Organizational behavior (OB) - Answers Field of study devoted to understanding, explaining, and
ultimately improving the attitudes and behaviors of individuals and groups in organizations.
Human resource management - Answers Field of study that focuses on the applications of OB
theories and principles in organizations.
Strategic management - Answers Field of study devoted to exploring the product choices and
industry characteristics that affect an organization's profitability.
Resource-based view - Answers A model that argues that rare and inimitable resources help firms
maintain competitive advantage.
Inimitable - Answers Incapable of being imitated or copied.
History - Answers A collective pool of experience, wisdom, and knowledge created by people that
benefits the organization.
Numerous small decisions - Answers People making many small decisions every day that are invisible
to competitors.
Socially complex resources - Answers Resources created by people, such as culture, teamwork, trust,
and reputation. The source of competitive advantage is known, but the method of replicating the
advantage is unclear.
Rule of One-Eighth - Answers The belief that at best one-eighth, or 12 percent, of organizations will
actually do what is required to build profits by putting people first.
Method of experience - Answers When people hold firmly to some belief because it is consistent with
their own experience and observations.
Method of intuition - Answers When people hold firmly to some belief because it "just stands to
reason"—it seems obvious or self-evident.
Method of authority - Answers When people hold firmly to some belief because some respected
official, agency, or source has said it is so.
Method of science - Answers When people accept some belief because scientific studies have tended
to replicate that result using a series of samples, settings, and methods.
Theory - Answers A collection of verbal and symbolic assertions that specify how and why variables
are related, as well as the conditions in which they should (and should not) be related.
Hypotheses - Answers Written predictions that specify relationships between variables.
Correlation - Answers The statistical relationship between two variables. Abbreviated r, it can be
positive or negative and range from 0 (no statistical relationship) to 1 (a perfect statistical
relationship).
Causal inference - Answers The establishment that one variable does cause another, based on
covariation, temporal precedence, and the elimination of alternative explanations.
Meta-analysis - Answers A method that combines the results of multiple scientific studies by
essentially calculating a weighted average correlation across studies (with larger studies receiving
more weight).
Evidence-based management - Answers A perspective that argues that scientific findings should form
the foundation for management education.
Analytics - Answers The use of data (rather than just opinions) to guide decision making.
Personality - Answers The structures and propensities inside people that explain their characteristic
patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior. Personality reflects what people are like and creates their
social reputation.
Traits - Answers Recurring trends in people's responses to their environment.
Cultural values - Answers Shared beliefs about desirable end states or modes of conduct in a given
culture that influence the expression of traits.
Conscientiousness - Answers One of the "Big Five" dimensions of personality reflecting traits like
being dependable, organized, reliable, ambitious, hardworking, and persevering.
Agreeableness - Answers One of the "Big Five" dimensions of personality reflecting traits like being
kind, cooperative, sympathetic, helpful, courteous, and warm.
Neuroticism - Answers One of the "Big Five" dimensions of personality reflecting traits like being
nervous, moody, emotional, insecure, jealous, and unstable.
Openness to experience - Answers One of the "Big Five" dimensions of personality reflecting traits
like being curious, imaginative, creative, complex, refined, and sophisticated.