Management terms

What is "Behavioral Science"?

Behavioral science is the systematic study of human behavior. It seeks to predict how most people are likely to behave under a given set of conditions. This predictive ability has led many managers to turn to the behavioral sciences in recent years for help in solving recurrent personnel and organizational problems. Attention has focused on the area of motivation with the dual intent of achieving greater organizational effectiveness and increased job satisfaction through the optimal use of human resources.

What is meant by "Achievement Needs"?

Achievement Needs are a person's drive for accomplishment that reflects his or her abilities and competencies and provides the opportunity for personal growth. This concept is at the apex of A.H. Maslow's hierarchy of human needs and is a key source of motivation in F. Herzberg's Motivation-Maintenance Theory. Extensive research by David McClelland of Harvard University shows that a person with a high need for achievement is a moderate risk-taker who prefers situations in which his or her talents determine the outcome and who requires precise feedback on how he or she is doing. The ACCESS Leadership Development and Communications Strategies Program integrates the theoretical models suggested by Maslow, Herzberg, McClelland, Likert, McGregor, and other field practitioners into a program of designed interventions that address the specific needs of each company with which IMPAC works.

What is meant by "attitude changes"?

Management development programs are often directed toward changing employee attitudes. Such change, occurring over time has three phases:

a. Unfreezing: Either by increasing the pressure on an individual to change or by reducing his or her resistance to change, an individual can become motivated to change.

b. Changing: The actual process of learning new attitudes. This occurs through either identification 認同感 (emulation (仿傚) of someone who holds these attitudes) or internalization 內化 (being placed in a situation which demands that he or she learn new attitudes to solve problems which confront him or her).

c. Refreezing: The integration of the changed attitude into the rest of the personality.

What is meant by "behavioral systems"?

"System" is a concept common to most sciences. The solar system of astronomy, the digestive system of physiology, the monetary system of economics, etc. are examples of "systems." These seemingly different systems all exhibit the following characteristics:

a. There is a number of parts
b. These parts are related to one another in an interdependent fashion
c. The interrelated parts exist in a complex environment

If we add a fourth characteristic (d) the parts exhibit an ordered pattern of activity (not random) which is congruent （一致的） with the achievement of desired results…then we have defined a behavioral system. Such a concept, linking individuals to groups and to organizations as a whole, is a valuable analytical tool in the study of business behavior.

What is meant by "client systems"?

Client systems are the means by which a commonly defined goal or expectation (a forecast) are turned into a plan of action and properly executed through assignments of human and material resources such that, upon following-up and reporting on the results of the actions taken by management, a determination may be made as to whether there is a variance to the plan such that appropriate corrective action may be taken or a new goal setting process may begin. "Client systems have nothing whatsoever to do with "computer systems."

What is meant by "critical incident interviewing"?

A technique used in behavioral science research, employee selection, and performance appraisal to determine the factors that contributed to a high or low attitude or performance in an actual job-related event.

What is meant by "Feedback Systems"?

Procedures for providing each worker with as much data as possible about the trend of his individual performance on the job so that he can determine his own success or failure, and take corrective action as needed.

What is meant by "in-basket tests"?

A technique used in appraising and training managers which simulates various aspects of an administrator's job. Given an in-basket filled with letters, memoranda and telephone calls and provided with the necessary background data, the person being tested is told to deal with the material in a manner he or she thinks appropriate to a new incumbent （在職者） in the position. Evaluations of the results of his decisions and actions are used for both managerial skill development and the prediction of on-the-job managerial performance.

What is meant by "industrial psychology"?

Concerned with the study and prediction of human behavior in industrial organizations, industrial psychology has three main divisions: 1) personnel psychology, which is primarily concerned with such problems as personnel selection and job training; 2) human engineering, concerned with design of the physical environment; and 3) industrial social psychology which focuses on such areas as motivation, communications, group dynamics, organization structure, authority and power, job enrichment, etc.

What is meant by "job enlargement"?

The process of expanding jobs to encompass （完成）more tasks without necessarily increasing job-related authority for decision-making. Known also as "horizontal job loading", the intent is to alleviate （減輕） boredom and to increase worker job knowledge and group interaction and cohesiveness through the rotation of tasks.

What is meant by "job enrichment"?

Based on the Motivation-Maintenance Theory developed by Frederick Herzberg, job enrichment is the process of re-structuring jobs by building - or vertically loading - higher order responsibilities and authorities and more challenging content so that an individual has the opportunity for achievement, recognition and growth that makes a job a satisfying, meaningful experience at which he or she is motivated to perform well.

What is meant by the "linking pin"?

Developed by Rensis Likert, the concept refers to the individual who is a member of two overlapping groups in an organization. The "linking pin" person is a superior in one group and a subordinate in the other. As such, he or she is the main, formal channel for upward and downward communication.

What is meant by "managerial grid（格子）"?

Developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, the managerial grid is a technique by which a manager identifies his/her own managerial style by plotting behavioral patterns on a set of coordinate axes. One axis represents concern for people and the other represents concern for production. The intent is to provide managers with a conceptual tool through which they can learn to integrate the two concerns.

What is meant by "management by objectives"?

A method of establishing the definite results which a manager is expected to achieve during a particular period. Stress is on the development of objectives that are practical and attainable, are clearly stated, and are compatible with overall company plans for the period.

What is meant by "manpower utilization"?

The systematic development and employment of the human resources of an organization through the provision （供應） of work that effectively challenges employee abilities and aptitudes (習性).

What is meant by "mix model"?

Developed by Chris Argyris, the model is a value-oriented process for organizational and individual analysis and change. It postulates （假設） six variables as being the essential properties of organizations: power distribution, relationship between parts and whole, achievement of objectives, ability to influence "internal" environment changes, ability to influence "external" environment changes, time-span （一段時間） that influences decision-making. Movement "toward" these six essential properties reinforces the "mutually satisfying" relationship between the individual and the organization, while movement "away" results in the fragmentation of the organization.

What is meant by "modified" theory of management?

As put forth by Rensis Likert and others, this modified (from the traditional authoritarian and paternalistic management approaches) theory holds that effective management requires the involvement of employees in the structuring of their jobs and work environment. This involvement of the worker in the decision-making process requires democratic supervision as well as open and full communication within the work group.

What is meant by "motivation maintenance" theory of management?

Developed by Frederick Herzberg, the theory postulates two sets of factors that operate simultaneously. One set, the maintenance (or hygiene) factors, cause dissatisfaction if they are not tended to and only have the potential to negatively （消極地） affect performance. These factors all comprise the job context and include company policy and administration, interpersonal relations, salary, supervision, and working conditions. The other set of factors, the motivators, lead to individual satisfaction and improved productivity and performance. These factors all relate to the job content and include the work itself, responsibility, achievement, recognition, advancement and the opportunity for growth. At the heart of the theory is the concept that the factors which cause employee dissatisfaction are different from the factors which cause employee satisfaction and that management must work on both sets of factors in order to avoid discontent and to provide the conditions for employee motivation.

What is meant by "hierarchy of needs"?

Assuming that once a need is satisfied, it no longer serves as a motivator of behavior, the late A.H. Maslow theorized that man has five basic sets of needs that emerge sequentially: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. As each set of needs, beginning with the physiological, is satisfied, the next "higher" need emerges, until one begins the process of self-actualization, which is essentially endless and in which the individual strives to become all that he/she is capable of becoming.

What is meant by "organizational development" or OD?

A planned change process devoted to implement many of the findings and values of behavioral science, organization development of an organizations' internal resources is done through the use of both internal and external behavior science sources (change agents). The organizational development effort is intended to improve the organization's effectiveness, while enhancing opportunities for individual development.

What is meant by "organization intervention"?

Chris Argyris has posted three primary tasks for outside sources in changing organizations. They are:

a. Generating and helping the clients to generate valid information that they can understand about their problems.
b. Creating opportunities for the client to search effectively for solutions to their problems…to make free choices.
c. Creating conditions for internal commitment to these choices and to the means for the continual monitoring of the action taken.
d. Creating conditions for internal commitment and the apparatus for the continual monitoring of the action taken.

What is meant by "planned change"?

As described by Warren Bennis, the process of "planned change" involves a "change agent" (usually an outside source), a client system, and a collaborative attempt to apply valid knowledge to the client's problems. It is a deliberate process of change that is concerned with such problems as:

a. The identification of organization mission and values.
b. Collaboration and conflict.
c. Control and leadership.
d. Resistance and adaptation to change.
e. Utilization of human resources.
f. Communication.
g. Management development.

What is meant by "sensitivity training"?

"Sensitivity (or laboratory) training" has three primary components: general sessions in which participants receive instruction in group psychology and social interaction, skill sessions in which participants put what they have learned into action in various exercises; and, most importantly, T-Group sessions. The T-Group sessions are devoted to sensitizing the individual to his or her own feelings and behavior, their effects on others and to the processes of group interaction.

Participants are encouraged to experiment with different forms of behavior and there is an emphasis on providing candid （公正的） feedback. T-Group participants have typically been strangers to one another, but there is a growing trend, particularly when sensitivity training is conducted as part of an organization development toward "family" labs made up of people who work together.

What is meant by "Theory X" and "Theory Y"?

Douglas McGregor asserted （聲稱） that many managers held a set of assumptions about the nature of people at work, which he called "Theory X". This assumption viewed people as disliking work, avoiding responsibility, and requiring and desiring direction and control. In contrast to this set of assumptions, he proposed another theory of human nature based on behavioral science research, which he called "Theory Y". Theory Y assumes that employees are internally motivated to achieve goals they find meaningful, view work as being as natural an activity as rest or play, have the capacity to contribute to the solution of organizational problems, and can accept the responsibility for providing their own direction. Management's job, McGregor proposed, is to provide the environment in which individual goals and organization purpose can be integrated for mutual satisfaction.

What is meant by "Transactional Analysis"?

In the 1950's, Transactional Analysis (TA) grew out of psychoanalysis as a method of group therapy, a means of treating individuals who are unable to form relationships with others. Transactional Analysis is a means of analyzing the stimulus/response patterns that take place between individuals. These patterns are viewed as a series of interpersonal "transactions". The assumption is that understanding these transactions can enable individuals to improve their interactions to make them more emotionally mature and productive in terms of contributions to a group effort.

The analysis is based on a breakdown of the "person" into three elements, or ego states. The following is a structural analysis:

The CHILD (c) represents the response and training of very early years. The CHILD uses these passive-aggressive techniques to obtain gratification（喜悅）.

The PARENT (P) represents the conditioned responses learned or copied from authority figures-parents or parent substitutes. The PARENT likes to be right.

The ADULT (A) ego state is the objective, rational thought process-the computer-basing its output on the lessons of experience. Feeling and emotion are not part of the ADULT ego state.

Only the ADULT thinks; the other ego states merely feel and react. As with most training programs, "proof" in "dollars and cents" terms is difficult to obtain. At present, there is a scarcity of scientific or hard data to demonstrate to management the success of TA. Results cannot by made visible in a measurable sense. They can only be observed. This has been a difficulty with many psychological applications to management. With a sound client system, results are measured with the ease with which the installation is made.