ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION AND REINFORCEMENT THEORY: A CASE OF ELEMENTS BOOK COMPANY
Reinforcement theory was derived from the works of B.F.Skinner and can be defined as the process of shaping ones behavior by the control of the consequences of the behavior. It is a highly used approach for motivation. Organizational behavior modification otherwise know n as OB Mod is the application of this reinforcement theory to the people in an organization setting. Thus the behavior can be reinforced or punished in positive as well as negative ways. Reinforcement theory as well as behavior modification helps the management to motivate its employees.
The following are the methods employed as per the Reinforcement Theory:
• Positive reinforcement: …show more content…
It employs around 60 employees who are involved in direct marketing and sale of the books. The company manager, in the year 2005, aspired to convert Elements Book Company into the most successful bookstore in Mumbai. This was communicated to his employees who were involved in the marketing and sales and encouraged them to increase the sales of the books through innovative methods they can come up with. A review of individual performance of each employee was planned to be conducted every month to evaluate the number of sales achieved and to see where the company was moving towards in achieving the goal the manager had …show more content…
Initially the manager failed to communicate the target objectively by stating that the organization must become the most successful in the city by taking the sales chart up. No clear targets were fixed for the employees and this resulted in lack of clarity and motivation among the employees which was evident from the results of the review. Similar was the case when it came to the second review meeting when he communicated the benchmark, but didn’t announce a reward system. This resulted in very low employee motivation. This system that is flawed can be related to extinction, as the manager failed to relate the desired behavior with tangible reward systems which would have motivated the employees. This case of extinction can be related to the law of effect, where the efforts of the employees were not properly rewarded which demotivates them from putting in extra efforts. Along with the stated measures punishment was also used to motivate people by warning them of the possibility of further training requirements, suspension and termination upon failing to perform
Reinforcement theory was derived from the works of B.F.Skinner and can be defined as the process of shaping ones behavior by the control of the consequences of the behavior. It is a highly used approach for motivation. Organizational behavior modification otherwise know n as OB Mod is the application of this reinforcement theory to the people in an organization setting. Thus the behavior can be reinforced or punished in positive as well as negative ways. Reinforcement theory as well as behavior modification helps the management to motivate its employees.
The following are the methods employed as per the Reinforcement Theory:
• Positive reinforcement: …show more content…
It employs around 60 employees who are involved in direct marketing and sale of the books. The company manager, in the year 2005, aspired to convert Elements Book Company into the most successful bookstore in Mumbai. This was communicated to his employees who were involved in the marketing and sales and encouraged them to increase the sales of the books through innovative methods they can come up with. A review of individual performance of each employee was planned to be conducted every month to evaluate the number of sales achieved and to see where the company was moving towards in achieving the goal the manager had …show more content…
Initially the manager failed to communicate the target objectively by stating that the organization must become the most successful in the city by taking the sales chart up. No clear targets were fixed for the employees and this resulted in lack of clarity and motivation among the employees which was evident from the results of the review. Similar was the case when it came to the second review meeting when he communicated the benchmark, but didn’t announce a reward system. This resulted in very low employee motivation. This system that is flawed can be related to extinction, as the manager failed to relate the desired behavior with tangible reward systems which would have motivated the employees. This case of extinction can be related to the law of effect, where the efforts of the employees were not properly rewarded which demotivates them from putting in extra efforts. Along with the stated measures punishment was also used to motivate people by warning them of the possibility of further training requirements, suspension and termination upon failing to perform