What does the field of organizational behavior entail? - BulletPoints 1

• The field of organizational behavior (OB) entails people think, feel and do in and around organizations and the studying of this behavior. It is studied how one can understand, predict and influence the behavior within organizations. Organizations are a number of people or groups of people who work together toward a, mostly common, goal.

• Organizational behavior is both personally and organizationally important for people. Personal theories can help people understand, predict, and influence organizational events better. We want to understand what is going on around us. Organizations can be complex and ambiguous. Sometimes common sense can help, but not always. This is not only important to managers or people in a leadership position, but also everyone else who works in an organization. Organizational behavior is also important for the organization itself. Organizational behavior is related to higher sales and profitability, but also related to indicators of hospital performance, like lower patient mortality rates and higher patient satisfaction. organizational effectiveness is the ultimate dependent variable in organizational behavior.

• The open system perspective assumes that organizations are constantly interacting with their environment. An organization is an open system that is influenced by its environment and vice versa. Using technology, certain inputs (raw materials, information, human resources, financial resources, equipment) are converted into outputs (products and services, employee behavior, profits and losses, waste and pollution) that are assessed by the environment, which again provide new input for the organization. This is a constantly ongoing process.

• The MARS Model of individual behavior and results provides insights into the motives behind individual behavior and their results. The factors that influence individual behavior are motivation, ability, role perceptions and situational factors. These four factors have a combined influence on the eventual behavior and performance. They are again influenced by personal characteristics, including values, personality, perceptions, emotions, attitudes and stress.

Which individual differences, personality aspects and values are there? - BulletPoints 2

• Personality is a generally recognized predictor of most types of individual behavior. It summarizes the most stable personal characteristics of a person. Therefore, personality is increasingly tested for job applications. The term personality refers to the pattern of thoughts, emotions and behaviors that are special to a person. People exhibit many types of behaviors, thoughts and emotions which differ between people and make differences between them more obvious. Part of the personality is determined by the environment we grew up in and the experiences we have made. The other part consists of the genetic predisposition. Also, nurture is an important determinant of personality.

• The dark triad exists of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a Jungian theory which focuses on one’s preferences of perceiving and judging information. The dark triad traits in organizations can have negative outcomes when displayed. Political tactics can cause multiple dysfunctional outcomes, like stress and dissatisfaction from employees to unproductive use of organizational resources. Counterproductive work behaviors can be predicted to some extent by the dark triad, but they are better predicted with factors from the Big Five, like low agreeableness and conscientiousness. Dark triad traits are mostly associated with white-collar crimes. Having these dark triad traits is not specifically bad for the person showing them. It can help employees move into more central positions in informal employee networks, they might have a higher salary, and it predicts career success.

• In the Schwartz's values circumplex model, 57 specific values ​​are categorized into 10 general values. Those are: universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, security, power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation and self-direction. These 10 general categories are again clustered into four quadrants. The first quadrant, openness to change, refers to the extent to which someone is motivated to pursue an innovative approach. It includes the value categories self-direction, stimulation and hedonism. The opposite quadrant, conservation, refers to the extent to which someone is motivated to maintain the status quo. It includes the value categories of conformity, security and tradition. The third quadrant, self-enhancement, refers to the degree to which someone is motivated by self-interest. It includes the value categories of achievement, power and hedonism. The opposite quadrant, self-transcendence, refers to the motivation to promote the welfare of others and that of nature. It includes the value categories benevolence and universalism.

How do we perceive ourselves and others in organizations? - BulletPoints 3

• The self-concept of employees is becoming increasingly important within organizations. The self-concept is about how people think about themselves and evaluate themselves. It is a complex construct which consists of many factors. Further, it can be either consistent or inconsistent. The self-concept is clear if it can be well defined, consistent and stable over a longer period of time. It usually becomes clearer as one gets older. An important ingredient of self-concept is self-enhancement. If people feel valued and receive positive feedback from the environment, this will promote their self-concept. In the workplace this can work out positively because employees feel better about themselves and therefore do their work with more pleasure (and are therefore more motivated). However, it can also work out negatively, for example, if you overestimate yourself and make wrong decisions. People are not only motivated by self-enhancement, but also by self-verification which refers to the confirmation and maintaining of the current self-concept. 

• Perception is the processing of incoming information which helps us to make sense of the world around us. Perception determines which information is relevant, how it is to be ranked and how it can be rearranged with the existing knowledge. When we interact with the environment, some information is selected and other information is ignored. The selected information is then organized and interpreted. This information then influences our conscious emotions and behavior towards certain objects.

• Stereotyping is a process in which all members of a certain group are assigned the same characteristics. Those characteristics are then automatically transferred to anyone we believe is a member of that group. Stereotyping is a natural process that offers people the opportunity to understand the world around them in a simple and quick way. After all, it is impossible to remember all the unique characteristics of each person. Moreover, people have a great need to understand and anticipate the behavior of others. Apart from that, stereotyping makes a major contribution to our self-perception and social identity. The own group is more positively evaluated, whereas the other groups are subjected to more negative stereotypes. The combination of social identity and self-enhancement leads to the foundations of stereotyping: categorization, homogenization, differentiation.

How do emotions, attitudes, and stress develop in the workplace? - BulletPoints 4

• Our perceptions, choices, behaviors and attitudes are influenced by our cognition and emotions. Emotions are physiological, behavioral, and psychological experiences that come into existence by an object, a person, or a situation that brings about a state of readiness. Emotions can change fast. They account for physiological and behavioral changes. When we become aware of these changes, the emotions are converted into feelings. Since they bring us into a state of readiness, they prepare our body for certain situations that might be threatening so that we are better able to survive. The circumplex model of emotions organizes emotions based on the degree of pleasure they bring about and the degree of activation of behavior. Emotions with a high activation will motivate us to act faster.

• Attitudes are beliefs, feelings and behavioral intentions toward an object, a person, or an event (this is referred to as an attitude object). Whereas emotions are often unconscious experiences, attitudes are conscious judgments. Beliefs refer to our perceptions of the attitude object, to the things that we consider true. Feelings are either positive or negative evaluations of this object. The behavioral intentions refer to our motivation to act in a certain way toward the object. These three components of attitudes are connected to each other. Beliefs are created based on our experiences with the object. They are the basis for the feelings we develop in relation to the object. Feelings again lead to behavioral intentions.

• Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to recognize, understand, regulate, express, and transform emotions of yourself and others. Emotional intelligence can be divided into four dimensions. A distinction is made between the extent to which a person can recognize emotions of themselves and others and the extent to which they can regulate emotions in themselves and in others. The first dimension is the awareness of our own emotions. This refers to the ability to understand the meaning of one's own emotions, weaknesses, values ​​and motives. The management of our own emotions refers to the ability to control and direct your own emotions. Awareness of others' emotions, which is the third dimension, refers to the ability to perceive and understand the emotions of others. It is mainly about empathy: being able to understand the feelings, thoughts and situations of the other. The last dimension, management of others' emotions, refers to the ability to manage other people's emotions.

 What are the foundations of employee motivation? - BulletPoints 5

• Motivation refers to the forces within a person that influence the direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior. When employers discuss employee motivation, they often use the term employee engagement. Although its definition is still being discussed, employee involvement can be described as one's emotional and cognitive motivation: a focused, intense, persistent, and purposeful effort toward work-related goals. Motivating employees is becoming increasingly more challenging, as globalization, information technology, and other changes have led to a change in employee engagement. These changes have reduced the employees' trust and commitment. Moreover, these changes cause managers to have less insights into behavior and performance of the employees than before. In addition, new generations have different expectations than the previous ones.

• The four-drive theory attempts to explain human motivation. This theory is both holistic (it combines different needs) and humanistic (it assumes that people are rather influenced by social life than by their instincts). The four-drive theory states that there are four drives, namely: the drive to acquire, the drive to bond, the drive to comprehend, and the drive to defend

• The Maslow's needs hierarchy is divided into five components: physiological needs, safety, belongingness, esteem and recognition, and self-actualization. We are motivated to meet all needs, but when a lower need is not yet realized, one is unable to satisfy a need which is higher in the hierarchy. The only exception is self-actualization, since people who are satisfied in this need are always encouraged to satisfy more of this need. Therefore, we also see self-actualization as a growth need, while the other four are called deficiency needs.

• Needs arise from motives, but they can also be strengthened by a learning process. This is emphasized in the learned needs theory. According to David McClelland there are three needs that can be learned: need for achievement (nAch), need for affiliation (nAff), and need for power (nPow).

What are applied performance practices? - BulletPoints 6

• Financial rewards are a form of exchange, in which employees contribute their knowledge, skills, and labor and receive certain economic rewards in return. The rewards do not necessarily need to be financial. Other financial rewards include motivators, reinforcers, status symbols and a way to measure the employee's own performance. Membership and service time remunerations relate to the largest part of the paychecks. Certain work benefits increase with the time the employee stays within the company. This can prevent employees from leaving the organization.

• Performance-related rewards create an ownership culture in which employees are involved in the success of the organization. A disadvantage to this is that the connection between the performance of the company and the profit of the company as a whole is only vaguely visible to employees. This is due to the many factors that are beyond the control of the employee. Performance-related rewards can reduce the creativity and meaning of the work. Moreover, it can be a quick solution to a structural problem, while the real causes are not considered. To guarantee the effectiveness of these rewards, there are a number of options.

• The motivator-hygiene theory states that people experience job satisfaction when the work fulfills their need for growth and appreciation. Hygiene refers to all factors that are related to lower needs, such as working conditions and certainty. The characteristics of the job are responsible for the motivation of the employee. Hygiene prevents employees from becoming dissatisfied.

• The job characteristics model focuses on five different work dimensions that evoke three psychological states. Employees who experience these psychological states often have higher internal work motivation levels, job satisfaction, and work effectiveness. The first dimension is the skill variety. This dimension relates to the application of different skills to perform different types of work. The task identity refers to the share of the job in a certain process. The task significance refers to what the job contributes to the organization or to society. Autonomy means that a person is free and independent and able to choose procedures to work towards a goal. Job feedback is the extent to which an employee can reflect on his own performance.

What do decision making and creativity in organizations entail? - BulletPoints 7

• An age-old starting point of most Western philosophers, economists and scientists is that people should rather base their decisions on logic and rationality than on emotions and feelings, and that they should use all the information that is needed. This starting point is called the rational choice paradigm. The process of making rational choices can be described in six steps: identifying a problem or opportunity, choosing the best decision process, discovering or developing possible choices, selecting the choice with the highest value, implementing the selected choice, and evaluation of the chosen alternative.

• Recognizing problems and opportunities will always be a challenge. One way to improve the process is by becoming aware of the five problem identification biases just described. For example, by recognizing that mental models restrict a person's perspective of the world, decision makers are more motivated to consider other perspectives of reality. Another way to improve problem identification is to create a norm of divine discontent. Decision makers with this mindset are never satisfied with current conditions, so they more actively search for problems and opportunities.

• People often make no perfect rational decisions because they do not process all information. It is usually too much effort to weigh all alternatives and possible outcomes. Therefore, only a few alternatives and outcomes are well considered. A related problem is the implicit favorite: a preferred alternative that the decision maker uses repeatedly as a comparison with other decisions. Although the implicit favorite comparison process seems to be automatic, it often undermines our effective decision making. People are inclined to ignore problems of the implicit favorite and the benefits of alternatives. Although subjective expected utility is the most important part of rational choice decision making, Tversky and Kahneman have discovered that people have built-in decision heuristics that either disrupt the probability of certain outcomes or the value (utility) of these outcomes. Three of the most studied biases in this field are anchoring and adjustment, availability and representativeness. The anchoring and adjustment heuristic states that we are influenced by an original anchor vision and do not deviate sufficiently from this vision when new information is offered. The availability heuristic refers to the tendency to judge a situation on the basis of information that we can easily retrieve from memory. The representativeness heuristic, finally, states that we pay more attention to situations or objects that resemble something that we already know, rather than to exact statistics.

Why are team dynamics important? - BulletPoints 8

• All teams are groups, two or more people with a unifying relationship, but not all groups are teams. In addition to formal work teams, organizations also consist of informal groups. These are groups whose formation has not been initiated by the organization and whose members generally do not try to achieve any goals of the organization. Under the right circumstances, teams are better at identifying problems, developing alternatives and choosing between those alternatives. They also develop better products and services, and create a more energetic work atmosphere than people working alone. The tendency to form informal groups could be explained by an emotional drive, which is part of the social identity theory, which argues that one derives identity from the groups to which one belongs, or from the wish to be able to accomplish tasks that are not feasible for one person alone.

• There are both advantages and disadvantages within teams. Under the right circumstances, teams make better decisions, develop better products and provide better services than a single person. This would be, for example, a good team atmosphere. Due to a good team atmosphere, there is automatically a good working atmosphere, which means that people properly communicate with each other. Another advantage is that many people seem to be more motivated to do their work. There are three reasons for this statement: the first is the principle of group identity. If the team is considered part of the identity, the person will invest more in the team. Secondly, team members are usually very close to each other, which makes it possible to keep an eye on what each team member does. Third, team members are often people with similar skills and they do not want to have less skills than their team members.

• Team diversity is an important dimension in forming a team. Homogeneous teams consist of members with the same expertise, ethnic backgrounds, and norms and values. Within heterogeneous teams, team members differ from each other in these points. Furthermore, a distinction is made between deep-level diversity on the one hand and surface-level diversity on the other hand. The latter describes clearer differences, such as differences in gender and ethnic background. The former describes when the diversity of team members is not immediately noticeable and, for example, only emerges during the collaboration, such as differences in beliefs, and norms and values.

• Team norms form as soon as the team itself is formed. People want to be able to predict and respond to other people's behaviors. Norms come into existence because people increasingly discover which behaviors contribute to a more effective way of functioning. As time goes by, team norms become increasingly specific.

Why is communicating in teams and organizations important? - BulletPoints 9

• Effective communication is important for all organizations. A company cannot exist without communication. Organizations are groups of people who work towards a certain goal depending on each other. People can only work depending on each other if they communicate with each other. In addition, communication plays an important role in organizational learning. It is the means by which knowledge enters the organization and is distributed among the employees. Communication is also important in decision making and behavioral change. Finally, it supports the well-being of the employees. Communication shares knowledge about employees that enable them to better function in their working environment.

• According to the communication process model, communication takes place between senders and receivers via different channels. The sender creates a message and encodes it in words, gestures, intonations, and other symbols or signs. The encoded message is then transferred to the receiver via one or more communication channels. The receiver perceives the incoming message and decodes it to something meaningful. Ideally, the decoded meaning is also what the sender intended. In most cases, the sender searches for evidence that the other person has received and understood the transmitted message. This feedback can be a formal answer, or an indirect proof of the subsequent actions of the recipient. Feedback repeats the communication process. Conscious feedback is encoded, transmitted, received, and decoded from the receiver to the sender of the original message. The transfer of meaning from one person to another is hampered by noise. Noise is the psychological, social and structural barriers that can disrupt the intended message of the sender and make it unclear. If a part of the communication process is disrupted or broken, the sender and receiver will not have a common understanding of the message, which could lead to miscommunication.

• In the communication model, information is transmitted in two ways: verbally and non-verbally. In verbal communication, words are used. This form includes spoken or written channels. Non-verbal communication is any part of communication in which no words are used. There are multiple communication channels that are frequently used are email, social media, non-verbal communication.

How do power and influence play a role in the workplace? - BulletPoints 10

• Power is defined as the capacity to influence others as a person, team, or organization. There are some important features of this definition. First of all, power does not describe the action of changing one's attitudes or behavior, it is only the ability to do so. In addition, power is based on the perception that the power holder has a valuable resource that can help achieve other's goals. According to the dependence model of power, power also includes the unequal dependence of one party on another party. Although dependence is a core element of power relations, the term asymmetric dependence is used because the less powerful party still has a certain amount of power over the power holder. This is called countervailing power. Finally, the power relationship depends on a certain minimum level of trust.

• Power is not only determined by one's position or what one is able to do, but also by who one is connected to. Social networks, which refers to building and maintaining relationships with others, contributes to an increase of influence and power. Networks can increase influence through social capital. Social capital describes the knowledge available to people or social units that connects them with others. The most accessible source is information from other network members, which increases the person's expert power.

• Organizational politics refers to tactics that benefit the person, often a powerful person, at the expense of the organization and the rest of the employees. This includes multiple adverse effects. These include lower work satisfaction, increased stress and an increased risk of negligent behavior. Organizational politics mainly occur under certain circumstances. There is a higher risk when the sources within a company are scarce and when the organization quietly tolerates the organizational policy.

What role do conflict and negotiation play in the workplace? - BulletPoints 11

• Conflicts arise when someone from a group perceives that their interests are being opposed or negatively affected by someone. Initially it was thought that conflicts mainly have negative consequences: the more conflict there was, the more negative the working atmosphere. Initially it was thought that conflicts mainly have negative consequences: the more conflict there was, the more negative the working atmosphere. It was then discovered that conflicts can also have positive consequences. From this idea the optimal conflict perspective resulted. This perspective states that there must always be a certain degree of conflict, which should not be too little and not too much. Conflicts can lead to the consideration of multiple alternatives and prevent stagnation. Finally, conflicts outside the team can lead to more solidarity inside the team. Unfortunately, not all types of conflicts have those positive effects. Nowadays a distinction is made between two types of conflicts: the task conflict and the relationship conflict. The task conflict (also referred to constructive conflict) is mainly focused on task-related disagreement. This form can provide the positive effects mentioned above. Relationship conflicts are directed at other people, which often creates a negative working atmosphere. It can be concluded that the task conflict must be encouraged and the relational conflict must be prevented. However, these two are often intertwined. The factors that minimize those findings are emotional intelligence, positive group norms and a team with strong cohesion.

• People who are in a conflict situation and believe that both parties can be satisfied, have a win-win orientation. Individuals who believe that they are in a conflict situation in which they either win or lose, have a win-lose orientation. This last orientation causes escalations if one uses political games or power to gain ground. Usually, a (moderate) win-win orientation is most effective. Which orientation one has, influences the way in which one thinks the conflict can be solved. 

• There are two ways of negotiation: in the distributive approach, a win-loss strategy is used between the negotiators. In the integrative approach, the two parties are motivated to find the best solution for both (win-win orientation). The approach that a negotiator uses can depend on the situation but also on his or her personality. Competitive individuals will rather adopt a distributive approach, while others will rather adopt an integrative approach.

How does leadership in organizational settings occur? - BulletPoints 12

• Transformational leadership is a leadership perspective that explains how leaders change organizations by creating, communicating and modeling a vision for the organization and inspiring employees to strive for that vision. In practice, transformational leadership often proves to be effective. Nevertheless, there are still a number of shortcomings. The first problem is that some models deal with circular logic: they define and measure transformational leadership based on the effects on employees and then report that this leadership is effective because it inspires employees. Instead, transformational leadership should be defined as a series of behaviors that people use to guide others through a process of change. A second problem is that some theories combine behavior of the leader with the personal characteristics of them. A third problem is that transformational leadership is usually described as a universal concept that is suitable in all situations. This may not be the case as it should take more account of culture.

• Managerial leadership is a leadership perspective that states that effective leaders help employees to improve their performance and well-being towards current goals and actions. Transformational leadership and managerial leadership differ from each other. Firstly, managerial leadership assumes that the goals of an organization are stable and aligned with the external environment. Transformational leadership, on the other hand, assumes that the current direction of the organization is not well-aligned and therefore needs to change. Secondly, managerial leadership is more micro-focused and concrete, whereas transformational leadership is more macro-focused and abstract.

• The path-goal leadership theory states that effective leaders adopt the most appropriate leadership styles, depending on the employee and the situation, in order to influence the expectations of the employee with regard to desired, positive outcomes. The theory recognizes that leadership is an important factor in the expectancy theory of motivation and in its underlying formula and subjective expected utility. Leaders clarify the link between employee behavior and outcomes, influence the value of those outcomes, provide employees with a working environment that facilitates the achievement of goals, etc.

• Authentic leadership describes the vision that effective leaders must be aware of their values, personality, and self-concept, feel comfortable with it and act according to these values, their personality, and self-concept. Authentic leadership is therefore more than just self-awareness: you have to act consistently with your self-concept and you should not pretend to be someone else. In order to be and remain themselves, effective leaders regulate their decisions and behavior in various ways. First of all, they develop their own style and, if possible, take positions in which that style will be most effective. In addition, effective leaders continuously think about their stable hierarchy of personal values ​​and apply them consistently to these decisions and behaviors. Finally, they continue to evaluate themselves continuously.

How can organizational structures be designed? - BulletPoints 13

• There are four basic elements of organizational structures, which are related to the distribution and coordination of work: the span of control, centralization and decentralization, formalization, and mechanistic versus organic structures. Besides span of control, centralization and formalization, organizational charts are the fourth element of company structures. The classification of the company in that way is also called departmentalization: this specifies how employees and their activities are grouped. 

• In a functional structure, employees are classified around certain sources or in groups of people with comparable knowledge and expertise. Often there is also a centralized organization and standardization of the work processes. This is a common form of coordination in such a structure. A functional structure promotes specialization and identification of employees with their work and facilitates direct supervision. The disadvantage of a functional structure is that the employees focus more on their own task and expertise than on the goals of the company. This results in more conflicts and dysfunctional coordination in functionally structured companies.

• In a divisional structure (also known as multi-division structure or M-form structure), the responsibility of employees is divided over, for example, geographical areas (geographical structure), end products such as services and products (product structure) or the type of customer (client structure). Which division structure suits best depends on how the product is delivered or the product delivered varies. If variation in the product is required per region, a geographical structure is most suitable. An advantage of this structure is that it can properly handle growth. A limitation is that it is often costly, because sources are needed twice or cannot be used efficiently (for example, because there are several branches). Another limitation is that spreading people with comparable knowledge and expertise is not always conducive to the exchange and development of knowledge and expertise. Moreover, it is sometimes difficult to determine in which of the various division structures an organization has to be subdivided.

• A team-based organizational structure is a form of departmentalization with a broad hierarchy and fairly little formalization. The structure consists of self-directed teams that are responsible for different work processes. This type of structure is mostly organic. There is a broad span of control because teams operate with minimal supervision. The main task of managers is that they have to set goals. This structure is becoming increasingly popular because it is more flexible and responsive than the more traditional functional and divisional structures. The costs resulting from an extensive hierarchy do not apply in this structure and the high degree of autonomy promotes the speed with which decisions can be made. Disadvantages of this structure, however, are the costs.

• The matrix structure consists of two organizational structures that overlap in order to benefit from both. In this way, sources and expertise are optimally used. This is especially useful for organizations whose workload varies from project to project. The disadvantage of this structure is that goal conflict and ambiguity can arise when people have two leaders. This can also cause uncertainty in the sense that it is not known who is responsible for what.

• In a network structure, different organizations form a link to make a certain product or to provide a particular service. Usually, several satellite organizations form around a certain core company. This company coordinates the network processes and usually has a few other competences. This core company generally has contact with the customers, but the delivery of services, products and support goes via the satellite companies. It is often more efficient for a company to focus specifically on a few tasks that they are good at and to lend other tasks and processes to other companies. Certainly, in these times with rapidly changing technology, it is often too much for a company to be able to handle everything itself. Network organizations seem to be the structure of the future. Thanks to the computer, much more is possible in this area: it is easy to communicate on a global scale. Network structures thus seem to be an efficient solution to optimally use the technology. Despite the advantages, network structures also have a number of disadvantages. Communication, even though it is virtual, is becoming more and more opaque because the organization becomes very large.

What is organizational culture? - BulletPoints 14

• An organizational culture has assumptions and values that are shared by members. Values ​​are stable, evaluative ideas that influence our actions and choices in different situations. It is our conscious perception of right and wrong. Values ​​form part of the organizational culture. An organizational culture also consists of shared assumptions: a deeper element that some experts think is the essence of a corporate culture. Shared assumptions are unconscious, self-evident perceptions or ideal prototypes of behavior that are considered to be the right way of thinking and acting when it comes to problems and possibilities.

• Artifacts are the visible symbols and signs of a corporate culture, for example the way customers are treated, the way emails are formulated and the way employees are rewarded. Artifacts are important because they reinforce and support changes in an organizational culture because they provide clear evidence for the prevailing culture in an organization.

• The attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) theory states that organizations have a natural tendency to attract, select and keep people whose values ​​and personality traits are consistent with the character of the organization, thereby creating a more homogeneous organization and stronger culture.

• The psychological contract refers to one's beliefs about the terms of a reciprocal exchange agreement between them and another party. Some psychological contracts are more transactional, while others are more relational. Transactional contracts are mainly short-term economic exchanges, where it is clear what the responsibilities and obligations are. Relational contracts are more like a kind of marriage: they are dynamic long-term commitments that cover a wide range of subjective mutual obligations.

Which elements does organizational change consist of? - BulletPoints 15

• Force field analysis is a system-wide change model developed by Lewin. It helps analyze the factors that contribute to desired change within an organization and those that prevent change. The model consists of restraining forces, factors that stagnate change, and driving forces, factors that benefit change. Stability within a company arises when driving and restraining forces are in balance. Lewin's model describes that effective changes within companies are caused by the unfreezing of the current situation of a company, to subsequently work towards a wanted situation and again freeze it at that point. Unfreezing is caused by making the driving forces stronger than the restraining forces.

• Unfreezing occurs when the driving forces are stronger than the restraining forces. This can be achieved by strengthening the driving forces, weakening or removing the restraining forces, or by doing both. Often it is not enough to only strengthen the driving forces. It is often preferred to combine both. Employees do not always understand the importance of change. The process of change within an organization must therefore begin with convincing the employees of that interest. This can be done by informing them about existing competition, changes in consumer wishes, imposed rules by the government, and other driving forces.

• Theories and intervention programs that derive from Western cultures cannot simply be applied to other cultures. For example, in Western cultures it is often normal to make a change in one go, but in other cultures this transition rather takes place gradually and harmoniously. There are several ethical issues regarding change. Firstly, it is sometimes difficult to get a good picture of necessary changes, without analyzing personal data of employees. Second, some changes can increase power among executives by creating obedience and compliance among employees. Further, some changes undermine the self-confidence of employees.