assignment organisational behaviour 2011

7/31/2019 Assignment Organisational Behaviour 2011

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It is different from other methods and philosophies in that it

focuses only on observable, describable, and measurable behaviors, as opposed, for example, to

psychoanalytic

theory which focuses on finding the underlying cause

What are the aims of behavior modification?Behavior modification techniques aim to manipulate the antecedents and consequences of behavior so

that the

likelihood of appropriate behavior is increased and inappropriate behavior is decreased.

Proactive behavior modification, interventions which avoid the utilization of aversive consequences, also

involves teaching new and more appropriate skills (positive programming). The reason for this is the

belief that

all behavior is learned. If

he most effective approach toward behavior modification is the theory of operant conditioning

espoused by the noted American behaviorist, B. F. Skinner, in his book The Behavior orOrganisms published in 1938.

Skinner's behavior modification theory holds that reinforcement, either positive, or negative

shapes behavior. Providing positive reinforcement for changing behavior to desired levels

through appropriate and effective rewards, and or providing negative reinforcement such aspunishments or discouraging signals for undesired changes in behavior, or sticking to status quo

helps employees make the appropriate behavior modifications.

One important point to note is that the theory of positive and negative reinforcement is much

more than bribery. It goes beyond that and tries to effect a change at the psychological approach,

by influencing a persons behavior through attention.

A basic application of positive and negative reinforcement is a child given a candy when he

behaves and restricted from watching television when he misbehaves. In the organizationalcontext, this could extend to an employee being eligible for a reward for displaying a desired

behavior, such as double the normal wages for overtime. Punishment for an undesired behavior

might be a poor performance appraisal report or those who strictly stick to a 9-5 routineregardless of the work exigencies, and a charge sheet for employees who indulge in

inappropriate behavior.

Goal Setting

The best of behavior modification examples is bysetting goalsfor individual employees, with

the attainment of such goals leading to the desired behavior. The accomplishment of goals needs

positive reinforcement with rewards such as a bonus.

The success of the goal setting method to modify behavior depends on establishing a soundperformance management system that provides a framework to set, modify, and evaluate goals
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on a regular basis, and guide and assist the employee to reach desired goals. Another key

requirement is ensuring consistency of goals and rewards across the board.

Learning

Another of the effective behavior modification examples is learning. Organizational learningaimed at behavior change takes place throughtraining and developmentinitiatives that make

explicit the new behaviors and equips the participants with means to get there.

Learning interventions can constitute a part of a planned culture change to develop a learning

organization, establishing a culture of free flow of information among the workforce,establishing a system of experts serving as mentors for others in their niche, and other similar

interventions.

Supervision and Leadership

Another behavior modification approach in the workplace is through supervision and leadership.

Close monitoring, or policing of employee actions and behaviors to ensure the employee sticks

to a particular behavior range also works in certain situations, especially when the workforce

consists of many employees with low levels of skills and education, such as in mass productionlines.Autocratic leadershipthat dictates terms, giving employees little freedom to display their

innate behavior facilitates such an approach.

Conversely, theservant leadership stylestrives to ensure a "fit" between employee values and

organizational values by the leader acting as a facilitator to the employees. This leadership style

is relevant for highly skilled employees.

Best Practices

One concern with trying to establish behavior modification through a system of rewards andpunishment is to ensure that it remains within the law, and that rewarding and punishing

someone does not end in adiscrimination lawsuit.

Another best practice is to select the least intrusive and restrictive intervention to change the

behavior. The best behavior modification examples are those that remain as close to the personsinnate behavior and force the employee to change as little as possible.

Regardless of the behavior modification approach, success depends on effective communication

of the plan to the employee, in a way the employee understands. Finally, it is important toremember that the behavioral intervention exercise attempts to make a change because a personsbehavior is troublesome, and not because the person itself is troublesome. The carrot and stick

policy or positive and negative reinforcement should, therefore, concentrate on changingbehaviors rather than victimize the person.
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Behaviorismis a school of thought in psychology based on the assumption that learning occursthrough interactions with the environment. Two other assumptions of this theory are that the

environment shapes behavior and that taking internal mental states such as thoughts, feelings and

emotions into consideration is useless in explaining behavior.

One of the best-known aspects of behavioral learning theory is classical conditioning.

Discovered by Russian physiologistIvan Pavlov, classical conditioning is a learning process thatoccurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring

stimulus.

It's important to note that classical conditioning involves placing a neutral signal before a

naturally occurring reflex. In Pavlov's classic experiment with dogs, the neutral signal was the

sound of a tone and the naturally occurring reflex was salivating in response to food. By

associating the neutral stimulus with the environmental stimulus (the presentation of food), thesound of the tone alone could produce the salivation response.

In order to understand how more about how classical conditioning works, it is important to be

familiar with the basic principles of the process.

The Unconditioned Stimulus

Theunconditioned stimulusis one that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a

response. For example, when you smell one of your favorite foods, you may immediately feel

very hungry. In this example, the smell of the food is the unconditioned stimulus.

The Unconditioned Response

Theunconditioned responseis the unlearned response that occurs naturally in response to the

unconditioned stimulus. In our example, the feeling of hunger in response to the smell of food is

the unconditioned response.

The Conditioned Stimulus

Theconditioned stimulusis previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the

unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response. In our earlierexample, suppose that when you smelled your favorite food, you also heard the sound of a

whistle. While the whistle is unrelated to the smell of the food, if the sound of the whistle was

paired multiple times with the smell, the sound would eventually trigger the conditioned

response. In this case, the sound of the whistle is the conditioned stimulus.

The Conditioned Response

Theconditioned responseis the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. In our

example, the conditioned response would be feeling hungry when you heard the sound of thewhistle.
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assignment organisational behaviour 2011

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