Mhr 3200—Exam 1 Key Concept

Key Concepts

MHR 3200—Exam 1

Note: This is not necessarily an all-inclusive list, but rather is intended merely to be a list of the major concepts of which you should have a good level of knowledge and understanding. I reserve the right to ask questions on Exam 1 that do not tie directly to material on this list but do fall into the required reading and/or other presentation materials for this section of the course.

Introduction/Course Overview/Introductory Lecture
- Disciplines contributing to Organizational Behavior
- Three basic levels within the organization
- Context of strategy
- Cultural phenomena related to importance of OB
- Derailers

Strategy and Strategic Organizational Behavior
- Human Relations movement
- McGregor’s Theory X vs. Y
- Strategic management overview
- Strategy formulation (model, elements, etc.)
- Strategy implementation (model, elements, etc.)
- Linking strategy and human resource management
- Strategic issues related to human resource management (e.g., mergers, acquisitions, offshoring, etc.)

Organizational Culture and Socialization
- Organizational culture (primary functions, etc.)
- Values and culture
- Espoused vs. enacted values
- Ways to assess culture
- Ways to change and influence culture
- Person/culture fit concept and implications
- Organizational socialization (definition, phases, etc.)
- Socialization tactics

Global Organizational Behavior
- Societal culture influence on organizational behavior
- Ethnocentrism and related issues
- Hofstede’s model and dimensions
- GLOBE model of cultural differences
- Other cultural differences (high vs. low context, time orientation, etc.)
- Expatriates (use, issues, success factors, reasons for failure, etc.)
- Global leadership attributes

Social Perception and Individual Differences
- Social information processing model
- Different types of rating biases, errors, etc. (e.g., self-serving bias, halo error, etc.)
- Attribution theory (including the three factors/elements of the model, etc.)
- Different types of rating biases, errors, etc. (e.g., self-serving bias, halo error, etc.)
- Attribution theory (including the three factors/elements of the model, etc.)
- Self-esteem, self-efficacy, learned helplessness, self-monitoring, etc.
- “Big 5” personality dimensions model
- Major mental abilities model (7 mental abilities)
- Locus of control
- Intelligence (IQ)
- Emotional intelligence (EQ) (concept, model, model elements, etc.)
- Emotional contagion
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
- Diversity vs. inclusion
- Diversity model

Recruiting, Interviewing and Selection
- Recruiting and Retention
- Different types of recruiters
- Costs of poor selection
- Selection systems
- Broad understanding of the generic selection process
- Reliability (test-retest reliability, split-half reliability, alternate/equivalent forms reliability)
- Reliability coefficient
- Validity coefficient
- Content validity
- Criterion-related validity (predictive validity, concurrent validity)
- Generalizability (also known as validity generalization)
- Utility
- Legality
- Selection methods (interviews, cognitive ability tests, personality inventories, biodata, physical abilities tests, work samples, drug/honesty tests, references)
- Different classes of selection decision results (false positives, false negatives, etc.)
- Interviewing and factors related to higher validity and reliability of interviewing
- “Three stories” of an interview
- Interviewing techniques (competency-based, etc.)
- Legal vs. illegal questions (and relatedness to the job in question)
- Calibration meeting
- Potential problems with internal interviewing