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The Manager Who Doubled Productivity

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Submitted By laurizzle11
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Case Study / Lauren Shoemaker / pg. 195

1. One way that Cliff could take advantage of principles of operant conditioning to modify his staffs’ behavior is to give them consequences for their bad behavior. Some people need to have consequences so that will not try to get away with bad behavior all of the time.

2. The use of punishment didn't work well for Cliff's predecessor because he frequently used it and never reinforced or rewarded good behavior. Reinforcement is a presentation of something that is pleasant and rewarding which will produce a more effective outcome.

3. Cliff utilized a partial reinforcement schedule by setting a daily production goal and for those who met their goals every day that week he rewarded them with lunch on Fridays. He also, conducted random spot checks on employees and when found hard at work are rewarded them. It is apparent that Cliff used a fixed-interval, variable-interval and fixed-ratio schedule.

4. Cliff could integrate the process of shaping to train his staff a complex new task. As the employee masters each step he would require they move to the next one in order to receive a reward or reinforcement.

5. In cognitive learning the individual learns by listening, watching, reading, touching or experiencing and then processing and remembering the information. He could increase the productivity more by making work and environment more interesting, challenge the employees more and increase responsibility. This would fulfill the employees need for growth and achievement which is good for both employee and

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