In this chapter, "we review a number of motivation techniques and programs that have gained varying degrees of acceptance in practice. And for each of the techniques and programs we review, we specifically address how they build on one or more of the motivation theories covered in the previous chapter" ( p. 188/189).

"Making decisions is a critical element of organizational life. In this chapter, we'll describe how decisions in organizations are made.But first, we discuss perceptual processes and show how they are linked to individual decision making" (p. 121).

Perception:A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.

"Why is perception important in the study of OB? Simply because people'sbehavioris based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself. The world as it is perceived is the world that is behaviourally important " (p. 122).

WHAT IS PERSONALITY?

"When psychologists talk of personality, they mean a dynamic concept describing the growth and development of a person's whole psychological system. Rather than looking at parts of the person, personality looks at some aggregate whole that is greater than the sum of the parts" (p. 92).

"Regardless of which studies you choose to look at, when American workers are asked if they are satisfied with their jobs, the results tend to be very similar: Between 70 and 80 percent report they're satisfied with their jobs" (p. 61).

"How does one explain these findings? …Because people are likely to seek jobs that provide a good person-job fit, reports of high satisfaction shouldn't be totally surprising. Second, based on our knowledge of cognitive dissonance theory (discussed in this chapter), we might expect employees to resolve inconsistencies between dissatisfaction with their jobs and their staying with those jobs by not reporting the dissatisfaction. So these positive findings might be tainted by efforts to reduce dissonance" (p. 61).

"Intelligence is but one characteristic that people bring with them when they join an organization. In this chapter, we look at how biographical characteristics (such as gender and age) and ability (which includes intelligence) affect employee performance and satisfaction. Then we show how people learn behaviors and what management can do to shape those behaviors" (p. 33).

"We have come to understand that technical skills are necessary but insufficient for succeeding in management. In today's increasingly competitive and demanding workplace, managers can't succeed on their technical skills alone. They also have to have good people skills. This book has been written to help both managers and potential managers develop those people skills" (p. 2).

WHAT MANAGERS DO
"Managers get things done through other people. They make decisions, allocate resources, and direct the activities of others to attain goals. Managers do their work in an organization. This is a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals" (p. 2).