Saturday, September 30, 2006

Organizational behavior chapter 8

Psychological contract -- an employee's perception of his or her exchange relationship with an organization, out comes the organization has promised to provide to the employee, and contributions the employee is obligated to make to the organization
realistic job preview (RJP) -- an honest assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of the particular job and working in a particular organization
transactional contracts -- tend to be short-term and very specific
relational contracts -- long-term, more general, and evolve more gradually over time
performance appraisal -- evaluating performance to encourage employee motivation in performance and to provide information to be used in managerial decision-making
objective measures -- measures that are based on facts
subjective measures -- measures that are based on individual perceptions
graphic rating scale -- a subjective measure on which performance is evaluated along a continuum
behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) -- a subjective measure on which specific work related behaviors are evaluated
behavioral observation scale (BOS) -- a subjective measure on which the frequency with which an employee performs a behavior is indicated
360° appraisal -- a performance appraisal in which an employee's performance is evaluated by a number of people who are in a position to evaluate the employee's performance such as peers, superiors, subordinates, and customers or clients
merit pay plan -- a plan that bases pay on performance
comparable worth -- the idea that jobs of equivalent value to organization should carry the same pay rates regardless of differences in the work and the personal characteristics of the employee
career -- the sum of work related experiences throw a person's lifetime
boundaryless career -- a career that is not tied to a single organization in which a person has a variety of kinds of work experiences in different organizations
steady-state careers -- reflects a one-time commitment to a certain kind of job that is maintained throughout one's working life
linear careers -- a person progresses through a sequence of jobs, and each job entails progress over the prior one in terms of responsibility, skills needed, level of hierarchy of an organization, and so on
Spiral careers -- a person holds different types of jobs that build on each other but tend to be fundamentally different
transitory careers -- changes jobs frequently, and each job is different from the one before
career goals -- the experiences, positions, or jobs that employees would like to have in the course of their careers
career plateau -- a position from which the chances of obtaining a promotion or a job with more responsibility become very small

Summary
the relation between employees in an organization is an exchange relationship that is embodied in the employee's psychological contracts. Accurate performance appraisals are essential for the fulfillment of psychological contracts and motivated workforce. Pay and career opportunities are two of the most important outcomes in the exchange relationship between employees in organization and have important implications for motivation.

A psychological contract is an employee's perception of his or her exchange relationship with an organization, out comes the organization has promised to provide to the employee, and contributions the employee is obligated to make to the organization. The determinants of psychological contracts include direct communication, observation, and written documents. The two major types of psychological contracts are transactional contracts and relational contracts.

The goals of performance appraisal are to encourage high levels of employing motivation and performance and to provide accurate information to be used in managerial decision-making. Performance appraisal can focus on the assessment of traits, behaviors, or results, be formal or informal, and rely on objective or subjective measures. Supervisors most often appraise the performance of their subordinates.

Pay is an important outcome for most employees. Motivation and learning theory suggests that patient be based on performance. When individual performance can be accurately assessed, the maximum motivational impact is obtained from basing pay on individual performance. When employees are highly interdependent, individual levels of performance cannot be accurately appraise, or high levels of cooperation across employees are desired, it can be advantageous to base pay on group or organizational performance.

Merit pay in the form of bonuses generally is preferable to salary increases because salary levels have multiple determinants in addition to current performance. The ethics of pay differentials in comparable worth are important issues that managers face in using pay as a motivational toll and striving for the equitable distribution of pay in organizations. In paragraph a career can be defined as the sum of work related experiences throughout one's lifetime. Affective career management helps to ensure that members of an organization are motivated to perform at a high level and received a career opportunities they should while also ensuring that the organization is making the best use of its human resources.

For general types of careers are steady-state careers, linear careers, Spyro careers, and transitory careers. Increasingly, careers are boundaryless meaning that people have a variety of kinds of work experience in different organizations during their careers. Careers can be thought of as progressing through stages, although each individual's career is somewhat unique and these stages are not necessarily experienced by all people. At each stage, organizations and individuals can take steps to ensure high levels of employing motivation and affective career management.
The five stages are:
  • preparation for work
  • organizational entry
  • early career
  • midcareer
  • late career

the early career stage is made up of two steps: establishment and achievement. Mentors and career goals can be especially helpful to employees during this achievement step.

Contemporary career challenges include ethical career management, career management that supports diversity, and career management and an era of dual career couples (acknowledges the many demands on employees arising from their jobs and personal lives).