision making, an unconscious process created out of distilled experience

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