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Study Guide

Site: Saylor University
Course: MMGT Admissions Exam Prep Course
Book: Study Guide
Printed by: Guest user
Date: Saturday, 12 September 2026, 9:14 AM

Table of contents

Navigating this Study Guide

Study Guide Structure

In this study guide, the sections in each unit (1a., 1b., etc.) are the learning outcomes of that unit. 

Beneath each learning outcome are:

  • questions for you to answer independently;
  • a brief summary of the learning outcome topic; and
  • and resources related to the learning outcome. 

At the end of each unit, there is also a list of suggested vocabulary words.

 

How to Use this Study Guide

  1. Review the entire course by reading the learning outcome summaries and suggested resources.
  2. Test your understanding of the course information by answering questions related to each unit learning outcome and defining and memorizing the vocabulary words at the end of each unit.

By clicking on the gear button on the top right of the screen, you can print the study guide. Then you can make notes, highlight, and underline as you work.

Through reviewing and completing the study guide, you should gain a deeper understanding of each learning outcome in the course and be better prepared for the final exam!

Unit 1: Introduction

1a. Develop a working definition and a distinction between management and leadership

  • What are the definitions of management and leadership, and how would you explain the difference between them?
  • What are the unique characteristics of managers vs. leaders?
  • What are the four pillars of good management, according to Julian Birkinshaw?

Management is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. Leadership is a process of social influence in which one person enlists the aid and support of others in accomplishing a common task.

Managers tend to work at getting things done efficiently, making sure processes are well-planned and organized, and focusing on tasks in the short term. Leaders have a more long-term view. They are likely to have a vision for their organization and seek change. They focus on effectiveness and work at getting things done through inspiration and intrinsic motivation.

It is important to understand these differences because the terms management and leadership are often used interchangeably, but managers and leaders have quite different roles. According to Julian Birkinshaw, leadership involves understanding the management principles you are using to run your company, evaluating whether these principles are suited to the business environment in which you are working, envisioning new ways of working, and experimenting with new practices in a low-risk way to see how they work.

To review, see:


1b. Apply Kurt Lewin's leadership typology to the identification of leadership styles of contemporary leaders

  • What are the definitions of Lewin's three different leadership styles?
  • What would be a contemporary example of each leadership style?
  • What is the difference between transactional and transformational leadership?

Lewin's leadership styles are:

  1. Authoritarian: keeping close and strict control over subordinates, maintaining a distinct professional relationship, and supervising employees to ensure productivity. Vladimir Putin, the former head of the KGB and the current president of Russia, is an example.
  2. Democratic: promoting social equity among workers by sharing ideas. Democratic leaders focus on group needs and participation in decision-making. Nelson Mandela, an activist and former President of South Africa, is an example.
  3. Laissez-faire: delegating as much autonomy as possible to employees, allowing them the freedom to make their own decisions about how to complete tasks, but providing guidance and advice upon request. Queen Victoria, the former sovereign of Great Britain, is an example.

Transactional leadership motivates employees by exchanging time and effort for rewards, such as money. It is based on MacGregor's Theory X, which assumes workers are lazy, will only work if rewarded, and must be punished for disobedience.

Transformational leadership motivates employees by inspiring a shared vision, which encourages employees to forego personal interests and to work according to organizational values.

While there are many different leadership styles, it is important to understand these five because they are the most discussed among practitioners and scholars. Remember, no style is effective in every situation. Be sure to understand the pros and cons of each style and when each style should and should not be used.

To review, see:


1c. Differentiate the leadership styles of leaders from their personal traits

  • What is the difference between proximal and distal traits, and what are a few examples
  • of each?
  • According to Zaccaro, how do traits influence leadership style?
  • According to recent research, which traits predict a successful leader?

Proximal traits have a direct effect on leadership style, while distal traits have an indirect effect. Examples of proximal traits are personal characteristics such as interpersonal, problem-solving, and communication skills, whereas distal traits are remote attributes such as personality, cognitive ability, and values.

Zaccaro's theory is that multiple traits work together to form a leadership style rather than various traits affecting it individually. While some scholars reject the idea of definitive leadership traits, others have found that extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, neuroticism, honesty/integrity, charisma, intelligence, creativity, achievement motivation, need for power, oral/written communication, interpersonal skills, general problem-solving, decision-making, technical knowledge, and management skills can generally predict successful leadership ability.

To review, see:


1d. Assess the role of environment, such as athletics, business, and politics, in shaping the leadership provided by these individuals

  • How did the business environment of Indra Nooyi (2007), the political environment of Angela Merkel (2013), and the athletic environment of Lisa Baird (2021) shape each of their leadership styles?
  • How can their leadership styles be applied to contemporary (2024) organizations?
  • Based on the sometimes-brief descriptions given, what would you say is the leadership style of each leader discussed in the section on Great Leaders?

The important thing to remember here is to glean the general lessons, rather than the specific tasks, from each of these leaders' examples. For example, Indra Nooyi has held prestigious leadership positions, not just at Pepsico. That gave her experience to develop her vision of what a successful organization could be. Angela Merkel's position was unique in that she was elected by the German public (rather than a board of directors). Her strategy was to learn quickly and adapt to the changing needs of her country. Lisa Baird became commissioner two days before COVID-19 was officially announced as a pandemic, shutting down the National Women's Soccer League and thousands of other businesses worldwide. Her background in marketing helped her turn a crisis into an opportunity for growth and innovation. Nooyi was definitely a transformational leader, while Merkel was much more democratic. Lisa Baird had to be aggressive in her approach, as she was initially omitted from the first commissioners' meeting, did not have a large fan base, and needed to borrow money to cover players' salaries and health insurance.

Finally, for the other leaders listed, there are no definite answers. Steve Jobs, founder and former CEO of Apple, has been given as an example of all three of Lewin's leadership styles! Use your analytical skills to match what you know about the people, their traits, accomplishments, and how they did it to infer their leadership styles. Here are some suggestions:

  • T. Roosevelt: transformational, because he transformed the Presidency
  • W. H. Taft: authoritarian, because he pushed through unpopular laws
  • T. W. Wilson: democratic, known for his diplomacy
  • J. Addams: transformational, pioneer in women and children's issues and world peace
  • F. Kelley: transformational, pioneered fairness for everyone
  • A. S. Paul: transformational, got the 19th amendment (votes for women) passed
  • C. P. Gilman: visionary, role model with unorthodox lifestyle
  • M. H. Sanger: visionary, advocated birth control and started Planned Parenthood
  • E. Goldman: laissez-faire, was an anarchist
  • S. B. Anthony: transformational, got the 19th amendment (votes for women) passed
  • I. B. Wells-Barnett: participative, used journalism to make her case
  • B. T. Washington: participative, advised presidents, worked with the community
  • W. E. B. Du Bois: democratic, used education to make his case and started the NAACP
  • S. Gompers: aggressive, key labor union leader
  • F. W. Taylor: authoritarian, developer of scientific management, emphasized efficiency
  • H. Ford: authoritarian, developer of the assembly line, emphasized efficiency

To review, see:


Unit 1 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • authoritarian
  • democratic
  • distal traits
  • laissez-faire
  • leader
  • leadership
  • MacGregor's Theory X
  • management
  • manager
  • proximal traits
  • transactional leadership
  • transformational leadership

Unit 2: Leadership Theory

2a. Identify the key traits of effective leaders

  • According to Raymond Cattrell's (1954) research, what are the eight traits of effective leaders?
  • What other personality traits must contemporary leaders have?
  • What are the eight traits of successful entrepreneurs?

Identifying effective leadership traits means knowing a lot of lists. Cattrell's traits include emotional stability, dominance, enthusiasm, conscientiousness, social boldness, tough-mindedness, self-assurance, and compulsiveness. These traits were determined based on military leaders in the mid-20th century, so their literal definitions may not accurately determine success today. However, if you define them more generally, they are still applicable. Other effective traits are personality-based, such as high energy, intuitiveness, maturity, team orientation, empathy, and charisma. They are used to inspire and engage followers in a leader's vision.

Finally, the traits of successful entrepreneurs are more specific than those already listed. They are strong leadership qualities, high self-motivation, strong basic ethics and integrity, willingness to fail, being a serial innovator, knowing what you don't know, competitive spirit, and understanding the value of a strong peer network. These traits focus on what it takes to persist in building your own enterprise from start to success.

To review, see:


2b. Compare and contrast the competing behavioral theories of leadership

  • What are the definitions of the four overall theories of leadership?
  • How do general theories differ from situational theories?
  • Under what conditions would transformational leadership not be appropriate to use?

Theories of leadership are split into trait theories, behavioral theories, situational theories, and visionary theories, each with several sub-theories within. Early theories of leadership discussed leadership as general characteristics that people were born with (traits) or could learn (behaviors). The problem with these theories is they focus on determining the best way to lead. Later, researchers discovered that successful leadership depends on adaptation to the work situation. Employee contingencies, such as workers' psychological traits and levels of skill and experience, and environmental contingencies, such as hierarchical structure and the nature of the task, would determine the effectiveness of different leadership styles on performance.

Transformational leadership is a current buzzword. Many leaders try to adopt that leadership style. However, becoming a transformational leader takes tremendous time, skill, and effort that may not be necessary or appropriate for your organization. If small, incremental changes are enough to maintain competitive advantage; if your employees are purely extrinsically motivated; if they do not respond to value-based inspiration or intellectual challenge; if you do not have a clear vision or the skill to communicate it; or if your organization does not require much creativity, innovation, experimentation, or risk-taking, a transformational leadership approach will be overkill and one of the other styles more appropriate.

To review, see:


2c. Analyze the impact of situations on leadership effectiveness

  • What is the main contextual situation underlying Fiedler's contingency theory of leadership effectiveness?
  • How does Fiedler's theory fall short, and why is it no longer used today?
  • What is the basic premise of the path-goal theory?
  • How would you define the four leadership styles of path-goal theory?

Situational theories of leadership describe leadership success that results from leadership behaviors modified by employee and situational contingencies, or events that are likely to happen in connection with or as a consequence of something else. In other words, leaders must adapt their leadership styles to the environment to achieve the highest productivity. In the first situational theory, Fiedler called this combination of contingencies situational favorableness. He suggested that a work situation was either favorable or unfavorable based on its least-preferred co-worker score, which was determined by the leader-worker relationship, the leader's position power, and the structure of the task. The problem with this theory is it assumes leadership styles do not change. Therefore, leaders must either change situations to suit their styles or organizations must find new leaders as situations change.

Another situational theory, path-goal theory, has leaders setting goals for success with their subordinates and then clearing a path of obstacles to allow workers to achieve the goals effectively. The four styles of doing this are directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented. This theory is the basis of most other situational theories studied today.

To review, see:


2d. Evaluate the skills associated with effective leadership

  • What is the degree to which leaders encourage followers to be innovative and creative, and what behaviors does it include?
  • How do leaders demonstrate purpose and meaning that provides the energy to drive their followers forward, and what is this ability called?
  • How do leaders act as role models for their followers, and what is the name for these behaviors?

Transformational leaders challenge followers with an attractive vision and tie it to a strategy for its achievement. First, they show individualized consideration by discussing and empathizing with the needs of individual employees, making interpersonal connections with employees, showing genuine compassion, and encouraging ongoing professional development and personal growth of employees. Next, leaders embrace intellectual stimulation by encouraging employees, creating, challenging the status quo, aiming for consistent innovation, empowering employees to disagree with leadership, and risk-taking when appropriate to achieve goals.

Then, they demonstrate inspirational motivation by inspiring employees to improve their outcomes, explaining how the organization will change over time, fostering a strong sense of purpose among employees, linking individual employee and organizational goals, and aiding employees to succeed to an even greater extent than they expect. Finally, they become idealized influences by promoting a broad, inclusive vision, leading by example, showing a strong commitment to goals, creating trust and confidence in employees, and representing organizational goals, culture, and mission.

To review, see:


2e. Assess the effectiveness of visionary leadership

Visions for organizations are not simply leaders' thoughts about what the organization should look like in the future. When we say a vision is a clear, distinctive, and specific view of the future that is usually connected with a leader's strategic advances, we refer to its impact on the organization's employees. A vision:

  1. creates vitality;
  2. focuses energy; and
  3. explains purpose.

All of this works together to inspire, encourage, and challenge employees to transform the organization through innovation. Leaders without vision are uncharismatic and fail to emit hope. They are optimistic about the future, focused on the best in their people, never satisfied but always content. They are consumed with making tomorrow better than today, accepting change, and inviting others into their vision, never excluding them. Finally, they carry their vision inside them, which makes it easy to share with others.

To review, see:


Unit 2 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • contingencies
  • idealized influences
  • individualized consideration
  • inspirational motivation
  • intellectual stimulation
  • least-preferred co-worker score
  • path-goal theory
  • situational favorableness
  • situational theories
  • theories of leadership
  • vision

Unit 3: Change Management and Decision-Making

3a. Use Lewin's three-step model of change in relating types of change to the decision-making process

  • What are the environmental sources of organizational change?
  • What are the three steps in Lewin's model for organizational change, and how would you describe them?
  • How can the eight stages in John Kotter's change model be mapped onto Lewin's model?

The necessity for change can stem from anywhere in an organization's internal environment, such as the people who work for the organization, management, the shareholders, and the board of directors. Other inside forces are the organization's culture, structure, or intrapreneurship. It may also be stimulated by forces in the organization's external environment, such as legislation, society, economics, technology, nature, politics, globalization, and competition.

Kurt Lewin's change model consists of:

  1. unfreezing: preparing employee mindset for change;
  2. change implementation: executing the change plan; and
  3. refreezing: reinforcing the change in organizational culture.

John Kotter's change model encourages unfreezing by:

  1. establishing a sense of urgency;
  2. forming a powerful guiding coalition; and
  3. creating a vision of change.

Then, he suggests implementing change by:

  1. communicating the vision;
  2. removing any obstacles to it; and
  3. creating small wins along the way.

Finally, as in Lewin's model, change is reinforced by:

  1. consolidating improvements; and
  2. anchoring the change in culture.

To review, see:


3b. Assess various methods of communicating change within an organization

  • According to the influence change model, what are the four ways management can introduce change?
  • Why is it so important to communicate the change plan in the unfreezing stage and publicize success in the refreezing stage, according to Lewin?
  • Kotter's model is most useful when change is reasonably predictable, and leaders can drive change downward. What are the communication challenges with this model?

The influence change model says that people first need to understand what you want them to do differently. Next, leaders need to change the processes to support the desired change. Then, they must give employees the capabilities to effect the changes required of them. Finally, employees need to see their leaders modeling the new, desired behaviors. Combined, these four influences will offer a positive mindset toward the desired change.

Lewin says that communicating the change plan up front is the most important way to prepare people's mindset for accepting change. People fear what they don't know. And when they fear change, they will resist it. Being absolutely transparent about why change needs to happen, your expectations for change, and the benefits of change to employees will allay fears and make it easier to accept change. Once the change is in place, make your success public knowledge. It's hard to argue with something that works, so it will be harder to return to your old ways. Plus, it shows your employees that their efforts and sacrifices were worth the trouble and gives them confidence in continuing with new behavior patterns.

Because Kotter's model takes a top-down approach, employees may resist change if they cannot participate in the planning process. Participation creates buy-in and commitment, thus reducing resistance, especially if the urgency of the situation is not fully understood at first. Therefore, leaving communication of the vision to step four may also be challenging. While the vision may be clear to leaders, it takes followers longer to get a clear and accurate picture. Envisioning change simultaneously with its implementation may be overwhelming.

To review, see:


3c. Compare and contrast decision-making based on individualized and team processes

  • What are some ways to make individual decision-making less biased?
  • What are the pros and cons of individual and group decision-making?
  • Why is groupthink simultaneously rare yet devastating?
  • What are the tenets of brainstorming?

Individual decision-making is often discouraged because it is biased in favor of the decision-maker's preferences. One way of avoiding this is through habitual or mundane decisions that do not require much thought, or programmed decisions. Another way is by using decision rules, or decisions that occur frequently enough that we develop an automated response to them. Finally, organizations may develop standard operating procedures or policies, which are written decision rules for employees to follow in recurring situations.

Individual decision-making is faster, best for simple decisions, and easiest for determining accountability. However, fewer ideas are generated, results are biased, and it's easy to procrastinate. Group decision-making will generate less biased, more varied, and more creative ideas than individual decision-making. Decision-makers will also be more committed socially to the final decision and the process. However, it takes a lot longer, and dynamics such as groupthink, social loafing, and lack of accountability may occur. Groupthink is rare yet devastating because eight extremely specific and difficult conditions need to be met, but when they are, the results are disastrous.

Brainstorming is a unique group decision-making process that is often misrepresented in the vernacular. It consists of generating concepts and ideas quickly and without criticism. Ideas should build on (piggyback) previous ideas, and no idea should be considered too outlandish. Setting idea quotas, where the group must reach a set number of ideas before finishing, is recommended to prevent cognitive process losses.

To review, see:


3d. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of rational and "satisficing" approaches to decision-making

  • What are the steps to rational decision-making?
  • What are the three main critiques of the rational model of decision-making?
  • What does it mean to "satisfice" in boundedly rational decision-making?

Rational decision-making involves:

  1. identifying the problem;
  2. establishing decision criteria;
  3. weighing each criterion;
  4. generating alternatives;
  5. evaluating each alternative;
  6. choosing the optimal alternative (mathematically);
  7. implementing that decision; and
  8. evaluating the effectiveness of that decision.

The main critique of this model is that it assumes full information, which is usually not available. Even if it were, we would not have the cognitive capacity to process it all, and even if we could, we would not always want the optimal outcome. Boundedly-rational decision-making accounts for these critiques with the concept of satisficing, which is the idea that people often engage in a limited search to find a solution that is close enough to optimal.

To review, see:


3e. Analyze the impact of biases on the decision-making process

  • How do personal biases such as stereotyping and selective perception bias decision-making?
  • How do outcome bias and shared information bias (the common knowledge effect) reduce decision quality?
  • How do production blocking and group polarization negate the benefits of group decision-making processes?

Stereotyping is a widely held generalization about a group of people, while selective perception is when we screen out information we wish to ignore and instead focus only on information we find salient. Stereotyping starts with inaccurate mental models at the beginning of the decision process. Selective perception may screen out information valuable to optimal decision-making. Both biases lead to decisions based on personal preferences rather than rational data. Decision quality is also reduced due to outcome bias, when we naturally focus on the outcome rather than what was known at the time when evaluating decision-making, and shared information bias, when group members spend too much time discussing information they all know while ignoring equally important information that only a few know.

Assuming there is time, group decision-making is normally preferred because of its many benefits over individual decision-making. However, these benefits may be negated by group process failures such as production blocking, when people forget their ideas because they are listening to others or miss what others are saying because they are thinking of their own ideas, and group polarization, when, after discussion, the attitudes held by the individual group members become more extreme than they were before the group began discussing the topic.

To review, see:


Unit 3 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • boundedly-rational decision-making
  • brainstorming
  • change implementation
  • decision rules
  • external environment
  • group decision-making
  • group polarization
  • idea quotas
  • individual decision-making
  • influence change model
  • internal environment
  • John Kotter's change model
  • Kurt Lewin's change model
  • outcome bias
  • policies
  • production blocking
  • programmed decisions
  • rational decision-making
  • refreezing
  • satisficing
  • selective perception
  • shared information bias
  • standard operating procedures
  • stereotyping
  • unfreezing

Unit 4: Leading without Formal Authority

4a. Evaluate the primary methods used by leaders to exert power over their subordinates

  • How would you define power and each of the six sources of power?
  • What are the definitions and examples of hard and soft behavioral tactics, rational and non-rational tactics, and bilateral and unilateral structural tactics?
  • Why is it important for leaders to use their power ethically?

Power is the ability to influence the behavior of others. In the business world, we normally consider power as moving downward, from leaders to followers, but power may also move upward, from followers to leaders. Legitimate power is a person's rightful claim to ask another to complete a task based on their position or title. Referent power comes from a person's natural attractiveness and others' desire to emulate them. Expert power comes from a person's superior skills and knowledge in a specific area. People have reward power when they control rewards for which people are willing to complete certain tasks. When people threaten others with mental or physical harm, they are using coercive power. Finally, informational power comes from access to knowledge or information that people can exchange to complete a task.

How people use power is called tactics. Hard behavioral tactics, such as assertiveness or social exclusion, are harsh and forceful, while soft behavior tactics, like collaboration or social interaction, rely on building relationships. Rational tactics use logic and reasoning in bargaining and persuasion, but non-rational tactics, like evasion and insults, are more emotional and subjective. Finally, structural tactics use the relationships between roles and positions. Bilateral tactics involve reciprocity, as in bargaining and negotiation, while unilateral tactics are done by one person, as in fait accompli or disengagement.

Leaders need to use their power ethically because they have a lot of it, and depending on what type it is, it can go to their heads. They begin to want power for its own sake rather than to run an organization. Unethical leaders take advantage of followers and use organizations for the leaders' own means, often leading to both organizational and personal scandal and downfall.

To review, see:


4b. Assess the methods used by leaders to exert influence over subordinates

  • What is influence, and how do leaders in organizations use it?
  • What are the names and examples of the three varieties of influence, according to Herbert Kelman (1958)?
  • How does leaders' nonverbal communication influence their followers?

Influence occurs when a person's emotions, opinions, or behaviors are affected by others. Leaders use it to earn respect, maintain order, socialize with newcomers, teach norms, and persuade change. According to Herbert Kelman, compliance is behaving the way others expect you to, whether you agree with it or not, like obeying laws. Identification is when you do what you think is valued by someone you like, respect, or idolize, such as buying sports equipment after seeing a professional athlete advertise it. The downside of identification is when leaders use it unethically, exploit their followers' idolatry, and become cult-like organizations. Internalization occurs when you accept a set of values that leads to behavior that reflects those values, such as making decisions according to your organization's philosophy.

Leaders may also influence their followers with non-verbal communication. Because of their status and power, followers' eyes are always on their leader, so their body language constantly influences them. How leaders stand and carry themselves, use eye contact, tone of voice, and speech patterns all influence follower behavior. They are used through inspiration, listening, patience, thoughtfulness, mindfulness, professionalism, staying focused, letting go, engaging others, showing joy, creativity, involvement, confidence, passion, contribution, perseverance, enthusiasm, amusement, responsibility, insight, kindness, empowerment, encouragement, achievement, interaction, helping, ambition, and playing, to name a few.

To review, see:


4c. Analyze the role of emotional intelligence in leadership

  • What are emotional intelligence and emotional leadership, and how are they related?
  • What is the difference between mood and emotion?
  • What are three reasons why it is so important for good leaders to have high emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage one's own emotions and those of others. Emotional leadership is the emotional process leaders use to influence their followers toward a common goal. Leaders must have strong control over their emotions and be able to manage others' emotions to use emotional leadership as an influence process. They should try to direct their behavior toward achieving the common goal.

Mood is a transient positive or negative effect, whereas emotion is a conscious feeling about a particular object or being influenced by chemicals in the brain. Emotions have a lot of influence on people's behaviors, judgment, and decision-making ability. Leaders need to have high emotional intelligence and be aware of their behaviors being compromised by their emotions. They also need to understand when the ratio of emotional to rational thinking in their employees is skewed toward making bad decisions and having poor judgment. In both cases, the leaders will need to manage their own and others' emotions and resulting behaviors so they don't end up hurting the organization.

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4d. Assess the key interpersonal skills in leadership

  • How can leaders go native to paradoxically take control of their organizations' informal networks?
  • How could a leader with an aggressive personality type be a positive influence on organizational growth?
  • What are the differences between negotiation, conflict resolution, and mediation?
  • How should leaders use delegation correctly?

Since leaders interact with people a lot, they must have excellent interpersonal skills. One such skill is going native, or becoming a member of the group you are observing. Every organization has an informal network, which is how work gets done (as opposed to the formal organizational structure). If leaders can insinuate themselves into the informal network, they can learn how it works and how to use it to their advantage.

Although the term aggressive personality type may sound nefarious, it merely describes someone interested in taking command, wielding power, accomplishing goals, being active and adventurous, and never backing down. A growth strategy requires capturing more market share, either taking away what currently belongs to others or making more from nothing. Both approaches will encounter fierce competition and continual setbacks. To be successful, the organization needs a leader with aggressive personality characteristics to allow it to persevere.

Negotiation is the process whereby conflicting parties attempt to resolve their divergent goals by redefining the terms of their interdependence​. Conflict resolution is bringing disagreements to an end by using one of five approaches:

  1. avoiding: doing nothing;
  2. forcing: making the other party do what you want;
  3. collaborating: both parties working together to find the best outcome for each;
  4. compromising: both parties giving in a little to end the conflict; or
  5. accommodating: allowing the other party to have their way.

Mediation occurs when conflicting parties work to form a mutually acceptable agreement with the help of a neutral third party.

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4e. Evaluate the positive and negative elements of leadership without formal authority

  • How can you have leadership without formal authority?
  • What are the positive and negative elements of leadership without formal authority?
  • How can you tell if they are good or bad?

You don't need a position or title to be a leader. A charismatic personality can give you referent power, specific skills or knowledge give you expert power, access to information no one else has gives you informational power, and so on. Or perhaps you have high emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, or conflict management skills that allow you to easily negotiate social situations, bring strangers together, provide useful advice, or keep belligerent people from fighting. All these traits and behaviors are what others look for in leaders regardless of where you stand in any formal hierarchy. Some negative elements of informal leadership are unethical leadership that turns into cult-like leadership, coercive power used for bullying, and aggressive personality types who go too far with their aggression. 

You can tell if elements are good or bad by the outcomes they produce. If the outcomes meet organizational goals while maintaining organizational values and ethics, upholding laws, and keeping employees and shareholders satisfied, then the leadership elements that brought them about are most likely positive as well, regardless of the leader's authority level. If the outcomes produced are negative, if goals aren't met, values, ethics, or laws are broken, if employees or shareholders are grossly dissatisfied, then some element of leadership is negative and needs to be addressed.

To review, see:


Unit 4 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • accommodating
  • aggressive personality type
  • avoiding
  • coercive power
  • collaborating
  • compliance
  • compromising
  • conflict resolution
  • downward
  • emotion
  • emotional intelligence
  • emotional leadership
  • expert power
  • forcing
  • going native
  • growth strategy
  • hard behavioral tactics
  • identification
  • influence
  • informal network
  • informational power
  • internalization
  • legitimate power
  • mediation
  • mood
  • negotiation
  • non-rational tactics
  • non-verbal communication
  • power
  • rational tactics
  • referent power
  • reward power
  • soft behavioral tactics
  • structural tactics
  • tactics
  • unilateral tactics
  • upward

Unit 5: Organizational Culture

5a. Evaluate why culture is a crucial part of organizations

  • What are the three levels of organizational culture, and how do they describe the overall culture?
  • How does organizational culture contribute to the organization's success?
  • How is organizational culture perpetuated?
  • How is organizational culture maintained?

Organizational culture is the system of shared values, norms, attitudes, and beliefs an organization holds that guide employee behavior. Observable artifacts tell the outside world about the organization's culture at the surface level. Shared values are what the organization wants newcomers to learn and internalize as they become oriented with the organization. Underlying assumptions are the taken-for-granted knowledge people come to understand about the organization after becoming an insider. Organizational culture contributes to success by carrying the founder's values and personality into future generations. Culture allows the same beliefs and norms that made the company originally successful to continue the company's success even when the founder is gone.

Organizational culture is perpetuated by the Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) process. People with values, beliefs, and attitudes that match those of the organization are attracted to it and then selected by the organization through the recruitment process. Those who no longer fit the organizational culture leave via attrition. While members of the organization, employees learn the specifics of the culture through socialization (or onboarding). Culture is maintained through the systems built into organizational operations. Mentors teach new employees the way things get done within the organization. Leaders use their vision and style to inspire and motivate employees to give their best to the organization. Leaders are also role models for the correct and acceptable behavior expected of all employees. Finally, culture is reinforced through the organization's reward systems. It has been said that what's rewarded gets done. If people are praised and recognized for good behavior and given negative consequences for unacceptable behavior, the beliefs and values on which leadership focuses will become clear.

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5b. Analyze the role of leadership in creating and changing organizational culture

  • How do leaders create organizational cultures with specific characteristics?
  • What are the six steps to changing organizational culture?
  • What is accountability, and why would leaders want to create cultures of accountability in their organizations?

From the beginning, leaders infuse organizations with their values, beliefs, and attitudes. The organizational environment then determines if this set of values will be successful. If so, the organization hires more people with the same values and creates norms according to those values as the organization grows. If leaders want organizations to have specific characteristics, they must model their behavior for others and reward them when they follow the model. Likewise, people who do not behave appropriately must be removed from the organization. The organization also needs training, symbols, and stories supporting the specific cultural characteristics the leader wants to cultivate.

Because organizational culture is embedded in its structure from the start, it is quite difficult to change. However, like any other organizational change, it can be accomplished by creating a sense of urgency to change people's mindset and following a deliberate process. Once people understand why change is necessary, you may need to change leaders and other key players who may be blocking the change process. New players become role models for the desired behavior, and training is offered to existing employees. Rewards are given to those who accept and display the changes, while negative consequences happen to those who don't. Finally, the change is embedded in the new culture by changing the stories and symbols that support it so that it can be seen by the outside world and taught to new members.

For example, say a corporation has just survived an ethical scandal involving its executives that almost toppled the company. As part of its government-directed reorganization, the board of directors demands a new culture of accountability. Accountability is an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility for one's actions. Instead of continuing with a culture of checks and balances, the unethical executives would be fired, and new, accountable leaders would be hired to establish a culture of accountability. All systems would be changed to support a new culture in which everyone's roles were clear, and people accepted the consequences of their actions in the areas where they assumed responsibility. This culture allows work to be done efficiently and effectively with less supervision because people are accountable for their actions.

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5c. Assess various types of organizational culture

  • What are the dimensions of culture according to the organizational cultural profile (OCP) framework?
  • What are the dimensions of culture in the competing values framework (CVF)?
  • Like the moral of The Blind Men and the Elephant, should we assume that organizations have but one culture?

In the organizational cultural profile (OCP) framework, culture is represented by seven values.

  1. Innovative cultures are flexible and adaptable and experiment with new ideas.
  2. Aggressive cultures value competitiveness and outperform competitors.
  3. Outcome-oriented cultures emphasize achievement, results, and action as important values.
  4. Stable cultures are predictable, rule-oriented, and bureaucratic.
  5. People-oriented cultures value fairness, supportiveness, and respect for individual rights.
  6. Team-oriented cultures are collaborative and emphasize cooperation among employees.
  7. Detail-oriented cultures value precision and pay attention to details.

The competing values framework (CVF), by Cameron and Quinn (1999), has been one of the most popular models of culture for the past 35 years. It comprises two dimensions: orientation of the culture (internal vs. external focus) and the environment in which the organization functions best (flexible, fast-paced vs. stable, controlled).

  1. An external focus in a flexible environment predicts a dynamic, entrepreneurial adhocracy culture.
  2. An internal focus in a flexible environment predicts a people-oriented, friendly clan culture.
  3. An internal focus in a stable environment predicts a process-oriented, structured hierarchy culture.
  4. An external focus in a stable environment predicts a results-oriented, competitive market culture.

It is important to remember that while culture tends to be generalized over organizations as a Whole, many subcultures emerge within different departments, branches, or geographic locations. These can be quite different and independent from broader organizational culture. Sometimes, they may even directly oppose those of the parent company, forming a counterculture.

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5d. Analyze the difference between strong and weak cultures

  • How does a strong culture differ from an organizational culture in general?
  • How would you define a weak organizational culture?
  • How might a strong culture be an asset and a liability for an organization?

A strong culture is one that organizational members actually share. In other words, everyone may not accept culture individually, but an organization has a strong culture when everyone shares the same views. A weak culture is one that not all members accept. When an organization must patrol and castigate some members, it becomes less efficient and effective in its productivity and, thus, less successful.

A strong culture is usually an asset for an organization in the short term because it acts as a form of social control. When internalized norms and values guide people's behavior, the organization requires less supervision to run more efficiently and effectively. However, strong cultures can be a liability in the long term because they are extremely difficult to change. An organization will fail if it is too set in its ways and refuses to adapt to changing environmental demands.

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5e. Explain the role of culture in organizational responsibility and ethics

  • What are ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR)?
  • Why do they matter to organizations, particularly in the 21st century?
  • How does culture support organizations in upholding their ethics and CSR?

Ethics are the standards of behavior we hold ourselves to in our personal and professional lives. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is when a business views itself as a member of society with social obligations and responsibility for its effects on environmental and social well-being. In the second half of the 20th century, organizations began running under the philosophy that they need not be solely profit-driven and that each part of the triple bottom line, including the environment, society, and finance, was equally important. The idea of stakeholders, all the individuals and groups affected by a business' decisions, being just as important as stockholders (or shareholders), individuals and institutions that own stock (or shares) in a corporation, became the rule. Still, at the dawn of the 21st century, the US saw many corporate scandals that revealed a lack of ethics at the top of some prestigious corporations. Between the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002), a law that created improved standards that affect all publicly traded firms in the United States, and the rapid spread of information via the Internet, there are even stricter consequences for corrupt practices today than ever. Therefore, it is crucial to behave ethically and responsibly at all times.

Organizational culture supports ethics and CSR through the nature of organizational leaders, a switch to long-term thinking about profitability and success, and the idea of ethics and CSR as corporate strategy. If organizational founders or leaders value ethics and CSR, they will infuse their culture with these values. They will be upheld in everything the organization does and all its decisions. Success is no longer defined simply by how much money an organization earns. Therefore, profitability can no longer be the only measure of success. Even if it were, these days, profitability comes from more from daily consumer transactions. Investments based on reputation, repeat business, and referrals can earn an organization far more business than everyday customer interaction. Thinking long-term about their relationships with communities and how they treat all stakeholders are the new norms for organizations. Finally, "doing good to do well" is a popular strategy. Ethics and profits do not have to be opposed. Organizations can choose ethics and social responsibility as the reason they are in business; investors and customers will pay premiums for their shares and merchandise.

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Unit 5 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • accountability
  • adhocracy culture
  • aggressive culture
  • Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) process
  • attrition
  • clan culture
  • competing values framework (CVF)
  • corporate social responsibility (CSR)
  • culture of accountability
  • detail-oriented culture
  • ethics
  • hierarchy culture
  • innovative culture
  • key player
  • market culture
  • mentor
  • negative consequences
  • observable artifacts
  • organizational cultural profile (OCP) framework
  • organizational culture
  • outcome-oriented culture
  • people-oriented culture
  • reward
  • reward system
  • role models
  • Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002)
  • sense of urgency
  • shared values
  • social control
  • socialization
  • stable culture
  • stakeholders
  • stockholders
  • stories and symbols
  • strong culture
  • team-oriented culture
  • underlying assumptions
  • weak culture

Unit 6: Leading Groups and Teams

6a. Analyze the roles of cohesion, communication, and motivation in both team and group settings

  • What is group cohesion, and how is it affected by group size?
  • How does the interaction between communication and group size affect group performance?
  • How do groups motivate people?

Group cohesion is when a group's members possess bonds linking them to each other and the whole group. Cohesiveness is easier to achieve in smaller groups than in larger groups. However, if groups are too small, they may not have enough members to complete the task, and performance will suffer. Communication and group size can also affect group performance. Too-small groups will not generate enough alternatives or debate solutions fully to analyze ideas properly, while too-large groups tend to have poor communication due to factions and conflict. Effective group sizes in face-to-face teams are between 5 and 10 people.

Group membership is motivated by meeting people's instrumental, interpersonal, and identity needs. Instrumental needs for resources, such as money, safety, health benefits, information, advice, protection, or legal assistance, are often met by joining unions, advocacy groups, or other consumer protection agencies. Membership in any group meets interpersonal needs by giving some sense of belonging and inclusion, support, control, or influence regarding the outcome of something meaningful to them. The groups we belong to also meet part of our identity needs. We use our group memberships as a means of social comparison. It helps us understand who we are, our values, beliefs, and attitudes. They also give us a sense of prestige and status and make us feel a sense of achievement.

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6b. Determine the channels of communication utilized in team settings

  • How would you define and explain the difference between formal and informal communication networks?
  • How is a group's mission communicated via shared identity?
  • What is the difference between the two major types of small groups?

A formal network occurs when groups have defined roles and responsibilities or a hierarchy that shows how members are connected. The group may also be a part of an organizational hierarchy that puts the group into a larger organizational structure. Informal networks occur when connections among individuals within the group, group members, and people outside of the group form according to friendship, advice, or informational links. Formal networks are useful for showing the formal structure of an organization and determining how communication might flow formally throughout. Informal networks are useful for explaining how work and communication flow throughout an organization. Though unofficial, they tend to be more accurate and more efficient.

A group's mission is its reason for being; it unites the group and binds it together. In addition to internalizing their mission, groups may display it symbolically as a slogan, a motto, or a song on clothing, pens, stickers, or other items. The point is to distinguish itself as a separate, special identity (the in-group) instead of everybody or nobody (the out-group). Primary groups (relational-oriented groups) fulfill interpersonal connections focused on quality interactions that contribute to the well-being of group members. They are more long-lasting, reciprocal, and emotional than secondary groups. Secondary groups (task-oriented groups) are joined based on a shared interest or need to solve a problem, promote a cause, or generate ideas or information.

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6c. Compare and contrast primary strategies for building effective teams

  • How can diversity be both an asset and a liability to building effective teams?
  • What happens at each step of small group development?
  • How does motivation in teams differ from that of individuals?

Diversity refers to how people are similar or different from each other. Normally, diversity is considered an asset for groups for many reasons, particularly since it helps prevent groupthink. Having diverse project teams affords companies a better understanding and service for their customers and allows them to develop new markets effectively. It also allows them to understand and better satisfy their workforce and reduce harassment and discrimination lawsuits. All these effects will lead to higher profits and stock prices, which please shareholders. Gaining a reputation for being a well-managed organization attracts new investors. However, diversity in groups may also be a liability. People tend to communicate less frequently, experience more conflict, report perceptions of unfairness, and feel their contributions are ignored more in groups with those who differ demographically from themselves. These phenomena can lead to greater rates of conflict in teams, which reduces productivity. Avoiding these problems may only create vicious cycles through the similarity-attraction phenomenon, in which the hiring manager chooses someone demographically similar over a more qualified candidate from a different demographic, or fault lines, which are attributes along which groups are split into subgroups.

The four stages of small group development are forming, storming, norming, and performing. Forming is when the group first meets, people introduce themselves and test their membership, and leadership is sought. This gives rise to storming, where group goals and expectations are discussed, leadership is tested, and work processes are questioned. This leads to norming, where the group decides on roles and norms for completing work. They begin working together and developing values, beliefs, and attitudes so that work can proceed without written rules. All this allows the group to move to the performing stage, in which it has formed an identity, communicates and coordinates efficiently and effectively, and its members trust each other and work interdependently.

Motivation for people in work teams is different for them as individuals. Providing individual rewards for the work people do as part of a team undermines the benefits of teamwork. Choose people for groups who are already motivated for teamwork so that intrinsic motivators such as affiliation and belongingness are met simply by being a team member. Set goals and provide feedback to meet needs for achievement. They reward everyone on the team equally for achieving goals when met. Create self-managing teams by allowing them to be accountable for teaching others about their actions. This makes team members truly interdependent, meaning they share a common purpose and fate, and incentivizes them to support each other when needed.

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6d. Assess the effects of various leadership strategies on team or group performance

  • How do leaders emerge based on communication skills and competence?
  • What are NHL Hall-of-Famer Mark Messier's Three Levels of High-Performance Communication?
  • What are the most important elements to consider when leading a virtual team?

Earlier, we discussed trait, behavioral, situational, and visionary approaches to leadership. A more functional approach is based on communication behaviors that create leadership conditions: task, procedural, and relational functions. Task-related functions include providing, seeking, and evaluating information. Procedural-related functions guide the group as it proceeds from idea generation to implementation. Relational functions are interpersonal, such as encouraging participation and inclusivity, establishing reflection and self-assessment norms, and managing conflict.

Mark Messier (1994) described three leadership communication levels. At leadership communication level 1, the leader invests time and energy in the foundation of team communication. At leadership communication level 2, the leader becomes self-aware of how they want and need to show up as a leader, determine how they project themselves in front of their team members, and develop their personal internal and external communication. At leadership communication Level 3 (the highest), the leader connects with individuals so the leader understands what uniquely motivates each. This sounds a lot like transformational leadership, right? The pitfall is that the Golden Rule leads us to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Instead, Messier applies the Champion Leaders' Rule: Do unto others as they want to be done unto. 

With today's technological options, leading virtual teams, groups who work together from different geographic locations and rely on communication technology, may seem like an efficient solution to conducting team projects worldwide. However, some basic considerations are often forgotten when building a virtual team. To operate well, members of virtual teams must understand each other's national and organizational cultures. Their time zones must be coordinated, as well as their locations and their common language. They all must be at the same level in terms of training. Everyone should be at the same skill level for the task at hand and for using the communication technology required to meet. They also need to be skilled at everything that goes with being a team member, such as preparation, working interdependently, participation and inclusion, emotional intelligence, and conflict management. Finally, the leader must ensure everyone clearly understands the team's objectives before beginning operations so all members head along the same path.

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Unit 6 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • Champion Leaders' Rule
  • communication behavior
  • diversity
  • fault line
  • formal network
  • forming
  • group cohesion
  • group size
  • identity needs
  • in-group
  • informal network
  • instrumental needs
  • interdependent
  • interpersonal needs
  • mission
  • norming
  • out-group
  • performing
  • primary group
  • procedural-related function
  • relational function
  • secondary group
  • self-managing teams
  • similarity-attraction phenomenon
  • storming
  • task-related function
  • virtual team
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