Drivers & Pressures for Change (Palmer Chp. 3)
A newly appointed CEO immediately begins challenging long-standing company traditions, dismantling unproductive policies, and creating momentum for new initiatives because she is unconstrained by past practices
What is a "new broom" at the top? (Internal Change Driver) (pg. 64-65)
A sales director replaces vague encouragements to "do your best" with a specific target of 15 new client acquisitions per month, triggering a measurable surge in team performance. Which theory explains this performance boost?
What is Goal-Setting Theory? (pg. 206)
An employee displays intense energy, enthusiasm, and deep absorption in her daily tasks, rarely losing focus and expressing strong pride in her company. What overall psychological state does this describe?
What is Employee Engagement? (pg. 224)
Without being asked, a veteran analyst spends her lunch hour helping a new team member troubleshoot a complex spreadsheet issue and avoid a reporting deadline mistake
What is Helping Behavior? (pg. 246)
A newly hired marketing assistant is given vague directions, no written job description, and unclear evaluation criteria, leading to severe confusion over what tasks to prioritize
What is Job Ambiguity (or Role Ambiguity)? (pg. 256-257)
A major sporting goods retailer decides to stop selling assault-style firearms following a national tragedy, accepting an immediate $300 million drop in sales to align its corporate strategy with shifting social values
What is corporate response to divisive issues? (Environmental Pressure for Change) (pg. 69)
A software engineer stays late working on a complex coding problem not for a cash bonus or managerial praise, but because solving it gives her an intense personal sense of mastery. What form of motivation is driving the engineer?
What is Intrinsic Motivation? (pg. 205)
HR evaluates worker morale using a standardized tool that generates separate, distinct satisfaction scores for pay, promotions, supervision, work itself, and coworkers.
What is the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) (or the Facet Approach)? (pg. 230)
When a team's project proposal is rejected by executive management, an employee maintains a positive attitude, refrains from complaining, and gracefully moves on to the next assignment
What is Sportsmanship? (pg. 246)
A customer service agent is required to remain excessively polite, cheerful, and calm for eight hours a day while handling continuously screaming and angry callers
What is Emotional Labor? (pg. 258)
A global logistics company heavily shifts investment into digital platforms and automated systems because cross-border trade in physical goods is flattening while cross-border data flows and demand for high-tech skills are rapidly rising
What is globalization with a digital profile (or technology)? (Environmental Pressure for Change) (pg. 69)
An experienced accountant discovers that a newly hired peer with less experience earns $5,000 more in base salary; feeling unfairly treated, the experienced accountant intentionally reduces their daily output. Which theory predicts this response?
What is Equity Theory? (pg. 213-216)
A senior consultant chooses to stay with her firm not out of emotional attachment or moral duty, but because quitting would mean forfeiting unvested stock options and incurring high relocation costs.
What is Continuance Commitment? (pg. 234)
While attending an industry networking event, an employee actively defends their company’s reputation against inaccurate negative rumors spread by competitors
What is Organizational Loyalty? (pg. 246)
A manager works 80 hours a week, exhibits constant impatience with minor delays, acts aggressively toward opposing viewpoints, and feels an intense time urgency
What is the Type A Behavior Pattern? (pg. 260-262)
A change manager views pressures for change as overwhelming external forces (such as strict new market regulations) that cannot be controlled, believing management's primary role is simply to look after the organization as it gets buffeted by these environmental demands
What is the Caretaker? (Table 3.1 Understanding pressure) (pg. 68)
An employee refrains from putting effort into a major innovation project because he believes management will never actually grant the promised promotion, even if he delivers excellent results (VIE).
In Expectancy (VIE) Theory, What is Instrumentality? (pg. 216-217)
An HR analyst notices that taking short, frequent, unexcused days off is strongly correlated with an employee's intent to quit, whereas taking two weeks off for surgery is not.
What is Voluntary Absenteeism (or Absence Frequency)? (pg. 237)
An employee voluntarily attends non-mandatory company town halls, stays up to date on corporate governance policies, and proactively reports facility safety hazards to management
What is Civic Virtue? (pg. 246)
A social worker facing excessive caseloads becomes emotionally exhausted and begins treating clients as impersonal case numbers with a cynical, detached attitude
What is Depersonalization? (pg. 267-268)
During a chaotic corporate restructuring, a change leader focuses on sensemaking—helping staff understand "what is going on," clarifying the significance of their altered roles, and fostering organizational commitment
What is the Interpreter? (Table 3.1 Understanding Pressures) (pg. 68)
A plant manager redesigns assembly roles so each worker builds an entire component from start to finish and receives automated daily reports on their defect rate. Which two core dimensions were heightened? (Job Characteristics Model)
What are Task Identity and Feedback? (pg. 209-212)
A firm awards across-the-board pay raises to all staff, but sees no improvement in job satisfaction because high performers feel their extra efforts were not rewarded fairly relative to low performers. What theoretical framework is this?
What is the Porter–Lawler Model? (pg. 232-234)
A software developer enrolls in an advanced coding course on his own time and dime to learn new programming languages that will benefit his department's upcoming software projects
What is Self-Development? (pg. 247)
Angry about being passed over for a promotion, an employee intentionally slows down production, pads his expense accounts, and vandalizes company equipment. What is an umbrella term for this?
What are Counterproductive Work Behaviors (CWBs)? (pg. 274)