MGT501 Glossary

 Affirmative Action

A practice in organizations that goes beyond discontinuance of discriminatory practices, including actively seeking, hiring and promoting minority group members and women.

 Age Discrimination in Employment Act

Passed in 1967 and amended in 1978 and 1986, this act prohibits arbitrary age discrimination, particularly among those over age 40.

 Amercicans with Disabilities Act of 1990

Extends EEO coverage to include most forms of disability, requires employers to make reasonable accommodations and eliminates post-job-offer medical exams.

 Appathy

Significant dysfunction tension resulting in no effort being made.

 Application Form

Company-specific employment forms used to generate specific information the company wants.

 Attrition

A process whereby the jobs of incumbents who leave for any reason will not be filled.

 Autonomy

The freedom and independence involved in doing one's job.

 Baby Busters

Those individuals born in 1965 and years after. Often referred to as "generation Xers."

 Baby Boomers

Those individuals born between 1946 and 1964.

 Background Investigation · MGT501 · Glossary

The process of verifying information job candidates provide.

 Blind-box Ad

An advertisement in which there is no identification of the advertising organization.

 Burnout

Chronic and long-term stress.

 Career

The sequence of positions that a person has held over is or her life.

 Career Counseling

Assisting employees in setting directions and identifying areas of professional growth.

 Career Development

A process designed to assist workers in managing their careers.

 Career Stages

An individual's career moves through five stages: exploration, establishment, mid-career, late career and decline.

 Central Tendency

The tendency of a rater to give average rating.

 Change Agent

Individuals responsible for fostering the change effort and assisting employees in adapting to the changes.

 Coaching

A development activity in which a manager takes an active role in guiding another manager.

 ethical decisions about behavior

Decisions that concern a person's conformity to moral standards or to the standards of conduct of a given profession or group; decisions that take into account not only a person's own interests but also, equally, the interests of all others affected by the decisions.

 ethnic minorities

People classified according to common traits and customs.

 externalities

Social costs of production that are not necessarily included on a firm's profit-and-loss statement.

 featherbedding

Requiring an employer in a laborcontract provision to pay for services that are not performed by hiring more employees than are needed or by limiting production.

 financial rewards

The component of an organizational reward system that includes direct payments, such as salary, and indirect payments, such as employee benefits.

 glass ceiling

The barrier faced by women in breaking through to senior management positions, so called because although women can see the top jobs, they cannot actually reach them.

 global challenge

Training needs stimulated by the expansion of many firms into global markets. Such needs involve the training of local nationals, as well as preparing employees from the home country to work in foreign markets.

 global corporation

A corporation that has become an "insider" in any market or nation where it operates and is thus competitive with domestic firms operating in local markets.

 globalites

Sophisticated international executives drawn from many countries.

 goal theory

The theory that an individual's conscious goals or intentions regulate her or his behavior.

 goals and timetables

Flexible objectives and schedules for hiring and promoting underrepresented group members to ensure compliance with equal opportunity employment and affirmative action requirements.

 grandfather clause

A plan that allows older workers to stay enrolled in the original pension plan if the organization decides to change plans.

 graphic rating scales

Do not yield the depth of essays or critical incidents, but they are less time-consuming to develop and administer.

 grievance

An alleged violation of the rights of workers on the job.