Question

Your team owns an organizational development consulting firm, and has done well based upon referrals. However, recently the growth of your business has leveled off dramatically, and you are a bit concerned that if you do nothing, you might even lose money next month.

To your dismay, you have discovered that several members of your company have adopted poor work habits. For each individual, determine:

The type of operant conditioning that would be most beneficial (see below)

Describe specifically how you would use that method

Determine if the reinforcement schedule should be continuous or some kind of interval.

OPERANT CONDITIONING Positive reinforcement – giving something pleasurable to retain or increase behavior Negative reinforcement (Avoidance) – not the same as punishment -- increases the probability that a desired behavior will occur by removing a negative consequence when a person performs the desired behavior. Example: Parents stop complaining about child’s time management if the child starts doing better in school. Extinction - Removing a consequence that is currently reinforcing an undesirable behavior in an effort to decrease the probability that the behavior will occur again in the future. Example: When John arrives late to work, Betty starts the meeting on his behalf. Betty stops doing this so John will arrive on time. Punishment – Administering an undesirable consequence, but remember to punish the behavior, not the person

Employee	Behavior	Operant Conditioning	Specific Intervention(s)	Reinforcement Schedule
Phil Salesman	Very charismatic and attractive; unfortunately, this means he is often looking for adventure rather than selling consulting services. Three times in the past 3 years he has disappeared from the office without requesting vacation time and has been absent for weeks at a time. He has also wrecked his company car each time. His sales activity has decreased by 25% in the past 3 years.

Employee	Behavior	Operant Conditioning	Specific Intervention(s)	Reinforcement Schedule
Stu Account Executive	Conservative, but tends to be a follower, rather than a leader. He also has a severe drinking problem and blacks out. Since he is an account executive, Stu’s appearance is important. One Monday morning he returned to work with his front teeth missing. Another time he returned to work with a breast enhancement without any memory of how that happened. Stu is having a hard time setting up meetings for new business.

Employee	Behavior	Operant Conditioning	Specific Intervention(s)	Reinforcement Schedule
Alan Executive Assistant	Alan is downright immature and strange. He is 42 years old and still lives at home with his parents. Alan doesn’t recognize “personal space” and sometimes gets too close to people and stares at them. Alan also dresses unprofessionally and wears a full beard, which does not convey the right image for the consulting company. Alan desperately tries to be close friends with Phil and wants to be a salesman just like Phil when he grows up. Alan has shown up at work under the influence of drugs and everyone in the office agrees it is time for rehab.

Employee	Behavior	Operant Conditioning	Specific Intervention(s)	Reinforcement Schedule
Doug Human Resources Manager	Doug is recently married and a good employee. He does a good job managing the company finances. Unfortunately for Doug, Alan is his new brother in law, so he is caught between wanting to terminate Alan, which is good for the company … and helping Alan, which is what his wife wants him to do. You sense that Doug has not been completely honest about a lot of the problems in the office.

Employee	Behavior	Operant Conditioning	Specific Intervention(s)	Reinforcement Schedule
Mr. Chow Mailroom	Leslie Chow is a very disruptive employee. It seems the more dysfunctional the office becomes, the more Mr. Chow laughs. Sometimes Mr. Chow runs through the office screaming “I love cocaine”. He has even jumped off desks singing “I believe I can fly”. Mr. Chow just returned from Bangkok with $22 million dollars in gold bars. There have been a lot of strange people watching the office building and employees now feel unsafe when walking to their cars. Mail isn’t getting delivered in a timely basis, or at all. Several customers have been called about nonpayment; they have stated that their checks were mailed weeks ago.

Answer 1

Employee 1 : Phil Salesman

Operant Conditioning : Positive reinforcement

Specific Intervention(s) : As this employee looks for the adventuers, set the targets for him and award if meet the targets in specified time

Reinforcement Schedule : It can be interval based

Employee 2 : Stu Account Executive

Operant Conditioning : Negative Reinforcement

Specific Intervention(s) : By letting the employee work more efficently and asking to maintain a meeting calender to remember to set important meetings

Reinforcement Schedule : It can be interval based

Employee 3 : Alan Executive Assistant

Operant Conditioning : Punishment

Specific Intervention(s) : As Alan, must show more maturity and professionalism towards his work, therefore punishing him if same kind behaviour he shows again at the workplace

Reinforcement Schedule : It must be continuous

Employee 4 : Doug Human Resources Manager

Operant Conditioning : Extinction

Specific Intervention(s) : Though Doug is an hardworking employee, but showing a favouritism towards one employee at the workplace is wrong, therefore he must be given warning

Reinforcement Schedule : It must be continuous

Employee 5 : Mr. Chow Mailroom

Operant Conditioning : Punishment

Specific Intervention(s) : As Mr. Chow is creating a threat to the workplace and his coworkers strict action must be taken against him.

Reinforcement Schedule : It must be immediate