Organizational-Behavior Exam Dumps - WGU Organizational Behavior (GTO1, C715)

Attribution theory is a cornerstone of social perception in the workplace, explaining how we judge people differently depending on what meaning we attribute to a given behavior. When we observe an individual’s behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was internally caused (under the person's control) or externally caused (forced by the situation). According to Harold Kelley’s model, this determination depends on three specific factors: distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency.

Distinctivenessrefers to whether an individual displays different behaviors in different situations. If Employee B is late for work but is generally reliable in all other tasks, the behavior has high distinctiveness, suggesting an external cause (like a traffic jam).Consensusoccurs if everyone who faces a similar situation responds in the same way. If every employee who took the same route as Employee B was also late, consensus is high, pointing to an external cause.Consistencylooks at whether the person responds the same way over time. If Employee B is late every single day, consistency is high, which usually leads the observer to attribute the behavior to internal causes (like a lack of discipline). By analyzing these three dimensions, Employee A forms a perception that dictates their reaction—whether that be empathy for a one-time external delay or disciplinary action for a recurring internal habit.

Edwin Locke’sGoal-Setting Theorysuggests that specific and difficult goals, with feedback, lead to higher performance. The theory identifies several key components that drive motivation. First isSpecificity. In this case, the coach did not just say "run fast"; they set a specific target of "two miles in ten minutes". Specific goals act as an internal stimulus, providing a clear sense of what needs to be done and how much effort is required.

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The second critical factor isFeedback. By providing a stopwatch, the coach allowed the runner to monitor their own progress. Feedback helps individuals identify discrepancies between what they have done and what they want to do; it guides behavior and motivates the individual to adjust their effort level to meet the goal. While "challenge" is also a part of the theory (as difficult goals lead to higher performance), the presence of the stopwatch specifically addresses the feedback mechanism, and the clear time-distance parameters address specificity. Therefore, the combination of a clearly defined target (specificity) and the ability to track progress (feedback) are the primary drivers for the runner achieving the 9.8-minute result.

Once a culture is in place, certain practices within the organization act to maintain it by exposing employees to a set of similar experiences. Three forces play a particularly important role in sustaining a culture: selection practices, theactions of top management, and thesocialization process.

Theactions of top managementare crucial because through what they say and how they behave, senior executives establish norms that filter down through the organization. For example, their reactions to crises or how they reward performance send clear signals about what is truly valued. Thesocialization processis the method by which the organization helps new employees adapt to its culture. Even if an organization hires the "right" people during selection, they must still be taught the specific values and customs of the firm. Socialization ensures that the culture is transmitted consistently from one generation of employees to the next, maintaining the organization's unique identity over time.

Motivation in the workplace is often driven by a system of rewards, which are generally categorized into intrinsic and extrinsic types.Intrinsic rewardsare internal to the individual and come from the work itself; examples include a sense of accomplishment, personal growth, or the satisfaction of completing a difficult task. These are self-granted rewards.

Extrinsic rewards, conversely, are tangible rewards given by another person (usually a manager or the organization) to an employee for performing a specific task or behavior. These include salary increases, bonuses, promotions, benefits, and even smaller tokens like a free lunch. In this scenario, the free lunch is a physical, external incentive provided by the manager to reinforce the employee's positive performance. While intrinsic rewards are essential for long-term engagement and "meaningful" work, extrinsic rewards like a free meal are effective for immediate reinforcement and recognizing specific achievements. According to reinforcement theory, providing such a reward immediately following a desired behavior (doing well at work) increases the probability that the behavior will be repeated. Because the lunch is an external, tangible benefit provided by the manager rather than an internal feeling of satisfaction derived from the task itself, it is classified as an extrinsic reward.